LIBRA, it IT OF TUE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case, ^mf^CmJr'-'-r- )n Stielf. c»^«^ /c? Gection. Book, V« ci^ No, !f.. /v ANTI CtUITIE S OF &mw\ ^9 CAREFULLY COMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES, s©iii iSiSBWiam^as© FROM MODERN TRAVELS. BY WILLIAMTiROWN, D.D. MIXISTEK OF ESKDAIZMUIR. TO WHICH IS ADDED, a dissertation on the hebrew language^ from Jennings's Jewish antiquities. IJVTfFO VOLUMES. VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA : PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM W. WOODWARD, NO. 52; south second street. 1823. .tC: I .1 A GROUND PLAN of the TEMPLE ^i- t-ii-j;t -« • AT JERUSALEM ns COURT S & c « Sj ^ OUT V. 11 (• () \-mT (' (f r R T, '( or <■■ B A' T 1 r, K -i ^j®'« •'»'• • • • • •? :« 8 ' : 1 (Hite S 3 , f'i..irK I A GROl^T> PI.A:Noi'Tiik COi'irf OF Jt^llAEL, THE TKMPLK kc. PREFACE. Few subjects are more interesting to the Chris- tian scholar than the antiquities and customs of the Jews. They gratify a laudable curiosity con- cerning a people who have long made a conspicu- ous figure in history, and throw much light on the sacred oracles. Yet the information to be ob- tained has hitherto been confined, in a great mea- sure, to a few ; for the volumes which treat of them are either written in a language not gene- rally understood ; or so large as to be beyond the ability of many to purchase ; or the subjects are ex- plained in such a way, and accompanied with such quotations from the Hebrew especially, as to ren- der the understanding of them either difficult or impossible. The design, therefore, of the follow- ing work, is to obviate this difficulty so far as its subject is concerned ; and to present the reader with a considerable portion of information in a simple form, and at a moderate expense. In describing the tabernacle, his chief au- thority was the Pentateuch; but as that led to other subjects connected with that singular struc- ture, his other authorities will be found in their proper places. When treating of the temple, its courts and buildings, there were only four sources of infor- mation, viz. the accounts of the first and second temples, as given in the books of Kings, Clironi» IV PREFACE. cles, and Ezra ; the account of tlie temple given by Ezekiel, and explained by Villalpandus ; Jo- sephus's description of the same buildings ; and the description of the temple that was built by Herod, and existed in the days of our Saviour, as given m the Talmud, and those authors who have collected their information from the I'almudical writings. The author has preferred the last of these, as the ground-work of this part of his plan, because it was the most minute and because all the differences in the other accounts of this vene- rable structure could easily be noticed in the course of the descripnon. Dr. Lightfoot's " Pros- pect of the Temple," therefore, " especially as it stood in the days of our Saviour;" Bernardus Lamy " De tabernaculo fcederis, de sancta civi- tate Jerusalem, et de Templo ejus ;" Ludovicus Capellus's "Templi Hierosolymitani dehneationes ex Villalpando, Josepho, et Judseorum in Talmude descriptione ;" and the treatise of Arias Monta- nus, entitled, " Ariel -, sive De Templi fabrica et structura," are the authorities he has followed, where no other are particularly mentioned. They are all compiled either at first or second hand from the Mishna, Gemara and Maimonides. On the ministers and service of the temple, their feasts and fasts, besides the lioly Scriptures and Josephus, the author has been much indebted to Dr. Lightfoot's treatise on '• The Temple Ser- vice ;" to Arias Montanus's " Aaron ; sive Sanc- torum vestimentorum et ornatus descriptio ;" to the former treatise of Lamy ; Calmet's Dictionary ; PREFACE. V Parkliurst's HebrewLexicon; Godwin's Moses and Aaron ; Owen's Exercitations on the Hebrews ; the Latin translation of several treatises of Maimoni- des, which are mentioned where they are used ; BuxtorfFDe Synagoga Judaica ; and Basnage's His- tory and Religion of tlie Jews. The account of the synagogue and its service has been carefully collected from the works of Lightfoot, BuxtorfF, and others. On the laws of the Jews, the author derived much information from the large and learned work of Spencer " De Legibus Hebrseorum ritu- alibus ;" and on the wide field of Jewish customs, climate, productions, ^c. besides his own collec- tion of facts, which are given to these authors in their proper places ; it would be injustice done to Harmer and Parkhurst, not to acknowledge the many facts and illustrations, with which they have enriched his volumes, although they have not been always distinctly acknowledged. The ground plans of the temple and its courts have been constructed from the descriptions of these places with the strictest accuracy ; and in part ii. sect. 13, it is attempted to be shown (con- trary to what is commonly understood) that the descriptions of Josephus and the Talmud are not only not at variance, but that they perfectly agree. Perhaps it may be thought by some that the Hebrew words and phrases wliich appear in the following pages might have been better omitted ; but those who are conversant with the Hebrew language, and know the uncertainty of its pro- Vi PREFACE. nunciation, will not only pardon their insertion, but be gratified by them. It gives a certainty and satisfaction to the Hebrew scholar, which the mere speUing them in Enghsh can never produce. Should any take the trouble to compare this publication with Godwin's Moses and Aaron, and Dr. Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, (the books which are usually consulted,) they will find the line of research widely different. For while the plan of Godwin, which is very systematic and condensed, did not allow of that diversity of sub- ject and illustration, and Dr. Jennings, who com- mented on a part only of Godwin's plan, profes- ses to despise Rabbinical learning ; the author of the present publication has taken a wider range ; he has accepted, with gratitude, the labours of the Talmudical writers, in the absence of more au- thentic information ; and has endeavoured to make the discoveries of science, and the informa- tion of travellers, subservient to the elucidation of his subject. It is more than probable, that amidst such a variety of materials, he may have sometimes been mistaken as to the use he has made of them ; but he can honestly say, that no pains have been spared to ascertain the truth, and to render the subject generally interesting to the Christian in- quirer. Nay, he even indulges the hope, that it may be an acceptable present to the posterity of Abraham, to whom the religion and usages of their fathers must ever be an interesting subject of inquiry. \ CONTENTS. PART I. THE TABERNACLE DESCRIBED. SECT. I. The Court of the Tabernacle.— lis length, breadth, posit'iot:, pillars, sockets, and curtains. The altar of ^rnt-ofFering-. The laver and its foot - - - - - Page 18 SECT. II. The Tabernacle. — ^Its boards ; their length, breadth, and number ; the sockets on which they stood ; the length, breadth, and height of the taberna- cle : difficulty as to its breadth examined. The plates of gold that covered the boards; its beautiful undercovering ; how put on its upper covering of goats' hair ; the way it was put on ; the covering of rams' skins dyed red ; covering of badgers' skins. Subdivision of the tabernacle into the holy and most holy ; the dividing curtain with its pillars and sockets. The furniture of the holy place, viz. : — The altar of incense, table of shew bread, golden candlestick. Furniture of the most holy place, viz. : — The ark with its contents, the mercy seat, the cherubim ; inquiry into their probable meaning. The place in the court where the tabernacle stood ; time of its erection ; its consecration ; gifts offered by the princes at the dedication of the altar. Quantities of gold, silver, and brass, that were used in the tabernacle and its court ; the present value of the whole. Spiritual reflections - 21 PART II. THE TEMPLE DESCRIBED. SECT. I. The Mountain oftlie Lord's House. — Its enclosing wall, and the sur- rounding objects. Mount Moriah, its situation, meaning of the name, dimen- sions of that part of it which belonged to the temple, in cubits and English acres : a traveller's account of it. The wall that surrounded the Mountain of the Lord's House ; its height ; the gates in it, viz.— Shushan or the King's gate, the gates of Huldah, As'uppim, Parbar, the gate Coponius, the gate . Tedi: the origin of theirnames; their size and situation ; the number of por- ters stationed at each. The tower Antonia, its situation, size, and use. The principal objects that were seen from each of these gates, viz. : — The valley and brook Kidron, Mount of Olives, (a Sabbath day's journey ascertained,) Bethany, the valley of Tophet, its execrable worship, Bethphage, Gethsemane, the city of Jerusalem, pool of Siloam or Bethesda, the Potter's Field, Millo. The king's gardens, Mount Zion, the royal buildings, the causeway from Vlll CONTENTS. Zion to the temple, Calvary, the holy sepulchre, the rock that was rent, Ab- salom's pillar : — a particular description of all these - - 46 SECT. II. The Court of the Gentiles. — The chambers at the gates, and their uses ; sheepfolds at the east gate ; chests for the half shekel at the east gate ; manner of collecting and disposing of it. The size of the Court; the beautiful pavement; the cloisters or piazzas round about; their grandeur. The royal porch. Solomon's Porch. - - - 70 SECT. III. Tlie Hil, or Sacred Fence. — ^Its width ; the wall that divided it from the Court of the Gentiles ; doors in that wall ; inscriptions at these doors ; height of the Hil above the Court of the Gentiles ; Josephus's account of it ; the different elevations between the Court of the Gentiles and the threshold of the porch of the temple ... . Page 81 SECT. IV. The Court of the Women. — Its different names in Scripture; height above tlie Sacred Fence ; its east gate, commonly called the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and why ; the height of the wall between the Sacred Fence and the Court of the Women ; the size of the Court, its beautiful pavement, its other gates. The smaller squares in each corner of the Court, their dimensions and uses ; the Nazarites' chamber, account of Nazaritism ; the wood chamber and persons employed in it ; times of the year when the wood was brought to the Temple ; way it was disposed of afterwards ; the lepers' chamber, and manner of their purification ; the oil chamber, the cloisters, or piazzas round the Court ; the treasury chest, their number, uses, and places ; the widow's mite explained ; the Pharisee and publican. Several other par- ticulars. ..-...-- 82 SECT. V. The Court of Israel. — Height of the wall between it and the Court of the Women; relative heights of the two courts; steps which led from the one into the other ; for what they were remarkable ; Psalms of Degrees ex- plained ; chamber under them for the musical instruments. The gate Nica- nor; its height, beauty, the names it has in Scripture; various things ap- pointed to be done in it (the three remarkable things that happened forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem.) Size of the Court of Israel. Ob- jects on the east side of it :— a room for the Council of Twenty -three. The place where Solomon's brazen scaffold stood ; the king's pillar ; the Levites' ward ; the chamber of Phineas ; pastry-man's chamber ; the place where the stationary men stood. Objects on the south side : — the chamber of lots ; Ge- zith, where the Sanhedrin sat ; their number, qualifications for office, manner of sitting, hours of attendance, causes t'hat came before them, punishments they inflicted. The names of their presidents, and places to which they re- moved on leaving Gezith. The draw-well chamber; the Water gate; the chamber of incense ; receipt for making and using it ; the room where the high priest fii-st bathed on the day of expiation ; the wood room ; Peredrin, or the vestry of the temple; the Levites' ward; the Gate of Firstlings; ano- ther Levites' wai-d; the Gate of Kindling; the common-hall of the Levites while on guard ; the distance of the gates on this side of the Court from each other. Objects on the ^vest side ; none. Objects on the north side.-— the CONTENTS. IX relative situation of the gates. Bithmuked, containing the chamber for the lambs used in the daily sacrifice; a bathing room for the priests; the com- mon-hall for the priests on guard ; the chamber where the shew bread was prepared, and the place where the Maccabees deposited tlie stones of the altar that was polluted by Antiochus. The gate Muked; the treasure cham- ber for the poll-tax ; another Levites' ward ; chamber for the money that was devoted to repair the temple ; the gate Corban, or of the Women ; the , salt chamber; chamber for the hides; chamber for washing the entrails ; the other chamber where the high priest bathed on the day of expiation ; the Gate of Sparkling, or of Song; Levites' and priests' wards; the chamber of stone vessels - - .----9v> SECT. VI. The Court of the Priests. — Its situation, dimensions, and height above the Court of Israel. The portion of it appointed for the musicians and unofficiating priests. The times when the Israelites might enter the Court of the Priests, with the manner of their entry and return. The brazen altar; its size under the tabernacle ; first and second temples, and the temple by Herod ; its position and figure, the manner of sprinkling the blood ; times when washed. The Cebesh, or ascent to the altar ; its form and dimensions. The use of the red line round the altar. The sanctity of the altar— why steps were forbidden ; the altars of earth— why groves and pillars were forbidden. Objects on the north side of the altar : — This side accounted the most holy; the place of rings; the tables, pillars, and hooks: the Molten Sea ; difficulties as to its capacity considered. Objects on the sojith side of the altar: — The silver and marble tables ; the station of the priests who blew the silver trumpets ; more rings, tables, and hooks. The kinds of sacrifices that were killed on the south side of the altar. Space between the altar and the porch ; things for which it was remarkable. The Me- grupitha, or bell, supposed to be a gurry or gong: an account of both these. The laver ; one only during the tabernacle; ten in Solomon's temple, and one only in the second temple ; how filled ; method of washing at it - 114 SECT. VII. The Temple of Solomon. — Its dimensions ; side-chambers ; appear- ance in perspective ; the number of hands employed; its time in building; its continuance ; the quantity of precious metals used in it ; their value in ster- ling money - - .... - 142 SECT. VIII. The Temple after the Captivity.— When begun; its dimensions different from that of Solomon ; the obstructions it met with ; the time when finished ; its continuance - . - - - 150 SECT. IX. Origin and external Appearance of the Temple by Herod. — Reason of Herod's proposal; the artificers employed ; lis length in building; dimen- sions larger than the former; beauty of the workmanship; its appearance in front, and at the sides. Inquiry into the composition that formed the root": terraces in Barbary and India. - - - - - - - 151 SECT. X. Tlie Porch of the Temple.— The steps that led up to it : the height of the threshold above each of the inferior Courts. The length, breadth, and height of the Porch. The door of the Porch— its size, and the ornaments Vol. I. B X CONTENTS, around it ; the thickness of the wall ; the vestibule of the Porch ; the marble and golden tables ; the golden vine and candlestick ; the two pillitrs, Jachin and Boaz : inquiry into their appearance and probable use. The apavtnients on either side of the vestibule. The chambers of the butchering instru. ments ; and the apartment above the door, where the crowns of the con- quered kings were kept. - _ . _ , 157 SECT. XI. The Holy Place.-^The thickness of the wall between it and the Porch ; two doors in the wall ; singular manner of opening and shutting them daily ; the particular time when opened j a remarkable marble stone between the two doors ; the veil that hung between them ; total of veils in the Temple, and where hung. Description of the Holy Place ; its dimensions, beauty, and richness ; the palm trees, and cherubims. The windows of the Holy Place; its furniture — viz. 1st. The candlestick, its height, materials, form, position, and fate after the destruction of Jerusalem. 2nd. The table of shew bread ; its size, situation ; the manner of making the shew bread, taking away the old and placing the new ; the frankincense and wine that stood beside it ; and the fate of the table after the destruction of Jerusalem. 3d. The golden altar, its size, materials, situation ....... 170 SECT. XII. The Most Holy Place.-^The partition which divided the Holy from the Most Holy Place : the veils, their materials, colour, great strength, yet rent at Christ's crucifixion ;— reflections on that event. Dimensions of the Most Holy Place during the tabernacle, first and second Temples, and Temple by Herod. Its exceeding beauty and richness ; had no windows, and why. Its furniture : — 1st. The ark, with the mercy-seat ; their size, what made of: tables of the law: golden pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. 2dly. The cherubim of glory: a description of them. 184 SECT. XIII. Buildings attached to the Temple. — The fifteen chambers on the north side ; the fifteen on the south side ; the eight at the west end ; their size and uses. The gallery before these chambers ; the wall before the gallery ; the large chamber over the Holy and Most Holy Places ; the veils that di- vided it; and the stair that communicated from it to the top of the Temple. Josephus's plan of the Courts of the Temple shewn to be not at variance with the foregoing accounts. The different degrees of sanctity attached to the Temple. The punishments inflicted on those who violated it ^^1, Death by the hand of Heaven; 2. Cutting off; 3. Whipping; 4. Rebels, beating 191 PART III. THE MINISTERS OF THE TEMPLE. SECT. I. The High Prieit. — The manner of installation under the tabernacle and first Temple. The garments of office particularly described. Theurim and thummim, and beth-kel. His dress on the day of atonement. Garments under the second Temple. The phylacteries and anointing of. How in- stalled under the second Temple. His several duties ; duration in office ; and certain things of a civil nature, in which he differed from other Israel- CONTENTS. XI il-€S. The succession of high priests from their first appointment till the buUding of the Temple ; from thence till the carrying away to Babylon ; no account of them during the Captivity ; the account continued, from their return till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Average lives of the high priests during each of these periods 207 SECT. II. The Superior Officers of the Temple.— The sagan : kethulikin, or overseers of the treasuries : amercelin, or overseers of the gates : the gezbe- rin, or deputy collectors : the chief priests of every course: the heads of the houses of their fathers : overseers of the times, doors, guards, singers, cymbal music, lots, birds, tickets, drink-offerings, sick, waters, shew bread, incense, veils, and priests' garments. Particular account of the duties of each of these • 245 SECT. III. The Priests. — Their courses during the first Temple ; the way in which these were revived after the Captivity. The three ranks into which each course was subdivided. Their manner of attendance at the Temple ; the day of the week on which they entered upon, and left off attendance. How the ^nofficiating priests were employed at home : the age at which they began to serve, and were excused from serving. The form of consecration at different periods of the Jewish economy : the dress they wore while on duty : how procured — how applied when old : their ordinary dress when at home : their duties in the Temple : their employment at home. The general utility of the priesthood. The manses and glebes of the Jewish clergy. The nine items which composed their stipends. How the half shekel for every Israelite was applied. The marriages and numbers of the priesthood 251 SECT. IV. The Levites. — The reason why they were chosen ; nature of their employment during the Tabernacle. The twenty-four courses during the Temple ; three catalogues of these. Their employments while at the Temple, threefold. 1st. As porters and servants through the day. 2nd. As guards along with the priests during the night. The man of the Mountain of the House, who ? 3d. As musicians. The temple Music, either vocal or instrumental. The instrumental music, three kinds. 1st. Wind instruments, as the trum- pet, flute, timbrel, tabret, and organ. 2d. Instruments with strings, as the psaltery and harp. 3d. Those that sounded by concussion, as the cymbals. A particular account of all these. The maximum and minimum of the Tem- ple band. Account of the music during divine service. The psalms sung on the different days of the week. Every psalm divided into three parts : the 24th Psalm given as an example. The meaning of Selah, and the number of times it occurs in Scripture. How the Levites were employed at home. The age when they might serve, and could retire from service ; the form of their con- seci'ation ; their distinctive dress. The thirty-five Lcvitical cities : the Cities of Refuge described ; the other funds for their support ; their numbers 276 SECT. v. The Stationary Men and JVethinitn. — The twenty-four courses of the former ; the reasons for their appointment ; their duties at the Temple : the duty of that part of the course that staid at home. The Nethinim— who they were ; their employment ; their numbers « - 31f> XU CONTENTS. PART IV. THE SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. SECT. I. The Vessels of Service. — Very many ; provided partly by the public, and partly by the piety of individuals ; some of them mentioned. The fate of the sacred vessels after the destruction of Jerusalem - - 320 SECT. n. The Animal Sacrifice. — The kinds of animals used ; and vegetable; and minerals. Burnt-offerings ; the occasion of them ; way of devoting them ; killing; sprinkling the blood; salting; laying on the altar. Manner of offer- ing turtle-doves and young pigeons. Burnt-offerings prior to the Mosaic dispensation. Sin-offerings ; the occasion of them; persons by whom they might be offered ; the whole congregation ; individuals under three supposed cases. Trespass-offerings ; how they differed from sin-offerings ; commonly divided into certain and doubtful ; the doubtful explained ; the five certain cases specified ; the place where the priest's portion of them was eaten, and the time : the probable origin of the Agapse, or love-feasts, among the first Christians. Peace-offerings ; comprehending thank-offerings, free-iaill-offer- ings, and vows. The animals used ; Jiow devoted by the offerer, and slain by the priests ; the portion of them that belonged to the priests, and that which was eaten by the offerer; the meat-offering that accompanied them; the additions made to the law concerning them under the second Temple; the persons who could offer them ...-.- 325 SECT. III. Meat and Drink-offerings : Wave and Heave-offerings.— Meat-offer- ings— Thirteen kinds of them ; rules for managing them : the proportion of meat-offerings for the different kinds of sacrifices under the Tabernacle and first Temple ; why honey forbidden. The alterations introduced under the second temple. The manner of offering them in our Saviour's days. Drink-of- ferings— what ; the quantity required for the different animals j the sacri. fices that had both meat and drink-offerings. The drink-offering of the daily sacrifice was the signal for the music to begin. Heave and fVave-offeriiigs — their naturd ; the property of the priests. An equitable regulation about the dead and of spoil founded on them. Two questions answered ; 1st. How the persons liable for offerings were induced to pay them .? 2d, At what time the offerings which they owed became due ?----- 343 SECT. IV. The Daihj Service of the Temple.— Manntv of conducting it. The priests on duty prepared for the coming of the president of the lots. They went with him round the Coui-t of Israel : got the high priest's meat-offer, ing : retired to the chamber of lots : cast the first lot for him who should begin to remove the ashes from the altar : returned to the chamber of lots to cast for thirteen different pieces of service : sent for the lamb for the morning sacrifice : opened the seven doors of the Court of Israel : trumpets sounded to collect the musicians and stationary men : lamb killed : lamps of the golden candlestick trimmed : ashes on the altar of incense removed : retired to the chamber of lots to pray, repeat the commandments and phylacteries : cast lets a third time for offering incense on the golden altar, and laying the morn- CONTENTS. Xlii ing sacrifice on the altar i the way in which these were done. Four of the prayers which the people uttered while the incense was burning. The priest who offered the incense, and his three associates bless the people from the steps of the poi-ch. The meat-offering of the daily sacrifice, and the sacrifice of the high priest presented : the drink-offering poured out : the morning service concluded by the musicians singing the psalm for the day. The em- ployment of the priests during the middle of the day. The manner of conduct- ing the evening service. Four reflections — 1. The regularity and order with which every thing was conducted. 2. The many circumstances which tended to give solemnity to the service. 3. The light which it throws on the history of Zacharias in Luke i. 9, &c. 4. The tendency it had to lead men to Christ. The standing regulations of the Sanhedrin to preserve order and decency ; and their similarity to the instructions which Christ gave his disciples in Matt, X. 9, 10 - - - - - 353 SECT. v. Occasional Duties of the Priesthood, — 1. The method of burning the red heifer, and using its ashes ; ceremonies used in our Saviour's days : their great care about the person who burnt, and the person who purified : the number of red heifers slam from the time of Moses, till the destruction of Je- rusalem. The probable reason of their appointment. — 2. The mode of admi- nistering the waters of jealousy ; much burdened with traditions - - 373 PART V. THE THREE GREAT FESTIVALS. SECT. I. The Passover — Fixed by the appearance of the new moon in March ; the way the Sanhedrin took to know this ; the times when the couriers went through the land; all the males bound to appear, with a few exceptions ; the fifteen days of preparation ; three reasons assigned as the origin of the passover ; manner of observing it under the 'I'abernacle and first Temple ; lessons it taught the spiritual-minded Jews. Themanner of observing ilinour Saviour's days ; the choice of tlie lambs ; searching for leaven ; the evening sacrifice, when killed to make room for the passover ; the paschal societies, and regula- tions of the Sanhedrin concerning ; hour at which they brought the lambs to the Temple to be killed ; the three companies they formed ; their manner of killing them ; the part of the lesser Hallel that was sung ; manner of singing it ; the eighteen days of the year on which it was sung. Probable number of paschal lambs ; the number of blasts of the silver trumpets during the kill- ing of them ; the Court of the Priests washed when done ; regulations when the passover happened to fall on the sabbath. The paschal lambs how roast- ed ; when and how eaten. The first cup of wine and water; prayer over it ; size of the cup ; the first washing of hands ; manner of doing it ; form of prayer during the operation. The five dishes that were brought to the table ; the bitter herbs and sauce tasted ; the dishes removed, and why ; the dishes brought back, with the prayers on their return. The second cup of wine and water, and second washing of hands ; the unleavened bread and bitter herbs dipped in the sauce and eaten ; the prayer pronounced on the occasion ; the meat and peace-offerings eaten, with the prayer before. The paschal lamb eaten, with the prayer before it. The Apicumen, or last piece. The third washing of hands, and third cup of wine and water. The fourth cup, and the XIV CONTENTS. rest of the Hallel. The president's concluding prayer. A fifth cup sometimes taken but seldom. Then the great Hallel sung ; what it consisted of. Pass- over of the second month described. Paschal feast lasted eight days ; the first seen already. The duties of the second day, or first of the passover week. On that day Christ was crucified ; the circumstances attending that event considered. The duties of the second day of the passover week ; manner of cutting down and presenting the first-fruits of the barley harvest ; Christ lay in the grave the whole of this day. Duties of the third day of the pass- over week : on this day Christ rose. The duties of the remaining days. The way in which the modem Jews observe the passover - - 382 SECT. II. The Feast of Pentecost. — Divine ordinance concerning; way of counting the weeks ; time of the year it fell to be observed : the eight duties on the day of Pentecost: the impressive manner in which the tribes went to Jerusalem, Reasons for the appointing of PentecOst. This feast the time when the Spirit descended on the apostles : the time of the day, and the day of the week Inquired into. Way in which the modern Jews observe Pentecost 429 SECT. III. The Feast of Tabernacles. — Reasons of its appointment threefold : the time of the year when kept ; way it was observed during the Taberna- cle ; first and second Temples ; in .the days of our Saviour. The lulebs and pomecitrons which they carried in their hands. Routine of service during the first day. The ceremony of fetching tlie water from the Pool of Siloam ; singing the Hallel ; the peculiar sacrifices for that day ; way in which the courses divided the work among them ; their encircling the altar ; attendance on the divinity schools in the afternoon ; manner of teaching, and subjects taught; the evening sacrifice; the nightly rejoicing; the fifteen Psalms of Degrees that were sung; the persons who danced; and manner in which the assembly was dismissed : reasons assigned for this singular rejoicing; manner of disposing of their lulebs when parting. The routine of the second day ; third ; fourth ; fifth ; sixth ; seventh, when they encompassed the altar seven times ; eighth, when the solemnity closed. The way in which they were lodged and supported while at Jerusalem. The won- derful promise of divine protection while attending the three yearly festivals. The three great festivals honoured with three remarkable events 446 PART VI. ON THE OTHER FEASTS AND FASTS OF THE JEWS. SECT. I. JVerv-Moons. — Feast of Trumpets.— The appointed offerings at the Feast of New-Moons ; reason of its institution ; way in which the modern Jews observe it. Feast of trumpets ; time of its observance ; peculiar sacri- fices; additions made under the second Temple; way the modern Jews ob- serve the new year. The three Books of Fate that are then supposed to be opened ■..--- 471 SECT. II. Fast of annual Expiation. — Reason of its appointment ; day when observed ; the previous training of the high priest for seven days ; care of the Pharisees to prevent innovation, and to keep him awake the night before. The ten washings and five bathings of the high priest; the preparatory sa- crifices; those for himself and the priests ; the casting of the lots for the CONTENTS. XV scape goat ; the sacrifices for the people ; his four entrances into the holy of . holies ; his sanctifying the holy place ;ithe court of the priests and the altar. The scape goat sent into the wilderness ; sections of the law that were read by the high priest in the court of the wonnen ; burnt offerings appointed for the Israelites ; way in which the modern Jews observe this fast. Practical reflections - - - . . . 477 SECT. III. The Sabbath. — Its original observance. The manner of doing it in the days of our Saviour. The length of a Sabbath day's journey. The Sab- batical calender for the Jews at Amsterdam - - - - - 496 SECT. IV. The Sabbatical Year. — The six regulations concerning it; these both singular and charitable. The king's reading of the law described, with the seven prayers then offered up. The neglect of the sabbatical year ascribed as one cause of the seventy years' captivity : the probable time when it ceased to be observed. Two questions solved ; viz. In what year, after the Israelites entered Canaan, it began to be be observed .'' And, at what season of the year they began to count ?— The Sabbatical year again observed after the captivity - ' - . - ^ . 500 SECT. V. The Year of Jubilee. — On what year and day of the month it was ob- served ; the divine blessing promised on the preceding harvest. The six things for which it was remarkable. Inquiry whether the year of Christ's birth or death was in the year of jubilee. Some recent information concerning some of the jubilee trumpets -- 508 SECT. VI. The Feast of Ptirim or Lots. — Its origin ; lasted three days ; way it was observed formerly ; way it is observed now. Singular conduct of the Jews while in tlie synagogue . . . . 513 SECT. VII. The Feast of Dedication. — History of its origin ; time of the year when kept; manner of observing it; lasted eight days; nightly illumination; alterations afterwards arising from necessity .... 517 SECT. VIII. Lesser Feasts and Fasts of the Jews. — Private and public manner of vowing a private fast: some forbidden to fast privately; men and women fasted apart - - ... 522 PART VII. THE SYNAGOGUE, SECT. I. TVte Synagogue. — The other modes of instruttion hinted at ; proseu- chas explained; their utility; places where situated; usual form. Syna- gogues ths chief - .... . 527 SECT. II Office-bearers of the Synagogue.'— Vlaces of erection, and form of the building. — Stated office-bearers — their general duties - - 529 SECV. III. The Service of the Synagogue. — 1. Their manner of sitting. 2, The public prayers. A translation of the She-menc Oshie, or eighteen prayers ; the summary; the great stress laid on them. 3. The repeating their phy- lacteries. 4. The reading of the law and the prophets; the portions of both that were read throughout the year ; times when read ; manner of reading and interpreting. 5. Preaching from them to the people - 534 Xvi CONTENTS. SECT. IV. Times of Meeting. — Days on which the Synagogue was open. The lesson for the week, how often read : advantage of this to the people ; times of the day when they met; rules for preserving decorum. The antiquity of Synagogues - - 550 PART VIII. JEWISH IDOLATRY, SECTS, AND PROSELYTES. SECT. I. Tfie false Deities known among- the Jews— Ahad, Adrammelech, Ammon, Anamelech, Ashima, Ashtaroth, Baal, Baalim, Baal-berith, Baal- hazor, Baal-peor, Baal tamar, Baal-zebub, Baal-zephon, Bel, Bethshemesh, the Brazen Serpent, Biththepuh, Chemosh, Chiun, Dagon, Gad, the Gamma- dims, the Golden Calt^ the Golden Calves, the Grove, the Hemenim, the host of Heaven, Light and darkness, Malcham, Meni, Mepletzeth, jMerodach, the image of stone or Mesheith, Milcom, Moloch, the Moon, Nebo, Nehushtan, Nergal, Nibhaz, Nisroc, On, Pi-beseth, the Planets, the Queen of heaven, Remphan, Rimmon, Shedim, Semel, Shen, Shoirim, Succoth-benoth, the Sun, Tartak, the Teraphim, Thammuz 555 SECT. II. T/ie Places where they were -worshipped, and the Manner of worship- ping them. — Behind their doors ; on "the roofs of their houses ; in the gates of their cities ; in gardens ; high places ; groves. The houses of their gods ; their altars : of exquisite workmanship ; generally high. Reasons why their altars were high; why they worshipped in high places. Why high places were forbidden by Moses ; and yet tolerated under the first temple. — Idols worshipped by adorning them ; kissing the hand ; dancing before them ; crying aloud ; cutting themselves ; feasting and obscenity - - 593 SECT. III. The various JTinds of Divination. — By the cup; by magic; applying to wise men ; sorcery, male and female ; the flight of birds ; motions of ser- pents ; observing the clouds ; consulting Aub ; palmistry ; divination; charm- ing; necromancy; consulting those who peeped and muttered; conjuration ; star-gazing ; applying to monthly prognosticators, and dreamers ; rhabdo- mancy ; consulting teraphim ; and soothsayers .... 600 SECT. IV. Jewish Sects, and lesser Distinctions, in our Saviour^a Days.— En- mity between Jews and Samaritans accounted for. Sadducees, their origin and tenets : Pharisees, their origin and tenets; this sect the most numerous and popular.— The Essenes, practical and contemplative. The Herodians.— Chief priests ; Scribes, their office, and how our Lord's teaching differed from theirs. — The elders, lawyers, and publicans - - 611 SECT. V. Jewish Proselytes. — 1st. Slaves embracing Judaism without obtain- ing their liberty. 2nd. Proselytes of the gate : the seven precepts of Noah ; their conformity to the apostolic rescript in Acts xv.20, 29. 3d. Proselytes of righteousness ; their privileges; how initiated; their instruction, circum- cision, and baptism. Children of these proselytes entitled to their privileges. Proselytes of righteousness on their admission offered a sacrifice, and changed their name. The Jews divide the history of Proselytism into six pe- riods ; these mentioned - 624 as3^ia©iDii®^a©sS( There has always been, in every age, some fa- mily or nation which has been the repository of religion for the time ; but the most remarkable instance with which we are acquainted, is that of the family of Abraham. They were evidently un- der a particular providence, and highly distin- guished by the Divine Being ; for, besides the mi- racles which were wrought in their behalf, " to them," as the apostle speaks, "pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; and of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came."* Thus were they a lamp, set up by Jehovah, to enlighten mankind ; in or- der that, from Judea, as from a centre, his know- ledge and his fear might extend through the earth. Small, indeed, was that spot which the Jews in- habited, but it was admirably situated for the in- tentions of Providence. It was in the neighbour- hood of Egypt and Phoenicia, the great trading nations : and it touched upon, or had connection witli Arabia, Assyria, and Persia, the key to the whole of the eastern world. If the classical scho- ♦ Rogi, Is, 4, 5, XVlll INTRODUCTION. lar, therefore, surveys with delight the states of Greece and the territory of Rome, as the cradle of the arts, and the places where genius and va- lour shone with peculiar lustre ; with much more pleasure ought the mind of the Christian to con- template Judea as the land of revelation, and the birth-place of the Saviour. Let us employ our- selves, then, in considering the antiquities and usages of these singular people : and begin with the tabernacle, as the foundation of that ritual for which they were so distinguished. ANTIQ,UITIES OF THE JEWS. PART I. THE TABERNACLE DESCRIBED. J. HE court of the congregation, the tabernacle, and all the vessels connected with it, having been ordered to be constructed after a Divine model, which was shewn to Moses on the Mount f the Lord commanded him to in- form the Israelites that they were at liberty to give what- ever was needed for that important work ;^ and accord- ingly we are told,^ that multitudes, both of men and women, were so anxious to contribute, that Moses was obliged to restrain their liberality. But when God in- tends a work, he also provides persons qualified to exe- cute it : hence Bezaleel, the son of Uri, of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe- of Dan, are mentioned as having been eminently skilled to devise cunning work, and works in gold, in silver, and in brass ; in cutting stones to set them, carving of wood, weaving and embroidery ; and as well qualified to teach and superintend others in these departments r*^ for we, may easily suppose, that a number of persons of both sexes would be requisite for preparing the materials^ and making them up into the different articles.^ Let us proceed, then, to consider the various parts of this divinely-contrived tabernacle in their order. ' Ex. XX. 40 ; XXVI. 30 t Ex. xxv. 1-8 ; xxxv. 4-9. '= Ex. xxxv. 20—29; xxxvi. 4—7. <* Ex. xxxi. 1—6; xxxv. 30—35; xxxvi. 1—3; x.xxviii. 2?. T^-. " Ex. xxxv. 10 IQ. Vol. L C 18 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. SECT. I. Of the Court of the Tabernacle. The Court oftke Tabernacle. — Its leng-Ui, breadth,positior., pillars, sockets, iin<5 curtains. The altar of" burnt-offering. The laver and its foot. The court of the tabernacle was that inclosed space which surrounded the tabernacle, and the various things connected with it. It was enjoined to be an oblong space ©■f one hundred cubits by fifty/ situated due east and west ; the particulars of the several sides of which were as follows : — First, on the south side were twenty pillars, at the distance of five cubits from each other, so as to extend one hundred cubits in all.^ These pillars were of brass; but they were filletted with silver, their chapiters were overlaid with silver, and the hooks, which were at- tached to them for hanging the curtains, were also of silver. Their twenty sockets, however, on which they stood, were only of brass,'' and were fastened to the earth with pins of brass. ^ With respect to the height of these pillars and their sockets, we have no express information: but, it is probable, that they were about five cubits, since the hangings of the court are stated to be that height.*" So much, then, for the south side. — On the north side, the length was also one hundred cubits, defined by twenty jnllars, on twenty sockets, at five cubits distance from each other, and of the same kind and height as those on the south side.*" The west end was only fifty cubits broad, marked out by ten pillars, upon ten sockets, at five cubits distance from each other, of the same kind and height as the former ;s and the east end was only fifty cubits broad, defined by three pillars, on three sockets. a Ex. xxvii. 18. '^ Ia. xxvii. 10, ' Ex. xxxvlii. 10. 17. << Ex.xxxviii.20. "^ Kx. xxxvlii. 18. ^ Ex.xxvii. 11 ; xxxviii. 11 e Ex. xxvii, 12; xxxi.ii), 3!•^ THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE. 19 V)n either side of the entrance ; and of four for the en trance — making ten in all. Thus, the three pillars, at five cubits distance from each other, would mark out fif- teen cubits on each side of the entrance, and leave twenty cubits for the entrance f which had, as we have just now said, four pillars of the same kind, at five cubits distance from each other, on which to hang the curtain that enclosed the entrance.'* Thus, around the enclosed space of one hundred cubits by fifty, there were sixty pillars of brass, fiiletted with silver, and standing on sixty sockets of brass, at the distance of five cubits from each other, five cubits in height, having their chapiters over- laid with silver ; and silver hooks for the curtains, be- sides rings for the cords, which fastened all the pillars at top, to secure them from every blast. Let us. next attend to the curtains which were sus- pended from them, so as to form an enclosure round the sacred ground. These are said to have been made of fine twined white linen yarn,'' five cubits broad, and extend- ing one hundred cubits on the south side,*^ one hundred cubits on the north side,^ fifty cubits on the west end,* and fifteen cubits on either side of the entrance on the east end,° making two hundred and eighty cubits of cur- tain of fine white twined linen in all, not so close, per-^ haps, but that the people might see what was passing within. But the curtain for the entrance was different from these; for, in place of plain white twined linen^ it was a hanging of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine white twined linen, twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad,** with cords to draw it either up, or aside, when it was to be entered by the priests.' » Ex.xxvli. 13—15; xxxviii. 13 — 15. '' Ex. xxvii. 16; xxxviii. 19. <^ Ex. xxvii. 9; xxxviii. 9. 16, * Ex. xxvii. 9; xxxviii. 9. « Ex. xxvii. 11; xxxviii. 11. ^ Ex. xxvii. 12; xxxviii. 12. t Ex. xxvii. 14, 15 ; xjexyu, 14. 15. ^ Ex. xxyii. 16; xxxviii. IS ' Ex. XXX1X.40. 20 ANtlQUITIES OP THE JEWS. Such, then, were the dimensions and appearance ot* the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. With respect to its furniture, we read of two things only, viz: — The altar of burnt offering, and the laver and its foot. As for the altar of burnt offering it was made of shit- tim wood, or the black acacia, a tree of low stature, which grows in those parts of the desert Arabia where the tabernacle was built. Tlie original word comes from a root which signifies ^^ despised, hated, or persecuted,'' and may perhaps lead us to see the reason why it was chosen for all the things requiring wood in the taberna- cle : for, being of no repute in comparison of many other trees, it was the fitter emblem of Him who was despised, hated, and persecuted while he tabernacled on earth ; and of his gospel and followers that are ridiculed and despised by the men of the world. This altar of shittim wood was five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high, wholly overlaid with brass, and having four lioras at the four corners of the same materials. It was hollow within, with a grate of net-work of brass to sup- port the fire, and the grate had four rings, by which to carry it when necessary. The altar, also, had four rings at the sides, for the staves of shittim wood overlaid with brass, that were intended for carrying it j and to it be- longed the necessary appendages of pans to receive the ashes, shovels to put the ashes into the pans, basins to hold the blood, the meat and the drink offerings, pots to seeth what required seething, and flesh-hooks to turn the pieces of the sacrifices while they were consuming.* This altar was placed in a line between the door of the court and the door of the tabernacle, but nearer the former ;'' it was kindled by fire from heaven, '^ and was afterwards covered with broad plates of brass, made of the two « Ex, xxvii. 1—8; xxxviii. 1—7. ^ Ex, xl. 6. 29. *• Lev, ix. 34, THE TABERNACLE. 23 hundred and fifty censers of Korah and his company, to warn the IsraeUtes not to rebel against the constituted authorities." As for the laver and its foot, it was placed between tlie altar of burnt offering and the door of the tabernacle, and was made of the brass of the looking- glasses of the women who assembled at the door of tlit* tabernacle of the congregation.'' We are not informed, however, of its size or shape, but it appears to have been large, since its intention was for the priests to wash at. while engaged in the duties of the tabernacle." SECT. II. The Tahernadc. I ts boards ; their length, breadth, and number ; the sockets on which Llic} stood ; tlie lengtli, breadth, and height of tlve tabernacle : difficulty as to its breadth examined. The plates of gold that covered the boards ; its beautiful under- ^covering; how put on its upper covering of goats' hair ; the way it was put on ; tlie covering of rams' skins dyed red ; covering of badgers' skins. Sub- division of the tabernacle into the holy and most holy ; the dividing curtain with its pillars and sockets. The furniture of tlie holy place, viz. : — The al- tar of incense, table of shew bread, golden candlestick. Furniture of the most holy place, viz.: — The ark witli its contents, the mercy seat, the che- rubim ; inquiry into their probable meaning. The place in the court where the tabernacle stood ; time of its erection ; its consecration ; gifts offered by the princes at the dedication of the altar. Quantities of gold, silver, and brass, that were used in the tabernacle and its court ; the present value of the whole. Spiritual rejections. The first thing worthy of notice in the tabernacle of j.he congregation,'' are the boards with which it was sur- rounded. These were enjoined to be of shittini wood, each board ten cubits long, and a cubit and a-half broad, but its thickness is not mentioned '." Lightfoot says nine inches,' and others four fingers, with two tenons to each * Num. xvi. Sr — 40. t Ex. xxxviii. 8. <= Ex. XXX. 18—21 ; x). 30—32. '' Ex. xxx. iii. 7. <= Ex. xxvi. 15, 16 ; xxxvi. 20. 21. [ Gleanings from Exoilus § 32. 22 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. board for fixing them in the sockets on which they were to stand.* And, with respect to their number, they were as follow : — On the south side, were twenty boards, which, at a cubit and a-half each, would reach thirty cubits.'' On the north side, were twenty boards, which would also extend thirty cubits."" On the west end, were six boards, which would extend to nine cubits ;^ and two boards more at the two corners, making eight in all, on the west end.* But, on the east end, which was the en- trance, there were no boards, but only five pillars of shittim wood, whose chapiters and fillets were overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold, standing on five sockets of brass.*^ Thus were there forty-eight boards round the south, north, and west sides of the tabernacle, and these were mortised at the foot, by their two tenons each, into ninety-six sockets of silver of a talent each,^ that were fastened to the ground with pins of brass i^ which pins, Josephus says, were a cubit long ;' while at the top, the two boards at the south-west and north- west corners, were coupled to the adjoining ones by a ring ',^ and the rest were joined together by bars of shit- tim wood, overlaid with gold, in the following way ; — The south and north sides, and the west end, had five bars each,* but what the length of these bars was is not particularly said. The middle ones, indeed, on the dif- ferent sides and ,end, were appointed to be the whole length, or thirty cubits on the south and north sides, and ten cubits at the west end ; which w^ere, probably, sunk into the boards, and ran along a groove from end => Ex. xxvi. IT; xxxvi. 22. ^ Ex. xxvi. 18; xxxvi. 23. ' Ex. xxvi. 20 ; xxxvi. 25. "^ .Ex. xxvi. 22 ; xxx. vi. 27. « Ex. xxvi. 23 — 25; xxxvi. 23—30. ' Ex. xxvi. 37; xxxvi. 38. R Ex. xxvi. 21—25 ; xxxvi. 24 — 30. '• Ex. xxvii. 19 ; ixxviii. 20. ' Aiitiq. III. 6 ^ Ex. xxvi. 24 ; xxxvi. 29. ' Ex. xxvi. 26, 27 ; xxxvi. 31, 32. THE TABERNACLE. 23 to end, at five cubits from the ground ; while the other four bars, either went half the length of the sides and end, two of them making a whole length, through gold rings at the bottom, and the other two a whole length through gold rings at the top ; or else they were of the whole length of the sides and end, like the middle bars ; two of them passing through gold rings that were fas- tened to the top of the boards, inside and out ; and the other two passing through gold rings at the bottom of the boards, inside and out.** In this manner were the boards of the tabernacle set up. They comprehended a space of thirty cubits in length, and ten in height, but the width is not certain : for the six boards at the we&t end, of a cubit and a- half each, reached only nine cu- bits ; whereas the common opinion is, that it was ten, and some even think that it was twelve. It is easy to see, however, that each of these opinions must depend entirely on the supposed thickness of the two boards that were added to the corners. Perhaps the following ob- servations may reconcile the difference. We have al- ready seen, that there were six boards of a cubit and a- half each at the west end, which extended therefore to nine cubits. Let us suppose that the other two boards, which are mentioned for the corners, were also a cubit and a-half broad each, this would reach other three cu- bits, making the outside of the tabernacle twelve cu- bits as some have stated it. But it is natural to think, that the two boards at the corners, although not broader, would be thicker than the rest, being the connecting boards of the sides with the end. In place, therefore, of supposing them four fingers thick, like the rest, let us suppose them to have been double that thickness. This would give them sufficient strength to receive the bai's » Ex. xxvi. 28, 29; xxxvi. :i\ 34» 24 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. '■ which fastened the boards of the sides and the end of the tabernacle, and leave half a cubit within, at each side, to make up the cubit that was wanting. Thus the six boards, that are mentioned in Scripture, would ex- tend nine cubits, and the two half cubits, which we have supposed, would make up the ten cubits that are com- monly assigned as the width of the inside of the taber- aacle. It is added, that the whole of the boards were over- laid with gold, by which I understand, that both their sides, inside and out, were completely covered with thin plates of that precious metal. ^ What a magnificent ap- pearance, therefore, would these boards of the taberna- cle present ! A space of thirty cubits long, ten high, and ten wide within, or twelve on the out side, surrounded by boards of shittim wood completely overlaid with gold^, and standing on ninety-six massy sockets of silver, of a talent, or one hundred and twenty-five pounds troy each, which would form a wedge, as Lightfoot thinks, of thir- teen and a-half inches high and half a cubit square,^ and at five shillings an ounce, would be worth J^375 sterling : making thereby the whole weight of the ninety-six talents to have been one hundred and twenty thousand pounds troy, and their value, in our money, to have been no less than ^36,000 sterling. But these formed only a part of the magnificence of that wonderful tent : for v>'e must next consider its beautiful covering. This was composed of ten curtains of fine twined linen of white, and blue, and purple,' and scarlet, with cherubim of cunning work ; each curtain twenty-eight cubits long, and four cubits broad, "^ making two hundred and eight) cubits of curtain in all. These were joined in the follow- a Ex. XXVI. 29 ; xxxvi. 34. ^ Gleanings from Exodus, § S3. Ex. xxvi. 1,2; xxxri. 8, 9. THE TABERNACLE. 25 ing way: — 1st. Five of them were joined together, cur- tain to curtain, by fifty loops of bhie at each of the selv- edges, fastened by fifty taches or pins of gold ; and, 2dly. The other five were joined together, curtain to curtain, in the same way.^ These curtains being joined together by the selvedges, or sides, the loops of blue must have been placed at the distance of about twelve inches and a- quarter from each other, allowing the cu- bit to have been nearly twenty-one inches and three quarters : for these multiplied by twenty-eight, the num- ber of cubits in a curtain, and divided by fifty, give twelve and a- quarter inches as the distance of the loops from each other along the side of the curtain. But the question is, how these twice five curtains, v>^hen coupled together, were laid on the tabernacle ? Whether they were laid along the roof and sides, from east to west^ and joined in the middle of the roof in that direction | or thrown across, from south to north, and joined in that way ? We shall best understand this by seeing which of the ways will suit. Let us suppose them, then, in the first place, to have extended from east to west, and to have been joined together along the roof in that direc- tion. The boards to be covered were ten cubits high on each side, and ten cubits over the roof, making thirty cubits from ground to ground. But the ten curtains, when joined side to side, and laid from east to west, would make forty cubits ; for each curtain was four cu- bits broad. Here then we have a waste of ten cubits, or five cubits on each side, more than were necessary to reach from ground to ground. And, as there would be a waste on the two sides, so there would be a want at either end : for the south and north sides, joined to half of the west end, would be each thirty-five cubits, viz. » Ex. xx\J.o— 6; xxxvi. 10—13. Vol. I, D 2S ANTIQtJITlES OF THE JEWS. thirty cubits as the length of each side of the tabernacle, and five cubits as half the width of the end, whereas the length of the curtains was only twenty-eight cubits. It is evident^ then, that the two pieces of curtain, cojitain- ing five curtains each, could not be joined along the middle of the roof, from east to west : they must, therefore, have been thrown across, from north to south ; and even then, although there would be abundance as to length, from east to west, they would want a cubit from the sockets on either side, on the north and south : for we saw that the boards and roof reached thirty cubits across, from ground to ground, whereas the curtains were only twenty- eight cubits in length ; but this may have been intended to prevent them from rotting at the foot, by damp from the ground. Indeed, the whole of the difiiculty lies in the ten curtains being joined together into two pieces of five curtains each : for, that there was enough of curtain to cover the whole tabernacle, even including the en- trance, will be obvious from the following calculation : The ten curtains of twenty- eight cubits each make two hundred and eighty cubits ; and these multiplied by their breadth, which was four cubits, make one thousand one hundred and twenty superficial cubits of curtain to cover the tabernacle. But the south side of the taber- nacle was thirty cubits long, by ten cubits high, conse- quently its superficial measure was - 300 cubits. The north side was the same measure - 300 The roof was the same measure - 300 And the west end was ten cubits high ^ by ten or twelve broad, say twelve ; > 120 these make - ■ " 3 Making the whole equal to - - 1,020 super- ficial cubits ; and leaving one hundred cubits either for the door of entrance, which was ten cubits broad by ten cubits high ; or, which was more probable, to make the THE TABERNACLE. 2/ curtains hang more full around the tabernacle : for there is a distinct hanging mentioned for the door of the ta- bernacle, and of the same materials as the rest, to be hung on the five pillars formerly mentioned ; but, as its dimensions are not stated, it must have been sufficient to cover the entrance, which was ten cubits broad by ten cubits high, or one hundred superficial cubits.* Thus have we attended to the inner and most beau tiful covering of the tabernacle ; let us next attend to the curtains of goats' hair which were intended to defend it from the weather : these were eleven in number, each thirty cubits long, and four cubits broad :^ and were en- joined to be made into two pieces ; the one of five cur- tains by themselves, and the other of six curtains by themselves i'' but how they were spread over the taber- nacle is the difiiculty. The following seems to be the most probable. Suppose the piece of six curtains to have been destined for the east end of the tabernacle, it would lie thus : — Four of the curtains, being each four cubits wide and thirty cubits long, would, when sewed together, and thrown across the tabernacle, cover sixteen cubits of the length of the roof and sides, reaching down to the sockets of the foundation ; while the other two curtains, that were sewed to them, would serve as a double co- vering to the door, or entrance, as enjoined in Exod. xxvi. 9 ; because it was not defended by boards, like the sid^s and other end. Thus have we seen how the piece of six curtains was probably disposed of. Let us next see how the piece of five curtains was applied. As the tabernacle was thirty cubits long, and only sixteen of these, together with the door, were covered by the piece of six curtains, it would require three and a- half cur- a Ex. xxvi. 36, 37 ; xxxvi. 37, 38. '> Ex. xxvi. 7, 8 ; xsxvi. 14, 15. « Ex. xxvi, 9 ; xxxvi. 16. 2!& ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. tains more, of four cubits broad each, to be sewed to- gether, to cover the remaining fourteen cubits : the west end would require one curtain; and the remain- ing half curtain, to make up the five, was appointed to overlap the curtain at the end/ in order the more effec- tually to screen the ark and the mercy seat from the in- juries of the weather. It was not without reason, then, that the eleven curtains were sewed together into two pieces : for, the one piece of six curtains made a double covering to the door, and extended sixteen cubits along the roof and sides ; and the other piece of five curtains covered the remaining fourteen cubits of roof and sides, and the west end ; and they were connected together by fifty loops and fifty taches of brass'' when laid on the ta- bernacle. Yet a difficulty still remains, viz. how the cur- tains at the ends were made to fit ? There was, indeed, enough in both places, since the superficial extent of each end was ten cubits in height, by ten in breadth in the inside, or twelve without, (supposing the boards at the corners to have been. a cubit and a-half wide) which would make them one hundred and twenty superficial cubits; and each of the curtains was thirty cubits in length, by four in breadth, or one hundred and twenty superficial cubits. But it is not easy to see how they could be put on without cutting : for they were only four cubits broad, or eight cubits when sewed together, while the ends were each ten cubits square. It is likely, then, that the curtain for the west end, and the two curtains for the east end, or entrance, before they were sewed to the other curtains, would each of them be cut into three lengths of ten cubits, and joined together by the sides, so as to make them twelve cubits wide; that they might thus be the requisite depth of ten cubits from the » Ex. xxvi. 12. ^ Ex. xsvi. 10, 11 ; xxxvi. 17, 18. THE TABERNACLE. 39 top to the bottom, and twelve cubits from side to side. Such, then, appears to have been the nature of the co- vering of the cloth made of goats' hair. And it will be noticed, that as the curtains of goats' hair were thirty cubits long, while the linen curtains under them were only twenty-eight, this hair-cloth covering would reach a cubit lower, all around, than the linen covering, and thereby defend it completely from the weather.* In other words, it would descend on each side till it reached the silver sockets of the foundation. Still, however, a very important part was wanting. For it must have been noticed that the roof of the taber- nacle, so far as we have come, was perfectly flat, which would have rendered it pervious to every shower. It was therefore necessary that a sloping roof, of some kind or other, should be formed to throw off the rain ; and this was accomplished by a double covering — 1st. Of rams' skins, dyed red ; and 2dly. Of badgers' skins, as our translators give it, or the skins of the lH/tlD thehesh, whatever species of animal that may have been i*" unless we explain it, not of an animal, but of a colour, as all the ancient versions do. Thus the LXX. throughout render it vajxivdog, and vaxLvBivog ; Jerome, hyacinthus and hyacinthinus ; Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodosian in Exod. xxvi. 5, render it lavdcva, violet-coloured : and the Jewish traditions make it blue. According to these, therefore, this uppermost covering was not of badgers' skins particularly, but of skins dyed azure, or sky-blue, from whatever animals they were taken. Thus there were three coverings for the door, two for the sides, and four for the roof. Hitherto we have attended only to the external ap- pearance of the tabernacle. Let us next enter that sa- » Ex. xsvi, 13. b Ex. xxvi. 14; xxxvi. 19. 30 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. cred tent, and examine both its divisions and furniture It does not appear, from any express passage of Scrip- ture, in what proportions the interior of the tabernacle was divided : but as Solomon's Temple, of sixty cubits in length, was divided into two parts of forty and twenty, the first for the holy, and the second for the most holy place ;^ so it has commonly been believed, that the thirty cubits in length, in the tabernacle, was divided into similar proportions, of twenty cubits for the holy, and ten for the most holy. Thus the holy place would be twenty cubits long, ten wide, and ten high, and the most holy place would be a space of ten cubits every way. The division between the two places was formed by four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold, like the pil- lars at the door of the tabernacle, two cubits and a-half distant from each other ; only they stood on sockets of silver, in place of sockets of brass :^ and on these pillars was hung a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim of cunning work." It is not said whether the holy and most holy places had the earth for their floor, or a floor of boards ; but it is likely that they had the latter, as being the better finish- ing. It is evident, however, that neither the holy, nor most holy places, had any window. Hence the need of the candlestick in the one, for the service that was per- formed in it ; and the darkness of the other would create reverence, and might perhaps have suggested the similar contrivance of the Adyta in the heathen temples. But let us attend to the furniture which they con- tained ; and first, of the holy place, in which were three objects worthy of notice, viz. the altar of incense, the table for the shew bread, and the candlestick for the 1 Kings vi. 17. 20. ^ F.x, xxvi. 32 ; xxxvi. 36. Ex. xxvi. 31—33; xxxvi. J5, THE TABERNACLE. 31 light. As for the altar ofincensey it was made of shittim wood; and completely covered with plates of gold, a cubit in length, a cubit in breadth, and two cubits in height ; the horns at the corners of it being also of the same materials. And it had a crown, or ornamented cornice, of gold, round about ; and four rings of gold, under the crown, for the staves which carried it from place to place ; which staves were also of shittim wood, overlaid with gold.* It was on this altar that incense, compounded of equal parts of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense,'' was commanded to be burnt every morning and evening, during the time of the trimming of the lamps ; and its position was in the middle of the house, before the veil.*" On the north side of the altar of incense, or on the right hand of the priest as he en- tered, and was looking to the most holy place, stood the table for the shew bread.^ It was also made of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, and was two cubits in length, a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a-half in height, hav- ing a crown or ornamental cornice round about ; a bor- der of an hand-breadth further out, above the crown ; and a second crown or ornamental cornice above the bor- der." Thus its real dimensions were two cubits and two hand-breadths in breadth, and a cubit and a-half in height. It had four rings of gold for the staves which carried it ; which staves were also of shittim wood, over- laid with gold, and it had dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls attached to it, all of pure gold.*" It was on this table that they set the shew bread on the sabbath, and replaced it with other loaves on the following sabbath.^ The only remaining article of furniture in the holy place ■ ■ ■ "i-f a Ex. XXX, 1—5; xxxvii. 25—28. ^ Ex. xxx. 34—38. ^ Ex. xxx. 6—10; xl. 26, 27. ^ Ex. xxv-. 35 ; xl. 22, 23. 9 Ex. XXV. 23—25 ; xxxvii. 10—12. f Ex\ xxv. 26—30; xxxvii .13—17. s 1 Chron. ix. 32. 32 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWs!. was the candlestick for the light; which stood on the south side of the holy place," or on the left hand of the priest as he entered that sacred apartment. It was of beaten gold, and consisted of the following parts : — 1st. The foot of the shaft, which might either have been with three feet or a circular base, for no particular shape is mentioned. 2d. That part of the shaft which was above the base, and below the first pair of branches. This was ornamented with the appearance of bowls, knops, and flowers. 3d. The first pair of branches, which went out from the shaft, ascending in the form of a semicircle, to support two lamps, and adorned with the appearance of an almond, a knop, and a flower, three times repeated. 4th. A knop on the shaft, to divide between the first and second pair of branches. 5th. The second pair of branches for other two lamps, of the same form as the first pair. 6th. Another knop on the shaft, to divide be- tween the second and third pairs of branches. 7th. A third pair of branches, for other two lamps of the same shape as the former. And, 8th. The top of the shaft, on which was another lamp, making seven in all. These, with their snuff'ers and snuff"- dishes, were made of a talent, or one hundred and twenty five pounds Troy, of pure gold '^ and at four pounds sterling the ounce, would have been worth six thousand pounds sterling. It was kept burning, with pure beaten olive oil, morning and evening.'' Having thus seen the articles worthy of notice in the lioly place, let us next enter the Most Holy, and examine the things for which it was remarkable. These were three ; the ark with the things contained in it, the mercy seat, and the cherubim. » Ex. xxvi. 35 ; xl. 24, 25. * Ex. XXV. 31 — 39 ; xxxvii. 17—24, Num. viii. 2—4. <• Ek. xxyii. 20, 21. Num. viii. 1 — 4. THE TABERNACLE. $3 1. The ark was a chest of shittim wood, overlaid within and without with pure gold. Its dimensions were two cubits and a-half in length, a cubit and a-half in breadth, and a cubit and a-half in height. It had a crown, or or- namental cornice of gold round the top ; and had four rings of gold for the staves, to carry it ; two of the rings being on eitlier side of the ark, in which the staves, which were of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, always remained, but out so far towards the veil, as to allow the ark to stand at the wall of the apartment.^ Into this ark were put, by Divine appointment, the three following things : — 1st. A golden pot, containing an Omer of the manna with which they were fed in the wilderness, to be kept as a testimony of that wonderful event."" 2d. The testimony, or tables of the covenant." And 3d. Aaron's rod that budded.*^ And in the side of the ark, in a place made for the purpose, Moses enjoined that a copy of the whole law should be kept.^ Such them was the ark an^ the things contained in it. 2. The mercy seat appears to have been a covering to the ark ; or, at least, it was of such a size as to fit the covering of it exactly : for it was ordered to be of pure gold, two cubits and a-half in length, and a cubit and a- half in breadth ; and was set above upon the ark.^ 3. The last part of the furniture in the most holy place, was the cheruhim. These were figures of a singular ap- pearance, each having four heads, viz. the face of a calf^ the face of a lion, the face of a man, and the face of an eagle : all attached to a human body with four wings, and four hands under the wings, and standing on feet re- sembling those of a calf or o?c.^ They were made of pure a Ex. XXV. 10—1.5; xxxvii 1—5. ^ Ex. xvi. 32— .34. Heb, is. 4, = Ex. XXV. 16—21. Deut. x. 1—5. Heb. ix. 4. 'I Numb. xvii. 6— 11. Heb. Ix. 4 « Deut, xxxi. 24— 25. ^ Ex, XXV. \7 — 21; xxvi. 34; xxxvii. 6. s Ezek. i. 5—14, Vol. I. E 34 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW?. beaten gold, two of their wings covered their bodies^ and the other two were extended over the mercy seat ; while their faces looked inw ard and downward upon it. It was from between these, that Jehovah promised to meet the Israelites as their lawgiver and covenant God, and to deliver the commandments which he might think proper to give them.^ Few subjects have given rise to more various opinions than the probable meaning of the cherubim ; but the most generally received are the three following : either, that they were hieroglyphics of the Trinity, as they ap- pear in the works of creation, providence, and redemp- tion ; or that they represent the character and office of the ministers of religion ; or are descriptive of the gene- ral history of the church.. The first, which makes them hieroglyphics of the Trinity, is the opinion of the Hutchinsonians, or followers of the late John Hutchinson, Esq. of Oxford; and, as it is the most uncommon, it requires the fullest explanation. With respect to creation, then, the faces of the cherubim, according to them, form an epitome of the most distin- guished tribes ; for the bull is the head of the tame and graminivorous animals, the lion of the w ild and carnivo- rous, the eagle of the winged tribes, and man of the ra- tional. So that, when the whole is combined together, itis equivalent to saying, in symbolical representation, that the three-in-one God made them all. But, if you descend, say they, from creation to providence, you will see the same signs, equally expressive : for, what are the three great agents which God employs, for moulding the slug- gish and inactive earth into all those innumerable forms, which it is constantly assuming ? Are they not the solar lire, light, and air ? And what could hieroglyphically ^ Ex. XXV. 18—22; xxxvii. 7—9, THE TABERNACLE. 35 represent them better than the figures before us ? Are not the horns, the curling locks on the forehead of the bull or ox, and his relentless fury, descriptive of the ap- pearance and dreadful effects of fire? Are not the shining eyes, tawny gold-like colour, flowing mane, and the re- sistless strength of the lion, descriptive of the velocity and irresistibility of light? And is not the lofty skimming of the eagle peculiarly characteristic of air in motion? Nor ought the fourth face, or that of a man, to be over- looked ; for it naturally indicates, that the constant ope- ration of these principles is not, as some have asserted, the blind operation of a blind chance, but the constant result of wisdom and intelligence. Such is their explana- tion of the faces of these cherubic figures, as referring to the works of the Trinity in creation and providence. Let us next see how they apply them to the kingdom of grace, where, if possible, say they, they are more expressive still ; for they were instituted immediately after the fall^ when the plan of mercy was first made known, and are descriptive of the interest which each person of the Tri- nity took in the work of redemption. Accordingly, is not the first person of the Godhead called in Scripture a consuming fire,** whose hieroglyphic, as we have seen, is the face of an ox or bull ? Is not the second person as frequently called the light,'' whose hieroglyphic, as we have seen, is the face of a lion ? And is not the common name, by which the third person is designed, that of spirit, or air in motion, whose hieroglyphic we have seen to be the eagle? But what, it may be asked, are we here to understand by the fourth face, or the face of a man ? This seeming difficulty, according to them, really ap- pears to confirm the whole ; for it is worthy of remark, say they, that in the cherubim the heads of the lion and ■* Deut. iv. 24. Heb. xii. 29. ^ Luke ii. 32 ; John i. 9,; vUi. 12 j ix. 5. / 36 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the man were not only united to the common neck of the figure, as all the others were, but were next to each other,* to shew that the second perteon in the Trinity should not only be truly God, but truly man likewise ; that he should be both God and man in one person. So much, then, for the faces of these extraordinary figures; their other parts are explained by them in the following manner :— They had each four wings, two of which co- vered their feet, to shew that the ways of the Godhead are often but imperfectly understood by mortals ; and two were extended, to shew that these sacred persons are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Under the wings, and on the four sides, were the hands of a man, to shew that all that happens under the four quar- ters of heaven, is either performed or permitted by infi- nite wisdom. And the feet resembling those of a calf or ox, which we have seen were the hieroglyphic of the first person in the Trinity, serve to shew, that all that hap- pens on this earth is in consequence of, and in subservi- ence to, the Fathers gracious intentions to sinful man : so that all the actions of the Trinity in creation, provi- dence, and the kingdom of grace, are resolvable into, and dependent on this, as their only firm and proper basis. Such, according to the Hutchinsonians, appears to have been the original intention of these apparently strange figures. They were intended to represent to our first parents, and their posterity, the ever-blessed Trinity in covenant to redeem a guilty world, by uniting the hu- man nature with the second person. Accordingly the word " cherub" ^I'n^ is evidently compounded of ;3 a particle of resemblance, and 2)1 vvhich signifies ''^ the Majesty ;" thereby intimating, that they were meant to be a representation of the Divine Majesty, in their re- vealed character of the three-in-one God. » E*5k. i. 10; xli. 18, 19* THE TABERNACLE. 37 111 confirmation of the above reasoning, a new inter- pretation is given of Gen. iii. 24. where the cherubim are first mentioned. For, instead of representing them as angels sent to prevent our first parents from eating of the tree of life, they are made emblems of the Divine mercy ; remarking that the words, which our translators render ^^ a flaming sword," are not in construction, and that they literally mean, ^"^ aflame and a sword ;" which last word is not applied to a sword exclusively, but to any cutting instrument whatever, as a knife or any other sharp- edged weapon. And should the meaning of these emblems be asked, they answer, that as the cherubim were the representations of the Trinity, especially as appearing in the plan of redemption, — so these were in- tended to represent sacrifice, by which the knowledge of Christ's intended atonement was to be kept alive in the world ; viz. the knife, to shed the innocent victim's blood, ajid the flame to consume it as a sacrifice for sin. In this point of view, the subsequent phrase of " turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life," will na- turally refer to those symbols as the means which God used to lead men, by the general observance of sacrifice, to the real atonement during the period between the fall of man and the death of Christ. In farther explanation of this opinion, it may be remarked, that the position of these symbols ought not to be overlooked ; for God set them, (the original word signifies, that he set them in a tabernacle or tent) on the east, or, according to them, on the east side of the garden of Eden ; in order that be- lievers, in approaching the sacred tabernacle, might have their backs turned to the rising sun, which God foresaw would but too generally become the object of idolatrous worship.^ It is, indeed, worthy of observation, ^ Ezek. vJii. 16. Job sxxi. 26—28. 38 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW8. that the tabernacle of the congregation/ and the temple of Jerusalem, were situated in the same way :^ and the Hutchinsonians consider it as not unlikely, that the preser- vation of, and regard for, those sacred symbols, were the characteristics of the worshippers of the true God in the primitive ages ; and that the neglect of them, and the adoption of others in their stead, was the origin of all that wickedness, which in the end destroyed the antedi- luvian world. ^"^ I do not pretend to determine," says Parkhurst, who is one of the defenders of this hypothesis, "'^ whether this same sacred tabernacle was preserved by Noah in the ark, and remained in the family of Eber, till the descent of the Israelites into Egypt, and was brought up by them from thence, when they were called upon to take possession of the promised land ; but it is certain, from Exod. xxxiii. 7, 8, 9. compared with Exod. xvi. 33, 34, and 1 Sam. iv. 8, that the Israelites had a tabernacle sacred to Jehovah before that which was erected by Moses."*^ Such was the original meaning of the cherubim, ac- cording to this interpretation. They were representa- tions of the Trinity in the parts they took in the plan of redemption, and making the works of creation and pro- vidence evidently subservient to that great end. Where- ever, therefore, these cherubim appear in the Old Tes- tament, the espousers of this opinion endeavour to shew, that they are uniformly applied to the sacred Trinity, with the single exception of the case of Tyre, which, on account of the protection it gave to commerce, is termed 3 Exod.xxvii. 13. '' Ezek. xlvii. 1. "^ See farther on this subject in Hutchinson's Works; President Forbes's Thoughts on. Religion; Spearman's Inquiry after Philosophy and Theology; Buteb's Inquiry into tiie occasional and standing Similitudes of the Lord ; Jones's Essay on the first Principles of Natui'al Philosophy j and Parkhuist's lugxicon on the word jn^. THE TABERNACLE. 39 in Ezekiel xxviii. 14. " the anointed cherub that co- vereth.^^ The second opinion concerning the cherubim is, that they were intended to describe the character and office of the ministers of religion; who, being possessed of dele- gated power, are commissioned by the Trinity to be- seech men, in their stead, to be reconciled to God. Hence, as there was one placed at either end of the mercy seat, so do prophets and apostles, the priests under the law, and ministers of religion under the gospel, all unite in this great and important work ; looking down, like the cherubim, to the mercy seat, as the ground of their own acceptance with God, and the place to which they are commanded to direct their hearers. Nor are they repre- sented as destitute of qualifications for their important office as ambassadors of Christ : for they are said to have the face of a lion, to denote their boldness in the cause of the gospel ; the face of an ox, to denote their patience and perseverance ; the face of a man, to express their wisdom, prudence, and compassion ; and the face of an eagle, to point out their penetration into Divine things, their elevated sentiments, and heavenly deportment. They are full of eyes before, to look to the throne for direction and assistance ; behind, to feed and defend the flocks, over which the Holy Ghost hath made them over- seers ; and within, to attend to the motions of their own hearts. In the book of Revelations, especially, they are said to have six wings, two of which cover their faces in token of their humility ; two cover their feet, that the im- perfection of their services may not appear : and two to fly with cheerfulness and alacrity on their Master's ser- vice. In short, they are said to rest neither day nor night, but to celebrate perpetually the praises of God, to shew that their hearts are in their work ; and that they de- hght to practise what they are commissioned to teach^ 40 ANTIQUITfES OF THE JEWS, Such is ihe interpretation of the cherubic figures when applied to the ministers of religion. The third and last opinion which we shall mention, is, tliat which considers them, when spoken of in the New Testament, as a description of the churcli from the com- ing of Christ till the end of the world. Thus, the face of a lion is supposed to describe the boldness and courage of the apostles, and other teachers of Christianity in the first century. The face of an ox, their patience and per- severance, from the beginning of the second century, till the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century; the face of a man, that general knowledge, and acuteness of reasoning, which would characterize the defenders of Christianity between the Reformation and the Millen- nium ; and the face of an eagle, that clear perception, elevated aifection, and active spirit, which should emi- nently distinguish the friends of religion in that happy age. Thus have we seen the most generally-received opi- nions concerning the cherubim. The subject is confess- edly intricate : but one leading idea runs through all the interpretations ; namely, that they have evident refer ence to the plan of redemption ; for they are allowed to be descriptive either of its Divine authors, its divinely- commissioned human instruments, or its general history. But, leaving here the subject of the cherubim, and with them the interior of the sacred tent, let us return to the court of the tabernacle, to notice, that the par- ticular place in that court, in which the tabernacle was situated, seems to have been not in the middle, but con- siderably toward the west end of the court. For, in the first place, the altar of burnt offering, and the space re- quired for the priests and the sacrifices, would seem to countenance such an opinion : and, secondly, the like po- sition was afterwards observed with respect to the tern- THE TABERNACLE. 41 pie. In this manner have we attended to every thing that is remarkable in the structure and furniture of the taber- nacle and its court. It was erected in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the first month, of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, or eleven months anda-half after that important event ;'' and, when erected, the tabernacle, and all that was therein, were anointed'' with an oil compounded of the following in- gredients; viz. pure myrrh five hundred shekels weight, sweet cinnamon two hundred and fifty, sweet calamus two hundred and fifty, cassia five hundred, and a hin of olive oil. And it was particularly enjoined, that none should be made like it, nor was any individual to put it upon his body : but whether this injunction meant, that no second quantity should be made, or that none should be made for ordinary purposes, is uncertain. One is led to suppose, from the receipt for making it being so mi- nutely described, and from the specific declaration, that . it should be a holy anointing oil unto the Lord, through- out their generations, that the prohibition was intended rather to prevent it from being applied to common pur- poses, than to prevent it from being made, as occasion required, for the service of the sanctuary.'' But, besides the anointing with oil, every part also was sanctified by blood f and the altar of burnt offering especially, was sanctified by sacrifices of seven days,'' while rich dona- tions were given by the princes of the tribes, for the ser- vice of the sanctuary.^ But, since the whole of the court, the tabernacle and its furniture were then completed, it may be proper to notice the quantities of gold, silver, and brass, which were used in the formation of it. The gold that was em- » Ex. xl. 17. b Ex, xl. 9—11. ' Ex. xxx. 22—33. ^ Heb. ix. 21. ♦ Ex. xxix. 37. ' Numb. vii. 1—88, Vol. I. F 43 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ployed weighed twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels,*" or eighty-seven thousand seven hun- • dred and thirty shekels, allowing three thousand shekels to the talent; which at 41. the ounce, was equal to ^175,460 sterling. This was used in finishing the holy and most holy places. — The silver was one hundred ta- lents, and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, being a bekah or half shekel for all the males of Israel, above twenty years of age, when they came out of Egypt ; amounting to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty ;^ and its destination was as fol- lows : the hundred talents were employed for the ninety- six sockets round the foundation of the tabernacle, and the four sockets of the pillars which separated between the holy and most holy places. *" And the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels that remained, were employed for hooks for the pillars, overlaying the . chapiters, and filletting them."^ The whole value of which silver, at 5s. the ounce, and three thousand shekels to the talent, would be equal to 37,721/. 17^. 6d. sterling. — The brass f or rather copper, which was used, (for brass is a modern factitious metal, composed of copper, zinc, and lapis calaminaris) was seventy talents, and twenty- four thousand shekels, with which were made the sixty sockets for the pillars round the court of the tabernacle, the brazen altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, the sockets for the five pillars at the door of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the tabernacle of the court ;*" for it will be recollected, that the laver and its foot, were not made of this brass, but of the polished brazen mirrors of the women. Now, these seventy talents, and twenty-four "^fTe^s^ftJsiiekels of brass or copper, making two hundred » Ex xxxvii. 24. *> Ex. xxx. 11 — 16; xxxviii. 25, 26, <= Ex.xxsvm.-27. «• Ex. xxxviii. 28. ■■ Ex. xxxviii. 29—31. THE TABERNACLE. 43 and twelve thousand four hundred shekels in all, if va- lued at Is. 3cl. the pound avoirdupoise, would come to 138/. 6s. Thus the whole value of the metals, used for the tabernacle, was 213,320/. 3^. 6cl. sterling; indepen- dent of the value of the wood, the curtains, the laver and its foot, the high priest's official dress, the clothes of the priesthood, and the workmanship of the whole. So that, altogether, it could not be valued at less than ^250,000 sterling. We cannot review the tabernacle and its furniture, without adverting to the spiritual reflections they might excite in the minds of pious Israelites ; for the apostle tells us, that they were " a shadow of goods things to come." The curtains, then, around the court, might teach them a holy reverence for Divine things. The al- tar of burnt offering pointed to the perfection of the Mes- siah's sacrifice ; and the laver taught them the necessity of regeneration, and of daily application to that fountain, which was opened in the house of David and to the in- habitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. The tabernacle in general, where Jehovah condescended to reside, was a type of the body of the Messiah, in which, as in a tent, he tabernacled while on earth. The silver sockets, which formed the foundation, might remind them of those important doctrines, on which all evangelical re- ligion is founded; and, by being made of the half shekel that were exacted of every male in Israel, they were cal- culated to shew the personal interest that each should take in religion and its worship. The outer covering of goats' hair, might point out the unattractive appearance of religion to the men of the world ; the beautiful under- covering might indicate its glory as seen by the saints ; the covering of rams' skins dyed red, might remind them of the efficacy of Messiah's blood, as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; while tht 44 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. covering of badgers' skins, which (the Jewish traditions say) was blue, might point to the heavens, that true ta- bernacle which God had pitched, and not man. Nor was spiritual instruction less to be derived from entering the sacred tent. For, in the holy place, the table of shew bread was a constant acknowledgment of God, as the giver of every temporal blessing ; the candlestick, with the lamps, pointed to the seven spirits of God, whence all spiritual illumination proceeded; and the altar of incense might have taught them the efficacy of prayer, when offered up from a pure heart, and perfumed with the incense of the Messiah's merits. Nor were the in- structions, which might be derived from the most holy place, less important ; for the veil, which separated the two apartments, not only .indicated the partition wall, which divided the Jews from the rest of the world, and was taken away by the death of Christ ; but also that veil, which still conceals from mortal view the place of God's peculiar residence. The tables of the law were an instance of God's condescension to his chosen people; the rod that budded, was emblematical of the unrivalled honour and unfading glory of a greater than Aaron ; and the pot of manna deposited in the ark, typified the hid- den manna, of which all the saints are partakers, while travelling through the wilderness of this world. Nor could they overlook the mercy seat, as pointing out the Divine goodness to offending sinners ; and the cherubim of glory, which, by looking down to that propitiatory, represented the delight of the Trinity in this their work of mercy and love.* Here we might naturally enter upon an examination of the appointment of Aaron's family to the priesthood, * See some useful observations on the tabernacle, its furniture, and journeyings in Barnardus Lamy. Lib. iii. cap. 3, 4, 5, 6. 11. lib. iv. cap. 2- sect. 1 — 6. THE TABERNACLE. 45 the pontifical habits, the official dresses of the ordinary priests, the consecration of the Levites to the service of the sanctuary, and all the ritual which was appointed for the tabernacle; but these will come to be considered with more propriety, after we have examined the structure of the temple. PART IL THE TEMPLE DESCRIBED. On this part of our subject, it will save much repetition, and preserve a greater degree of unity, if we advance at once to the days of our Saviour, and consider the temple as it then stood ; comparing it, as we go along, with the former stages of that noble edifice. For this purpose, we shall 1. Consider the square space, that was commonly known by the name of the Mountain of the Lord's House, its walls and gates ; — 2. Every thing that was remarka- ble in the court of the Gentiles; — 3. The Hil, or Sacred Fence, which divided the court of the Gentiles from the other courts ; — 4. The court of the women ; — 5. The court of Israel ; — 6. The court of the priests ; — 7. The temple of Solomon, strictly so called ; — 8. The temple, after the captivity ; — 9. The external appearance of the temple of Herod; — 10. The porch of that temple; — 11. The holy place ; — 12. The most holy place ; — and 13. The various chambers that were attached to the temple. SECT. I. The Mountain of the Lord^s House. Its enclosing wall, and the surrounding objects. Mount Moriah, its situation, meaning of the name, dimensions of tfiat part of it which belonged to the temple, in cubits and English acres : a traveller's account of it. The wall that surrounded the Mountain of the Lord's House ; its height ; the gates in it, viz. — Shushan or the King's gate, the gates of Huldab, Asuppim, Parbar, the gate Coponius, the gate Tedi : the origin of their names ; their size and situation; the number of porters stationed at each. The tower Antonia, its situation, size, and use. The principal objects that were seen from each of these gates, viz, : — The valley and brook Kidron, Mount of Olives, (a Sab- bath day's journey ascertained,) Betliany, the valley of Tophet, its execrable MOUNTAIN Of THE LORD^S HOUSE. 47 worship, Bethphage, Gethsemane, the city of Jerusalem, pool of Siloam or Bethesda, the Potter's Field, Millo. The king's gardens, Mount Z on, the royal buildings, the causeway from Zion to the temple. Calvary, the holy se- pulclire, the rock that was rent, Absalom's pillar: — a particular description of all these. In attending to the map of Jerusalem, there are three eminences which particularly attract our notice : Acra, on the southj on which the city was built ; Zion, on the north, where was the palace, or city of David ; and Mo- riah, in the middle, but inclining to the east in such a manner, as that all of them formed a right-angled trian- gle, of which Moriah is the right angle. Of all these eminences, Acra was originally the highest, but it was much levelled by the Asmonoean princes, on account of the injuries which the worshippers, going to the temple, received from a fort that was built upon it," and the rub- bish was taken to help to fill up the valley that lay be- tween it and the temple.'' The first notice we have of Moriah in history, is in Gen. xxii. 2, where God commanded Abraham to sacri- fice his son upon it; and its name is differently explai?ed by commentators. Some make it to signify " the L d will be visible," in allusion to what was experienced by Abraham before he left it ; or to Christ, who was after- wards to be seen upon it : and others, '^ the instruction of the Lord," either because it was the best informed portion of the land of Canaan, with respect to religious knowledge, being under the government of Melchizedec; or because from thence, under the Mosaic economy, the law went forth for the instruction of Israel. The most literal meaning, however, of Moriah, or Merie. n^D? is '^ the bitterness of Jehovah," or " the myrrh of Jeho- vah," because myrrh is bitter ; but how to explain it of the mountains around Jerusalem is not so easy. Perhaps * Prideaus Connect. AAC 168. 142. •» Joseph. Ant, xiii. 6. 48 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it referred, either to some warlike expedition before Abraham's time, in which the country had been ravaged, and griefs of no common kind had been occasioned ; the bitterness of Jehovah meaning, in the Hebrew idiom, ^< a very great bitterness ;" or it may be, that it related only to the productions for which the country around Jerusalem was famed — '' the myrrh of Jehovah," mean- ing, in the same idiom, excellent myrrh. Yet, whatever truth there may be in either of these suppositions, the fact is certain, that the bitterness of Jehovah, God- man the mediator, was afterwards experienced on these very mountains : for the garden of Gethsemane, in which he suffered such dreadful agony, was on one of them ; the places where he was mocked, scourged, and condemned were on another ; and Calvary, where (while crucifying him) they offered him wine mingled with myrrh,* was on a third. For though the term Moriah was afterwards confined to the individual hill on which the temple was built, it originally comprehended the several mountains that are round about Jerusalem. Hence, God said to Abraham,^ " take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt ofTej-ing, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." On the division of Judea among the twelve tribes, it so happened, that small as the space upon the top of Mo- riah was, it became the property of two tribes ; for tlie greatest part of the courts was in the portion of J udah; and the altar, porch, holy, and most holy places, were in the portion of Benjamin. It is natural to think, however, that the summit of Moriah would at first be unequal, and its sides irregular ; but it formed a part of the ambition of the Jewish kings to have it levelled and extended ; inso- ' »Iark XV, 23. •> Gen. xxii. 2. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 4^ jnucli that, under the second temple, it formed a square of five hundred cubits, or three hundred and four yards on each side, allowing, as is commonly done, 21.888 inches to the cubit, or twenty-one inches and three quar- ters nearly. But as a space of so many cubits, or yards square, conveys but an imperfect idea of quantity to an English reader, it may be proper to change it into En- glish acres. Let me remark, then, that the whole five hundred cubits square, at the rate of 21.888 inches to the cubit in length, or 479.064544 to the square super- ficial cubit, are equal to nineteen English acres, fourteen poles, twenty- eight yards, and five feet : an extensive foundation, indeed, for that noble structure; and divided^ as we shall afterwards find, into the following parts: — A. R. p. Y. F. The court of the Gentiles contained - 14 1 29 13 2 The wall between the court of the ^ S*! 21 4 Gentiles and the Sacred Fence 5 The Sacred Fence - - - - „ 3 2 20 4 V 1 17 20 4 The wall between the Sacred Fence 7 and the court of the women 3 The court of the women - - -1122 213 The wall, between the court of the ^ women and the court of Israel 5 The court of Israel - - - - „ 1 28 16 d The court of the priests - - 1 1 39 28 2 ;> fy 8 7 4 Making in all 19 0 14 28 5 Almost the whole of this space was arched under ground, to prevent the possibility of pollution from se- cret graves: and it was surrounded by a wall of excellent stone, twenty-five cubits, or forty-seven feet seven inches high ; without which lay a considerable extent of flat and gently-sloping ground, that was employed in the build- Vol. L G 50 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ings of the tower of Antonia, gardens, and public walks. The following is the appearance it presented to Maun- drell, in the year 1696. — " On the 8th of April/" says he, '^ we went to see the place where we were told the palace of Pilate stood ; but upon this spot is now only an ordinary Turkish house, from the terrace of which there is a full view of the place where the temple stood ; and this is the only prospect of it that is allowed ; for what- ever Christian goes within the borders of this ground, must forfeit either his life or his religion. A fitter place for an august building could not be found in the whole world. It lies upon the top of Mount Moriah, opposite Mount Olivet, the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between. It was about five hundred and ninety of my steps in length, and three hundred and seventy in breadth. In the middle of the area, now stands a mosque of an octa- gonal figure, which is said to be built on the ground, where formerly stood the holy of holies." The mosque alluded to is denominated the mosque of Solomon, and is minutely described by Capt. Light." According to the above account of Maundrell, if we were to deduct the five hundred cubits, or three hundred and four yards square above-mentioned, as the space in- closed by the high wall of twenty-five cubits, it would leave two hundred and eighty-six yards by sixty-six, or eighteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-six square yards for the tower of Antonia, gardens, and public walks, equal to three English acres, one rood, four poles, twelve yards. But having said this much concerning tlie Mountain of the Lord's House in general, let us next at- tend to those gates in the outer wall, and the adjoining buildings, whose names and situations are familiar to the Jewish scholar. • Travels in ihe Holy Land, 1814, p. 155. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 51^ We shall here enumerate them in their order, begin- riing at the east, for that was the principal entrance to the temple; probably to teach the Jews, by turning their backs on the rising sun when they approached God, that the idolatry of the heathens, which consisted much in the worsliip of that luminary, was an abomination in his sight j* and on this side of the outer wall, there was only one gate, which was named Shushan, or the King's Gate. The reason of its being named Shushan, or Shushen, ?ti*1t^*7 was, because the city Shushan, the capital of Per- sia,'' was pourtrayed upon it : first, that they might re- member their captivity, and the cause of it, so as to pre- vent them from falling again into idolatry : and secondly, that they might remember the feast of Purim, or of Lots,*" which was first established in that city, to commemorate their deliverance from the plot of Haman. The other name, or the King^s Gatc,^ was given, not as some have thought, because the Jewish kings commonly made their entrance through it when they went to the temple, (for that was commonly made by the opposite one on the west, as we shall afterwards see,) but because Solomon, the king, built it, and the rest of the wall on that side, at an extraordinary trouble and expense,^ raising the founda- tion four hundred cubits, or seven hundred and twenty- nine feet seven inches from the bottom of the deep valley of Kidron, by means of large stones, twenty cubits, or thirty-six feet five inches long, as Josephus informs us,^ and six cubits, or ten feet ten inches high,^ so as to be =• Job xxxL 26. 28. Ezek. viii. 16, 17. b Esther i. 5. ^ Esther ix. 26. <* 1 Chron. ix. 18. ' Antlq. xv, 11. ^ Antiq. xx. 9. g When Capt. I,ight visited Jerusalem, in 1814, some of these large stones seem to have been remaining: for when describing the Turkish Aga's house, which is built on the spot where the house of Pontius Pilate formerly stood, he says, p. 157, " what attracted my observation most, were three or four layers of immense stones, apparently of the ancient town, forxning part of the walls of t!ie palace." 52 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. on an equality with the rest of the surface, and tluis give a considerable space to what was commonly called the outer court, or court of the Gentiles.* This east gate, like all the other gates in the outer wall, was twenty cubits, or thirty-six feet five inches high, and ten cubits, or eighteen feet two inches wide. Nor are those who have read Josephus's Account of the Jew- ish War, V. 5, to imagine that this is erroneous : for his thirty cubits high, and fifteen cubits wide, take in not only the gate itself, but also the tower on the top, and the ornamental work on either side : so that the gates in the outer wall were still of the same dimensions as we have given them, according to the Talmud ; but there were also a tower of ten cubits high over each, and an ornamental work of two eubits and a-half on either side, which Josephus, in his Account, adds to the gate. — It may be remarked, that this was the only gate, of all those in the outer wall, which had a lower tower than the rest; for while the rest had a tower of ten cubits, it had only a tower of six : and the reason was, that the priest who " It would appear that the ancients delig'htecl in building with these large kinds of stones : for in the ruins which we have of ancient buildings, they are often to be found of great magnitude To instance one only : — Mr. Wood, in bis Ruins of Palmyra and Balbec, states particularly of the latter, that the stones which connpose the sloping wall are enormous. To the west, the second layer is formed of stones which ai*e from twenty -eight to thii'ty-five feet long, by nine feet in height. Over this layer, at the north-west angle, there are three stones which alone occupy a space of one hundred and seventy-five feet and a-half, viz. : — The first, fifty-eight feet seven inches ; the second, fifty-eight feet eleven inches ; and the third, exactly fifty -ei^lit feet, and each of these is twelve feet thick. These stones are of a white granite, with large shining flakes like gyp- sum, immense quantities of which lie under the whole city, and in the adjacent- mountain ; and quarries of which are open in several places, and among otliers on the right, as you approach the city. There is still lying, he tells us, in this last place, a stone hewn on the three sides, which is sixty-nine feet two inches long, twelve feet ten inches broad, and thirteen feet three inches thick. What an immense labour would the quarrying, cutting, and laying of these occasion ! MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 53 burnt the red heifer, on Mount Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, might thereby be able to look over it upon the temple ; for so they conceived the command in Numb. xix. 4, bound him to do, when he sprinkled her blood. Further, this gate stood not in the middle of the east wall, as one might have expected, but considerably to- wards that end of it which pointed to the north : so that the whole length of the wall, which was five hundred cubits, is supposed to be divided into two unequal spaces of three hundred and forty cubits to the south of the gate, and one hundred and sixty cubits to the north of it. The reason of this unequal division was not from choice, but necessity, in order to make the gate directly in front of the temple. For the place where the brazen altar stood, having been fixed by Divine appointment,* and the mountain not allowing an equal space on every side of it, they were forced to build the temple so as to stand in its proper parallel with the altar, and to plan the courts in such a manner as best suited the space they had to oc- cupy. Thus, instead of having the temple in the middle, and the courts of the Gentiles in equal divisions around, the greatest space was on the south, the second on the east, the third on the north, and the smallest on the west. It only remains to add, that, in Solomon's Temple, this and all the other gates in the outer wall, were wood overlaid with plates of brass. ^ Having examined the east gate, let us move along the outer wall towards the souths and examine the gates that were on that side. They were two, and were commonly called the gates of Huldah^ or Hulde, mSlH H^^? probably from the prophetess of that name, who is men- tioned in 2 Kings xxii. 14 ; for her memory was in great » 2 Sam. xxiv. 18. 1 Chron. xxi. 15. 18. 28, 29, 3Q ; xxii. 1. 2 Chron. iii. 1 . ^ 3 Chron. iv. 9. 54 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. repute among the Jews^ and they used to say of her, that she was the only woman, and Jehoiada, the high priest, the only man'' that was ever buried within Jerusalem, except the house of David. The size of these gates, as we have already mentioned, was twenty cubits, or thirty-six feet five inches high, and ten cubits, or eighteen feet two inches wide in the opening : but, including the towers at the top, and the orna- ments on the sides, they were thirty cubits, or fifty-four feet eight inches high, and fifteen cubits, or twenty- seven feet four inches wide. Their position in the wall was at equal distances from the end and from each other: so that, if the wall was five hundred cubits, they divided it into three portions of one hundred and sixty-six cubits and two-thirds, or nine hundred and twelve feet each> and gave admittance into the largest side of the court of the Gentiles. Having examined the gates in the east and south sides of the outer wall, let us next turn to the ivest: and here Josephus^ says, there were four, viz. : — The two gates of Asuppim, the gate Parbar, and the gate Coponius. The two gates of Asuppim^ CtDDN? Jlsepim, or Collections, were so called, because part of the treasures of the tem- ple was deposited in chambers situated between them. Nor is it difficult to find oirt how much ground these chambers occupied ; for the first of them was ninety cu- bits from the south end of the wall, and the second one hundred and eighty ; consequently the treasury cham- bers, including the porters' lodges at the gates, were the difference between these two, or ninety cubits. With re- spect to the places to which they led, we learn from Jo- sephus,*" that the first gate led in a south-west direction to the city ; and the second to Millo, directly west, which » 2 Chron. xxlv. 16. ^ Antiq. xv. 11. '^ Anliq. xv. 11. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 55 was situated at some distance before this wall of the tem- ple, and in the point where the three hills, Moriah, Acra, and Zion, met each other. Passing the gates of Asuppim, we next come to the gate Parbar, or Perber, *)i"l3> on the same side. It was ninety cubits northward of the second Asuppim, or two hundred and seventy from the south end, and consequently almost in the middle of the wall. It derived its name from its situation and use ; for it led, like the second Asuppim, to the suburbs (which the word Parbar signifies, ) or to Millo, which lay in the suburbs of the city, between Acra, Zion, and Moriah. — The last of the gates on this side, was the gate of Shal- lecheth,"^ Sheleceth, TSjI^j or of Coponius : it was di- rectly opposite to the east gate already described, and, consequently, like it, divided the wall into two unequal portions of three hundred and forty cubits towards the south, and one hundred and sixty towards the north. Its iii'st name, which signifies a-casting, seems to be derived from the road, which King Solomon cast up, or raised through the deep valley which separated Mount Zion from Moriah, to facilitate his entrance to the temple. Accordingly, this was the ordinary gate by which he^ and the subsequent kings made their entry to that sacred edifice ;^ its other name of Coponius, which the Jews write DlilS^p? Kipunusy was probably given it by He- rod, in honour of Coponius, the general of the horse, who was sent by Augustus to be ruler of Judea, at the same time that Cyrenius was made governor of Syria : for his coming to Judea was nearly about the time that Herod had finished beautifying the temple. Thus have we examined three sides of that wall which surrounded the Mountain of the Lord's House ; it only remains that we consider the fourth. On the north side * 1 Cliron. xxvi. 16. ^ 2 Chron. ix. 4, o6 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. there was only one gate, which was called Tedi, ^^t3, situated at an equal distance from either end of the wall, [t signifies privacy or obscurity, probably because it was a private gate belonging to the priests; or because it was little frequented, on account of the insolence of the Ro- man soldiers in the tower of Antonia ; or, lastly, because the prospect on that side of the temple was much ob- scured by the hill Bezetha. Such were the gates on the several sides of the outer wall ; and, it is worthy of remark, that in the division of the porters mentioned in 1 Chron. xxvi. there are seve- ral appointed to each gate. Thus at the east gate six of Shelemiah's sons were stationed (verses 14. 17.) — On the south, at the two gates of Huldah, were four of the sons of Obededom (verses- 15. 17.) — On the west, other four of the sons of Obededom stood at Asuppim (verses 15. 17;) — two of the sons of Hosah and Shuppim at Parbar (verses 16. 18;) and four of Hosah's and Shup- pim's sons at Shallecheth, or the gate which led to the king's causeway, (verses 16. 18.) — The gate on the north side, commonly called Tedi, was committed to Zechariah, the eldest son of Obededom (verses 2. 14.) Such were the appointments of the porters at the seve- ral gates; but, before we dismiss the subject, we ought to notice the tower oi Antonia. This was a strong square building, adjoining to the north-west corner of the outer wall ; which, with the buildings around it, was two fur- longs, or a quarter of a mile in circumference. It stood on a high rock of fifty cubits, and was itself forty, hav- ing a turret at each corner ; but those next the temple . were much higher than the rest, in order to overlook it; the farthest removed being only fifty cubits, and the nearest seventy. It had piazzes, or covered walks, on all sides, and elegant apartments within, so as to make it at MOUNTAIN OP THE LORD'S HOUSE. 57 cince both a castle and a palace.* It was originally used by Hyreanus the First, and his successors, as a place of residence, and as a deposit for the sacred vestments, and while thus used it was called Bar is (Bocp/g ;) but when Herod repaired and beautified it, he changed its name to Antonia, in honour of his deceased friend Mark Antony. During the reigns of Herod and his son Archelaus, the sacred vestments still lay in that tower, under the care of the priests ; but when the Romans deposed Archelaus, they took them into their own keeping, and converted the tower into a garrison ; for which, from its strength and situation, it was excellently calculated. The manner of keeping these sacred vestments was as follows : they were ordinarily disposited in a particular chamber, under the joint seals of the high priest and the treasurers of the temple. Whenever, therefore, they were required by the high priest, at any of the festivals, a deputation of the priesthood waited on the commander of the castle, on the festival eve, to request them ; and he, accompanying them to the chamber where they lay, examined the seals in their presence, opened the door, and allowed them to carry them to the chaml)er where the high priest was accustomed to dress ; who, after the festival, returned them with the same formalities. Such was the manner in which things was conducted, from the deposition of Ar- chelaus, till the time of Tiberius. But, during his reign, Vitellius having come to Jerusalem as governor of Syria, and been received by the Jews with much honour, he, to shew his acknowledgment, obtained permission from Tiberius to commit the care of this sacred deposit into their hands. Accordingly they enjoyed this favour till the death of Agrippa, when Cassius Longinus, governor of Syria, and Cuspius Fadus, governor of Judea, com- * Joseph. War, v. 5. Vol. I. H 58 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. manded the Jews to return them to the tower of Antonia^ and into the custody of the Romans. This, as may be supposed, gi'ieving the Jews, they sent to the Emperor Claudius, to request their restoration ; but the young King Agrippa, being then at Rome, procured himself to be made keeper, in order to strengthen his political in- fluence. (Joseph. Antiq. xv. 11 ; xviii. 4.) It is easy to see, from the above description of the tower of Antonia, of what importance it was to the Roman governors ; for it contained a sacred deposit, and enabled him to see all that happened in the temple. Hence we may account for the speedy rescue which was given to Paul, by this offi- cer, from the enraged Jews." He was in the immediate neighbourhood of the temple, could observe, from the loftiness of the towers, all that happened : ran down from thence through an entrance in the north wall which he had for his own use, and was instantly in the court of the Gentiles, where the crowd was collected. — Such were the gates in the outer wall, and such the tower adjoining to the temple, which is so often mentioned in the Jewish writings. Let us now, therefore, before we enter the wall, examine the objects which meet the eye while walk- ing round its several sides; and, as the east was described as the principal front, it appears most natural to begin with that. There, directly in front, was the valley Kidron, Ce- dron, or Jehoshaphat, about two miles long, fruitful where broadest, and watered by the brook Kedron, which Le Brun says (tom. ii. ch. 48.)" is about three paces broad. Yet it only deserves the name of a brook in winter and after rain; for it was quite dry on the 6th of April, 1697, when Maundrell saw it, and it continues in that state till after the autumnal equinox, when the rainy season com- * Arts xxi. ol, "2, &c. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 50 mences. Sandys informs us (p. 146,) that,, after leaving the valley, it runs for several miles in a south-east direc- tion, till it loses itself in the Dead Sea. On the other side of the valley of Kidron was the Mount of Olives,* and that part of it especially where they used to hum the red heifer ; and to which there was a road from the temple, across the valley, formed of arch upon arch, to prevent the priest, who went on that errand, from be- ing polluted by any secret grave. Indeed, the Mount of Olives, or Olivet, extended considerably both to the right and left, and was distant from the temple, in its nearest point, a sabbath day's journey, or two thousand cubits;'' which, at 21.888 inches to a cubit, make one thousand two hundred and sixteen yards, or nearly three quarters of an English mile. It was on this eminence, in front of the temple, that Solomon, when instigated by his idolatrous wives, in his old age, built a high place to Chemosh, or the solar light, the abomination of Moab ; and to Moloch, or the solar fire, the abomination of the children of Ammon,' in di- rect opposition to that temple which he had formerly built on Mount Moriah, to Jehovah Aleim, or the self- existing Three, who, to use the language of men, and as the word Aleim imports, bound themselves by an oath, to fulfil their parts in the plan of redemption. Here it was that our blessed Saviour also, in the days of his flesh, wept over the devoted city:*** and here, likewise, both he and his disciples sat when they shewed him the build- » Zech. XIV. 4. b Lightf. Comment, on Acts i. 12. ; founded probably on Josh. iii. 4. = 1 Kings xi. 7. ^ iMk^z xix. 41. ♦ "Jerusalem is encompassed with hills, that make it appear as if situatci in an amphitheatre ; but there is no place, that I know of, that affords a distant view of it. That from the Mount of Olives, whicli is the best, from which it can all be seen, is so near, that when our Saviour was there, he might be said almost, in a literal sense, to have wept over it." (Shaw's Travels, vol. ii, ch. i.) 60 ANTIQUITIES Of THE JEWS. ings of the temple, meaning the steep wall of four hun- dred cubits, which Solomon had raised from the valley of Kidron, the large stones of which it was composed^ and the beautiful front of the porch of the temple : while he, less attentive to the grandeur of the building than the guilt of the worshippers, poured forth that prophecy concerning its fall, which, from its wonderful accuracy^ clearly evinces his Divine mission.'' Such then was the view directly in front, but on turning to the right hand, the scene was considerably varied; for a part of the Mount of Olives still presented itself; and, among other villages, with which it was interspersed, one saw the delightful village of Bethany, or the house of dates, so called on account of the abundance of palm trees that grew there, of which dates are the fruit ; fifteen fur- longs distant from Jerusalem,*' or nearly two miles, whither, the blessed Saviour often . resorted, after the fatigues of public teaching, to enjoy the conversation and kind offices of Lazarus and his sisters ;'^ and in the neighbourhood of which, having led his disciples thither^ after his resurrection, he gave them his parting advice, and ascended up into heaven. "* Its present situation is thus described by Maundrell : — ^^ Bethany is only a small village. At the entrance into it are some old ruins^ called Lazarus's Castle, supposed to have been the house where he lived ; and near it, the sepulchre, out of which he was raised by Christ. There is a descent into it of twenty-five steps, at the bottom of which is first a small square room, and from thence a passage into another, that is still less, and about a yard and a- half deeper, - in which the body is said to have been laid. This place is held in great veneration by the Turks, who use it for » Matt. xxiv. 1, &c. >> John xi. 18. * Luke X. 38; John xi. 1 ; xii. 2, &c. ^ Luke xxiv. 50 ; Acts i. 4, MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 61 an oratory, and make all Christians pay a caphar (or tribute) for their admission into it." Nor would the spectator overlook that part of the valley of Kidron, which lay on that quarter, between Mount Olivet and the city ;** and was unfortunately but too well known, by the valley of Tophet, and the valley of the sons of Hinnom : for their multitudes of children were sacri- ficed to Moloch, which was the same as Baal,'' or the solar fire, in a manner the most shocking to humanity. There is little pleasure in describing scenes of horror, but they are useful ; they shew us the evils of a false religion, and should make us thankful for the enjoyment of the true. Let it be known, then, to the disgrace of the Jews, that, although in possession of the knowledge and worship of the true God, they were but two much inclined to the worship of idols ; and that there, in the valley of Tophet, they erected an altar to one of those agents, which God employs for the benefit of the world. The solar fire was erected into a divinity. An idol of brass, having the head of an ox, but the body of a man, was made to represent it. That idol was seated on a throne of the same metal ; a crown was placed upon his head, and its hands were extended to receive their gifts. But what gifts were deemed most acceptable ? Had gar- lands of roses, baskets of fruit, or the lives of animals been the only request, it had been comparatively well : but human sacrifices were demanded ; and the tender pledges of conjugal love must glut the rapacity of this fictitious divinity. The hollow idol was heated to red- ness ; the parent himself, by a refinement of cruelty, in order to acquire the summit of sanctity, must become the priest — himself must place his darling on its arms. No bewitching smiles, nor mournful cries, must drive ' Jer. xlx. 2. h Jer. xxxii. 35. 62 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. him from his purpose. His eye must not pity, nor his ear regard. His heart must be steeled against every ten- der impression, and a complete conquest obtained over the strongest feelings of humanity. Fortunately the scene lasted not long ; sacred drums, as they were impiously called, drowned their cries : their bodies became the victims of a merciless superstition ; but their souls fled to a merciful God. — From this account of the worsliip of Moloch, we may see the origin of those names which marked the place where he was worshipped : for it was called the valley of the sons of Hinnom, or the valley of the sons or children which shrieked ; and the valley of Tophet, or of drums, from their being constantly used on such an occasion." The following extract from D. Kimchi, on 2 Kings' xxiii. 10. will shew the arts which were used to excite the devotion of the worship- pers, and at the same time explain, perhaps, what wc are to understand by ^' the tabernacle of Moloch," which is mentioned in Acts vii. 43 : — " Our rabbins, of happy memory,'' says he, '^ inform us, that although all other houses of idolatry were in Jerusalem, Moloch was without it, and the image was made hollow, and sat within seven chapels. Whosoever offered a flower, they opened to him the first of these ; whoso offered turtles or pigeons, they opened to him the second ; whoso offered a lamb, they opened to him the third ; whoso offered a ram, they opened to him the fourth ; whoso offered a calf, they opened to him the fifth ; whoso offered an ox, they opened to him the sixth ; but whoso offered his son, they opened to him the seventh." We have already considered the scenery in front of the temple, and on the right hand ; let us now look for a little to the left. And on that side, likewise. Mount Oli- ^ Calmct Diet. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD S HOUSE. 63 vet extends ; for, as was formerly remarked, the moun- tain known by that name is not one eminence only, but a chain of eminences, several miles long, opposite to Zion, Moriah, and Acra, and divided from them, though at unequal distances, by the brook and valley of Kidron. As a person, therefore, standing in the east gate, saw. on his right, the southern extremity of Olivet, the vil- lage of Bethany, and the valley of Tophet; so, on turn- ing to. his left, he would see the northern extremity of the same mountain, the village of Bethphage, or the house of green figs (so called on account of their abun- dance,) mentioned in Matt. xxi. 1. about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem :^ the head of the brook and valley of Kidron ; and what must ever be interesting to the Chris- tian's mind, the garden of Gethsemane, where our Sa- viour's dreadful sufferings commenced. The following is Mr. MaundrelPs account of this interesting place : — ^'' A little lower,*' says he, ^^ we were shewn Gethse- mane, an even plat of ground, between the foot of Mount Olivet and the brook Cedron. It is about fifty-^ seven yards square, but is well planted with olive trees, which are believed to be the same that grew there in our Saviour's time; in virtue of which opinion, the olives, the olive stones, and oil which they produce, become an excellent commodity in Spain ; and yet Josephus shews, in his Jewish War, vi. 8. that Titus cut down all the trees within about an hundred furlongs of Jerusalem ; and that the soldiers were obliged to fetch wood at that distance, for making their mounts when they assaulted the temple. At the upper end of the garden is a flat ledge of naked rocks, said to be the place on which Pe- ter, James, and John fell asleep during our Saviour's agony ; and, just by is a cave, in which it is said he un- * Lightfoot, Chorog. Marco prxmissa, cap. iv. 64 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. derwent that bitter part of his passion. At a small dis- taiice is a narrow piece of ground, twelve yards long and one broad, said to be the path on which Judas walked up to Christ, and saying ^ Hail, Master,^ kissed him. This narrow path is separated from the garden by a wall, as a terra damnata ; and, it is remarkable, that this was done by the Turks, who, as well as the Chris- tians, detest the ground on which that infamous piece of treachery was acted." Having noticed the objects that presented themselves from the east of the temple, let us next examine those which were seen from the south. And here, immediately before the eye, lay all the streets of Jerusalem, extend- ing in different directions, according as the windings, ascent, or declivity of Ac'ra allowed ; where the ear, in the morning, would be gladdened with the sound of the women at the hand-mills, grinding the corn for the day ; and the eye with the rays of the sun, gilding the public and private buildings. The bustle and agitation also of the crowded city, would create an interest in the lover of his species, while in the soul of the virtuous, all the moral sympathies would awake, when he considered it as the capital of that kingdom, which God had erected to be the lamp of spiritual and Divine knowledge to the surrounding nations ; and, as the shadows of the even- ing lengthened around, his mind would partake of their sombre pleasures ; whilst the women, crowding to the public wells, with their pitchers on their shoulders, like Rebecca of old,* and the present inhabitants, would ex- hibit a trait of female character, infinitely more interest-- ing to the virtuous mind, than all the revelry of the fa- ionable world. Nor would he overlook the pool of Si- loam, or Bethesda, as it was sometimes called, whose » Gen. sxiv. 11. 15. MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 65 porches screened the inhabitants from the sun, and whose waters served for the purposes of bathing, and giving to the air a delicious freshness : but what makes it particu- larly interesting to the Christian's heart, where the number of cures performed by it at particular seasons, by the descent of the angel ; and the striking instances of our Saviour's power on the impotent and blind men.* Air. Maundrell's account of it is as follows : — " On the 9th of April, 1696, we went" says he, ^' to take a view of what is now called the pool of Bethesda, which is one hundred and twenty paces long, forty broad, and eight deep, but has no water in it. At the west end, there are some old arches now dammed up ; which, though there are but three in number, some will have to be the five porches in which sat the lame, halt, and blind.'' Neither would the Christian traveller wish to pass unheeded the Potter's Field ;^ that field of blood," which was purchased with the money which Judas received for betraying his Master, but could not keep. It lay im- mediately without the wall of the city, on the south-east corner, and was only about a mile distant from the tem- ple. It would remind him of the danger of profession without reality, of an undue love of the world, and of the necessity of continuing steadfast to his Lord. " On the west side of the valley of Hinnom," says Maundrell^ •' is the place anciently called the Potter's Field, and af- terwards {riDl'^pH:) Hekeldeme, or Aceldama,) the field of blood, but now termed Campo Sancto, It is only a small piece of ground, about thirty yards long and fifteen broad ; one half of which is taken up by a square fabric, built for a charnel house, that is twelve yards high. Into this building, dead bodies are let down from the top, there being five holes left open for that » John V. 2, &c, ix. 11. •• Mat. xxvii. 10. ' Acts. i. 19. Vol. I. I 66 ANTIQtJlf IteS OF THE J£W9. purpose ; through which they may be seen under several degrees of decay. '^ (Travels, April 6, 1697.) Calmet says, that the bodies are consumed in a few days, which he ascribes to the peculiar nature of the earth ; and adds^ that the Empress Helena built the vault for a charnel house, and that she loaded several ships with the earth of Aceldama, and ordered it to be carried to Rome; where it was laid near the Vatican, and still preserves its quality of rapidly consuming dead bodies. — Diet. Aceldama and Potter's Field. Having noticed the objects on the east and south sideis of the temple, let us next proceed to those on the ivest. And there, directly before the eye, though at different distances, were Millo, the king's gardens, and the foun- tain of Siloam, which took its rise at the foot of Mount Zion, on the west; winded round the outside of the west and south walls of the city ; entered it after pass- ing the south-east corner; formed the pool of Bethesda, or Siloam, within the city ; and then, moving towards Moriah, passed again without the walls, and lost itself in the brook Kidron, opposite the eastern front of the temple. It was probably to this rivulet of Siloam, or brook Kidron, that the Psalmist referred to in Ps. ex. 7 ; when, prophesying of the sufferings of Christ, he said, " He shall drink of the brook in the way," for these lay between Jerusalem and Calvary ; although there is no doubt included in it the spiritual consolation by which he was supported. The present state of the pool of Si- loam is thus described by Sandys, in his Travels, p. 146: •^ In a gut in the hill, above which in the wall stood the tower, was the lish-pool of Siloam, containing not above half an acre of ground, now dry in the bottom ; and be- yond it is the fountain that fed it, now no other than a little trench, walled on the sides, full of dirty water. Though deprived of her salubrious streams; she is still held in honour for her former virtues.'' MOtrisTTAlN OF THE LORD'S HOUSE. 67 If, after leaving Millo, the royal gardens, and Siloam^ we turned to the right, we should have a full view of Mount Zion, with all the royal buildings and the cause- way of Solomon from thence to the temple, delightfully shaded on either side by a row of oak and teil, or lime trees. Or, if we looked to the left, the eye would be gratified with a new view of Jerusalem, the windings of Siloam, and that sacred spot where our Lord was cru- cified. It lay without the city a quarter of a mile, and about a mile and a-half west-south-west from the temple. But, although then excluded as a polluted place, it now possesses a more distinguished station ; for Maundrell tells us (26 March,) that " Since Christ died upon it, for the sins of the world, the city has been built around it, and it now stands in the midst of Jerusalem, a great part of the hill of Zion being shut out of the walls to make room for it." Nor should we overlook the sepul- chre in which our Lord was laid ; and which we are told by the Evangelist, was nigh to the place where he was crucified.* It was hewn out of the natural rock of Cal- vary, and lay originally under ground ; but St. Helena^ the mother of Constantine the Great, cut away the rock round about it, that the floor of the beautiful churchy which she erected over it, and called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, might be on a level with the floor of the sepulchre. It is at present, therefore, a grotto above ground, curiously overlaid with marble, and consists, as Dr. Shaw tells us, (Travels, vol. ii. ch. 1.) " Of one chamber only, without cells, or benches, or ornaments, being about seven feet square, and six feet high ; and over the place where the body was laid, (whether that was a pit, or whether the body lay, bound up only in spices and linen upon the floor) there, for many years, * John x.\. 41. 68 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. an oblong table of stone, of nearly three feet in length? and nearly of the same height, has been erected, which serves the Latins for an altar. The low narrow door, or entrance, where the stone was fixed and sealed, till rolled away by the angel, still continues to conduct as into it; and, as it is not situated in the middle, but on the left hand, and as the grave or place, where Christ was laid, may well be presumed to have been placed within it, on the right hand, or where the Latin altar is at present, we may from these circumstances well account for Mary and John being obliged to stoop down* before they could look into it."' Such is the account which Dr. Shaw gives of the holy sepulchre, and the church which was erected by St. Helena over it; but Maundrell has observed, that "^ Although to prepare the hill of Calvary for building the church upon it, it was necessary to reduce the top of it to a plain area, by cutting down some parts of the rock, and elevating others, great care was taken that none of those parts concerned in our Saviour's passion should be altered or diminished ; and that the part of Calvary, in particular, where Christ was fastened to the cross, is left entire. It being about ten or twelve yards square, and standing so high above the floor of the church, that there are twenty- one steps to go up to the top." The same author adds, that, " about the distance of a yard and a-half from the hole where the foot of the cross was fixed, is seen a cleft in the rock, said by tradi- tion to be made by the earthquake at Christ's death, when the rocks w'ere rent. It appears to be a natural breach, about a span wide at its upper part : the sides of it answer each other, and it runs in such intricate windings as could not be counterfeited by art. The chasm is about two spans deep, but opens again below, * John XX. 5. 11 . MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE. 69 as may be seen in another chapel, contiguous to the side 6f Mount Calvary, and runs down to an unknown depth." (Travels, 26th March, 1696.) With respect to the view from the north side of the outer wall, it was considerably obstructed by the hill Bezetha ; and the objects, seen on either side of it, were the valley of Kidron on the right, and the city of David on the left. It was not far from this last, and in the king's dale, that Absalom's pillar or place was erected. It is mentioned in 2 Sam. xviii. 18 ; and, although its an- cient form be unknown, it may be gratifying to learn its present appearance. It is about twenty cubits square at the bottom, and sixty cubits high. In the first twenty cubits it is ornamented with four columns of the Ionic or- der ; for the next twenty, it is somewhat contracted, and quite plain, except a small fillet at the top ; and for the next twenty, it changes into a cone, and terminates in a point. The whole is said to be cut out of the solid rock, and there is an apartment within, considerably higher than the level of the ground without, on the sides of which are niches, probably intended to receive coffins. It deserves notice, that it is surrounded by a heap of stones, which is continually increasing, from the super- stitious Jews and Turks always throwing some as they pass, in token of their abhorrence of his unnatural re- bellion.* Thus have we endeavoured to give some account of the several gates in the outer wall, of the tower Anto- nia, and of the different objects which presented them- selves to a person, when walking around the Mountain of the Lord's House. Topographical descriptions, ac- cording to their importance, excite very different de- grees of interest ; but the serious Christian will tread * Eiicycl. Pertli. Art. Jerusalem. 70 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. with pleasure those sacred precincts which his Saviour visited ; and examine those scenes which increase his ac- quaintance with the oracles of truth. We shall, there- fore, proceed to conduct our readers within the wall of the temple, and explain, in their order, the several ob- jects which present themselves. SECT. II. The Court of the Gentiles. The chambers at the gates, and their uses; sheepfolds at the east gate ; chests for the half shekel at the east gate; manner of collecting and disposing of it The size of the Court ; the beautiful piivement ; the cloisters or piazzas round about ; their grandeur. The royal porch, Solomon's Porch. In entering the Court cif the Gentiles, the most natu- ral approach is by the east gate, which, as we formerly remarked, was the principal gate of the temple ; and^ as we enter, we shall find, on each side of it, a building of two stories, the ground floors of which were for the porter's lodge, and shops (riV^H Heniuth) where those who intended to offer sacrifices, bought wine, oil, salt, flour, &c. ; and at which were stationed oflicers to see that the sellers dealt justly : while the upper story of these, which also extended over the gate, and took in the whole length, was for a court of twenty-three, and afterwards was occupied by the Sanhedrim, when they left the room Gezith, which we shall examine in a sub- sequent page. As all the other gates in the outer wall had buildings adjoining to them of the same kind, this may perhaps lead us to understand the manner in which - certain persons, connected with the priesthood, lived in the temple.* They resided in these apartments at the several gates : for all within the outer wall was often ' 2 Kings xxiv. 14 ; 2 Chron. xxii. 11, 12, Luke ii. o7. COURT OF TH£ gentiles. 71 called the temple, unless we explain their never depart- ing from the temple, to mean their never being absent at the hours of prayer: whether they resided within the Mountain of the Lord's House or not. We may also notice, that near this gate were several pens or folds, containing sheep and lambs to be sold for sacrifice ; so that our Lord probably pointed to these, when he delivered in the temple that beautiful discourse, concerning himself as the good shepherd, and his people as the sheep. ^ Perhaps the porter, in that discourse, may allude to the porter of the gate, without whose permis- sion none obtained admittance ; and the conduct of a shepherd, in going before his flock, might have been suggested either from memory, or from the observance of a flock coming to the pens, and following their keeper at that instant through the gate of the temple. For this is the eastern mode of conducting sheep, and it was our Saviour's custom to catch at circumstances, and render them the vehicle of religious instruction. It was at this gate, Shushan, that the persons, who were appointed to collect the deficiences of the half-she- kel, which every Israelite had to pay for the redemp- tion of his life,^ sat for about three weeks before the passover, yearly. The common manner of collecting that tax was as follows : — The district collectors issued their notices on the first day of Adar, or the middle of our February, that the half-shekel was due, and that on the 15th day of that month, or about the 3d of our March, they would be in their places to receive it. There they sat for about eight days, collecting it from those wh© came voluntarily, but using no compulsion with those who refused. After the eight days were expired, their books were closed and transmitted to the general col- * John X. 1—16, (. Exod. xxx, 13. 72 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lector at Jerusalem, where, being examined, and the de- faulters marked, two boxes were set at the gate Shu- shan, as being the most frequented gate of the temple ; and persons were appointed to receive them. The one box was for the half-shekel of the current year, and the other for the arrears of former years. Nor were these persons to be refused with impunity ; for their powei's extended to the seizing of an equivalent from the effects of the refractory. They commonly began their sitting on the 25th of Adar, or the 13th of our March, which was immediately after the district collectors had ceased, and continued their sittings till the 14th of Abib, or the passover, which happened on the 3d of our April, sup- posing their years to have always begun on the 21st of March, or the vernal equinox ; but we shall find after- wards that it was ambulatory, being guided by the ap- pearance of the new moon in that month. After the passover, they carried the boxes into the temple, and emptied their contents into the treasure chamber that was appointed to receive them.'* Dr. Lightfoot cannot determine the situation of that chamber ; but, in speaking of the Gazophylacia, or trea- suries connected vvith the temple, he gives us the fol- lowing particulars, concerning it: — It was always locked and sealed, immediately after the emptying of the chests, except at three particular times in the year, when they regularly went to take money from it. These were fif- teen days before the passover, fifteen days before pente- cost, and fifteen days before the feast of tabernacles ; or, according to Rabbi Akiba, the son of Azai, on the 29th of Adar, the 1st of Sivan, and the 29th of Ab. Their method of procedure did not indicate much confi- dence in the persons employed. For he that went in •* Talmud Sliekelim, cap. i. COURT OP THE GENTILES. 73 XvSiS not allowed to wear any garment, in which it was possible to hide money : nor in his shoes or sandals : nor even with his phylacteries, because there was a possi- bility of his concealing money under them. When he entered the chamber, a watchman stood at the door without, and talked with him all the while, lest he might put any of the money into his mouth. Nor could he be- gin to pour out the money till he said to those who were without, *^ I empty," and they replied, " Empty," three several times. For the money that was brought in by the collectors was put into three great chests, contain- ing nine seahs, or three bushels a-piece ; and if more was brought in than filled these, it was laid down in some part of the chamber. The way in which the person brought out the money was as follows : — It was, as we have just remarked, deposited in three chests, each of which held three seahs, or one bushel; consequently, one of the large chests in the chamber, when full, would have filled the three that the person carried. For the sake of distinction, they were marked with the first three letters of the Hebrew alphabet ; and one was said to be filled in the name of the Jews of the land of Israel ; another, in the name of those who were- in the towns and countries in the neighbourhood of Ju- dea ; and the third, in the name of those who were in Babylon, Media, and the places farther remote: for these also sent money to purchase burnt offerings, sin olferings, &c.* The uses to which the money was ap- plied were to buy the daily sacrifices, the additional public sacrifices at festivals, with their meat offerings and drink offerings, the sheaf, the two loaves mentioned in Levit. xxiii. 17 ; all the sacrifices that were offered by the congregation, the red heifer, scape goat, priest'^ » Baruch i. 10. Vol. I. K 74 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. garments^ wood for the altar, and, in general, all the other things that were connected with the public service. In illustration of the Scriptures we may farther add, that in the payment of the half shekel, besides the difli- culty attending the exchange of foreign coins, there was also another difficulty, viz. the obtaining change (xEgiia^) for those who had whole shekels. This gave rise to the custom of the collectors, or others, acting the part of money-changei^(C3*jn7lti^ shulheninij xE^fxatiatai,) and exacting a premium called kolbon, or the twelfth part of a denarius, or Roman penny, equal to two and a-half of our farthings ; allowing the denarius to have been equal to sevenpence three farthings. Nay, such was their rapacity, that if two persons came and offered a shekel between them, it "was not accepted, unless each of them paid the kolbon, as if they had wanted the ex- change of a shekel each. It was this exaction that ex- cited the indignation of our Lord at the first and last passovers which he attended,'' and caused him to over- throw the tables of the kolbonists, or money-changers (tag t^aits^ac, tav xo/iXv^idifidv,) as well as the seats of those who sold doves. But we are now within the oii/e?' court, or Court of the Gentiles, which for several reasons merits our atten- tion. In the first place, it was by far the largest of all those courts which were attached to the temple ; for it comprehended the whole space within the outer wall, which was unoccupied by the sacred ground, or that on which a Jew by birth, or a proselyte of righteousness, alone durst tread. And as the temple was not placed in the middle of the square, for the reason already given, it was consequently divided into unequal portions. Thus the distance between the eastern outer wall and the sa- » John ii. 15. ^ John ii. 15 i Matt. xxi. 12. COURT OF THE GENTILES. 75' cred ground was ninety cubits ; between the southern outer wall and the sacred ground, two hundred and fifty-nine cubits ; between the western outer wall and the sacred ground, forty-nine cubits ; and between the northern outer wall and the sacred ground, seventy-two cubits. Thus it encircled the whole of the sacred ground, although at very unequal distances ; for by far the greatest portion was on the south, the next greatest on the east, the next on the north, and the least of all on the west. Its superficial measure may be ascer- tained without much difficulty ; for the sacred ground, as we shall afterwards see, occupied three hundred and sixty-one cubits long, by one hundred and sixty-nine cubits broad, or 61,009 superficial cubits. We have only therefore to deduct these from five hundred cu- bits long and five hundred cubits broad (the whole ground inclosed by the outer wall,) or 250,000 cubits, superficial measure, when there remain 188,991 superfi- cial cubits, as the contents of the Court of the Gentiles, or fourteen English acres, one rood, twenty- nine poles, and thirteen yards ; of which above two-thirds lay to the south of the temple. The above is the account of the Talmud, but Jose- phus* divides the whole space within the outer wall differently ; for he says, " this Hil was walled all round, and in compass four furlongs, the distance of each an- gle containing a furlong in length,'' equal to two hun- dred and twenty yards square, or exactly ten English acres. And in his History of the War,^ he makes the outer wall, including the Tower of Antonia, to be in circumference six furlongs, which augments the contents to fifteen English acres. Into this Court persons of all nations were allowed to ^ Antiq. xv. 11. !j Bock v. 5. TS' ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. come. They might mix with the Jews, hear their dis- courses, and see them entering into, and returning from, the sacred ground ; but they durst not enter that ground, on pain of death. Thus did God wisely appoint that an approach to knowledge was given to the Gentiles : for while they admired the beautiful structure of the tem- ple, and saw the smoke of the sacrifices rising above the walls which surrounded the courts, they would naturally inquire into that ritual which distinguished the Jews from every other nation. Farther, it was in the south or largest side of this Court that the sheep, oxen, and doves were placed, which our Lord dispersed at the first and last passovers of his public ministry. The priests had taken the pretext of a number of sacrifices, being needed at the great festivals, to establish a cattle market in this place, for the pretended convenience of the people, but really as an emolument to themselves. Our Saviour therefore severely reproved them, and drove them be- fore him towards the east gate of the outer wall, where, as we have already seen, he also overturned the tables of the money-changers, as having been equally guilty of selfishness and rapacity. But while we are in the Court of the Gentiles, we cannot overlook the beautiful pavement of variegated marble, and the piazzas, or covered walks (VDD? (ytaa) with which it was sur- rounded, and which served both for utility and beauty. Those on the east, west, and north sides, were of the same dimensions. They had three rows of white marble pillars of the same height as the outer wall, which was twenty- five cubits, or forty-five feet seven inches ; the. first row, along the side of the wall, to prevent the weight of the roof of cedar, that was curiously wrought and covered with cement to throw ofi'the rain, from injur- ing it; the second row fifteen cubits distant from the first; and the third fifteen cubits distant from the second : so i COURT OF THE GENTILES. 77 that in each piazza there were two ranges of fifteen cu- bits each, for persons to walk in, and the whole width of the covered walk was thirty cubits, or fifty-four feet eight inches.' The piazza on the soutli difi\:red how- ever from those on the other sides, both in width and height, for in it there w€re four rows of pilLirs disposed as follows :^ — The first was twenty-five cubits, or forty- five feet seven inches high, along the side of the wall ; the second was fifty cubits higli, or ninety-one fee? two inches, and placed at fifteen cubits' distance from tlie first ; the third was fifty cubits high, or ninety- one feet two inches, and placed at forty-two cubits and a- half from the second ; and the fourth was twenty- five cubits high, or forty -five feet seven inches, and placed at fif- teen cubits' distance from the third. Thus the first and fourth rows were of an equal height, and the second and third were also equal, but double the height of the first and fourth. Hence, the spaces on this side under the the piazza were divided in the following manner : 1. A walk of fifteen cubits wide and twenty- five cubits high, next the outer wall. 2. A walk of forty-two cubits and a-half wide, and fifty cubits high, in the middle ; and 3. A walk of fifteen cubits wide, and twenty-five cubits high on the inside, or side next the temple. According to this statement, the whole v^idth of the southern piazza was seventy-two cubits and a-half, or one hundred and twenty- eight feet nine inches, which makes it seventy- four feet one inch wider than any of the rest. Nor is it difficult to divine a reason for this increase both of width and height ; for it would afford a greater shelter from the mid-day sun, and consequently be agreeable in so warm a latitude. I need scarcely add, that battlements were necessary round the top of the piazzas to prevent * Joseph. War, v, 5. * Joseph. Antiq. xv. 11. 78 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. accidents. Perhaps the three rows of great stones, and the row of new timber that are mentioned in Cyrus's decree/ referred to the piazzas of the second temple ; and the widening and raising the south side may have been peculiar to the temple, as beautified by Herod.'' What an elegant appearance must all these rows of white marble pillars have had ! And with how much labour must they have been prepared and erected ! It was not therefore to be wondered at, that Josephus spoke of them with so much rapture, when he said, that •' their effect was incredible to those who never saw them, and an amazement to those who did."*" The same author, in his Jewish Antiquities,*^ mentions both their thickness and number. Their circumference, he says, was eighteen cubits, equal to thirty-two feet ten inches, allowing 21,888 inches to the cubit; consequently, their diameter must have been six cubits, or ten feet eleven inches. Their number he makes one hundred and sixty-two ; but that must have been exclusive of the row which was ranged along the side of the wall. For, by looking into the plan that accompanies this work, we find nine rows independent of that, which nine becoming the divisor of one hundred and sixty-two, gives eighteen pillars for each row ; and this eighteen becoming the divisor of five hundred, the number of cubits on each side of the Court of the Gentiles, makes twenty-seven cubits and three quarters nearly, between each pillar from centre to centre ; a sufficient stretch surely for the beams of cedar that lay between them. The following extract from Josephus,*" will give us some insight into their structure and use. For, when describing a sedition in the days of Archelaus, the successor of Herod, against Sabinus, the Roman general, while Archelaus went to ^ Ezravi.4. ^ Joseph. Antiq. xv, II, '^ lb. xv. 11. '^ Ibid. "^ Antiq. xvii. 10. COURT OF THE GENTILES, 79 Rome to procure the confirmation of his father's testa- ment (which circumstance throws light on the parable of the nobleman, in Luke xix. 12, who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return,) he says, that " the Jews went round about, and got upon those cloisters which encompassed the outer court of the temple : whence an obstinate fight was still continued ; and they cast stones at the Romans, partly with their hands, and partly with slings, as being much used in those exercises. All the archers also in array, did the Romans a great deal of mischief, because they used their hands dexterously from a place superior to the others, and because the others were at an utter loss what to do ; for when they tried to shoot their arrows against the Jews upwards, these arrows could not reach them : inso- much, that the Jews were too hard for their enemies. This sort of fight lasted a great while, till at last the Ro- mans, who were much distressed by what was done, set fire to the cloisters so privately, that those who were upon them did not perceive it. This fire being fed by a great deal of combustible matter, caught hold immedi- ately on the roof of the cloisters. So the wood, which was full of pitch and wax, and whose gold was laid on it with wax, yielded to the flame presently ; and those vast works, which were of the highest value and esteem, were utterly destroyed, while those that were on the roof un- expectedly perished at the same time.'^* These things happened about four years before the birth of Christ, but the cloisters were repaired before the time of his public ministry ; since we find him teaching the people under them. And it was perhaps to them, that the glo- rified Head of the church referred, when, in order to » Whiston's Translation, printed in London, 1806: always referred to in this work. 80 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. encourage the church of Philadelphia, he said, in Rev. iii. 12, '^ Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." Here, however, it may be remarked, that the Royal Torch {aroa ^aaCkixYi) or the name by which Josephus calls the covered walk on this south side in honour of Herod, — has led some writers into a mistake, as if it were the same with Solomon's Porch, that is mentioned in the New Testament/ The porch called Solomon\s was in a different quarter ; for it was the piazza on the east side, or the front of the temple, and obtained its name from the same cause that the gate on the east was commonly called the King's Gate : viz. because both had been built by Solomon at first, at a great expense, and ever afterwards retained his name. Not that the gate and piazza themselves had occasioned this expense, for they were not so much ornamented as some of the others ; but they were founded upon a high wall of four hundred cubits from the valley of Kidron, with stones of twenty cubits long, and six cubits square.'' Such were the covered walks which surrounded the Court of the Gentiles, or outer court, and under which our Saviour delivered some of his beautiful discourses. — But it is now time that we proceed to describe the sacred ground, or that, within which none but Jews and proselytes of righ- teousness might enter. This, we lately said, compre- hended a space of three hundred and sixty-one cubits long, and one hundred and sixty-nine cubits broad, or four English acres, two roods, twenty-five poles, fifteen yards, and five feet, and was subdivided into the follow- ing parts : — 1st. The Hil, or Sacred Fence ; 2d. The Court of the Women ; 3d. The Court of Israel ; and 4th. The Court •» John X. 23. Acts iii. 11. ^ Antiq. xx. 9. THE HILL, OR SACRED FENCE. 81 of the Priests : within which were the brazen altar ; the temple itself, comprehending the porch, holy and most holy places; and the several buildings adjoining the temple. We shall attend then to each of these in the fol- lowing sections. SECT. III. The Hit, or Sacred Fence. ils width; the wall that divided it from the Court of the Gentiles ; doorB ia that wall; inscriptions at these doors ; height of the Hil above the Court of the Gentiles ; Josephus's account of it; the different elevations between the Court of the Gentiles and the threshold of the porch of the temple. This Hil, or Sacred Fence, was a space of ten" cubits wide, equal to eighteen feet two inches, which surrounded the sacred ground, and was itself a part of it. It was in- closed on the outside by a wall of three cubits, or five feet five inches high, of lattice work, so that persons walking in the Court of the Gentiles might see through it, as well as over it.* It had doors in it opposite to each of those which opened into the Courts of the Women, of Israel, and of the Priests:^ and at these doors were posts erected with suitable inscriptions in Greek, Latin, &c. warning strangers, and those polluted by a dead body, of the danger they incurred by entering within them.* This inclosure, however, was not on a level with the Court of the Gentiles, but cut out of the rock six cubits above it ; its floor was overlaid with marble, and it was ascended to, on the several sides, by twelve steps of half a cubit high each : hence it formed a line of ten cubits broad around all the inner or sacred courts, and six cu- bits higher than the outer court, or Court of the Gentiles. We may here remark, for the sake of perspicuity, that » Joseph. War, v, 5. ^ Joseph. Antiq. xv. 11. * Joseph. War, v. 5. Vol. I. L S2 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the rock, on which the temple was built, had several as- censions, or places where, after continuing level for some time, it immediately rose higher. Thus the Court of the Gentiles was a large level space ; but when a person entered the Hil, or Sacred Fence, he rose twelve steps, or six cubits. When he went from the Hil into the Court of the Women, he rose five steps, or two cubits and a- half : from the Court of the Women into the Court of Israel fifteen steps, or seven cubits and a-half : from the Court of Israel into the Court of the Priests, four steps only, but tw^o cubits and a-half: and from the Court of the Priests to the threshold of the porch of the temple, properly so called, twelve steps more, or six cubits. Thus, from the Court of the Gentiles to the threshold of the porch, thjere were no fewer than forty- eight steps, or twenty-four cubits and a-half of elevation. It is to this place, called the Sacred Fence, that Jere- miah refers in his Book of Lamentations, ii. 8. when he says, " He made the Hilj {^\l) and the wall to lament." Our translators have rendered it ^' the rampart ;" but the meaning is, that God had made the wall on the in- side of the Sacred Fence, which surrounded the Courts of the Women, of Israel, and of the Priests, and also the Sacred Fence itself, which was without these, to mourn and lament. SECT. IV. The Court of the Women. Its diflerent names in Scripture ; height above the Sacred Fence; its east gate, . commonly called the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and why ; the height of the wall between the Sacred Fence and the Court of the Women ; the size of the Court, its beautiful pavement, its other gates. The smaller squares ■in each corner of the Court, their dimensions and uses ; the Nazarites' cham- ber, account of Nazaritism ; the wood chamber and persons emplo3'ed in it ; limes of the year wlien the wood was brought to the Temple ; way it was COURT OF THE WOMEN. 83 uisposed of afterwards ; the lepers' chamber, and manner of their purifica- tion ; the oil chamber, the cloisters, or piazzas round the Court; the treasury chest, their number, uses, and places ; the widow's mite explained ; the Pha- risee and publican. Several other particulars. This Court is never called by that name in Scrip- ture ; but it is its general appellation in the Jewish wri- tings. Its common name in Scripture is either the J^ew Court,'' because it was made at a later period than the others, probably by Asa or Jehoshaphat ; or the Outer Court,^ in reference to the Court of Israel, which lay farther in, towards the Temple ; or the Treasury,'' for a reason which will be noticed in a subsequent page. The name by which it was commonly known among the Jews, viz. the Court of the Women (D^tTll n^ltl^?) was given it, because it was their appointed place of worship, and beyond which they might not go, unless when they brought a sacrifice ; at which times they went forward to the Court of Israel. — But let us enter it at the east gate, which, as we formerly said, was the principal gate of the temple, and notice the objects that present themselves as we advance. Rising then from the Court of the Gen- tiles into the Hil, or Sacred Fence, by the twelve steps, by which it was elevated above the Court of the Gen- tiles, we cross the width of the Fence, which was a level space of ten cubits, and ascend by five steps to the east door of the Court of the Women. Thus, allowing half a cubit to each step, which was actually the case, we find that the floor of the Court of the Women was eight cu- bits and a- half, or fifteen feet five inches higher than the Court of tne Gentiles. But this east gate, which in- troduces us into the Court of the Women, ought not to be passed by unnoticed : for it was the Beautiful Gate of the temple which is mentioned in Acts iii. 2, at which the lame man lay asking alms when Peter restored him » 2 Chron. xx. 5. •> Ezek. xlvi. 21. ' John v'.ii. 20. 84 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. to the use of his feet. And the reason of the name, as Josephus tells us,* was because the folding doors, lintel, and side posts, were all overlaid with Corinthian brass, or a mixture of gold, silver, and copper; which was formed from the immense quantities of these metals that abounded in Corinth, when it was burnt by Lucius Mummius, the Roman consul, in the year before Christ 146, and when the violence of the conflagration melted them down into one general mass. It is no wonder, then, that it obtained the denomination oiBeantiful; for, while all the rest of the gates, which we have examined, to- gether with the north and south gates of this Court, were only gilded, this was overlaid with massy plates of this precious metal. We are not informed by Light- foot of the height of the wall which divided the Sacred Fence from the Court of the Women, nor consequently of the gate we are now examining : but we may, per- haps, approximate to it from the following words of Jo- sephus : for speaking of the covered walks or piazzas, in the Court of the Women, which shall be attended to in their proper place, he says, that " except their being only a single row, they wanted nothing of the exceeding greatness of those that were below,"^ meaning evidently the Court of the Gentiles. Now, if that was the case, the wall round the Court of the Women must have been of the same height as the outer wall we first examined, namely, twenty-five cubits ; and the Beautiful Gate would be like the east gate, in that wall, or twenty cu- bits high and ten wide, besides the ornaments on the side-posts and lintel, which together, according to Jose- . phus,*" were forty cubits wide, and fifty cubits high. But having examined the gate which led into the Court of the Women, let us next examine the Court itself. » Antiq. XV. 11. War. v. 5. ^ War, v. 5- ' lb. v. 5. COURT OF THE WOMEN, 85 And here the firet thing we have to remark is, its size. It was one hundred and thirty- five cubits square, or one English acre, one rood, twenty-two poles, twenty-one yards, and three feet ; its floor was beautifully paved with marble ; and it had four gates, viz. the gate called Beautiful, on the east ; the gate Nicanor, on the v/est, which led into the Court of Israel ; and two others on the north and south, which passed through the Sacred Fence into the Court of the Gentiles, but the names of which are not known. Omitting the gate Nicanor for the present, we may notice, that the north and south gates were gilded, and that each of them stood in the middle of their respective walls, so as to give the Court a very regular appearance. In each of the corners of the Court of the Women was a smaller court, forty cubits long from east to west, by thirty broad from north to south ; which smaller courts had covered buildings round them of ten cubits at the ends, by eight at the sides ; and an open space in the middle of twenty cubits by fourteen. The open spaces in the middle were for boiling places, where the priests boiled the sacrifices of the people ; and the covered buildings were allotted to the following uses : — Those in the south-east corner were for the Nazarites, whose vows were expired, that they might boil their peace-offerings, cut their hair, and put it under the pot to burn, accord- ing to Numbers vi. 18. The JVazarites evidently obtained their name from "ntJj J^etzer, '^ to separate :" because they separated themselves from three things, viz. from wine, and all things produced from the vine ; from tlie razor, because they suffered none to come upon their head, but allowed their hair to grow all the time of the separation ; and from pollution by a dead body.* Nazaritism was most » Numb, vi, 1— S. 86 ANTIQUITIES OF TflE JEWS. ordinarily for thirty days, which the Jewish doctor^ founded on the words in Numbers vi. 5. " Unto the Lord he shall be holy ;" for the Hebrew numerals for thirty are to be found in the word n*!l*? he shall be, and they may be explained thus — ^<^ Unto the Lord thirty days holy." But sometimes it was for years, and even- for life. When, therefore, the vows of Nazaritism, which had been made for a limited time, expired, Nazarites might cut their hair either at Jerusalem, or in the places where they happened to be, as Paul did when at Cen- chrea :" but in every case, the hair was kept and brought to these chambers, where, after offering up the sin-ofi*er- ings, and burnt- offerings, they boiled their peace-oifer- ings, putting the hair under the vessel ; and the priest, taking the shoulder as it boiled, and a cake and wafer of the meat-offering, put them on the hands of the Na- zarite, to wave before the Lord, and thus released him from his vow.^ Josephus, in his Wars of the Jews,*" mentions Bernice, the sister of Agrippa, as attending the temple on account of such a vow. — Such then was the use of the chambers on the south-east corner. Those on the north-east were employed as places for holding the wood destined for the altar, where the priests, whose genealogy was acknowledged, but who had some bodily blemish so as to unfit them for attending the altar, re- ceived their portion of the holy things,*^ and were em- ployed in searching for any worms that might be in the wood ; for they held it as a maxim, that the wood which had worms was unfit for the altar. Josephus speaks of the Xylophoria, or certain stated - and solemn times said to be founded on Neh. x. 34. xiii. 30, 31. on which the people brought up wood for this » Acts xviii. 18. b Numb. vi. 14—20. ' War, ii. 15. •^ Levit. xxi. 21—23. THE COURT OF THE WOMEN. 87 purpose :* and the Talmudic treatise entitled Taanith, reckons up nine special days in the year for this employ- ment, and allots the work to nine of those families which returned from captivity. ^^ The wood-carrying times/' it says,*" ^^for the priests and the people were nine. On the first of Nisan (21st March,) the sons of Arah, a son of Judah. On the 20th of Tammuz (9th July,) the sons of David, a son of Judah. On the 5th of Ab (23d July,) the sons of Parosh, a son of Judah. On the 7th of Ab (25th of July,) the sons of Jonadab, the son of Recab. On the 10th of Ab (28th of July,) the sons of Senaah, a son of Benjamin. On the 15th of Ab (2d of August,) the sons of Zattu, a son of Judah, and with them the priests and Levites, and whoever knew not their own tribe. On the 20th of Ab (7th August,) the sons of Patrath-Moab, a son of Judah. On the 20th of Elul (6th of September,) the sons of Addin, a son of Judah. And on the 1st of Thebet (24th of December,) the sons of Parosh a second time." None of these correspond with the 14th of Ab in Josephus. The wood that was free of worms was reserved for the altar; and that which had worms or blemishes was em- ployed either for boiling, baking, or frying what per- tained to the sacrifices, or for warming the guard-rooms of the priests and Levites. The chambers in the north-west corner were for the lepers, who, after observing the rites for cleansing al- lowed them in the country,'' had come to Jerusalem on the eighth day, with their three lambs for a sin-offering, trespass- offering, and burnt- offering, and had gone into these rooms ; and, having bathed themselves, had been brought thence by the priest who presided on that sta- tion, to the gate of Nicanor, which led into the Court of » War, ii, 17. ^ Per. iv. ' Levit. xiv. 1, 88 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Israel, that the particular priests, who had the charge of their oiferings, and had brought their lambs that were devoted for trespass, might sprinkle a part of their blood on their right ears, right thumbs, and right toes, in or- der to their purification. The only remaining corner we have to examine is the south-west. The chambers here were called the houses of oil, for here they laid up the wine and the oil which were required by the law for the public meat-offerings and drink-offerings. Such was the platform of the Court of the Women. It was a perfect square : in the middle of each wall was a gate ; and at each corner of it was a smaller court, devoted to sacrifices and other purposes. The prophet Ezekiel refers to this Court, and to the in- closed spaces in the corners of it, in his 46th chapter, verses 21 — 24. " Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court ; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court : in the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long, and thirty broad; these four corners were of one measure ; and there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, (namely for the chambers which we were describ- ing,) and it (viz. the open space within the chambers,) was made with boiling places under the rows round about. Then said he unto me. These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sa- crifice of the people." But what, it may be asked, was between these smaller courts, in the corners, and the' doors on the different sides? Was the wall bare, and un- ornamented ? or, had it covered walks like the Court of the Gentiles ? We answer, it had piazzes below, and gal- leries above, on three of its sides, namely, the east, south, and north ; but the west side, or that next the court of Israel, had none. Nor were those piazzes and galleries COURT OF THE WOMEN. 89 built at the same time with the Court ; for it was not till inconveniences were felt from the men and women crowd- ing together, that they thought of erecting them at all. But when that happened, they built a piazza for the men to walk under below, and galleries for the women to sit in above. Hence they differed from those around the Court of the Gentiles in two respects. For in the first place, they consisted only of two rows of pillars ; one at the side of the wall to prevent the weight of the balco- nies from injuring it, and another a considerable way out: it is not said how far, but as there were only two rows, and the spaces between the two rows in the Court of the Gentiles was fifteen cubits, it is probable that the dis- tance was the same here. Secondly, those in the Court of the Gentiles were twenty- five cubits high, without any interruption between the ground and the top ; but these were divided into parts or stories. It is not indeed said how many ; but if we divide the twenty-five cubits, or forty-five feet seven inches, into four stories, we have eleven feet five inches nearly for each story. So that, according to this, there might have been piazzas below for the men, and three stories above for the women, which, on the three sides of the Court, would be able to hold a considerable number. There is only one thing more that remains to be noticed in this Court — viz. the treasury chests. The treasuries of the temple were di- vided into two classes : the treasury chests, and the trea- sury chambers. The former of which were called Shu- periith, (nnfiltT?) or trumpets, because they were mde in the bottom and narrow at the top, to prevent the mo- ney that was put in from being taken out. The latter was called Lesecatlu (HOdS?) or the repositories; and both bore the general name of Corbcm, {\21\>y) or Ker- ben^ an oblation, or sacred gift. We have already had occasion to notice some of the treasure chambers; when Vol. I. M ^0 AKTIQtriTIES or THE JEWS. describing the west gates of the outer wall named Jlsup- pirn ; and as they will present themselves to our consi- deration in a subsequent page, we shall at present con- fine our attention to the treasure chests. These were thirteen in number, eleven of which stood constantly in the Court of the Women, before the pillars on the east, south, and north sides. Their designations and uses were as follow : — The first was to receive the price of the two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, from those who had to offer them ; the one for a burnt- oifering, and the other for a sin-offering. The second was for those M^ho offered a burnt-offering of birds only. The third, for any that offered money to buy wood for the altar. The fourth, for those who offered money to buy frankincense. The fifth, for those w ho offered gold for the mercy-seat. The sixth, for the residue of sin-offerings ; that is to say, if any set apart a sum of money for a sin-offering, and the price was less than the money destined, the remainder of the sum, whatever it was, was cast in there. The seventh was for the residue of trespass- offerings : these two last belonged to the priests. ** The eighth chest was for the residue of the offerings of birds, of men and women that had issues, and of women after childbirth. The ninth, for the surplus of the Nazarite's offering. The tenth, for the surplus of the leper's trespass-ofl'ering : and the ele- venth, for any person that voluntarily offered a sacrifice of the herd in order to buy it. Such were the eleven treasury chests which constantly stood in the Court of the Women, viz. three on one side of the Beautiful Gate, three on the other, and the other five on the north and south sides of the Court. The other two chests were ap- propriated, as we formerly saw, to the collecting the half shekel, which every Israelite had to pay for the re- " 2 Kings xij. 16. COURT ©F THE WOMEN. 91 demption of his life:* the one for the payment of the pre- sent year, and the other for the past ; if from accident or neglect it happened to be omitted, and they commonly stood for about thirty days before the passover at the gate Shushan, or the east gate in the outer wall, as be- ing the most frequented entrance to the temple.'' Such were the money chests which stood in the tem- ple : viz. the two that were temporary at the gate SIiu- shan, and the eleven that were permanent in the Court of the Women. In this court of the Women, called the Treasury, it was that our Saviour delivered his striking discourse to the Jews, related in John viii. 1 — 20, and his beautiful commendation of charity, when seeing the widow throw her two mites into one of the chests. Per- haps it may be gratifying to know their real value, which we may easily ascertain by attending to the table of mo- ney given in a subsequent part of this work. In that ta- ble we find that a mite was a small brass coin, equal in value to the Jewish half farthing; and that the two mites, or farthing, were only equal in value to the twelfth and a half part of a penny sterling. But it is the motive, and not the sum, that God regards. Man looketh only, or at least often, to the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh at the heart. Before we quit this Court of the Women we may remark, that it was hither the Pharisee and Publican came to pray; the one advancing with con- fidence towards the gate Nicanor, through which he had a view of the temple, and saying, " God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men;'^ while the other stood afar off, smiting upon his breast and saying, ^^ God be merciful to me a sinner." *= Into this court also it was that the lame man followed Peter and John, when it is said, * Exod. XXX. 13. ■> Lightf. Chorog. Decad. before Hcb, and Talm. Exer. on Mark, cliap. iii ''■ Luke xviii, 10 — iS. 92 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. in Acts iii. 8. that he went with them into the temple after he was cured ; the Court of the Women being the ordinary place of worship to those who brought no sa- crifice. And from thence, after prayers, he went back with them through the Beautiful Gate of the temple, where he had been lying, and through the Sacred Fence into the Court of the Gentiles, where, under the eastern piazza, or Solomon's Porch, Peter delivered that sermon which converted five thousand. It was in this same Court of the Women that the Jews laid hold of Paul, when they thought him a violater of the temple, by taking Gentiles within the Sacred Fence.^ In this Court did the high priest once a-year, namely, at the feast of expiation, read a portion of the law. Here also the king, once in seven years, or in the year of release, did the same at the feast of tabernacles. And in this Court, as we shall see in a subsequent page, did the people rejoice with great joy every year at that solemnity. We shall only add, that it was in this Court that the King Agrippa hung up the gold chain given him by Caius Caligula, the Roman emperor, of equal weight with that iron chain with which he had been bound by the order of Tiberius, as a testimony of his gratitude to Almighty God for the favourable change in his alTairs.'' And perhaps it was around this Court, or the Court of the Gentiles, or of Israel, that the spoils which Herod took from the barbarous nations were suspended ; when Josephus says of them, that they were fixed around the entire temple, being dedicated to the temple ; with the addition of those he had taken from the Arabians.'' Such are the particulars that claim our notice in the Court of the Women. They are hot uninteresting to the Christian scholar, as they serve to throw considerable light on the oracles of truth. » Acts xxi. 26, Sec. ^ Joseph. Antiq. xix. 6. ' Antifi- xv. 11. COURT OF ISRAEL. 93 SECT. V. The Court of Israel, Height of the wall between it and the Court of the Women ; relative heights of the two courts; steps which led from the one into the otlier ,- for what they were remarkable ; Psalms of Deg'rees explained ; chamber under them for the musical instruments. The gate Nlcanor; its height, beauty, the names it has in Scripture ; various things appointed to be done in it (the three remarkable . things that happened forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem.) Size of the Court of Israel. Objects on the east side of it :— a room for the Coun- cil of Twenty-three. The place where Solomon's brazen scaffold stood ; the king's pillar ; the Levites' ward ; the chamber of Phineas ; pastry-man's chamber ; the place where the stationary men stood. Objects on the south side :— the chamber of lots ; Gezith, where the Sanhedrin sat ; their number, qualifications for office, manner of sitting, hours of attendance, causes that came before them, punishments they inflicted. The names of their presidents, and places to which they removed on leaving Gezith. The draw-well cham- ber; the Water gate; the chamber of incense; receipt for making and using it ; the room where the high priest first bathed on the day of expiation ; tlie wood room ; Peredrin, or the vestry of the temple ; the Levites' ward ; the (Jate of Firstlings ; another Levites' ward; the Gate of Kindling; the com- mon-hall of the Levites while on guard; the distance of the gates on this side of the Court from each other. Objects on the luest side ; none. Objects on the north side : — the relative situation of the gates. Bithmuked, contain- ing the chamber for the lambs used in the daily sacrifice; a bathing room for the priests ; the common-hall for the priests on guard ; the chamber where tlie shew bread was prepared, and the place where the Maccabees deposited the stones of the altar that was polluted by Antiochus. The gate Muked; the treasure chamber for the poll-tax ; another Levites' ward ; chamber for the money that was devoted to repair the temple ; the gate Corban, or of the Women ; the salt chamber; chamber for the hides; chamber for washing the entrails; the other chamber where the high priest bathed on the day of ex- piation ; the Gate of Sparkling, or of Song ; Levites' and priests' wards ; the chamber of stone vessels. The Court of Israel was formerly mentioned as the third division of the sacred ground ; and in passing out of the Court of the Women into it, we meet with a high wall of separation, the side of which, next the Court of the Women, was thirty-two cubits and a-half high, but the side next the Court of Israel only twenty-five. The reason of which difference was, that as the rock on which 94 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the temple stood always became higher as yoii went to the westward, so the several courts naturally became ele- vated in proportion. Thus, as we formerly said, there were twelve steps, or six cubits of ascent from the Court of the Gentiles into the Hil, or Sacred Fence; five steps, or two cubits and a-half thence into the Court of the Women; and now, there are fifteen steps, or seven cu- bits and a-half from the Court of the Women into the Court of Israel ; which seven cubits and a-half are the exact difference between thirty-two and a-half and twenty-five, or the outer and inner sides of the dividing wall. Consequently, the Court of Israel was higher than the Court of the Gentiles by sixteen cubits, or twenty- four feet, and the ascent from the one to the other was by thirty-two steps in all. The fifteen steps which led out of the Court of the Women into the Court of Israel were in the form of a semicircle, so as to allow a more easy communication : and their number gave rise to the fifteen psalms, from the 120th to the 134th inclusive, being entitled, ^^ Psalms of Degrees ;" because upon these the Levites stood and sung them at the feast of ta- bernacles. We may also remark, that on either side of these steps there was a door in the wall, facing the Court of the Women, which opened into chambers under ground, whose roof was level with the floor of the Court of Israel, where the Levites deposited their musical in- struments when they had finished their singing in the daily service in the Court of Israel. They came down the fifteen steps, and at the "bottom turned, to the right and left, into the chambers we are now describing. But let us ascend the steps to the gate that conducts us from the one court into the other. According to Josephus it was fifty cubits high, inclu- ding the tower at the top, but the door was only forty cubitS; and richly ornamented with silver and gold, laid COURT OF ISRAEL. 95 on to a great thickness; but he does not inform us whether it was gilt or plated. Either way, however, it would form a counterpart to the gate called Beautiful at the other end of the Court.* The gates at the sides of the Court are not described, but they were probably much lower : perhaps of the same size as those in the Court of the Gentiles. This gate, between the Courts of the Women and of Israel, was formerly known by different appellations. Thus it is called the higher gate of the Lord's house, in 2 Kings XV. 35, and 2 Chron. xxvii. 3, in allusion to those which were lower down : the new gate, in Jer. xxvi. 10, and xxxvi. 10, because rebuilt by Jotham '^ the gate of entrance^ in Ezek. xl. 15, and the brazen gate, in Josephus '." but the most common name by which it was known in our Saviour's days, was the Gate of Nica- nor ; either because one of that name residing at Alexan- dria, in Egypt, sent the two doors of it to Jerusalem ; or because they slew there a Grecian prince of the name of Nicanor, in the time of the Asmonseans ; or in honour of Saleucus Nicanor, the first king of Syria, who had shewn himself a friend to the Jewish nation. However this may be, it was in this gate, which was accounted of the same sanctity with the Court of the Women, that the leper stood, to have his atonement made, and cleans- ing completed : here they tried the suspected wife by making her drink of the bitter waters ; an account of which is given in Part IV. Sec. 5th : it was here that the gold tablet, presented by Helena, %ieen of the Adia- beni, on the River Adiab, in Assyria, was suspended, on which was written the section about the suspected wife : here likewise women appeared after childbirth for puri- fication ; and here consequently the Virgin Mary pre- • War, V. 5. ^ 2 Chron. xxvii, 3. " War^ii. 17. 96 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. sented lier child.' We may also remark, that Josephus,* when treating of the prodigies that presaged the de- struction of Jerusalem, mentions a remarkable one con- cerning this gate. His words are as follow : ^* The east gate of the inner temple being of brass and extremely heavy, and which could hardly be shut by twenty men ; when barred and bolted exceedingly strong and sure, was seen by night to open of its own accord ; which tlie simpler did interpret as a very good omen ; but those of deeper research suspected that it presaged the decay and ruin of the strength of the temple." It is indeed worthy of notice, that the Jew^s themselves date three remarkable things as happening forty years before the destruction of the temple, or, in other words, about the time of our Saviour's death ; namely, the opening of these folding- doors, the Sanhedrin's leaving the room Gezith, and the scarlet list on the scape goat's head not altering from red to white, which they assert it did in former times. Might not these have convinced them, that their ecclesiastical glory was departing; that their civil liberties were coming to a close ; and that he whom the scape goat represented, had actually appeared to take away the sin of the world? But "blindness in part is happened unto Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."*" Let us now enter the gate and examine attentively the several odjects which were to be seen in the Court of Israel. Generally speaking, the whole of the remaining space might be called the Court of Israel, for there was no. wall between it and the Court of the Priests : but as it was commonly limited to much narrower bounds, we shall adopt that limitation. Let it be observed, then, » Luke ii. 22, ^ War, vi. 5. " Rom. xi. 25. COURT OF ISRAEL. 97 that the Court of Israel, as thus defined, was that por- tion of ground which surrounded the Court of the Priests; and was itself surrounded on the south, west, and north sides, by the wall which separated it from the Sacred Fence, and on the cast by that which divided it from the Court of the Women. It was in the form of an ob- long, whose north and south sides were one hundred and eighty-seven cubits long, by only eight cubits broad ; and whose east and west sides were one hundred and thirty-five cubits long, by eleven cubits broad ; and thus contained one rood, twenty- eight poles, sixteen yards, six feet, English measure. As the dividing line between it and the Court of the Priests was a row of pillars, and these were covered above, like the pillars in the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of the Women ; so the Court of Israel was properly a piazza of the above di- mensions, under which the Israelites stood, while their sacrifices were burning in the Court of the Priests. This piazza was formed of part of the Algum trees, which the servants of Solomon brought from Ophir ;"* and it had a full view of the altar and temple, and of all the priests who were officiating. But let us proceed regularly, and survey the objects worthy of notice on its several sides, beginning with the east. Here, above the gate Nicanor, was a room for one of the Councils of Twenty- three, of which there were two in the temple, one here, and one over the gate Shu- shan, in the outer wall, before the Sanhedrin took posses- sion of it. It was in one of these judicatories that our Sa- viour disputed, when only twelve years of age, astonish- ing the doctors. '^ Immediately before the gate was the place where Solomon erected the brazen scafibld, on which he uttered that beautiful prayer at the consecra- — — — — — ^ — ■ , * 2 Cliron. \\. 11. '' Luke ii. 46. Vol. I, N 99 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. tion of the temple, which is recorded in 1 Kings viii. 22— 53, and 2 Chron. vi. 12 — 42. And there too, in after times, stood the king's pillar, as it is called in 2 Kings xi. 14; xxiii. 3 ; and 2 Chron. xxiii. 13; where the kings on particular occasions took their station.^ Such were the objects immediately above and before the gate : the only other objects on that side which are mentioned, are the Levites' ward and the Chamber of Phineas on the right (marked No. 1. in Plate II.) ; and that of the pas- try-man, on the left as you enter the Court (marked No. 2.) The Chamber of Phineas was the wardrobe for the priests, whence they received their vestments when they entered on office, or required new ones ; and into which they returned the old, to be unravelled for wicks to the lamps at the feastof tabernacles. It was called by that name in honour of one Phineas, who had been re- markably faithful in his office. The pastry-man's cham- ber was the place where they prepared the daily meat offering of the high priest, in offering of which he was distinguished from the other priests. And we may re- mark, before leaving this side of the Court, that here commonly stood the stationary men, who represented the Israelites in their attendance on the service, and of whom we shall speak more particularly in a subsequent part of this work. But let us now turn to the south wall of the Court of Israel, and examine the objects worthy of attention on that side. The first, in the south-east corner, was the building called Gezith (ri^M?) where the Sanhedrin so long sat. It was built by Simeon ben Shetah, vice-presi.- dent of the Sanhedrin, in the time of Hyrcanus Jannseus, one of the Asmonsean princes. Its name denotes that it was built of stone neatly polished ; for so the word is > 2 Chron, xxxiv. 31 j Ezek. xlvi. 2—8. 12. COURT OF ISRAEL. 99 used in Exod. xx. 25 ; 1 Kings v. 17 ; and several other places : and it was said to be half holy and half common, meaning that it stood half within the Court of Israel, and half without it, in the wall and Sacred Fence, with a door entering into either place, and a dividing wall be- tween them. That half which entered from the Sacred Fence, (and which is marked No. 3. in Plate II.) was the place where the Sanhedrin sat ; for it was one of their traditions that none might sit within the verge of the Court of Israel, but the kings of the house of David. And it was by this door from the Sacred Fence that the criminals entered to be judged : but there was a door on the other side into the Court of Israel, for the use of the Sanhedrin. The other half of the chamber Gezith, (marked No. 4. in Plate II.) was entered from the Court of Israel, and was the place where the priests cast their lots for the daily service, and offered up certain prayers to the God of Israel^ which will afterwards be more par- ticularly noticed. But we cannot leave the chamber, where the great council of the nation sat, without attending a little to its history. It consisted of seventy- one members, answering to Moses and the seventy elders, whom he chose, when God, in the wilderness, first appointed it.^ These mem- bers were composed of priests, Levites, and Israelites ; or, as they are called in the New Testament, chief priests, scribes, and elders : the first, meaning the heads of the twenty-four courses, which were appointed by Da- vid/ and revived after the captivity by Ezra, making one-third of the whole number j the second, were tran- scribers and teachers of the law; and the third, were the heads of the tribes of Israel, — making between them the other tv/o- thirds. The qualifications for office are said ^ Numb. xi. 16, 17. t. i ChroR.xxiv. 1. 100 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. to have been the following : — They were to have wis- dom, integrity, the fear of God, love of truth and impar- tiality; were to be learned in arts and languages; skilled in physic, arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology ; able to judge in cases of magic, sorcery, and idolatry ; without any bodily blemish; aged, but not too old, lest they might be unable to endure the fatigues of office ; and fathers, that they might be acquainted with tenderness and compassion. Their manner of sitting was this : — ^The most eminent person among them for worth and wisdom was chosen JVasi, (N'JJ^J, JVeshia) that is, prince, or president. Whilst the king, therefore, had the charge of the army and of war, and the high priest of the Divine worship, it was the president's duty to be the repository of tradi- tion. He resolved cases of conscience, and taught the oral law, which Moses was said to have entrusted to the seventy elders. Esdras, or Ezra, is considered as the in- stitutor of this office, and to have settled it in David's family. Hillel, who came from Babylon in the reign of Herod, thirty years before Christ, exercised it with great honour. Nor did the destruction of Jerusalem oc- casion its abolition, for it continued under the title of patriarch, or chief of the captivity for many ages after.-* The second in dignity was the vice-president, or pi DO iJ<, Ab-bith-din, the father of the house of judgment. He sat on the right hand of the president, but on a lower seat (which may serve to illustrate the phrase in Matt. xxvi. 64. of sitting on the right hand of power :) and the rest of the Sanhedrin took their places according to the date of their election, on either hand of these, and on a leivel with the vice-president, in the form of a semicircle. The high priest was not a constituent member of this * Basnage's Hist, of the Jews ; book i, chap. 4. COURT OF ISRAEL. 101 Court, unless elected for his personal merit ; and the king had no vote, lest his presence might prevent liberty of speech, and influence decisions. Within the semicircle were two seats for the CDU^nn 1"l£DlD? Siiperu ediinim, or scribes of judgment ; that on the right, was for him who registered the votes of acquittal ; and that on the left, for him who marked the sentences of condemnation. Before them, at some distance, and lower down, sat those wise men, out of whose number the vacancies in the Sanhedrin were to be supplied, which was commonly done by lots and the laying on of hands, as Moses did to Joshua; or by pronouncing, in the presence of three judges at least, the following words : " Thou art asso- ciated with us, and power is given thee to judge of pe-. nalties."* The hours of attendance were commonly from the end of the morning till the beginning of the evening service : yet sometimes the urgency of business forced them to break through this rule, and to continue their session even until night, that the matter might be finished before they arose. For, according to their tra- ditions, they might not enter upon a new cause during the night season j but the regulation was violated in the case of Jesus Christ, whom they judged by night. The causes that came before them were commonly those of the greatest magnitude ; as, when a sentence of life or death passed by the inferior judicatories, was to be confirmed ;'' or when a whole tribe, or a high priest, or a king of the house of David had ofiended. They had also the power of determining in certain cases of peace and war, for they divided their wars into two kinds — those that were commanded, like the wars against the Canaanites and Amalekites, and against the invaders or oppressors of Israel, in which the king, of his own ac- •* Godwin's Moses and Aaron, book v. chap. 5, 6. t" Joseph. War, ii. 20. 102 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. cord, might engage without consulting them ; and those which were permitted, like a war for security or enlarge- ment of territory, which could not be entered into with- out their consent. The Sanhedrin also determined con- cerning any enlargement of Jerusalem, repairs of the temple, constitutions of the inferior courts, or hard cases in the law and traditions.* And it was their province, likewise, to review the proceedings of the inferior courts which came before them, either by complaint or appeal. For there were Courts of three which met in a chamber near the synagogue, for determining about money, debts, contracts, &c. : and Courts of twenty-three (Josephus says seven, *•) in cities, where there were one hundred and twenty families at least, which sat in a chamber at the gate, and had power in causes both civil and crimi- nal, either in the first instance, or when referred to them by the Council of three. Thus the powers of the Sanhe- drin were two-fold : they were both a radical court, and a court of review ; they could both take up causes of the greatest magnitude, and review the proceedings of infe- rior courts. The dress in which the accused appeared (Josephus tells us) was, a black or mourning garment, with dishe- velled hair, in order to excite compassion.'' And the ca- pital punishments which were inflicted on them, if found guilty, were the four following : viz. slaying with the sword, strangling, burning, and stoning. Those who were slaiil with the sword, were commonly beheaded. He who was sentenced to be'strangled, was set up to the knees in a dunghill, where two persons placed a towel about his neck, and put an end to his life by drawing it at either end. The criminals condemned to be burned. » Owen on the Hebrews, vol. i. Exercit. xii. Basiiage's Hist, of the Jews, book i. chap. 4. '^ War, ii. 20. "^ Antiq. xiv. P. COURT OF ISRAEL. 103 were also set up to the knees in a dunghill^ with a towel around their necks, which was drawn till they were forced to open their mouths, to receive the melted lead that was to be poured into them. And the persons to be stoned to death, commonly received their doom in the following manner : they were brought to a little emi- nence without the city, two cubits high, with their hands bound, where was a large stone at the bottom ; and when four cubits from it they received the stupifying draught, were stripped almost naked, and dashed backwards, by the first witness who had condemned them, on the stone at the bottom of the eminence ; if not killed by that, the second witness was ready with another large stone to throw it upon their breasts while they lay ; and if still alive after all this, the people present rushed forward and stoned them till they died. This may lead us to un- derstand what is meant by the witnesses laying down their garments, or upper robes, at SauPs feet, when they were going to stone Stephen;* and also what our Saviour meant when he said, "• Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken ; and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.''^ The persons condemned to be stoned were first dashed upon a stone, and then stones were thrown upon them. All the stoned were also hanged on a tree ; but after hanging a certain time, they were buried in the burying- place allotted for such persons : for there were two of that description at Jerusalem, the one for the strangled and beheaded, as being the less notorious ; and the other, for those who were burnt and stoned. But when the flesh was wasted in these public cemeteries, the bones were gathered and buried in the grave of their fathers.'' The minor punishments inflicted by order of the Jew- . — ■ ■ ^ __^ y^ » Acts vii, 58. ^ Matt. xxi. 44. ' Lightf. Harm. N. T, part i. § 8G. 104 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ish tribunals were commonly whipping and the stocks,* the last of which were similar to those at present in use, by which the feet are confined for a certain time in the market-place ; and the first was inflicted with a whip of three cords thirteen times repeated, for they were for- bidden by the law to exceed forty, and by this contri- vance they limited it to thirty-nine ; which may serve to explain to us what the apostle means when he says — ^ ^^ Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one."" Concerning the number of presidents, Dr. Lightfoot mentions the names of sixteen, between the return from the seventy years' captivity, and the time when they ceased to exist. Ezra, of whom so much is said in Scrip- ture, was the first, during whose life the Sanhedrin was composed of very eminent members, such as Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seriah, Mordecai, &:c. and hence it is called by the Jews the Great Synagogue. — Simeon the Just, was the second : it was his brother, Eleazer, to whom, when high priest, Ptolemy Philadelphus is said to have sent respecting the Septuagint. — The third was Antigonus of Soco : one of whose scholars, named Sadoc, is thought to have broached the errors of the Sadducees. — The fourth was Joseph-ben- Joezer. — The fifth, Joshua, the son of Perehiah. — The sixth, Judah, the son of Tab- bai, whose vice-president built the chamber of Gezith. — The seventh, Shemaiah. — The eighth, Hillel, one of the most eminent they ever had: his presidency began twen- ty-eight years before our Saviour's birth, and his death happened in the twelfth year of our Saviour's age : Jona- than-ben-Uzziel, the Chaldee paraphrast was one of his scholars. — Rabban Simeon, Hillel's son, was the ninth : he was the first who was dignified with the name of » Deut. XXV. 2, 3. Jer. xx, 2. *' 2 Cor. ii. 24 COURT OF ISRAEL. 105 Rabban, and is supposed to have been the Simeon who took our Saviour in his arms :* he began his presidency about the thirteenth year of Christ; and appears, like Nicodemus, to have been one of those in the Sanhedrin who believed on him/' — The tenth was Rabban Gama- liel, Simeon's son, under whom Paul was educated :" \\e was president when Christ was arraigned, and lived twenty-two years after ; but it is probable that he re- pented of the part he took, and that the good instruc- tions of his father had revived in his mind; for when the Sanhedrin wished to take violent measures with the apostles and the Christian cause, he appeared as their advocate/ — The eleventh president of the Sanhedrin was Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamaliel ; he was slain at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. But al- though the city was destroyed, the Sanhedrin did not cease to exist, for it moved about from place to place, hav- ing the following presidents : viz. Rabban Jochanan-ben- Zaccai, the twelfth president, who held the Sanhedrin at Jabneh. — Rabban Gamaliel, of Jabneh, the thirteenth; the son of Rabban Simeon Gamaliel, the eleventh presi- dent.— Rabban Simeon, the son of Rabban Gamaliel, of Jabneh, the fourteenth. — The fifteenth was Rabbi Judah, the son of the former; the compiler of the Mishna, called by way of distinction Haccadosh, or the Holy. — And the sixteenth was Rabban Gamaliel, the son of Rabbi Judah, with whom the title of Rabban ceased, and the Sanhe- drin expired. We have been thus long in our details concerning tlie chamber Gezith, in consequence of the Sanhedrin hav- ing sat there for so long a time ; but it should not be forgotten, that the time of their leaving it, according to their own confession, happened at the death of our Sa- ^ Luke ii. 25. ^ John xli. 42. " Acts sxii. 3. ^ Acts v. 34—39. Vol, I. O 106 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. viour, when the power of judging in civil matters wacs taken from them, and their discussions were confined to those which were entirely of a religious nature. It was then that they retired from the chamber Gezith, and held their meetings in that above the east gate in the outer wall, or the gate Shushan, where a council of twenty- three formerly sat. The following is the list of places to which they successively removed : — 1st. from Gezith to Heniuth, over the gate Shushan ; 2d. from Heniuth to Jerusalem ; 3d. from Jerusalem to Jabneh ; 4th. from Jabneh to Ausha ; 5th. from Ausha to Jabneh ; 6th. from Jabneh to Ausha again ; 7th. from Ausha to Sheperom ; 8th. from Sheperom to Bith Shaarim ; 9th. from Bith Shaarim to Tsipperas in Gallilee ; and 10th. from Tsipperas to Tiberius. Such were the buildings in the south-east corner of the Court of Israel : advancing forward along the south wall towards the Water Gate, we come to the house or chamber for the draw-well, (marked No, 5, in Plate II.) because a well was sunk there, and a wheel placed over it, by which they drew water to serve every purpose in the Court of the Priests — as filling the laver, filling the cisterns for the priests to bathe in, washing the sacrifices, boiling the offerings, and even washing the Court itself. But as an immense quantity of water was required for these purposes, and we never find a deficiency of it complained of; it may be proper to observe, that the requisite supply was not obtained from a spring in the rock, but from the spring 'Etam or Nephtoah,^ which lay four furlongs to the westward of the temple, and was conveyed to it by means of pipes along that place, which was known by " the coming down of the waters." At the west end of the draw-well chamber was the gate ^ Joshua xviii. 15, COURT OF ISRAEL. JOT called The Water Gate: it had a priest's guard stationed at it, and gave a direct entry from the Court of the Gen- tiles and Sacred Fence, into the Court of the Priests, opposite the brazen altar 5 but it was not called by that name on account of its being in the neighbourhood of the reservoir for water. The Talmudists assign another rea- son : they say, that it obtained its name on account of its being the gate through which the water was brought from Siloam, that was poured out at the feast of taber- nacles. We read of a Water Gate in Neh. viii. 3, but that was in the city, not in the temple, as is evident from Neh. iii. 26. Immediately above the Water Gate of the temple, was the chamber Abtines, or incense cham- ber, so called from a person of that name, who had been much esteemed while in office ; in like manner, as the wardrobe chamber was called the Chamber of Phineas. The receipt for making the incense used in the temple on the golden altar was as follows : — Of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense, each seventy -one pounds weight, or two hundred and eighty-four pounds in all ; of myrrh, cassia, crocus, and ana, sixteen pounds each, or sixty-four pounds in all ; of costus, twelve pounds ; cinnamon, nine pounds ; and cloves, three pounds — in all three hundred and sixty-eight pounds. The first four of these ingredients, but not their specific quantities, are to be found in Exod. xxx. 34 ; the rest were added by the traditions. Each of these articles was pounded by itself, in the mortar called " the mortar of the sanc- tuary,'' which was carried to Rome when the city was sacked ; they were then carefully mixed, and to the mixture were added some salt of Sodom, amber of Jor- dan, and an herb of an odoriferous smoke, with which very few were acquainted. The proportion for each day was a pound, and the three pounds that remained at the end of the year (except a handful that the high priest lOS ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. took on the day of expiation,) were given to the work men that repaired the temple as part of payment, but immediately bought bsck, and accounted as part of the next year's stock. As the high priest was commanded by the law to take a hondful of incense on the day of expiation ;* so, for some time before that solemnity, he visited this chamber, that he might learn aright this part of his duty. It was in this room that the younger priests kept a nightly guard, as^they did also in Bith Nitsuo, on the opposite side of the altar. The elder priests held their guard in Bithmuked. On the roof, likewise, of this Water Gate, and above the incense chamber, was a bath, in which the high priest first bathed himself on the day of expiation. For, although the bathing place on the top of the room, Eperue (which we shall examine in a subsequent page,) \va.s the place where he bathed oftenest on that day, yet here he began that operation. Nor was this unnatural ; for, having spent the night before, as he usually did, in the chamber called Peredrin, he naturally ascended to a chamber so near it to begin his ablutions before he entered on his important work. Such were the chambers at the Water Gate. — Let us proceed onwards to the ivood chamber (marked No. 6, Plate II.) ; which joined to the Water Gate on the west side, and was the place to which the priests, who were employed in the wood chamber in the Court of the Wo- men, brought that which they had examined, and judged to be proper for burning on the altar. Above the wood chamber, as a second story, was the room Peredrin {VyiTTSt^}) or the room of the sitters ; because there the high priest commonly consulted with the rulers of •» Levit. xvi. 12. COURT OF ISRAEL. 109 the temple, or counsellors, about the concerns of the tem- ple. It was his vestry, where all matters relating to the government of the house were privately discussed. And beyond it, at the side of the next gate, was the chamber where the Levites on guard watched, (marked No. 7, Plate II.) that gate was called the Gate of Firstlings : it entered into the Sacred Fence and Court of the Gen- tilcsj, and obtained its name from the firstlings coming through it that were to be offered up. They were slain on the south side of the altar, and sacrificed upon it. Beyond that, to the west, lay the gate called Edlek (p^^in?) or of Kindling ; not because the wood, that was used on the altar, was brought through it, as some have thought (for we have seen the wood room to be nearer the altar than this gate was ;) but the real reason seems to have been, that the Levites, who kept guard in the Court of Israel, and had one of their guards at this gate, had both a ward at the gate, and a common- hall with a fire-place near it (marked No. 8 and 9, in Plate II.), where those who were on guard warmed themselves. It led, likewise, into the Court of the Gen- tiles, through the Sacred Fence. Thus have we seen the objects worthy of notice on the south side of the Court of Israel. But before we leave it, we may remark, that the three gates here mentioned were all at equal distances from the end, and from each other : so that, as the length of the wall was one hundred and eighty-seven cubits, the distance between the gates was forty-six cubits and three-quarters each. Along the ivest side of the Court of Israel, or, in other words, be- hind the temple, there was neither gate nor building, except the wall which divided it from the Hil or Sacred Fence. But on the north side there were three gates di- rectly opposite to those on the south side, and a number of buildings which remain to be described. Let us begin 110 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. then with those, which were at the west end of the wall, and move onward to the east, from whence we set out. Between the north-west end of the Court of Israel and the gate Muked (ipID^ ^^ ^^ Burning, was compre- hended the fourth part of the north wall, or forty-six cubits and three-quarters; where there were several buildings, all included under the general name of Bith- muked, or the House of Burning. The manner in which these buildings were arranged was this : the forty-six cubits and three-quarters were divided into three parts, of fifteen cubits and a-half each : but the middle part re- mained entire, and the parts at the ends were subdivided into two, so as to make five chambers in all. Those two which joined to the west end were for the lambs used in the daily sacrifice, and as a bathing-place for the priests, (marked No. 10 and 11, in Plate II.) That in the mid- dle (marked No. 12,) was the common-hall for the priests (as the chamber of kindling on the south side opposite to it was the chamber for the Levites,) where they kept a fire in cold weather for their accommodation while on guard ; for their clothing when on duty was thin, and they were always barefooted. Hence it obtained the name of Bithmuked, or the House of Burning. The Talmud gives us the following description of it : — ^it was a great arched room, furnished with stone benches, on which the elders of the house of their fathers slept ; and the keys of the Court were in their keeping. But the young men of the priesthood slept on the ground in their ordinary clothes, having their holy garments under their heads instead of pillows. It would appear that they were exceedingly careful of the keys of the Court : for we are told from the same authority, that, when the gates were locked, they were brought to the priest who presided over the guard, and were put into a stone chest in the floor, on the cover of COURT OP ISRAEL. Ill which he laid his pillow, and there slept. Further, this hall had two doors, one opening into the Court, and an- other into the Sacred Fence, through which doors Je- choniah passed when he went into captivity. With re- gard to the other two chambers beyond the common- hall, and next to the gate Muked, one was for preparing the shewbread, over which we are told the family of Garmu presided (marked No. 13. Plate XL), and the other, (marked No. 14.) was the place where the Maccabsean family laid up the stones of the altar (which Antiochus Epiphanes had polluted with abominable sacrifices,) till a prophet should arise to inform them what to do with them.* We are now come to the gate Muked, or the Gate of Burning, for the above-mentioned reason ; which led into the Sacred Fence and Court of the Gentiles. But it was also called the gate Kerhen {V^'^T^,) or of Gifts, because on the east side of it was the treasure chamber, for the poll-tax, and for the poor. Here, as we formerly noticed, the priests had one of their guards, for the pro- tection of the temple. Between the gate Muked, or Kerben, and the next gate to the east (which was also a space of forty- six cu- bits and three-quarters,) there were three chambers; namely, the treasury, just now mentioned (marked No. 15 ;) the ward for the Levites while on guard ; and an- other treasury chamber, where the money was deposited which was given for the repairs of the temple (marked No. 16.) It was this last circumstance which caused the next gate also to be called Kerben ; but it was likewise known by another name, viz. the Gate of the Women, because it was there, during the first temple, that Eze- kiel saw the women weeping for Tammuz, or Adonis ;* » Maccab. i. 4,7 ■, ii. 25 ; iv. 43—46. '' Ez. vLii. 14, 112 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and through this, during the second temple, the women who had sacrifices brought them into the Court ; for although it was not lawful for women to go ordinarily into the Court of Israel, it was perfectly competent for them so to do when they had either burnt-oiferings, or sin, or trespass- offerings to make. Between the gate Kerben, or Gate of the Women, and the gate still far- ther eastward, or the gate JVitsiio, i^V:»*J? which in- cluded other forty-six cubits and three-quarters of the north wall, there were three buildings; namely, 1. the salt chamber, (marked No. 17, in Plate II.) w-here was deposited the salt used in sacrifice, the quantity of which must have been considerable, as every thing, except the blood and the wine of the drink-offering, were com- manded to be salted.* 2. The chamber called Perm (ni*l3,) either from a person of that name, mentioned in the Talmud, or perhaps from a word wiiich signifies ^' bullocks, ^^ because there the priests deposited the hides which were taken from the sacrifices, and kept them in salt till the eve of the sabbath, when they were divided. The third chamber was called the chamber of the washers, because in this room they washed the inward parts of the sacrifices, according to the law.^ It was out of this chamber that a winding stair led into the room above, called Eperue (H'lltJrT?) where was the bath in which the high priest bathed himself on the day of ex- piation four several times : for, according to the tradi- tion, he was required to bathe himself five times on that day, and wash his hands and feet ten times. We are not told where he washed ; for the Laver was the ordinary appointed place : but we have seen that the first time he bathed in the morning was on the other side of the Court, in the room above the Water Gate, and we are « Lev. ii. 13. '' Levit i. 9. COURT OF ISRAEL. 113 told by the Jewish authors, that the other four times were in this chamber. We are now come to the most easterly gate on the north side, which was called both the gate JVitsuo and the Gate of Song. It led also through the Sacred Fence into the Court of the Gentiles ; and obtained the first name, either from the sparkling which the fire on the altar cast upon it, for it stood directly opposite to the altar ; or because the mid- day sun shone upon it with peculiar brightness, and caused the gilding on it to sparkle, which could not happen to any of the other gates on that side of the Court, on account of their be- ing overshadowed by the temple. Its other appellation, the Gate of Song, probably originated in its being near the desks, where the Levites sat when they sang and played during the service. On the east side of this gate was a room (marked No. 18, in Plate II.) for the Levites who kept ward ; and above it, in a second story, was a room for the priests engaged in the same duty. And the only other chamber on this side, was that which was named the stone chamber ; because all the vessels of earth or stone in the service were kept there. It was in that chamber, also, where the priest who was ap- pointed to burn the red heifer was kept for seven days, that he might be duly purified, and prepared for that important duty. Thus have we travelled round the Court of Israel. — To some, these subjects may appear dry and uninterest- ing ; but by those who are fond of Jewish antiquities, they will be duly appreciated. The author can only say, that no small care has been taken to render them per- spicuous. Vol. I. P 114 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. SECT. VL The Court of the Priests. Its situation, dimensions, and height above the Court of Israel. The portion of it appointed for the musicians and unofficiating- priests. The times when the Israelites might enter the Court of the Priests, with the manner of their en- try and return. The brazen altar ; its size under the tabernacle ; first and second temples, and the temple by Herod ; its position and figure, the man- ner of sprinkling the blood; times when washed. The Cebesh, or ascent to the altar; its form and dimensions. The use of the red line round the altar. The sanctity of the altar — why steps were forbidden ; the altars of earth — why groves and pillars were forbidden. Objects on the north side of the altar : — This side accounted t^ie most holy ; the place of rings ; the tables, pillars, and hooks : the Molten Sea ; difficulties as to its capacity considered. Objects on the south side of the altar: — The silver and marble tables ; the station of the priests who blew the silver trumpets ; more rings, tables, and hooks. The kinds of sacrifices that were killed on the south side of the altar. Space between the altar and the porch ; things for which it was remarkable. The Megrupitha, or bell, supposed to be a gurrj"^ or gong: an account of both these. The laver ; one only during the tabernacle; ten in Solomon's temple, and one only in the second temple ; how filled ; method of washing at it. The Court of the Priests formed the fourth division of that part of the sacred ground^ within which none but Jews might enter. The other three were the Sacred Fence, the Court of the Women, and the Court of Is- rael. But as many things will present themselves to no- tice under the general epithet of the Court of the Priests, it is necessary that we be very distinct. Let us begin then with its situation and dimensions : — This Court lay immediately within the Court of Is- rael, and completely occupied the space which that Court inclosed ; so that the Court of the Priests resembled a mirror, and the Court of Israel the frame that surrounded the mirror. Its dimensions were as follow : — its length from east to west was one hundred and sixty-five cubits, or three hundred feet eleven inches : and its breadth from north to south one hundred and nineteen cubits, COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 115 or two hundred and seventeen feet, consequently it was a piece of ground one hundred and sixty-five cubits long, by one hundred and nineteen broad ; or, in other words, it contained one acre, one rood, thirty-nine poles, twen- ty-eight yards, and two feet English measure. The whole of this space was raised two cubits and a-half above the floor of the Court of Israel ; and, therefore, by resorting to what was said of the other Courts, we may ascertain its comparative elevation. Thus, if it was two cubits and a-half higher than the Court of Israel, it must have been ten cubits above the Court of the Wo- men, twelve cubits and a-half above the Sacred Fence, and eighteen cubits and a-half higher than the floor of the Court of the Gentiles. It was separated all the way round from the Court of Israel, not only by this rise of two cubits and a-half, and by the pillars which sup- ported the piazza of that Court, but also by railing be- tween these pillars ; called " ranges" by our translators in 2 Kings xi. 8. 15. And for eleven cubits on the east end, it w^as covered, like the Court of Israel, by having a second row of pillars* at that distance out, to support the roof. In the first temple we are told, that the ter- races of the house of the Lord were made of the algum trees that were brought from Ophir.'' Immediately on entering the railing, which separated the Court of the Priests from the east end of the Court of Israel, you be- gan to ascend four steps, the first of which was a cubit broad and a cubit high, and the other three half a cubit each. Nor were these steps confined to the narrow spaces that formed the entry from one Court into the other, but they extended, within the railing, the whole length and width of the Court ; and by these, as by a passage and stair, the Levites went along the inside of the rail- » Joseph. Antiq.xv. II. b 2 Chron, ix, 10, U. 116 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW!^. iiig on the east end, and ascended the desks, where they sang and played during the service : which desks, being of wainscoat, formed a division between them and the priests. Thus the space of eleven cubits, which we are describing, as cut off from the length of the Court, but extending the whole breadth of it, had two and a-half of these cubits unoccupied with the steps and desks of the Levites, and the other nine and a-half for the priests to stand in that were unemployed in the service. It was from this last circumstance, of its being the common station of the unemployed priests, that it was often called the Court of the Priests to the exclusion of all the rest : and it was to screen them and the musicians from the sun and the rain, that it was covered above like the Court of Israel. To prevent misconstruction, it may be proper to re- mark, that although the Court of the Priests was not accessible to all the Israelites, as that of the Israelites was to all the priests, yet they might come into it on three several occasions ; namely, to lay their hands on the animals which they offered, or to kill them, or to wave some part of them ; and then their coming was not by the east gate, and through the place where the priests stood, but ordinarily by the north or south side of the Court, according as the sacrifices were to be slain on the north or south sides of the altar. In general, it was a rule, that they never returned from this Court by the same door that they entered.* Having thus examined that space on the east end of the Court, which was the ordinary station of the un- officiating priests, and the Levites who conducted the' musical department of the service, let us now advance a little forward, and investigate the brazen altar oa » Ezckiel xlvi, 9. COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 117 which the sacrifices were always consumed. This stood immediately before the ground we have been describing, exactly on the spot where the threshing floor of Arau- nah, or Oman, the Jebusite, formerly was ;'* and nearly at an equal distance from either side of the Court. It was much larger than the altar erected by Moses, in the wilderness, or that by Solomon in the first temple, or that by the Israelites on their return from the captivity in the second; for Moses' altar was only five cubits square, and three cubits high ; of Shittim wood, over- laid with brass :^ Solomon's was twenty cubits square, and ten cubits high : either of solid brass, or of rough stones covered with brass :" that after the captivity was built in conformity to the model of that mentioned in Ezekiel xliii. 16, as the Jewish writers imform us, and was, consequently, twenty-four cubits square, and ten cubits high. For they interpreted the words, in the four squares thereof, to mean, that the surface of the altar made four squares of twelve cubits each ; or, in other words, that Ezekiel took his measure from the centre to each side, and not along the side. The height is rather darkly expressed by our translators in verses 14, 15, but it will be ascertained if the several suras are added together : thus two, four, and four, are equal to ten. The altar, in our Saviour's days, or in the temple, as beautified and enlarged by Herod, was thirty-two cu- bits square at the base, and ten cubits high. Josephus makes it fifteen cubits high, and forty cubits square, — but Lightfoot follows the Talmud. The Talmudical wri- ters give the following account of it : — The base was a cubit high, like Ezekiel's,*^ and thirty-two cubits on each side. It served both for ornament, and to allow the » 2 Sam. xxiv, 16—18. 1 Chron. xxi. 15. 18. 28. 2 Chron. iii. 1. •• Exod. xxvii. 1. xxxyiii. 1, 2. '2 Chron. iv. 1. <* Ch. xliii. 13. 118 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. priests, when occasion served, to walk round it. But it is worthy of remark, that a cubit on the south-east cor- ner was cut off, because the line which divided the tribe of Judah from Benjamin ran through it, and they en- tertained the idea that the whole of the altar should be in the portion of Benjamin, since it is said in Gen. xlix. 27, that Benjamin should raven as a wolf, that in the morning he should devour the prey, and in the evening divide the spoil ; all of which they interpreted of his be- ing a strong tribe, and of the altar's being within his tribe, where the priests, by the sacred fire, devoured so many sacrifices, from the morning till the evening ; and where, in the evening, before leaving the sanctuary, they divided the portions allotted to the priests among themselves for their subsis-tence. Rather, therefore, than allow any part of the altar to be out of the tribe of Ben- jamin, they cut off a cubit from the south-east corner. But if there was something particular at the south-east corner of the base, so was there also at the south-west ; for in it were the two holes into which the blood that was to be poured out upon, or before the altar, ran by a conduit, and was conveyed to Kidron, which being dry in summer, the blood could not be carried away at that season, and was, therefore, sold to the neighbouring gar- deners for manure.* The foundation of the altar being thus raised a cubit high, and thirty-two cubits along the side, it was con- tracted to thirty cubits, or a cubit taken from each side like Ezekiel's,^ and rose at this breadth for five cubits more, thereby forming what was called the body of the altar. Thus, at the top of the sixth cubit, it was thirty cubits square ; it then contracted again a cubit on each side, so that the seventh cubit made it only twenty-eight » Light. Heb. and Talm. Exer. John xviii. 1. * Ch. xliii. 13. COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 119 cubits square. This was called the circuit of the altar, because around this space, between the sixth and seventh cubits, did the priests walk when they sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on the horns of the altar. Their manner of doing which was as follows : — They began at the south-east horn, proceeded to the north-east, from that to the north-west, and then to the south-west, where, after sprinkling the blood on the horn of that quarter, like the rest, the remainder of the blood, if there was any, was poured over, so as to fall into the holes of the base which conveyed it to Kidron. Upon the top of the seventh cubit, at each corner of the altar, were the horns ; they were hollow, a cubit square at the root, rose for a cubit upright, diminishing as they rose, and then bent outwards, to make them more worthy of the name. Here, also, was another space of a cubit round, so that the sides of the eighth cubit were only twenty-six cubits each ; but it is evident no person could walk round it, like the others, on account of the horns which arose from the corners. At the top of the eighth cubit was the last space of a cubit round, where the priests stood to stir up the fire and attend the sacri- fices 5 so that the ninth and tenth cubits were of the same dimensions, or twenty-four cubits on each side. On the top of the tenth cubit was the hearth, with a constant fire for consuming the sacrifices. Thus, the altar, in our Saviour's days, was a large mass of rude stones, brought from the valley of Bith Cerem, or Bethhaccerem, as it is rendered in Neh. iii. 14,^ on which an iron tool had not come,^ cemented with mortar, pitch, and lead, as the Jews themselves tell us, and consequently, differing from the altars erected by Moses and Solomon both in size » Lightfoot's Chorographical Cent. Iv. Joseph. Bello. lib. v. cap. v, '' Exod. XX. 25. 120 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and materials. It was, however, built in a substantial and regular form, whose base was thirty-two cubits, and which narrowed at diiferent heights ; so that, at ten cu- bits from the ground, it was twenty-four cubits square. In other words, it was eighteen feet two inches high, sixty- one feet eight inches square at the bottom, and forty three feet nine inches square at the top. The Jew- ish historians tell us, that on account of the number of sacrifices offered upon it, it was regularly washed with a mop on the eve of the sabbath, and whitewashed twice a-year; namely, at the passover, or the third of our April ; and the feast of tabernacles, or the ninth of our October, allowing their year to have been begun on the vernal equinox, or twenty-first day of March. It has been a matter of- inquiry how the fire was ob- tained which continued to burn on the altar of the second temple. The most probable reason is, that they obtained it from flint, as Judas Maccabseus did afterwards ;^ but the Jews, who, in later times, were fond of the marvel- lous, tell us, that the priests hid the sacred fire in a hol- low pit without water when they were led away cap- tive; and Nehemiah, when they returned, sent the descendants of those who had hid it to fetch it out; which they did, but were astonished to find it not fire but thick water ; which however, took fire when the sun shone on it.^ The above account is either a Jewish fic- tion, to make the people believe that the fire of the first temple, which came down from heaven, was not ex- tinguished ; or a trick of the priests to deceive them by means of Naphtha, which appears to be confirmed by verse 36, where we are told, that Nehemiah called the substance that took fire Naphthar.*" » 2 Maccab. x. 3. " '' lb. i. 19—22. " See an account of this substance, in part xii. sect. vi. COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 121 But how, it may be asked, did the priests ascend to the top of the altar, since the law forbade them to ascend by steps?* I answer, that they did it by means of an inclined plane, or gently-rising ascent, made of stone, and joined to the altar. It was thirty-two cubits long from the place where it touched the ground to the top of the altar, and sixteen cubits wide. The common name for it in the Talmudical writings is Cebesh (jj^^^,) which signifies a footpath; and the reason of its being so wide was to prevent confusion in going to the altar and re turning from it. The utmost regularity, indeed, was ne- cessary, both for the sake of decency and dispatch ; and, accordingly, the priests commonly ascended on the east, or the right-hand side ; and descended by the west, or left- hand side. It is easy to see, that from the principal ascent to the altar, there would be, and actually were, side roads to the different spaces where the altar con- tracted, that the priests might easily get to them : nor should it be forgotten, that around the middle of the altar, or at the height of five cubits, there was a red line to direct the priests to sprinkle with precision the blood of the sacrifices. For some was to be poured or sprinkled at the bottom of the altar, ^nd some upon the horns ; some below, and some above. Such was the altar of the Lord, which was often called Ariel, or the Lion of God, both from the vast number of animals which it devoured, and from its being a type of Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Its sanctity was such, that whatever touched it was reputed holy, and there was none other allowed in all the land of Israel, to prevent idolatry, and to teach them the doctrine of the unity of God. It has been frequently asked, — ^Why God forbade » Ex. XX. 25. Vol. I. Q. 122 A^^TIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Steps to his altar? And the common answer to it has been, that it was for the sake of decency, which was certainly true ; but there was perhaps an additional rea- son ; viz. that it might be contrary to the practice of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and other Zabians, whose altars were high, and with many steps, as the tower of Babel and the Egyptian pyramids sufficiently shew. Bellonius" says of the largest pyramid, that " the steps on it, from the bottom to the top, were about two hundred and fifty; and that they were so high, individually, as to occasion much difficulty in ascending them." Radziville says, that he ascended to the top of it, and found it a level space of ten cubits square.^ And Herodotus" says, that " this pyramid was constructed in the form of steps, which some called stairs, and others altars." Every one must see how modesty would be violated on altars much lower than these ; and, accordingly. Martial*' takes notice of the immodesty of a heathen priest while of- ficiating. The want of steps, therefore, to the altar of burnt- offering, would answer the double purpose of preserving decency and discouraging a heathen practice. *" But before we leave the altar, we may take notice of some particulars connected with it, which are mentioned in the law ; and in the first place of the altars of earth •/ ^^ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt- offerings and thy peace-offer- ings, thy sheep, and thine oxen. In all places where I 3'ecord my name, I will come unto thee, and bless thee." Now, although these are mentioned, we do not find, that * De Admir. Oper. Antiq. cap. iii. • '' P. 162. ^ Lib. ii. cap. cxxv. ^ Lib. i. Epigr. 24. ' See a pretty distinct account of the altar in Prideaux Connect. AwA.C. S'^5 f Exod. XX. 24. COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 123 either Moses or Solomon made any of them. They are therefore conjectured to have been erected either on ex- traordinary occasions in the wilderness, when the Israel- ites were at a distance from the tabernacle, and wished to offer up an occasional sacrifice to God, as the altars of stone better suited the rocky country of Judea;'' or that they were in aid of the ordinary altar at the great festivals, at the conclusion of which they could be easily removed. But as this militates against the injunction concerning one altar only, it has been suggested, that the altar of Moses in the wilderness, and in Judea, might have been placed on a mound of earth, or a heap of rude stones, so as to set it more in view of the worshipping Israelites, and so high as not to endanger the curtains of the tabernacle. In Deut. xvi. 21, we read, that groves were forbidden to be planted in the neighbourhood of the altar of the Lord : a circumstance which might have happened in places where the tabernacle, or any of the above tem- porary altars, chanced to be erected, but which could not have taken place in the temple at Jerusalem. What then was the meaning of the prohibition ? We answer, that the word rTltJ^i^? *^shere, which is translated " a grove," has various significations in Scripture. Thus, it sometimes signifies a grove of large shady trees, adorned with altars dedicated to some deity ; and sometimes, not only a grove, but a wooden image in that grove. Thus Gideon'' destroyed the altar of Baal, and cut in pieces the image (n'lC^Nn) which was above it, or upon it [eTt avtov LXX.) In 2 Kings xxiii. 4 — 6, Josiah ordered that they should bring out from the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove or carved image, which Ahab had set up. Sometimes » Spencer ds Lcgib. Hcb. Kit. lib. i. cap. v. vi. vii, '' Judg-. vi. 25. 124 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it signifies a single tree, as in Deut. xvi. 21 ; somelimes the statue of Astarte, Ashtaroth, or the moon (compare Judg. ii. 13 ; iii. 7 ; 1 Sam. vii. 3 ;) and sometimes the wooden shrines, or moveable habitations of Venus, or any other heathen dignity.* From these various signifi- cations, therefore, we may perceive the meaning of the law. It was intended to discourage idolatry, and to keep them from those obscene rites which were often performed in the thick groves that surrounded the heathen temples. Even Horace takes notice of the '^ parum castos lucos"' of the heathens.*' The last thing we shall mention, connected with the altar, is the prohibition against erecting any pillar near it : in Deut. xvi. 22, where our translators have ren- dered, it '^ any image," the idea is changed. For the heathens were in use to have H^^O? Metsebe, or pil- lars of different kinds in the neighbourhood of their al- tars. Thus, in Syria, they had them of wood ; and in Egypt, of stone. They were large when dedicated to the Dii Superi, and small when dedicated to the Dii Mi- norum Gentium. They were sometimes in the form of cones, or oblong, and sometimes served as pedestals to the statues of their deities. They were always, how- ever, accounted sacred, and often received divine ho- nours. Thus Pausanias' says, that " by ancient usage, it happened among the Greeks, that rude stones obtained divine honours in place of images.'^ And in the same book, when speaking of Mercury, he tells us, that ^' near the statue of the god about thirty stones were erected of a four-sided figure, which they worshipped, and- called by the names of certain gods." Hence we may perceive the origin of the law. It was evidently intended, 1 Kings xiv,, 23. ^ Curmeu. I'.b. 1. Caini. xii. ' Lib. vil COURT OP THE PRIESTS. 125 like the former ones, to discourage the Jews from intro- ducing idolatry into the temple of God. Having thus considered the altar of burnt-offering, and the laws which guarded its sanctity, let us next pro- ceed to examine the objects that stood on either side of it during the second temple : beginning with the north, or right-hand side, if we have our backs to the gate Nicanor on the east, and our faces to the temple on the west. On this side, we are told, the most holy offerings were slain ; viz. the bullock and goat on the day of ex- piation ; the bullocks and goats that were to be burnt at other times ; the goats at the beginning of the months and of the solemn feasts; the whole burnt- offering ; peace-offerings of the congregation ; trespass- offering, he. — All these, and in general, the greatest number of sacrifices, were slain on this side of the altar ; so that it is natural to expect several accommodations for these purposes. Accordingly we have the three following : — the place of the rings (marked No. 19, in Plate II.) ; the tables for washing and dividing the sacrifices (marked No. 20 ;) and the pillars with hooks on which to hang them (marked No. 21.) But to be more particular, we may remark, that, for the space of eight cubits on the north side of the al- tar, there was nothing pai ticular, because room was re- quired to go round about it. But from the eighth cubit to the thirty-second was the place of rings, just men- tioned. They were fixed strongly in the stones of the pavement, in order that, by means of cords passed tlirough them, they might bind down and keep fast the heads of the animals intended to be slain. It is gene- rally allowed that they were twenty-four in number, but it is not agreed whether they were placed in six rows of four each, or four rows of six each. Indeed the matter is trivial, but we may remark, that the first opi- 126 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. nion suits the space allotted them hetter than the second ; for their length in front was only twenty-four cubits, whereas their depth was thirty-two, or the same as the altar. On extraordinary occasions, when a greater num- ber of animals were slain than these rings could admit, they still slew them on the north side of the altar, by taking in the whole space that was between the place of rings and the porch, or even the west end of the Court, if necessary, and occupying it as a temporary place of slaughter, as Solomon did at the dedication of the tem- ple."* Four cubits from the north side of the place of rings were occupied by the marble tables on which they washed the inwards of the sacrifices, and cut them in pieces. In Ezekiel's vision of the temple^ these tables were eight in number, of hewn stone, one cubit and a- half long, one cubit and a-half broad, and a cubit high. And four cubits father north still, was the place of the pillars, on which they hung the animals in order to flay them. These were not the pillars which separated be- tween the Court of the Priests and the Court of Israel, but low ones placed before them, eight in number, with three rows of beams across, filled with hooks, at different heights from the ground, to answer the different sizes of the animals. In Ezekiel's vision of the temple'' these hooks were a hand breadth each. And before these pil- lars and hooks were more marble tables, which, on emer- gencies, could be used like the others. Thus we are come to the north side of the Court of the Priests, or to those pillars which supported the co- vered walk or piazza of the Court of Israel. But before we leave it, we may observe, that although there is no molten sea mentioned in the second temple, yet its place in the first temple was in the north-east "1 Kings viii. 64. 2 Chron. vii. 7. ^ Ch. xl. 39—42. ' Ch. xl, 4.S COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 127 corner, of which we are speaking, as may be seen by pe- rusing 1 Kings vii. 39, and 2 Chron. iv. 10. It was made, we are told,* of the brass that was taken from Hadadezer, King of Zobah, and was intended for the priests to wash in ;^ that is to say, to wash their hands and feet when at any time they entered the Court of the Priests, or when their hands and feet needed washing from the slaying of the sacrifices. During the times of the tabernacle there was no molten sea, and the laver served the double purpose of washing the hands and feet of the priests, and the parts of the sacrifices ;" but when Solomon built the temple these were divided, and the molten sea was reserved for the priests, and the ten la- yers for the sacrifices.'* The molten sea. was indeed a wonderful mass; its depth being five cubits, its diameter ten cubits, and its circumference thirty cubits, sup- ported on a beautiful pedestal of twelve brazen oxen,'' and cast in the clay of the plain of Jordan.*" There is, however, a considerable diff'erence as to its contents : for in 1 Kings vii. 26, it is said to contain two thousand baths, and in 2 Chron. iv. 5, no fewer than three thou- sand ; a circumstance which has occasioned no small dif- ficulty among commentators. But the common way of reconciling it is, either to suppose, in the first place, that the bath, in liquid measure, being the same as the ephah in dry, the molten sea could contain two thousand baths of liquid measure, and three thousand of dry, by means of heaping. Or, secondly, that it referred to the quantity of water necessary for the service of the priest- hood, and the quantity it could hold when filled to the brim. There is a difiiculty, however, of another kind which ' 1 Chron. xviii. 8. b 2 Chron. iv. 6. ^ Exod. xl. 31, 32. ^ 2 Chron. iv. 6, « 1 Kings vii. 23—26, ' 1 Kings vii, 46. 128 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. deserves consideration : and that is — Whether a vessel of the dimensions given, could really contain either the one quantity or the other ? Of this we shall be convinced by the following particulars : If a bath be equal to seven English gallons, four En- glish pints, 15.2 cubic inches, as it is usually stated to be, then the cubic inches in a bath will stand thus : Seven gallons, multiplied by two hundred and thirty-one, the cubic inches in a gallon come to - ... 1617 Four pints, multiplied by twenty- eight and three-quarters, the cubic inches in a pint come to - - - - 115 And the fraction is stated .to be - - 15.2 Consequently the cubic inches in a bath are 1747.2 We have only to multiply these, therefore, by the number of baths said to be contained in the molten sea in order to find out its contents in cubic inches. Thus, 1747.2 multiplied by 2000, gives 3494400,0; and by 3000, it gives 5241600,0. — Now let us measure the molten sea, as given in Scripture, and see how many solid inches it really contained, that we may observe how it coincides with, or differs from, the above mea- surement. No particular form is given to it in Scripture ; but let us suppose, for the ease of calculation, that it was a half globe, or in the form of a cup. The common way of mea- suring a half globe is to multiply the diameter into half the circumference for the superficial measure ; and that by one sixth of the diameter for its solid contents. Let us adopt this rule — 21 .888, which are the inches in a cubit when multiplied by 10, or the diameter of the molten sea in cubits, make 218.880, as the inches in the diame- COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 129 ter of the molten sea; and 21.888 inches, multiplied by 15, or half the number of cubits in the circumference, give 328.320, as the inches in half the circumference of the molten sea. Multiply these together and you have 71862.681600 as the superficial measure; and then mul- tiply this by one-sixth of the diameter, or 38.480, and you have 2621530.624768000, as the solid contents of the molten sea in cubic inches, according to the Scrip- ture account. A sum, much less than we found to result from multiplying the cubic inches in a bath, either by the number 2000 or 3000. For the above sum of 2621550.624768000, when divided by 1747.2, the cubic laches in a bath, only give 1500.42984488, or 1500| baths nearly : a number far short of either 2000 or 3000. How then are we to account for this deficiency ? We answer, it may be accounted for on either of the follow- ing suppositions : First, that the molten sea was not a half globe, or cup, which ivas merely assumed for the ease of calculation, but in the form of a pot, swelling be- low and above the neck, but measured at it. This form might easily be constructed so as to hold two thousand baths below the neck, and one thousand above it. Se- condly, The Jews endeavour to remove the difficulty by telling us, in their Talmudical writings, that the molten sea was square at the bottom for three cubits high, and that every side of the square was ten cubits broad; while the two upper cubits contracted it into a circular form in the mouth, so as to make a line of thirty cubits to com- pass it round. This supposition, however, would give it but an awkward appearance ; the more elegant form be- ing that of a goblet or pot, which (we have seen) might he made so as to hold the specified quantity. After all, it may be worth our while, in the third place, to strike at the root of the difficulty, by doubting whether the contents of the Jewish bath that have been assigned by Vol. I. R .130 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the moderns be not too great. For it will be noticed in the table of liquid measure, afterwards given from the Jewish writings, that the bath was four hundred and thirty-two egg-shells full. An egg-shell, indeed, like the barley-corns among them and among ourselves, is a very uncertain standard ; for we are entirely unacquainted with the quantity that an egg-shell should contain. And, besides, by being so small, the error always increases as we advance ; whereas, had they chosen a larger measure for the standard, the error would have diminished as we descended. But taking it as it is, imperfect as such a standard confessedly is, let us make a rude sketch how many English gallons the molten sea contained. By an accurate examination with several eggs, the medium number in an English pint was 9. Let us multiply, therefore, 432, or the number of egg-shells full in a bath, by 2000, and divide the quotient first by 9, to bring it into English pints, and then by 8, to bring it into English gallons, and we have 12000 gallons as the con- tents of the molten sea. Here, then, when multiplied by 2000, it contained 12000 English gallons ; and by 3000, it contained 18000 English gallons : a quantity far less, as we conjectured, than the modern calculation of the bath has made it. For the modern calculation of a bath is 7 English gallons, 4 English pints, and 15.2 cubic inches ; which, altogether, are equal to 60| English pints. Multiply 60| English pints by 2000, and divide it by 8 (the number of pints in a gallon,) and you have 15125 English gallons. And multiply 60^ by 3000, and divide it by 8, and you have 22687 English gallons. The diiference, therefore, between the ancient Jewish standard, and the modern computation will stand thus : — Two thousand baths, according to the ancient Jewish standard, are equal to 12000 English gallons; but, ac COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 13). cording to the modern computation, they are equal to 15125. And 3000 baths, according to the ancient Jewish standard, are equal to 18000 English gallons ; whereas, according to the modern computation, they are equal to 22687. In other words, the ancient Jewish standard is to the modern supposition as 12 to 15|, or as 18 to 22|o It is no wonder, then, amidst this uncertainty, that our cal- culations came short of what was expected. It will be noticed, however, that they agree much better with the first than with the last. The molten sea was first disfigured by Ahaz, who re- moved it from the brazen oxen, and set it on a pavement of stones '^ and then broken to pieces by the Chaldeans when they took Jerusalem, and the brass of it was car- ried by them to Babylon.^ Before we conclude an account of this immense vessel we may remark, that the water which supplied it came from the draw-well room, on the opposite side of the Court, by means of subterraneous pipes. But is it full time now to leave the north side of the al- tar, and turn to the south, that we may examine the va- rious objects that were placed there. The first that pre- sents itself is the ascent to the altar, which, as we for- merly said, reached thirty-two cubits from north to south, and was sixteen cubits wide. Under this, on the east side, was a dark closet, into which they threw the offals of the birds that were offered, and the ashes of the incense and brazen altars, till otherwise disposed of: and, on the west, another closet of a similar kind, for keeping the birds that, on examination, were found unfit for sa- crifice : while along the west side of the ascent there were two tables, one of silver (marked No. 22, in Plate II.), on which lay the vessels and other utensils a 2 Kings xvi. IT. ^ Jer. Ui, 17, 182 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. that were required during the service ; and the other of marble (marked No. 23^) on which were placed the pieces of the sacrifice, previous to their being carried up to the altar. At the side of this table the priests stood when they sounded the trumpets during the service. Let us now see what was beyond the ascent, or be- tween it and the south side of the Court of the Priests-^ a space of seventeen cubits. It was there that they killed the sacrifices that were accounted less holy — such as the thank-offerings, the ram appointed to be offered for the Nazarite, the peace-offerings, the firstlings, the tithe, &c. when these sacrifices were too numerous to be slain on the north side : but if they could accomplish it, all the sacrifices were commonly slain on the north of the altar. Yet to meet such emergencies, the space in ques- tion had hooks, tables, &c. although not so many as on the other side. Thus have we traversed across the Court, examining the altar, and the objects in a line with it : let us now sum up the several particulars. From the north side of the Court to the place of the short pillars and hooks was four cubits ; from thence to the marble tables, four more ; the place of rings was twenty- four ; from that to the north side of the altar eight ; and from the north side of the altar to its centre sixteen ; making a total of fifty-six cubits from the north side of the Court to the centre of the altar. The measures on the south side stand thus : from the outside of the Court to the foot of the ascent to the altar seventeen cubits, the ascent itself thirty-two, and the distance from the south side of the altar to its centre sixteen ; consequently, the whole distance from the south side of the Court to the centre of the altar was sixty-five cubits. Let us now join the two sums, fifty-six and sixty-five, together, and we have one hundred and twenty-one as the width of the whole Court, which is COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 133 two more than the truth ; for, as we have already seen, the real width was one hundred and nineteen. How then comes this diiference ? We answer, that it was partly oc- casioned by the ascent becoming shorter when elevated, and partly, perhaps, because they counted the length of it only from the spot where it began, till where it be- came equal with the scarcement above the body of the altar. For the fact is, that to raise a pathway from thirty cubits' distance to the top of the altar, would not take thirty-two cubits only, but thirty-six cubits, as may be seen by measuring the following sketch, of half an inch to the ten cubits. Whatever way therefore it happened, one thing is cer- tain, that the altar and its ascent, when taken together, were uniformly counted by the Jews only sixty-two cu- bits : so that the corrected account of the width of the Court will stand thus : — deduct two cubits from the six- ty-five formerly mentioned, and there remains sixty- three, as the measure between the south side of the Court and the centre of the altar ; the north side, we saw, was fifty-six : and these sums taken together make exactly one hundred and nineteen, or the real width of the Court. We have now advanced into the Court of the Priests, from east to west, forty-three cubits ; namely, the eleven cubits where the unofficiating priests and the officiating Levites stood during the service, and the thirty-two cu- bits which ran parallel with the front of the altar : let us next examine the remaining one hundred and twenty- 134 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. two ; for it will be in the recollection of the reader, that the whole length of the Court of the Priests, from east to west, was stated at one hundred and sixty-five cubits. Now the above mentioned one hundred and twenty-two cubits, or remaining length of the Court of the Priests, from the brazen altar to the western wall, may properly be divided into two portions — viz. that which was be- tween the altar and the porch of the temple, compre- hending a space of twenty-two cubits, and the length of the temple itself, which was one hundred cubits. Let us begin then with the twenty-two cubits which lay between the altar and the porch. It extended from side to side of the Court of the Priests one hundred and nineteen cubits, and is recorded as remarkable for the following things. 1. It was a place where no man might come who had any bodily blemish, because of its nearness to the temple; nor durst any person come into it with his head unco- vered, because that would have argued irreverence, since they always performed their devotions with their heads covered. 2. None might stand upon, or remain within it, while the priest was burning the daily incense in the holy place ; or when the high priest went into the most holy place once a year, with the blood of the sin-offering : and, ac- cordingly, to give them warning at these times, either the Sagan, or priest that presided over the service for the day, called to the priest that was within the holy place, with a loud voice, to offer the incense, when all the people that happened to be between the porch and . the altar, hastily withdrew. As for the entrance of the high priest, its happening so seldom, and with such cir- cumstances of solemnity, was itself a suflicient intimation. May not this removal of every person from between the temple and the altar teach us the utter inability of any COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 135 mortal wliatever to take part with Christ in his inter- cession for the church; a doctrine which the offering of incense typified ; and thereby convince us of the vanity of the doctrine of human merit, as the ground of our jus- tificatioUj either in whole, or in part ? 3. It was between the porch and the altar that Ezc- kiel saw the five-and-twenty idolaters worshipping the sun, with their backs to the temple, and their faces to the east.'* 4. It was in that space, that the priests and ministers of the Lord, on days appointed for fasting, wept and prayed for deliverance from their enemies : the very words of which prayer we have in Joel ii. 17. 5. In that space, between the temple and the altar, was committed the murder of Zacharias, the son of Ba- rachias, to which our Saviour alludes in Matt, xxiii. 35 : but who that Zacharias was, has given room for conjec- ture. Some critics suppose him to have been the Zecha- rias who is mentioned in 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21 : others, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist;^ and others, with less probability still, that our Saviour spoke pre- dictively of Zecharias, the son of Baruch, who was after- wards slain in the temple, as mentioned by Josephus -^ while not a few have imagined, from the coincidence of names, that he was Zechariah, the prophet, who wrote the book that bears his name ; and who is styled the son of Barachias in chap. i. 1. Although history is silent as to the manner of his death, his tomb is still shewn, a lit- tle to the east of Absalom's pillar, which stood in the king's dale : it is evidently a modern structure, entirely out of the natural rock, eighteen feet high, and as many square at the bottom ; adorned with columns on each front, cut out likewise from the same rock, and support- » Ch. viii. 16, b Luke i. 5. ' Wa^-, iv. 5. 136 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ing a cornice. The whole ends in a pointed top, like a diamond.' The sixth thing worthy of notice, between the porch and the altar, was the Megrupitha, { Numb. xvi. 39, 4a. 8 1 Kings vii. 38. COURT OF THE PRIESTS. 141 allowing seven gallons four and a-half English pints to the bath : and, consequently, the ten layers, when fully would contain three thousand and twenty-five English gallons, or forty-eight hogsheads of water. They were set between the altar and the porch, five on the right- hand side, and five on the left ; and were intended by Solomon for washing the sacrifices, whilst the hands and feet of the priests were washed at the molten sea,* of which there was none under the tabernacle, the laver at that time having been applied to both purposes. Such were the lavers in the temple of Solomon : let us now attend to that which stood in the second temple. There was only one, the size and materials of which are not recorded ; but we are told that it resembled a large caldron ; that it was placed on the south side of the Court, between the ascent to the altar and the porch ; that it had at first only two outlets for the water to wash the sacrifices and the hands and feet of the priests (for it should be remembered that there was no molten sea in the temple after the captivity, nor in that of Herod, and, therefore, that the laver in these temples was re- stored to its original uses,^) but a priest of the name of Ben Kattin afterwards augmented them to twelve, ta answer the exigencies of the twelve priests that were constantly needed about the daily sacrifice ; and that the manner in which it was filled every morning was by an engine called Muceni (^J^IQ, (lyixdvyi, machina,) which stood in the draw-well room at the Water Gate on the south side of the Court, and which raised the water from the reservoir to such a height as to enter the pipes which communicated with the laver. We are not to suppose, however, that the laver was always full of water through the day, for that would have been unnecessary; but they » 2 Chron. iv. 6, •» Esod. xl, 31, 32. 142 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. had a tradition, that there must always be sufficient wa- ter for four priests at a time, since Aaron and his three sons were commanded to wash in the laver first made.' And by another tradition, their manner of washing was fixed as follows : — After opening the cock, they laid their right hand upon their right foot, and their left hand upon their left foot, and in this inclined posture washed their hands and feet at the same time. Such arc the particulars recorded concerning the laver ; and with it we terminate our account of all the objects worthy of notice between the altar and the porch, or east front of the Temple. Hitherto, therefore, we have only been approaching the House of the Lord, or following the road which led through the east, or most frequented gate to that sacred edifice-; and examining as we went the Court of the Gentiles, the Sacred Fence, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the greatest part of the Court of the Priests : — it only remains, that we proceed to the examination of the Temple itself, and the several chambers adjoining to it. SECT. VII. The Temple of Solomon. Its dimensions ; side-chambers ; appearance in perspective ; the number of hands employed ; its time in building ; its continuance ; the quantity of precious metals used in it ; their value in sterling money. Before we commence a description of the Temple as it existed in the days of our Saviour, it may be proper to notice its previous history. Strictly speaking, there, were three temples, viz. that built by Solomon, that after the Captivity, and that built by Herod ; all of which were of different dimensions. a Exod. XXX. IP- TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 143 With respect to Solomon's Temple, the plan of which was given by God to David/ and by him delivered to Solomon ; it was seventy cubits long, the porch being ten cubits,*" and the holy and most holy places sixty cubits 5*" of which, the most holy place is stated** to be twenty cubits, and the holy place forty cubits.^ In this Temple, the width of the porch, holy, and most holy places, was twenty cubits;^ and the height over the holy and most holy places was thirty cubits f but the height of the porch was much greater, being no less than one hundred and twenty cubits,'' or four times the height of the reSt of the building. To both the sides and the west end of the holy and most holy places, or all around the edifice, from the back of the porch on the one side to the back of the porch on the other side, were attached buildings. These were called side- chambers, and consisted of three stories, each story being five cubits high,' and joined to the wall of the Temple without. But what may seem singular is, that the lowest of these stories was five cubits broad on the floor ; the second, six cubits ; and the third, seven cubits, and yet the outer wall of them all was upright.'' The reason of which was, that the wall of the Temple, against which they leaned, had always a scarcement of a cubit at the height of every five cubits, both to strengthen the wall, and to prevent the joists of these side-cham- bers from being fixed in it. Thus the three stories of side- chambers, when taken together, were fifteen cu- bits high, and, consequently, reached exactly to half the height of the side walls and end of the Temple ; so that there was abundance of space above these for the win- * 1 Chron. xxviii. 11 — 19. '' 1 Kings vi. 3. ' ib. vi. 2. ^ 2 Chron. iii. 8. « 1 Kings vi. 17. ^ Chron, iii. 3. si Kings vj.2, ■^ 2 Chron. iii. 4. • 1 Kings vi. 10, ■< lb. vi. 6. 144 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEAVS. clows whicli gave light to the Temple.* Let us, however, for the sake of memory, vary the description: — The Temple stood from east to west, having the porch on the east, the most holy place on the west, and the holy place in the middle. If the porch or front was twenty cubits wide, and one hundred and twenty cubits high, that made it, of our measure, thirty-six feet five inches wide, and two hundred and eighteen feet ten inches high, allowing 21.888 inches to a cubit. The sides and west end of the building would appear of two stories, viz. the side and end chambers of fifteen cubits, or twenty-seven feet four inches high, with a flat roof; and the rest of the wall above these chambers, or other fifteen cubits, equal to twenty-seven feet four inches, in which space were the several windows- that lighted tlie temple. In other words, the Temple of Solomon would have a con- siderable resemblance to our ancient cathedrals, which were probably copied from it. The above is the account of Solomon's Temple as given to us in Scripture, but Josephus seems to have read dif- ferently ; for he says,^ that, " its height was sixty cu- bits, its length sixty, and its breadth twenty," which arc the Hebrew measures ; but then he adds, that " there was another building erected over it, equal to it in its measures. So that the entire height of the temple was one hundred and twenty cubits." And lest we should think that these one hundred and twenty cubits meant the porch, he tells us, that " as to the porch, they built it before the Temple ; its length was twenty cubits, and so placed as to agree with the width of the house : and it had twelve cubits in breadth, and its height was raised as high as one hundred and twenty cubits." Thus, ac- cording to him, the Temple itself was one hundred and " IKingsvi. 4. ^ Antiq. viii. 3. TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 145 twenty cubits high as well as the porch ; and, a little afterwards, he says, that the entry to the large apart- ment above the Temple, was by steps in the wall ; and that the entry to it, and to the thirty side-chambers, was not from the principal entrance at the east end, but from the sides of that sacred building. Were I to hazard a conjecture, I would say, that Jo- sephus, in his description of Solomon's Temple, con- founded the Scripture account of it with that of the Temple after the Captivity, and of Herod, each of which had an apartment over the holy and most holy places, but their heights by no means corresponded with his measures. Such was the Temple built by Solomon, and which is thought to have given rise to the elegant temples that were found among the heathen ; for Shuckford in his Connexion of Sacred and Profane History, well remarks, that as none of the heathen divinities had a covering over them before God ordered the tabernacle of the congre- gation, so no temple was erected in heathen lands in honour of their gods till after the divinely- planned Tem- ple at Jerusalem. The preparations for it gave employ- ment to one hundred and eighty-three thousand three hundred men for four years," so that not a hammer was heard while it was building.'' It was begun in April, "; A.M. 2992, four hundred and eighty years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and was finished in October, seven years and a-half afterwards,'* A.M. 2999, and before Christ 1005. . The dedication took place eleven months after at the feast of tabernacles, or the 9th of October;'' and its destruction was occasioned by Nebuzaradan four hundred and twenty years after, " 1 Kings V, 13—16. b lb. vi. 7 ' lb. vi. 1. d lb. vi. il, 38. « lb. viii. 2. Vol. I. T 146 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, or 583 years before Christ,'' and nineteen years after the two tribes had been carried away to Babylon, on ac- count (yf the repeated insurrections of those who were Icft.^' The quantity of precious metals used in the Temple of Solomon, must have been very great, as the following calculations will easily shew : — The gold delivered by David to his son Solomon for ornamenting the Temple and making its utensils, was as follows : — From David, as king, one hundred thou- sand talents, •" which at one hundred and twenty-five pounds troy (equal to ninety-three pounds twelve ounces avoirdupois,) which is the usual calculation, amount to twelve millions five hundred thousand pounds troy; from David, as an individual, three thousand talents,*^ which, at the above calculation, make three hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds troy ; from the chiefs of the fathei's, princes of the tribes, captains of thousands and hundreds, and rulers of the work, five thousand talents and ten thousand drachms (equal to fifty- two pounds troy,) as mentioned in 1 Chron. xxix. 7, which, at the above calculation, amount to six hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds troy; making in all thirteen millions five hundred thousand pounds troy of gold. The silver — from David, as king, one million of ta- lents,* which, at one hundred and twenty-five pounds troy, make one hundred and twenty-five million pounds troy ; from David, as an individual, seven thousand ta- lents, *" weighing eight hundred and seventy-five thou- sand pounds ; from the chiefs of the fathers,^ ten thou-, sand talents, weighing one million two hundred and fifty » 2 Kings XXV. 8, 9. '' Lightfoot's Chronicle on the place. " 1 Chron. xxii. 14. ^ lb. xxix. 4. ' 1 Chron. xxii. !4 ' lb. xxix. 4 8 lb. xxix. 7. TEMPLE OF SOLOMOJf. 147 thousand pounds ; making in all one hundred and twenty- seven inillions one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds troy of silver. The brass and iron — of David, as king, is said to have been without weight, it was in such abundance," but we may judge of it from the present which was made by the chiefs of the fathers,^ for they gave eighteen thou- sand talents, or fifteen thousand and sixty-six cwt. three- quarters and twenty-four pounds avoirdupois of brass, and one hundred thousand talents^ or eighty-three thou- sand seven hundred and five cwt. one- quarter twelve pounds avoirdupois of iron. Such was the quantity which David delivered to So- lomon : but we shall have a more distinct view of the richness of the Temple and its furniture, if we consider the value of the above quantities of gold and silver in sterling money. Thus thirteen millions five hundred thousand pounds troy of gold at 41. the ounce, which is the present price of pure gold, are equal to 648,000,000/. and one hun- dred and twenty-seven millions, one hundred and twenty- five thousand pounds troy of silver, at 5s. the ounce, which is the present price of unalloyed silver, are equal to 381,375,000/. ; making together the extraordinary sum of 1029,375,000/. : a sum so prodigious, as gives reason to think that there must be an error somewhere. For it makes David and his nobles to have laid up for the Temple no less than 25,734,375/. every year dur- ing all the forty years that he reigned. Accordingly, various methods have been resorted to to bring the amount within the bounds of probability. I shall mention several of them : — The first is that of Michaelis,' who estimates the ta- ■« lb, sxii. 14. •> lb. xxlx. 7. ' Suppl. ad, lleb. Lex, p. 367- 148 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lent of gold at only 2033/. 16s., or 1/. 7s. lid. the ounce; and the talent of silver at 137/. 16*., or 1 s. Id. the ounce. Yet his plan is liable to strong objections — for he evi- dently depreciates the metals too much, while the sum total left is still beyond the bounds of credibility, being no less than 359,893,946/. This, therefore, gave rise to a second opinion, that, perhaps, there might be some error in the original as to the quantities delivered. Accordingly, Parkhursf is inclined to think, that in the Arabic vei'sion of 1 Chron. xxii. 14, " gold a thousand talents, and silver a thou- sand talents" instead of " a hundred thousand, and a thousand thousand," are the traces of a very important various reading in that copy of the Septuagint from which that version was made ; and he defends his opinion by several critical and historical arguments. Adopting, therefore, this alteration, the value of the nine thousand talents and fifty- two pounds troy of gold, which David and the chiefs of the fathers gave, would, at 41. the ounce, be equal to 54,002,490/. ; and the eighteen thousand talents of silver, which they gave, would, at 5s. the ounce, be equal to 6,750,000/. ; making together the sum of 60,752,490/. : which, it must be confessed, comes more within the bounds of probability. For, in an age when kings and princes were accus- tomed to hoard up vast quantities of gold and silver, as the eastern princes still do, it is by no means improba- ble, that David and his princes, in those successful wars which he waged against theThilistines, Moabites, Ama- lekites, and the Kings of Zobah, Syria, and Edora,^ might collect gold and silver to the above amount ; to say nothing of the money which the nobles would natu- rally have before that period. » Ileb. Lex. -00 '*> 2 Sam. vili. 1—14. 1 Cbron.xvni. 1—11. TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 149 Should it, however, be still urged that sixty millions sterling were too large a sum to be employed in beautify- ing the Temple, I might add, in the third place, that Dr. Jennings and others have supposed, that the talent here spoken of, was not the ordinary Jewish talent, but the Babylonish, or, perhaps, the Syriac ; and their rea- sons for such a conjecture are the following : — It will be observed, say they, that the number of talents, by which the gold and silver of the Temple was computed, is mentioned only in the book of Chronicles, which was undoubtedly written after the return from the Babylo- nish captivity, as appears from its mentioning Cyrus's decree for the building of the Temple," and from its carrying down the genealogy beyond Zerubbabel, who was one of the chiefs that returned from Babylon.^ It is, therefore, not improbable, they think, that, at the time of writing this book, the Jews might compute by the Babylonish talent, which was little more than half the Mosaic ; or, perhaps, by the Syriac, which was only a fifth part of the Babylonish : and, if this reasoning of their's be admitted, the whole mass of gold and silver will be comparatively moderate. For the Babylonish talent of gold, according to Brerewood,"" was equal to 3500/., or 2/. 6^. Sd. the ounce, making the nine thou- sand talents and fifty-two pounds troy, equal to 31,501, 456/. And the Babylonish talent of silver was equal to 218/. 155., or 25. lid. the ounce, making the eighteen thousand talents of silver, equal to 3,937,500/. ; conse- quently, the whole gold and silver delivered by David. vv'as only equal to 35,438,956/. of our present money, provided that the writer of the book of Chronicles com- » 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 22. «> 1 Chron, iii. 19. ■"■ De Pondcrlbus et Pretiis Veterum Nammoruin, 150 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. puted by the Babylonish talent : but if he computed by the Syriac, it would only amount to the fifth of that sum^ or 7,087,791/. SECT. VIII. The Temple after the Captivity. when begun ; Its dimensions different from that of Solomon ; the obstructions it met with; the time when finished; its continuance. Fifty years*after the destruction of the first Temple, or at the end of the seventy years' captivity, which had been foretold by Jeremiah,* and wofully felt by the na- tion, Cyrus published a decree for the Jews to return to tlieir own land.'' Accordingly, a great number of Jews embraced the offer;" and having come to Jerusalem, began to re- build the altar, that they might offer sacrifice immedi- ately.*^ In the following year they laid the foundation of the second temple,^ but had not proceeded far, when they were obliged to desist on account of an order from Artaxerxes, King of Persia, which had been procured through the misrepresentations of the Samaritans and others.^ Matters remained in this state for fifteen years, or till the second year of Darius, King of Persia,^ when they again set about the work ;•* and on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, it was finished and dedicated.' Thus was its foundation laid in April,'' 552 years before Qhrist, and it was finished on the 21st of February,' 511 years before Christ, or twenty- one years after it was begun.'" The dimensions of this ' Ch. XXV. 11. xxlx. 10. •' Ezrui. 1—4. ' lb. ii. 1. * lb. iii.2, ' lb. iii 8—10. ' lb. iv. 1. s lb. iv. 24. Lightfoot's Chronicle in loc. '■ Haggai i, 14, 15. ii. 18, * Ezravi. 1.5, 16. •• lb, vi. 6. ' lb. vi. 15. " Lightfoot's Chronicle in loc. ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLE BY HEROD. 151 Temple were larger than Solomon's. Its length was the .same, viz. seventy cubits ; and, therefore, it is not men- tioned in Cyrus's decree ;* but its breadth, instead of being thirty cubits, including the side- chambers, was sixty ; and its height, instead of being thirty cubits, was also sixty. Thus was the second Temple twice the size of the first (the length only excepted,) in like manner as the first was twice the size of the tabernacle. From this account of the second Temple, it is easy to see, that the weeping of the people at the laying of the foundation,'' and the diminutive manner in which they spoke of it, when compared with the first, "^ was not so much owing to its inferiority of size as other considerations : viz. to their contrasting the present abject state of their nation with its glory in the days of Solomon, and to their re- membering that it wanted five memorable things which the first Temple had — namely, the ark ; the urim and thummim ; the fire from heaven ; the cloud of glory on the mercy-seat ; and the spirit of prophecy.** Such was the second Temple. It remained from the year before Christ, 511, till the 19th year before his birth. SECT. IX. Origin and external Appearance of the Temple by Herod. Reason of Herod's proposal; the artificers employed; ils length in building; . dimensions larger than the former; beauty of the workmanship; its appear* ance in front, and at the sides. Inquiry into the composition that formed tha roof: terraces in Barbary and India. Herod having slain all the Sanhedrin except two in in the first year of his reign, or thirty-seven years before Ezra vi.3, b ib. ji,, js, 13. See Prideaux, A.A.C. 534. 152 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Christ/ resolved to atone for it, by rebuilding and beau- tifying the Temple. And this he was the more inclined to do, both from the peace which he enjoyed, and the decayed state of that edifice. For, besides the common ravages of time, it had suffered considerably by the hands of enemies j since that part of Jerusalem was the strongest, and con- sequently the last resort of the inhabitants in times of extremity. But when he made the proposal to the Jews, they were alarmed ; for they feared lest, under the pre- tence of building them a better, he would take away from them that which they had. Wherefore, to allay their fears, he proposed that the old one should not be demolished till he had made every preparation for the new ; which preparation took two years. Josephus in- forms us,^ that one thousand waggons were employed for carrying the stones and timber : ten thousand artificers to fit all things for the building, and one thousand priests, who were skilled in architecture, oversaw and directed the works. After two years thus employed in preparation, Herod pulled down the temple to the ground, that had been built by Zerubbabel after the captivity, and began to erect a new one in its place, in the twenty-first year of his own reign, seventeen years before Christ,'' and just forty-six years before the first passover of our Saviour's ministry.'* For, although the Temple itself was fit for Divine service in nine years and a-half, yet a great number of labourers and artificers was still employed in carrying t)n the out-buildings all the time of our Saviours abode on earth, and even for some years after his death ; namely, till the coming of Gessius Florus to be governor of Judea,*" when eighteen thousand » Joseph. Antiq. xv. 1. 11. Pndeaux Connect. A.A.C. 47. "» Antiq.xv. 11. ' Prideaux Connect. A.A.C. 17. «' John ii. 20. ' Joseph. Antiq. xx. 8 ORIGIN OP THE TEMPLE BY HEROD. 153 of them being discharged at one time, they, for want of employment, became riotous, and began those seditions, which at last were the ruin both of Jerusalem, and of the Temple.* Josephus informs us, that this mournful event happened on the 10th of the month Abib, A.D. 70, in the second year of Vespasian, one thousand one hundred and thirty years, seven months, and fifteen days after the founding of the first Temple by Solomon ; and six hundred thirty-nine years and forty-five days after the founding of the second Temple.^ This Temple, built by Herod, was considerably larger than the second, as the second had been larger than the first : for, whereas the second Temple was seventy cubits long, sixty broad, and sixty high : this was one hundred cubits long, seventy broad, and one hundred high. And, as the second seems not to have had the porch any higher than the rest of the building (for Herod, in his proposal to tlie Jews, mentions that it wanted sixty cu- bits of the height of that which was in the first Temple,*) so in the Temple which he constructed, he raised the porch to one hundred and twenty cubits as at the first ; and by extending it fifteen cubits beyond each side of the rest of the Temple, he made the front to be one hun- dred cubits ; for seventy cubits, which was the width of his Temple, and twice fifteen, make exactly a hundred. The porch and Temple, therefore, would resemble the letter T, of which the top will represent the front of the porch, and the body of the letter, the holy and most holy places. All the writers among the Jews praise this Temple exceedingly, both for the beauty and costliness of its workmanship ; for it was built of white marble^ beautifully variegated, and with stones of large dimen- sions, some of them twenty-five cubits long, eight cubits » Antiq, XX. 9. *> War, vi, 4. ' Joseph.Antiq.xv.il. Vol. I. U 154 ANTIQUITIES OF lllK Ji:\\S. high, ami twelve cubits thick." Tlic dillVrcnt sides of the huiUlinij; exhibited to a spectator tlie rollowing ap- pearances : — Tlic east, or laic ol' the porch, \vas a front of one hundred cubits, or one luuidred aiul eighty-two feet four inches, from north to south, by one hundred and twenty cubits, or two hundred and eighteen feet ten inches high,of linely-poUshed, and beautifully- variegated white marble, highest in the middle, and diminishing iu elegant proportions at either end ;'' divided, as we may suppose, into dillcrent stories, witii rows of windows. Such was its appearance on the east. The west, or op- posite end, would appear of two parts : viz. the lower part where the chambers were joined to the wall, and the upper or higher portion of the Temple wall. The north and south sides being exactly the same, their ex- ternal appearance was as follows : — 1. x\ foundation of strong w ork, six cubits high ; 2. An upright plain wall, of forty cubits ; 3. A carved and curiously wrought bor- der, of a cubit broad ; 4. A gutter cut in the stones, which stones occupied two cubits ; 5. The timber, or place for laving on the roof, one cubit ; 6. The roof itself a cubit thick, and formed, not of lead, as the flat roofs are with us, but of some composition spread upon reeds, that equalled stone in hardness after it became dry. Perhaps the composition in (piestion may have resem- bled that which Dr. Shaw tells us is used at this day in Earbary : — '' The^' take one part of sand, two of wood ashes, ami three of lime, which, after it is well sifted and mixed together, they beat for three days and three nights incessantly with wooden mallets, sprinkling them alternately, and, at pivper times, with a little oil and water, till they become of a due consistence. This is what is used in making arches, cisterns, and the terraces, Josepli. -\iU'ui. iv. U. '' lo\d. ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLE BY HEROD. 155 or the tops of houses. Both this composition (he adds,) and that of tow and lime beat together witli oil only, without any mixture of water, quickly assume the hard- ness of stone, and suffer no water to pervade them.'*'* Such is the manner of making roofs in Barbary. But in India it is somewhat different: they first throw a joisting of seasoned wood, on which they lay a course of brick on edge, cemented with sugar in its coarsest state from the cane (there called jaggery,) after it has been mois- tened witli a little water. When this is dried, they cover it with a pretty thick coat of pounded brick, lime (there called chinam,) and jaggery- water; all of which they beat down with wooden mallets. When this is dried, they cover it with a finer layer of the same materials, laid on with a trowel ; and the whole is finished off with a thin layer of very fine lime and jaggery-water. As the joists are not laid horizontally, but raised a little in the middle, the bricks form literally a kind of arch, which supports the terrace when the wood has failed : but this rise does not appear to the eye, for the last coat of composition makes the upper surface perfectly horizon- tal. In laying the bricks, their mode is particular ; for they always begin at a corner, and move on to the op- posite one ; and if the terrace have much weight to sup- port, or be very large, they have another course of bricks above these, which starts from, and terminates in, the intermediate angles. Thus do the courses cross each other. The pei'son from whom I had the above information had several terraces made for himself while in India ; and assured me, that it is the common method of making them in the east : he farther added, that he had seen ter- races of pagodas, several centuries old, perfectly firm, although the joists had rotted from beneath them. * Travels, vol. i. part iii. chap. iii. sect. 5. 156 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Hitherto we have followed the building up almost at the same width for fifty-one cubits ; but after the plas- tered roof was laid on, it suddenly contracted to thirty- two cubits, leaving thus a space of nineteen feet on each side for walking on, and other purposes : for the whole width of the Temple was seventy cubits; the building above the holy and most holy places was thirty-two; and, consequently, thirty-eight are left to be divided in equal portions of nineteen a-piece on either side. Having ascended to the height of fifty-one cubits, and reached the flat space, let us now attend to the remaining forty- nine cubits of elevation ; for it will be remembered, that the whole height of Herod's Temple was one hundred cu- bits. In the 1st place, then there was an upright wall of forty cubits, within which- was an upper room, extend- ing the length of the holy and most holy places. 2dly. Another carved border, of a cubit broad. 3dly. Another stone gutter, of two cubits, to carry off the rain. 4thly. Another place, of one cubit, for laying on the timber for the roof. 5thly. A plastered roof, of a cubit thick, like the former. 6thly. The battlements, of three cubits, including the stones on which they were set : which bat- tlements, in their traditions are stated, both for public and private buildings, to be ten hand-breadths high, or two feet and a-half at the least, to prevent any person falling over them." And, 7thly. The scare-crow cubit : but what that was is differently explained : for R. Na- than makes it some frightful figure to scare away the birds from defiling the roof "of the Temple. Maimonides explains it of iron pikes, a cubit high, upon the top of the battlements round about, to answer the same pur- pose. Yet, after all, it is probable that a number of these animals built their nests among the battlements » D. Kirachi in Mid. PORCH OF THE TEMPLE. 157 and carved work ; for David alludes to them in Psal. Ixxxiv. 3. Perhaps hoth these accounts may be reconciled,, by supposing that there were iron spikes round the bat- tlements on the outside, for the purpose mentioned ; and that the large space of forty cubits by twenty, which was within the battlements, and extended over the holy and -most holy places, was not flat, but raised in such a manner, as that the scare- crow cubit would be a cubit above the battlements, and on a level with the spikes. This would allow the water to pass more easily from the roof, and add considerably to the beauty of the Temple. — But let us now enter the second edifice, and examine it attentively. SECT. X. The Porch of the Temple. The steps that led up to it : the height of the threshold above each of the in- ferior Courts, The length, breadth, and height of the porch. The door of the Porch — its size, and the ornaments around it ; the thickness of the wall; the vestibule of the Porch ; the marble and golden tables ; the golden vine and candlestick ; the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz : inquiry into their appearance and probable use. The apartments on either side of the vestibule. The chambers of the butchering instruments ; and the apartment above the door, where the crowns of the conquered kings were kept. On leaving the pavement of the Court of the Priests to go into the Porch of the Temple, we find ourselves obliged to ascend twelve steps, of half a cubit high each, but not all of an equal breadth. For the first and second steps were each a cubit broad, and the third, three cu- bits ; the fourth and fifth a cubit broad each, and the sixth, three cubits; the seventh and eighth, a cubit broad each, and the ninth, three cubits ; the tenth and eleventh a cubit broad each, and the twelfth four cubits. Consequently, the twelve steps, although only six cubits high in all, yet extended in this way, from the Porch 158 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. into the Court, twenty-one cubits, or to within a cubit of the altar. This great inequality in their breadth makes us easily understand a passage in the treatise entitled Joma^ which would otherwise have been inexplicable ; where its author, relating how, when the high priest, on the day of expiation, had slain his own bullock, he gave the blood to one to stir it, in order to keep it from congealing, saith, ^^ that he stirred it about on the fourth landing-place of the Temple," or on the top of the steps. Maimonides, however, mentions a circumstance con- cerning these steps, which I am ready to own I do not understand ; for he says, that they were not only oppo- site to the great entrance into the Temple, but extended along the whole front, and even round the ends of the Porch. Now this appears to me to be a mistake : for, not to mention the space that was requisite for the la- ver, which every writer places between the altar and the Porch, and the hindrance it would give the service, by coming within a foot of the ascent, altar, and rings, there would not have been half the space for these steps at the ends of the Porch which was requisite. For the whole width of the Court of the Priests, as we have seen, was one hundred and nineteen cubits, of which the Porch took one hundred, leaving only nineteen for the steps, or nine and a- half at each end ; whereas they ought to have had, according to the above account of them, forty-two Gubits, or twenty-one at each end. We are, therefore, obliged to correct the account of this otherwise intelligent writer, and to confine the steps to a certain space on each side of the entrance. Having thus reached the top of the steps, we come to the threshold of the Porch, and when there, we are six cubits above the Court of the Priests ; and, accord- ing to former accounts, eight and a-half above the Court of Israel, sixteen above the Court of the Women, PORCH OF THE TEMPLE. 139 eigliteeii and a-half above the Hil, or Sacred Fence, and twenty-four and a-half above the Court of the Gentiles. Consequently, as the outer wall of the Court of the Gen- tiles was twenty-five cubits high, a person standing on the threshold of the Porch would find his feet within half a cubit of the height of the outer wall, were he not prevented from seeing it by the intervening walls which stood at the east and west ends of tlie Court of the Wo- men. It is easy to perceive the effect which these dif- ferent degrees of elevation would have on the beholder. The man of taste would be struck with the ideas of gran- deur which they excited ; and the pious soul would per- haps be reminded of the necessity of rising from one de- gree of grace unto another, until he reached his Father's house. Having come to the door of the Porch, let us next take notice of the Porch itself. Our habits of thinking are apt to make us imagine, that a porch to a building is only a small appendage in comparison, serving as a vestibule to direct our approach. It will therefore sur- prise us when we understand, that the Porch to the Temple was a large structure of one hundred cubits in length, from north to south on the outside, twenty- two cubits broad from east to west on the outside, and one hundred and twenty cubits high : that it was flat in the roof, as the eastern houses generally are,'' but surrounded with battlements of ten hand- breadths, or two feet and a-half high, to prevent persons from falling over.'' It was to the top of this that the devil carried our Saviour, when he is said, in Matt. iv. 5, ^- to have set him on a pinnacle of the Temple." The original words {sjtt to Ttrepvytov rov ispov) literally signify " on the wings of the Temple :" and such the Porch was with respect to » Josh, ii, 6 ; 2 Sum, xvi. 22 ; Acts x. 9. ^ Deut. sxii, 8 ; 1 Sam. ix. 25. 160 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the rest of that sacred edifice ; for it stood before it like the head of the letter T, and by extending beyond it on either side, was, with great propriety, called the wings. On the particular mention of this temptation, one can- not help being struck at the wisdom with which it was adapted to Christ's public character. He was about to appear as the Messiah, concerning whom so much had been prophesied, and so much expected. ^' Here then,'' says Satan, ^^ is a favourable opportunity of convincing all of your Divine mission. Behold in the Courts of the Priests and of Israel a number of persons in the act of sacrificing, and thereby expressing their belief in the efiicacy of the Messiah's obedience and death. A little beyond them, in the Court of the Women, are many pious individuals pouring out their souls to God, and hoping in Him who shall redeem Israel. And in the Court of the Gentiles are multitudes more walking and conversing perhaps on the same subject. Call to them aloud ! Proclaim yourself immediately as the promised Messiah ! Tell them that, as a proof of your heavenly original, you will now descend from this enormous height: and you will astonish and convert them. Nor need you be afraid of any dangerous consequences ; for the pro- mise of God is expressly in your favour. It is written in Psal. xci. 11, 12, ^He shall give his angels charge con- cerning thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.' " Where we may remark, that he left out a very impor- tant part of the passage quoted ; for the words of the Psalmist run thus : ^* He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways :" intimating thereby, that the Divine protection is only, to be found in the path of duty. But the enemy of souls can either suppress, add to, or wrest the meaning of the words of Scripture, as it suits his purpose. PORCH OF THE TEMPLE. 161 Having noticed thus much concerning the general ap- pearance of the outside of the Porch, let us next attend to the gate which was in the middle of it. It was an opening of forty cubits high, by twenty broad, which were the same dimensions as those that Ezekiel saw in his vision :" but, on each side of it, and above it, was ornamental work that extended it to seventy cubits high and twenty-five broad.'' The account which Joseph us and the Talmud give of this ornamental work on the outside of the opening is as follows : — There were above the gate five beams of choice wood, which Buxtorf translates quercinx, or oaken, and Ezekiel xli. 25, calls " thick planks," laid at different heights, thus : — The first was on the head of the gate, and was a cubit longer than it on each end ; consequently, as the gate was twenty- cubits, the first beam would be twenty-two cubits. Above that was a row of stone, and the second beam of twenty-four cubits : above that, was another row of stone, and then the third beam of twenty-six cubits : above that, another row of stone, and then the fourth beam of twenty- eight cubits : and, above that, another row of stone, and then the fifth beam of thirty cubits : so that these beams were always longer as they rose. We are not informed of their dis- tance from each other : but, as the ornamental work ex- tended thirty cubits above the gate, it is probable that they were divided into five portions, of six cubits each. The use of these beams was for the knobs and flowers which were carved on them, and because they retained the gilding better than if it had been upon stone : for they were all carved and gilt, and the ends of them joined together by an elegantly descending border of the same materials ; which, at the top of the gate, met » Chap. xli. 2. <» Joseph. War, v. 5. Vol. I. X 162 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the carved and gilded work of two cubits and a-half on each side ; and thus was continued till it reached the ground. It is wortliy of remark, that the gate of the Porch had no doors, but stood always open, that it might thus be, as Josephus says,"" " an emblem of heaven ;" through which, as it were, their prayers could pass into the pre- sence of God : and yet from which we are excluded by the various impediments which are incident to the pre- sent state. Hitherto we have had no account of the thickness of any of the walls of the several Courts : they were, there- fore, when alluded to, only taken from conjecture, as compared with the known thickness of those of the Tem- ple. But Dr. Lightfoot has given us from the Talmud, and other sources, a distinct account of the thickness of the walls which surrounded the Temple ; and, therefore, from him we are enabled to state, that the front and end walls of the Porch we are now describing, were five cubits, or nine feet and an inch thick, and that the back wall was six cubits, or ten feet eleven inches thick, pro- bably because it joined to, and made a part of the Tem- ple wall ; which, like that in the vision of Ezekiel,'' was all of that thickness. Now, if we deduct ten cubits as the width of the two end walls, we have ninety cubits as the length of the open space within : and as for the width, we are distinctly told that it was eleven cubits within. Consequently, the space within the walls of the Porch was ninety cubits from north.to south, eleven cubits from east to west, and about one hundred and fourteen cubits high, allowing the other six for the joisting, roof, bat- ' tlements, and scare-crow cubit, and in the same propor- tions as were formerly stated of the body of the Tem- * War. V. i pestry, like tliat in Josh. vii. 21, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, which Josephus compares to tlie four elements. Other Jews, likewise, give us intimation of such a veil; for the Talmudic treatise Tamul, or on the morning sacrifice, when speaking of the high priest going into the Holy Place to worship, says, ^' There were three that held him, one by the right hand, ano- ther by the left, and a third by the precious stones of the breast-plate. And when the president heard the sound of the high priest's feet coming out, he lifted up the veil for him, and then went in himself to worship ; and after him his brethren the priests." We may re- mark, that there were thirteen veils in all about the Temple : — namely, seven for the seven gates of the Court of Israel and the Priests ; one at the gate of the Porch; one in this five cubit space, between the Porch and the Holy Place; tv^ro between the Holy and Most Holy Place ; and two directly over them in the room above, of which we shall have occasion to speak in a subsequent page. So great a number naturally gave rise to a distinct ojffice, namely, the overseer of the veils, whose duty it was to keep them free from dust ; to wash and dry them in the Hil, or Sacred Fence, if they were defiled by any common uncleanuess ; and to remove the old and furnish new, when it was judged necessary : but these new, before they could be hung on any of the places allotted them, were obliged to remain suspended in the Court of the Women for a certain time, that all the people might examine whether they were sufficient or not. Let us now enter the Holy Place, and consider its dimensions, appearance, and furniture. — Its dimen- sions were forty cubits long, twenty broad, and sixty liigh. Thus was the Holy Place, in our Saviour's days, 174 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. double the height of that in the Temple of Solomon/ and exacaly the dimensions of that in the Temple after the Captivity,'' and in that in the vision of Ezekiel/ only with this difference, that the height of the Holy Place, after the Captivity, reached to the very top of the build- ing : whereas, that in the days of our Saviour, had a large room over it, which we shall consider afterwards, because the second Temple was only sixty cubits high, whereas Herod's was one hundred. It is impossible to think of the appearance of the Holy Place without being struck with its beauty and richness. The floor was formed of planks of fir gilded with gold from Parvaim.** The sides and ends of the apartment, from the floor to the ceiling, were also gilded, excepting only the places where the leaves of the door fell back into the wall, for the doors themselves had cherubims and palm trees engraved on them, like those in Ezekiel,"" and the ceiling was probably of wood. But, although the sides and ends were said to be gilded, we are not to suppose, that they were plain and unornamented ; for the whole wall from bottom to top, was filled with carved work of different kinds. Commentators, both among the Jews and Christians, have been far from una- nimous in their explanation of the Scripture language respecting them. The most probable is that of Light- foot, who is of opinion, that there was first along the bottom of the wall a border of knops or gourds, and open flowers. 2. That on these, as on a base, the palm trees and cherubim, like those seen by Ezekiel,*^ alter- nately stood all around the room. 3. That, above the palm trees and cherubim, was a second border of the same kind as the first, on which stood a second course of =" 1 Kings vi. 2. '' Ezra vi. 3. <= Ezek. xli. 2. -^ 2 Chron. iii. 3—7. ' Ch. xli, 21, 25. ' Ch. xli. 18—20. HOLY PLACE. 175 palm trees and cherubim ; and so on alternately till they reached the roof. One cannot, therefore, peruse this ac- count of the ornaments on the walls of the Holy Place without reflecting on the beautiful turn it gives to the words of the Psalmist in Ps. xcii. 12, 13, where, speak- ing of the happy condition of those who fear God, he says, ^^ The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree ; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." But beautiful though this appears, our minds are raised higher still. For as the cherubic figures on the veil and curtains of the outer tabernacle, and on the veil, doors, and walls of the Temple, had only two faces, viz. the faces of a lion and a man,* although those above the mercy-seat had four ; so these coupled cherubs, ac- companied with palm trees, naturally remind us of the lionof the tribe of Judah, united to the man Christ Jesus, who brought '^ peace on earth and good-will to men." But, in describing the Holy Place, it naturally occurs to ask, how it was lighted ? For, in the former account ©f the walls of the Temple, fifty- one cubits were occu- pied by the side-chambers, which effectually shut out the possibility of windows in all that space. I answer, that as the Holy Place was sixty cubits high from the floor to the ceiling, there still remained a height of nine cubits between the top of the side-chambers and the roof, to serve as places for the windows ; and accord- ingly this was the space where the light was introduced^ For on either side of the building there was a row of long narrow windows, exactly the shape of those said to have been in the Temple of Solomon,'' and in the vision of the Temple, seen by Ezekiel,*" which reached from « Ch. xli. 18—20. •• 1 Kings vi, 4. " Ch. xli. 26. 176 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. one end of the Holy Place to the other, to give it all the light that was necessary. Having thus attended to the dimensions and general appearance of the Holy Place, let us next consider the furniture, which consisted of three things : the candle- stick for the lamps, the table of shew bread, and the altar of incense. The candlestick for the lamps, which stood in the Temple built by Herod, was eighteen hand-breadths high, or four and a-half feet, and all of pure gold. Its particular form, as collected by Dr. Lightfoot, from Maimonides, was as follows : — ^The first hand-breadth and a-half sent off the three feet or supporters which lay almost flat on the ground. At the third hand- breadth, there was a curious flowering of coronet work. For the fourth and fifth the shaft arose plain. The sixth was occupied in ornaments resembling a cup, a ball, and a flower. For the seventh and eighth hand-breadths the shaft arose plain. The ninth had another ball, and above it went off the first pair of branches, bending outwards and upwards in the form of a semicircle, till they came to a level with the top of the shaft. For the tenth hand- breadth the shaft was plain. The eleventh had another ball, above which went off the second pair of branches parallel with the first. For the twelfth hand-breadth the shaft arose plain. The thirteenth had another ball, and sent off a third pair of branches similar to the former. For the fourteenth and fifteenth the shaft was plain ; and on the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth, were a cup, ball, and flower, three times repeated, so tliat the top of the shaft ended in a flower. On each of the six branches there were three cups at proper distances from each other, and above the highest cup was a ball and flower, so that it was on these flowers on the heads of the branches and shaft, that the seven lamps stood. HOLY PLACE. 177 And before the candlestick was a stone with three steps cut in it for the priest that trimmed and lighted the lamps to stand on, and place his utensils while so em- ployed. This candlestick of seven branches, which, Jo- sephus says, resembled the seven planets,* and to which branches allusion is made in several places of Scripture,'' was set on the south side of the house, or on the left as you entered, and in such a way as that the branches pointed due north and south. Further, the lamps on the branches all looked towards the lamp in the shaft, while it, in its turn, was bent to- wards the Most Holy Place, thereby shewing, that the churches of Christ should look to their ministers, as their ministers also should look to God. And as all were un- der the superintendance of the priest, whose daily pre- sence and care were necessary,*" so ministers and people depend on Christ, the great high priest, both for being and well-being. They have no inherent, underived fund of spiritual light in themselves. The lamp is kept burn- ing from the pure olive oiP which is treasured up in the storehouse of God. The seven spirits of God are diffused among the branches ; and out of that fulness do they all receive, and grace for grace. But why, it may be said, was the candlestick introduced into the Holy Place at all, for there were windows sufficient to communicate light? I answer, with Lightfoot, that the reason, per- haps, was to shew, that the light of nature alone could not conduct men to happiness, and that a divine reve- lation was therefore necessary. For it is worthy of no- tice, that the same objection has been frequently raised by infidels against the gospel ; who have considered it as » War, V. 5. ^ 1 Sam. iilo. Zech. iv. 2. Rev. i. 12, iv. 5. xi. 4. * Lev. xxiv. 2 4. ^ Exod. xxvii. 20. Vol. I. Z 178 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. needless, and therefore judged it to be unworthy of their acceptance. Nor docs it contradict this truth, that Solomon, in his Temple, made no fewer than ten candlesticks ; viz. five to stand on the right side, and five on the left of the Holy Place :^ for they were intended to suit the general grandeur of the place ; were a standing emblem to the Jews, that the distinguishing goodness of God had made them great, and taught the Israelites and other nations, that the growing light in the word was necessary to counteract the growing darkness in the world. I may add, on the authority of Josephus,'' that the golden candlestick which was in the Temple, at the time it was besieged by the Romans, was given to Titus by one Jesus, a priest, as the price of his life ; was carried by Titus to Rome, and after being exhibited at the tri- umph, was deposited by him in the Temple of Peace. Travellers tell us, that the representation of it is still to be seen on the triumphal arch, at the foot of the Pala- tine Mount, on which Vespasian's triumph is delineated." Having attended to the golden candlestick for the lamps, let us next attend to the table for the shew bread. In the account of the different things in the tabernacle, made by Moses, we described the table for the shew bread ; so that to dwell upon it now w^ould be unneces- sary : only we may remark, that Josephus*^ says, that the feet of it, from the middle downwards, were round, ex- actly like those which the Dorians employed for their beds ; but from thence upward, square ; and that there was one somewhat like it in the temple at Delphos, which had probably been copied from it. In Solomon's Temple, as there were ten candlesticks, » 2 Chron. iv, 7. ^ Wars of the Jews, vi. 8. vii. 5. ' See Prideaux, A.A.C. 534. '' Antiq. iii. 6. HOLY PLACE. 179 «o there were also ten tables for the shew bread, placed alternately, five on the right hand and five on the left, a table and a candlestick, a table and a candlestick.^ But in the Temple after the Captivity, and the Temple built by Herod, these ten tables were reduced again to one of the same form and dimensions as that described by Moses. And as the golden candlestick stood on the south side of the Holy Place, so the table for the shew bread stood on the north, with its end to the Most Holy Place, or due east and west. It derived its name from the twelve loaves that stood constantly on it before the Lord, called in Scripture Lehem-epenith (il^JSn'uDn??) ^^ the bread of the faces," or ^^ before the faces,'' viz. of the Three in one God. Matthew^ calls it aprot Ttpo^ecTecjg, ^'^ the bread of the setting before, or present- ing." And our translators have given it the very appro- priate name of '^ the shew bread." — But, as the Jewish manner of making and placing it may not be familiar to every reader, I shall here subjoin it. Out of twenty-four saes (^^ » Malt xxvH. 51, ^ War, V. 5. ' ileb. t. 19— 2S. MOST HOLY PLACE. 187 evidently different at different times ; for in the time of Moses, it was ten cubits long, ten wide, and ten high ; but, in Solomon's Temple, in that after the Captivity, and in that built by Herod, it was twenty cubits long, twenty broad, and twenty high.^ At least, this is what Lightfoot conjectures concerning the two last ; for he ac- knowledges, that it is far from certain. In the vision of the Temple which Ezekiel saw, the Most Holy Place had the above dimensions.'' The whole of the place, however, be the dimensions what they might, was most elegantly and richly ornamented. The floor and ceiling were of cedar, overlaid with gold ;'' and the walls round about were cedar, carved with palm-trees, cherubim, and wreaths of flowers, covered with gold :^ the gold for this must have been very great. Accordingly, we are in- formed, in 2 Chron. iii. 8, that the gold, which covered the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon, amounted to six hundred talents, which, at 41. the ounce, amounted to ^3,600,000 sterling: but it is not said how much was employed in overlaying the Temple after the Captivity, and the Temple that was built by Herod. As there was no window in the tabernacle, so we read of no window in the Holy of Holies ; for the glory of the Lord was the light thereof, v^-hen the Shechinah ap peared ; and darkness at other times created reverence. The furniture of the Most Holy Place consisted of the ark, and the things contained in it ; the mercy-seat ; and. the cherubim. Having already described the ark and inercy-seat, when treating of the tabernacle, it only remains to no- tice here that, even when placed in Solomon's Temple, no more to come out, the staves which carried them » 1 Kings vi. 20, * Ch. xlj. 4. ' J Kings vi. 16. 30 ^ 1 Kings vi. 29. 188 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. always remained ; only they were drawn out towards the veil.'* There were three things placed within the ark for preservation, by the express command of God ; viz. the two tables of the law ;^ the golden pot that had the omer of manna;'' and Aaron's rod that budded:*^ but when Solomon, after all its wanderings, set it in the Temple, the two last seem to have been either lost or destroyed, for we find it positively asserted in 1 Kings viii. 9. that ^^ there was nothing then in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt." In the book of Deuteronomy^ there is mention made of the book of the law, as being put in the side of the ark, in some chest attached to it for that purpose ; but it was evidently not put into the ark itself. And it was, perhaps, this which Hilkiah found in the Temple, in the days of Josiah, king of Judah, which being read to the king, was the cause of that desire he felt to reform abuses.*" The cherubim were also described when treating of the tabernacle; but it is worthy of remark, that although they are often mentioned in Scripture, they were never desci'ibed by any writer before Ezekiel, but are always taken for granted to be so well known, as to need no de- scription. And, perhaps, that was indeed the case till after the captivity ; when, being forgotten by the Jewish nation, they Vv ere thus rescued from oblivion by a new revelation. But let us return to the consideration of the Holy of Holies. We have already seen that cherubim were carved * 2 Chion. V. '.). ^ Dcut. X. 2. ' Exod. xvi. 3 j, 24 ; Hcb. ix. 4- •• Nun-.b. xvli. 10; Ikb. ix. 4. = Cli. xxxi. 26. *' 2Chi-on.xxxiv. 14. MOST HOLY PLACE. 189 on the walls, both of the Holy and Most Holy Places : the cherubim, however, which we have most to consider, are those which were placed on either end of the mercy- seat ; for both in the tabernacle'' and Temple^ tliis was the case. Now these figures extended from the one side of the sanctuary to the other ; the one wing touching the wall, and the other, the wing of the cherub above the mercy-seat. Thus those in the tabernacle would stretch each of them five cubits, since the Most Holy Place was then only ten cubits ; whilst those in the Temple would stretch ten cubits each, since Solomon had enlarged it to twenty cubits. It is not said how high the cherubim in the tabernacle were ; but as those in the Temple were ten cubits broad, and ten cubits Ivgh,'' so it is probable that those in the tabernacle, which were five cubits broad, would be five cubits high. Let us further remark, that although the cherubim in the Temple were much larger than those of the tabernacle, they were not precious in proportion ; for those in the tabernacle were of beaten gold,^ while those in the Temple were only of olive-tree, overlaid with gold.*" Such were the cherubic figures appointed to be placed on the mercy-seat; and it is worthy of notice, that it was from between these that Jehovah appeared in visible glory, and gave his answers to the Jewish nation, as may be seen by consulting among others, the following pas- sages : — Exod. XXV. 22 ; xxix. 42, 43 ; xl. 34. Levit. ix. 23, 24 ; x. 2 5 xxiv. 12, 13. Numb. vii. 89 ; xii. 5 ; xv. 34 ; xvi. 19. The Jews imagined that when Solomon built the Tem- ple, he also built some secret and intricate vaults under it, to conceal the ark in dangerous times ; so that what- " Exod. XXV. 18;xxxvu. 7. ^ 1 Kings vi. 23— 25. 2 Chron. iii. 10. « 1 Kings YJ. 22. ^ Exod. xxxvii. 7. "= 1 Kings vi. 23—28. 190 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ever should happen to the Temple, it might be safe: and in this light they understood the order of Josiah to the Levites in 2 Chron. xxxv. 3 : " Put the holy ark in the house, which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, did build." As if the good king, upon understanding from the book of the law which had been found, and the prophecy of Huldah," that evil was threatened against Jerusalem, was exceedingly anxious for its preservation, and therefore caused it to be put in Solomon's vault, along with the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that bud- ded. But the more natural interpretation of the king's command is, that Manasseh, his grandfather, and Amon, his father, having removed the ark, and set up abomina- tions of their own, in its place, he ordered the Levites to fetch it from its obscurity, where it had been set aside and neglected, and restore it to its accustomed place. A second account we have of the matter in 2 Maccab. ii. 4 — 8, with a particular reference to the return from the Babylonish captivity : for we are there told, that Jeremiah, having climbed up the hill, whence Moses saw the heritage of God, found a hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, the ark, and the altar of incense, and stopped up the door ; which some that followed him having tried to find out, could not ; and were thereupon reproved by Jeremiah, and informed, that the place should be unknown until the time that God should ga- ther his people again together, and receive them into mercy. Now all this is evidently a fiction ; for to what good purpose was all this concealment in the supposed vault, or cave, since even the Jews themselves were forced to own, that these articles never were in the se- cond Temple ; and that the ark, particularly, was one of the five things that were wanting ; the ark, the urim * 2Cliron. xxxiv. 22. BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 191 and thummim, the fire from heaven, the cloud of glory over the mercy-seat, and the spirit of prophecy. Yet we are not to suppose that they had no ark, mercy-seat, nor cherubim in the second Temple, and in that erected by Herod. For they had them all of their own making, and made them answer every ordinary purpose, but that of giving responses, which was confessedly confined to the first Temple. On this account I have said so little about the ark of the second Temple, and dwelt chiefly on the ark of the first. They were both of the same form, and it is probable, also, of the same materials ; but I choose rather to follow inspiration than wade through the mazes of uncertain tradition. But here a difficulty deserves to be noticed ; viz. why the Psalmist commonly speaks of God as dwelling in Zion,* and never on Moriah ? I an- swer, that the ark of God, which was the symbol of the divine presence, remained on Mount Zion all the days of David, and was not taken to Moriah till the days of Solomon, when the Temple was built, for its reception. The phrases, therefore, of the tabernacle, the sanctuary, the hill of God, &c. referred in David's days to Mount Zion ; but were afterwards transferred to Moriah : and it was for the same reason that Zion was made use of by David, to denote the church, in Psal. cii. 13 ; cxxix. 5, SECT. XIII. Buildings attached to the Temple. The fifteen chambers on the north side ; the fifteen on the south side ; the eight at the west end; their size i;nd uses. The g-ailery before these chambei-s ; the wall before the gallery ; the large chamber over the Holy and ;Most Holy Places ; the veils that divided it; and the stair that communicated from » Psal. ix. 1 1—14 ; XX. 2 ; xlviii. 2 ; 1. 2 ; Ixv, 1 ; Ixxiv. 2 ; Isxvi. 2 ; Ixxvili . 68 ; xcix, 2; cii. 21 ; cxxxii. 13; 192 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it to the top of the Temple. Josephus's plan of the Courts of the Temple shewn to be not at variance with the foregoing accounts. The diflTerent de- grees of sanctity attached to the Temple. The punishments inflicted on those who violated it: — 1. Death by the hand of Heaven; 2. Cutting oft'; 3. Whipping; 4. Kebels' beating. The buildings attached to the Temple were those along the sides, the end, and in the upper part of that sacred edifice. The chambers along the sides, and at the end, were not fewer than thirty-eight (marked No. 26, in Plate II.), viz. fifteen on the north side, fifteen on the south side, and eight at the end which looked to the west. In EzekiePs vision of the Temple,^ however, they were only thirty, and they are the same in Josephus ;^ but it is probable that they omitted those at the end, and only noticed the side-chambers. Those on the north and south sides were exactly alike. They were divided into three stories, each story consisting of five chambers, and each chamber being twelve cubits long, by six in breadth. Thus, if the Holy Place was forty cubits long^ the partition between the Holy and Most Holy Place one cubit, the length of the Most Holy Place twenty cubits, and the wall of the Temple six cubits thick, this would make the whole length for the side-chambers to be sixty-seven cubits, or fifty-five cubits for the five ehambers, and twelve cubits for the five partitions, which gives about two cubits and a-half to each partition. Dr. Lightfoot mentions a space between each of the ehambers of seven cubits and a-half, but if it existed, it must have been taken from the room, to allow the door to enter at the end in place of the side, which is rather an awkward situation, especially as he takes the seven cubits and a-half from each room, and does not make it a common landing-place to two. We are informed by Josephus, that the height of these chambers was twenty =■ Ch.xli, 6— 8. ^ Antiq. xv. 11. BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 193 cubits ;* but it is probable, that although the lowest story was twenty, the upper stories would be less, for the whole height of the side-chambers, as we have already seen, was fifty-one cubits, which, if divided by three, the number of stories, gives seventeen at an average as the height of each. In the Temple of Solomon they were only five cubits high, as we are informed in 1 Kings vi. 10. Such were the side-chambers on the north and south of the Temple. But before the chambers of each story was a gallery of three cubits wide ; and before the gal- lery, an outer wall of five cubits thick. This wall ap- peared to a spectator as the outer wall of the Temple, and extended from the ground to the height of fifty-one feet ; it had doors in it below to open into the gallery that led to the chambers, and must have had windows both below and above to communicate light to the gal- leries and chambers. The mode of communicating with the second and third stories, on either side, was by a staircase turret at each end of the gallery : but the tur- ret on the north-east end, mentioned in 1 Kings vi. 8, differed from those in the north-west, south-west, and south-east in this — that besides a communication with the galleries on the second and third stories, it also com- municated with the roof of the Temple, and allowed persons to walk on the terrace or roof. Such were the chambers on the north and south sides. Those at the end were only eight, viz. three on the first story, three on the second, and two on the third. Now, if the Most Holy Place was twenty cubits wide, the two side walls of the Temple six cubits each, or twelve cubits thick, and the width of the two rows of side-chambers six cubits each, or twelve cubits ; this -* Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 14. Vol. L B b 194 AlsTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. made the length forty- two cubits, as the length of the space which was completely free for the three chambers and their two partitions. And it deserves to be noticed, that, after deducting the same width for partitions, which was done in the former case, we leave the rooms of the same size nearly as the others ; viz. twelve cubits and a fraction in length, by six in breadth. The man- ner of entering these chambers below, was somewhat different from that of the side-chambers : for they had no gallery, but were entered directly through their own front wall. With regard to the second story, had not Dr. Lightfoot been so explicit in asserting that there was no gallery, I should have considered it necessary, in order to reach the middle chamber ; for otherwise there must either have been an entry to it through one of the chambers from the staircase at the end, or a sepa- rate staircase erected on purpose. With respect to the third story, as it had only two chambers, they could easily be entered from the common staircases at the corners. But it deserves to be noticed, that these rooms were much larger than any of the rest, for, instead of being twelve cubits long, by six broad, they could be each twenty by twelve, and leave a partition of two cubits. Such were the dimensions of the thirty-eight chambers which surrounded the two sides and end of the Temple. They were many, but not too numerous for the purposes intended ; for they were constructed for the laying up of choice treasures and utensils ; for corn, wine, and oil ; and for whatsoever was brought m as tithes and first fruits for the sustenance of the priests that waited on the altar.' . Let us now attend to the chamber which was over the Holy and Most Holy Places ; the entrance to v/hich was by the staircase in the north-east turret : for, although * 2 Chron. xxxi, 5, 6. Nehetn, xu. 4i. MalacUi iii. 10, BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 195 the turrets at the other three corners communicated with the stories of the side and end-chambers, they did not communicate with the terrace of the Temple, or with the chamber above the Holy and Most Holy Places. When a person, therefore, had ascended to the top of the staircase in this north-east turret, he went out to the terrace by means of a wicket facing the west : and when there, it was rather remarkable, that the entry into the chamber over the Holy and Most Holy Places, was not on that side, but on the other. So that he had to walk along the whole length of the north side, round the west end of the Temple, and along the south side, till he came to the door of which we are speaking. I am unable to assign a reason for this singular arrange- ment, but so it was. Having arrived, therefore, opposite to the door, the manner of entering it was by an ascent of steps ten cu- bits high, partly without, and partly within the thick- ness of the wall : for so high was the floor of this cham- ber above the terrace to allow room for the windows of the Holy Place. And having entered the apartment, there were several things deserving attention. The first was its size, being the length and breadth of the Holy and Most Holy Places ; consequently, it was sixty-one cubits long, and twenty wide, and about forty-six high. But although nominally one room, it was virtually two ; for there were pillars set exactly over the partition be- tween the Holy and Most Holy Places, and two veils hung across the room, in the same manner as those that were below. Secondly, although the floors of these rooms ^vere both on a level, they were not at an equal distance from the ceilings of the Holy and Most Holy Places ; for that of the Holy Place being sixty cubits, was imme- diately below the floor ; and that of the Most Holy Place, being, probably, only twenty cubits high, was forty be- 196 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. low the floor. Therefore, the Jews tell us, that there were a number of trap doors in the floor which commu- nicated with it, and through which the workmen were let down in a kind of close chests, when any of the walls of the Most Holy Place needed repair. The reason of which contrivance they assign to be ^^ that they might not feed their eyes with looking at the Most Holy Place." We may observe, thirdly, concerning the chamber, that, like all the others in or about the Temple which were not gilded or overlaid with gold, it was constantly white- washed once a year at the passover. The last thing to be noticed in this chamber, is the stair that communicated from it to the top of the Temple. It was composed of two cedar planks, which ascended in the form of an inclined plane from immediately within the doors of the ceiling, through which a trap door was cut to go out to the roof. These planks had steps either cut in them or nailed to them. Thus have I endeavoured to describe every thing wor- thy of notice in the plan of that Temple which existed in the days of our Saviour. But, in reflecting on the Courts we have been examining, it will readily occur to some of my readers, that they differ widely from those plans which are usually given to the world, as drawn up from Josephus. For in some of these plans, the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests, are each of them made a furlong square : and in others, the Court of the Gentiles is made so large as ■to surround the Hil, the Courts of the Women, of Israel, and of the Priests ; al- though these are each described by them as a furlong square. In answer, however, to this remark, I would ob- serve, that the very diversity of these plans is a proof that Josephus has been understood differently by the constructors of them ; and it appears an insuperable pb- BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 197 jection to theiiij that, when applied to the actual surface of the top of Moriah, as described by travellers, they are at least three times too large. Feeling, therefore, the force of this objection, I consulted the writings of Josephus, and examined carefully the passages on which the above theory is built : and am ready to own, that I think it has been adopted at first from an inaccurate knowledge of the original, and propagated afterwards, like many other theories, without due examination. There are only two passages which appear to me to bear on the subject. The firet is in his Antiquities,* where he says of the Mountain of the Lord's House, ^' The entire circumference was this : It had a circuit of four stadia j the length of each angle containing a sta- dium."^ Here we have a space described of four stadia, or furlongs, in circumference ; and that space being a square, each angle or side was of course a furlong : but nothing of four Courts, each of which was a furlong square. The other passage is in his History of the War,* where, although he enters minutely into the relative situation of the several Courts, we read of no such thing as the four Courts being a furlong each ; but, on the contrary, we have a great resemblance to that plan which has been particularly described in the former sec- tions of this work. That the reader, however, may be enabled to judge for himself, I shall transcribe from the corrected Lon- don edition of Whiston's translation of Josephus,'* what the Jewish historian has said, and shall intersperse it with notes, to shew the truth of what I have been ad- ^ Aiitiq. XV, 11. *■' TouTO (Ts riv TO TTaiv mfi0oh.os, TiTctpm rrnifiwii tsv kvkMv (X'"^' 'mis-T^c ymtn; aToSia ujittoc A7roKu/ui/2ctvoua->!;, "^ War, V, 5. ^ Printed in 1806. 198 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. vancing. " When you go through these first cloisters/^ says he, which surrounded the Court of the Gentiles, " unto the second Court of the Temple, there was a partition made of stone all round, whose height was three cuhits, and its construction was very elegant. Upon it stood pillars at equal distances from one another, de- claring the law of purity ; some in Greek, and some in Roman letters, that no foreigner sliould go within that sanctuary. For that second Court of the Temple was called the Sanctuary ; and was ascended to by fourteen steps from the first Court. This Court was four square, and had a wall about it peculiar to itself. The height of its buildings, although it were on the outside forty cubits, w^as hidden by steps, and on the inside, that height was but twenty-fiv,e cubits. For, it being built over against a higher part of the hill with steps, it was no farther to be entirely discerned within, being covered by the hill itself. Beyond these fourteen steps there was the distance of ten cubits ; this was all plain. Whence there were other steps that led to the gates, which gates, on the north and south sides, were eight ; on each of these sides four, and of necessity, two on the east.'' Now, on this extract, I remark, that we have, 1st. A distinct account of the partition between the Court of the Gentiles, and the Hil, or Sacred Fence. It is stated to have been three cubits high, with inscriptions to warn all who were not Jews, or proselytes of righteousness, of their danger in entering it. 2dly. Those who made the plans alluded to, have applied to the Sacred Fence, as to a separate Court, the next words of Josephus, and have said, that it was four square, and was ascended from the Court of the Gentiles by fourteen steps ; but this I consider a mistake. For the words refer more naturally to the Court of the Women than to the Sa- BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 199 cred Fence, since he mentions a wall of forly cubits higli on the outside, and twenty-five cubits within, which we have seen to be the case in the Court of the Women. 3dly. The level ground of ten cubits, which Josephus speaks of, is really the Hil, or Sacred Fence; for such is its width, as stated by the Talmud, which the wall of three cubits divided from the Court of the Gentiles, and the high wall of forty cubits without, and twenty-five cubits within, separated from the Court of the Women. There is, indeed, a difference of two steps between Jo- sephus and the Talmud, ia the ascent from the Court of the Gentiles to the Sacred Fence ; but that is trifling : and with regard to " the steps of five cubits each,'^ which Josephus mentions, as ascended by those who went up to the gates, I am inclined to reduce them to the five steps which are mentioned by the ether Jewish writers, since steps of five cubits each, or of nine feet high, are evidently a mistake. Lastly, With respect to the gates which Josephus mentions, and which are ap- plied to the Hil, or sacred Fence, by the authoi's of the plans alluded to, as if it were a separate large Court 5 they are evidently the gates which we have seen to exist in the Courts of the Women and of Israel ; passing, indeed, through the Hil, into the Court of the Gentiles, but not peculiar to it. The four gates on the north being the gate of Burning, the gate of the Women, and the gate of Song, in the Court of Israel, and the north gate of the Court of the Women. The four gates on the south being the gates of Kindling, of Firstlings, and the Wa- ter Gate, in the Court of Israel, and the south gate in the Court of the Women. While the two east gates, of which Josephus speaks, were the gate Nicanor, at the east end of the Court of Israel, and the gate Beautiful, at the east end of the Court of the Women : both of which were east from the Temple. 200 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. After the mention of these Courts, Josephus proceeds to say: — "For, since there was a partition (or court) built for the women on that side, as the proper place where they were to worship, there was a necessity for a second gate for them (meaning Nicanor.) This gate (Nicanor) was cut out of its wall, over against the first gate (on the east, called Beautiful.) There was also on the other sides (of this Court of the Women) one south- ern, and one northern gate ; through which was a pas- sage (from the Court of the Gentiles and Sacred Fence) into the Court of the Women. For as to the other gates (viz. in the Court of Israel,) the women were not allow- ed to pass through them (unless when they had a sacri- fice to offer.) Nor, when they went through their own gate (Beautiful) could they go beyond their own wall (which divided their Court from that of Israel). This place," says Josephus (meaning the Court of the Wo- men,) " was allotted to the women of our own country, and of other countries, provided they were of the same nation (or religion,) and that equally.'' The paren- theses in the above extract, will serve as a commentary to shew the coincidence between Josephus and the Tal- mud. He concludes his account of the relative situation of the Courts, by remarking, that " the western part of this Court (evidently meaning the Court of Israel) had no gate at all; but the wall was built entire on that side. But then the cloisters which were betwixt the gates, extended from the wall inward, before the cham- bers. For they were supported by very fine and large pillars. These cloisters were single, and, excepting their magnitude, were no way inferior to those of the lower Court." Here he is evidently speaking of the Court of Israel, which had no gate on the west. Its pillars also, and its cloisters, were exactly as Josephus here describes. BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 201 Such then is the account which he gives of the seve- I'aJ Courts : and I repeat the observation, that we not only hear nothing of four Courts of a furlong square each, as the common plans, said to be constructed from Josephus, would imply ; but I observe a great similarity in the above account to the plan and description which is given in the Talmud, and described at large in the foregoing sections. Our labour, tKen, has not been lost. We have not been deceived by a scheme which existed only in the imagination of these too frequently despised writers ; but have been considering that which their pa- tient industry had rescued from oblivion, and their de- sire for arrangement hath placed in its most natural form. I am ready to own, that a degree of obscurity hangs over Josephus, from his not sufficiently discrimi- nating what was peculiar to the different Courts, and proceeding regularly from one subject to another ; but so far as I can see, there is not that difference of opinion between him and the Talmud which some have ima- gined ; nor that reason for despising the Talmud in its description of the Temple, which many have done. Let us next attend to the sanctity of the Temple. Jewish authors speak much of the sanctity of the Temple, and their circuitous account of it is as follows : — 1. The land of Israel was more holy than other lands, for it was the land of revelation, and from its produce alone the first fruits and loaves for the shew bread could be taken. 2. Walled cities were more holy than the rest of Israel, for lepers were not suffered to reside in them;^ a dead body, when once carried without the walls, could not be brought in again ; and no dead body could be buried within the walls,^ which was certainly an excellent mean to prevent infection. The only ex- "■ 1 Kings vu. 12. t Luke vii. 12. Vol. I. C c 302 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ception to this rule were the kings of the house of Da- vid, Jehoiada, the high priest/ and the grave of Huldah, the prophetess. These were honoured with burial with- in Jerusalem. 3. The space within Jerusalem was more holy than that within any other walled city, for they might eat the peace-offerings, first-fruits, and second tithes ; and there alone (while Jerusalem was theirs) did they eat the passover. 4. The Mountain of the Lord's House, or the five hundred cubits square on the top of Moriah, which we have been considering, was more holy than Jerusalem, as being nearer the Temple, which was devoted to God. 5. The Sacred Fence was more holy than the Court of the Gentiles, because, al- though proselytes of the gate, Jews defiled by a dead body, and even idolatrous Gentiles, might come into the one, and but Jews, and proselytes of righteousness, clean from a dead body, durst enter the other. 6. The Court of the Women was more holy than the Saci'ied Fence, for the defilement of a day, or those whose uncleanness required that they should wash their clothes in water and be unclean until the even, could enter the latter, but not the former. 7. The Court of Israel was more holy than the Court of the Women, because the leper, the man also who had an issue, the Woman that had Leen in her separation, and she who had borne a child, might go into the Court of the Women when acquitted of their uncleanness, but they durst not enter the Court of Israel till they had made their atonement. Indeed, women at no time might enter this latter Court unless with a sacrifice. 8. The Court of the Priests was more holy than the Court of Israel, for no Israelite might enter it but on three occasions ; namely, either to lay his hands on the head of the sacrifice that was to be » 2 Chron. xxiv. 16, BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 203 slain, or to kill it, or to wave some part of it when killed. 9. Between the porch and the altar was more holy than that which was farther removed ; for none of the priests that had a blemish, or was bare-headed, durst enter it. 10. The Porch and Holy Place were more holy than that, because none might enter them with un- washen hands and feet ; a circumstance that might be omitted when going up and down the Court of the Priests without officiating, but if they officiated they must wash. 11. Lastly, The Most Holy Place was the holiest of all, for there the Three in One God peculiarly resided ; none might enter it but the high priest, and even the high priest could enter it only one day in the year. I might add, that the Temple and its precincts was a sanctuary for debtors and other criminals, and as such it was guaranteed by Demetrius." Such was the relative sanctity of the sacred edifice, and, on account of it, persons lying under uncleanness were forbidden to enter. But it is easy to see, that, in a number of cases mentioned in the law, the matter was left between God and themselves : since, in some, the inquiry would have been highly indelicate, and in others, entirely impossible. Accordingly, the punishment of such offences was left partly to the interference of God, and partly to the interference of men. Death, by the hand of Heaven, and cutting off, were of the former kind, and whipping and rebels' beating were of the latter. Death by the hand of Heaven appears to have beeti such a visible interposition of God in the way of punish- ment,'' as happened to Nadab and Abihu, in the Old Testament;" and Ananias and Sapphira in the New :* » 1 Maccab. x. 43. ^ Ezek. xiv. 7, 8. ■^ Levit. X. 12- ^ Acts v, 1. 204 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Maimonides reckons eighteen offences that are liable to this punishment." Cutting off would appear to refer rather to the soul than to the body : to the being left in this life in a state of judicial blindness and hardness of heart: and to the being cut off in the next from the gracious presence and favour of God. The Talmud reckons up thirty-six of- fences that are liable to this.** These were the punishments left to be inflicted by the hand of God, but as many a wretch might contemn them, because sentence against an evil work was not speedily executed," therefore were punishments inflicted also by the hand of man, to operate both on their sense of pain, and sense of character. The manner of whipping, as a religious punishment, is thus described in the Jewish treatise entitled Maccoth: — The culprit's hands being tied fast to a pillar, or post, a cubit and a-half high, named l^'O)^, so that his body bowed upon it,** the officer of justice laid hold of his gar- ment and tore it asunder till his breast and back were exposed.* Then, standing on a stone, which was behind the criminal, he took a whip of about a yard long, com- posed of three cords, each cord plaited with four leathern thongs, and administered it sharply to his breast and back : a third part of the stripes being applied to the breast, and two thirds to the back ; or, more commonly, the whole to the back. As the law forbade more than forty*" for^ the same offence, this invention of the three cords was adopted to keep within that number, for thir- teen times three make forty, save one, as the apostle Paul observes, in 2 Cor. xi. 24. We may farther remark^ ^San.per. iii. ^ gee Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 900. 'Eccles.viii.il. d Deut. XXV. 2. = Acts xvi. 22. ^ Deut.xxv. 2, 3- BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE TEMPLE. 205 that as this offence was against religion, so it was always administered with religious solemnity? in the presence of three judges ; and, during the punishment, the chief judge of the three read from the Scriptures the following words '^ — " If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou may est fear this glorious and fearful name the Lord thy God, then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long con- tinuance, and sore sickness, and of long continuance." The second judge numbered the stripes. The third bade the officer smite. And the chief judge concluded the whole by reading Ps. Ixxviii. 38. " But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not ; yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath." Sometimes, in notorious offences, they tied sharp bones, pieces of lead, or thorns to the ends of the thongs, called by the Greeks aat^ofyaTjiAag (matiyag, flagra taxillata ; but in the Scriptures they are termed scor- pions : and it is to them that Rehoboam alludes when he told the Israelites, that his government would be more strict than his father's :^ " My father chastised you with rods, but I will correct you with scorpions." "^ The last punishment inflicted on those who violated the sanctity of the Temple was called rebels^ beating, or the punishment of the mob, who became themselves b^oth the judges and the executioners. Upon whomso- ever, therefore, they saw to be visibly transgressing, they fell in a moment, with all their fury, snatched the first weapons that nature or chance threw in their way, Deut. xxvlii. 58, 59. '' 1 Kings xii. 12. See the punishment of forty stripes save one mentioned by Park, in Tus Travels in Africa, as inflicted on a Bushreenj oh. vi. 206 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and often ceased not from punishing till they deprived him of life. It is probably to this that we should ascribe the eagerness of the people to stone our Saviour in John viii. 59; x. 31. And the apostle Paul in Acts xxi. 31.=' » For the other kinds of punishment in use among the Jews, or noticed in Scripture, see part ix. sect, iv. PART III. THE MINISTERS OF THE TEMPLE. SECT. I. The High Priest. The manner of installation under the tabernacle and first Temple. The gar- ments of office particularly described. The urim and thummim, and beth-kel. His dress on the day of atonement. Garments under the second Temple- The phylacteries and anointing oil. How installed under the second Tern- pie. His several duties ; duration in office ; and certain things of a civil na- ture, in which he differed from other Israelites. The succession of high priests from their first appointment till the building of the Temple ; from thence till the carrying away to Babylon ; no account of them during the Captivity ; the account continued, from their return till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Average lives of the high priests during each of these periods. The ministers of the Temple naturally divide them- selves into the four following classes, viz. — the priests, the Levites, the stationary men, and the Nethinims. Let us, therefore, attend to each of them in their order, beginning with the priests, among whom were the eight following gradations of rank : viz. — the High Priest, the Sagen, the Kethiilikin, the Amercelin, the Gezbe- rin, the chief priest of every course, the chief of the family that served in that course, and the ordinary priests. But as the High Priest naturally held the highest rank, it is proper to begin with his character and office. This distinguished privilege was confined to the family of Aaron, and to the first born originally of tliat family. For as the elder sons of families, before the giving of the law; were the priests of these families after the death 208 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of their parents, or natural heads, so God wished that the same regard for primogeniture should be preserved among the Israelites, to prevent disputes, and to make them respect their natural heads or representatives. Hence, when Nadab and Abihu died without children,** the office descended to Eleazar and Ithamar. This regard, however, for primogeniture, was at- tended with some inconveniences : for neither grace nor natural abilities always descend to the eldest by birth. Accordingly, the high priest had always an assistant ; and, on the day of expiation particularly, some elders were appointed to remind him of the duties attached to his station, lest age or ignorance might occasion mistakes. His installation to that high office, in later times, was the duty of the Sanhedrin ; but as the manner of per- forming it was different in different times, it will be ne- cessary to speak of them separately. When the tabernacle was erected, the consecration of Aaron and his sons was performed in the following man- ner : — First, They were publicly washed in water^ at the laver, in order to teach them the necessity of rege- neration, and that those should be holy who bear the vessels, and preside in the duties of the sanctuary. Se- condly, The eight garments of the priesthood were put upon him ; namely, the coat, the linen breeches, the girdle, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, the breast- plate of judgment, the mitre, and the golden plate, on which was written " Holiness to the Lord :" while the ordinary garments of the ordinary priests were put upon his sons.' These were probably intended, not only to create for them a greater degree of dignity and re- spect, but also to teach them the necessity of being " 1 Cliron. xxiv. 2. *• Exod. xxix. 4; Levit. viii. 6. " See Exod. sxviii. throughout ; sxix. 5—9 ; Levit. viii. 7—9. 13. THE HIGH PRIE3T. 209 clothed with the perfect righteousness of the Messiah, and of adorning the doctrine of their Lord and Saviour by a suitable life and conversation. In the third place, they wei'e anointed with the anointing oil,'' in order to teach them, that persons conducting the public service of the sanctuary should have much of the unction of the Holy One in all his gifts, and in all his graces. Fourthly, A bullock was ordered to the door of the tabernacle,'* where Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon its head, as a solemn confession of thedr sins ; a transference of guilt from them to the intended victim, as a type of Christ ; and a sense of their unworthiness to undertake the office to which they were appointed. After which it was killed by Moses, the prophet of God ; part of its blood was sprinkled on the horns, and the rest poured out at the foot of the altar, while the carcass was con- sumed as a burnt- offering. Fifthly, Two rams were next taken ;" Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon their heads, and they were both killed by Moses j the blood of the one was partly sprinkled upon the horns, and partly poured out at the foot of the altar, and its carcass consumed as a b\frnt- offering ; while, with the blood of the other, emphatically called the ram of conseci^atioiiy Moses anointed the tip of their right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of their right feet, to shew them their entire devotedness to God, and gave them the carcass, with its proper accompaniments,* to wave before the Lord, as a wave-offering, befoije it was consumed. Lastly, They remained in the Court of the tabernacle for seven days, on each of which they offered a bullock for a sin-offering.*^ » Exod. xxix. 7; Levlt. vlil. 12. 30. ^ Esod. xxix. 10; Levlt. viii. 14— ir, <= Exod, xxix. 15. 19, &.C. Levlt. viii. 18—29. ^ ib. xxix. 23, 24. Eevit. vi. 20—22. ^ Levit.viii. 32, 33. Exod. xxix. 36. Vol. L D d 210 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. In this solemn and public manner was the priesthood established under the law ; but we do not find the whole of these solemnities observed afterwards. Indeed, it would ^eem, that the being without blemish, and of the family of Aaron, was all that was requisite, after five years' previous study, for ordinary priests :* while the instalment to the office of high priest appears to have consisted in the four following things : — 1. The putting on the garments of the high priest for seven days suc- cessively, when he went to minister in the Holy Place.'* 2. A bullock for a sin-offering was offered by him on each of these days.*" 3. His being anointed, while in the robes of office, by some authorized person, as a prophet, or some one of the Sanhedrin.^ And, 4. A ram of con? secration being killed for him, as it was formerly killed for Aaron and his sons.® We know that Jonathan, the Asmonsean, contented himself with putting on the high priest's habit at the feast of tabernacles, in order to take possession of this dignity.*^ And Agrippa, king of the Jews, having offered the high priesthood to Jonathan, the son of Ananus, a second time, he declined, saying, it was enough for him to have once received the ornaments of this exalted of- fice, which he would willingly resign to another more worthy of it.^ A difficulty has been started as to the age when it was lawful for the high priest to officiate ; and the Talmudists have fixed it at twenty ; but this was not always the case, for we have the authority of Josephus, that Aristobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, and brother of Mariamne, offi- ciated at the feast of tabernacles when only seventeen years old.'' But this was not in the pure age of the priest • Numb. viii. 24; iv. 3. ^ Exod. xxix. 30. 35. " lb. xxix. 36. <* lb. xxix. 29. ' lb. xxix. 31. *" 1 Mace. x. 2 1 . Josejph. Antiq. xiii. 2 8 Antiq. xix. 6. fc Antiq. xv. 3. THE HIGH PRIEST. 2tl hood ; when it was probably at twenty-five and thirty, like the other priests. We shall npw inquire into the nature of the garments which the high priest wore, and also of the oil with which he was anointed. The gat^ments were the following. j2 coat of fine white linen embroidered^^ or, as the original word H^iriD? signifies " a straight inner gar- ment, or tunic," ^trcjr, vnoSirti^g, which sat close to the body, and next to the skin, thereby supplying the place of a shirt. Josephus^ describes it to be "a tunic circum- scribing, or closely encompassing the body, with tight sleeves for the arms, and reaching down to the heels.''' It was not peculiar to the high priest, for all the other priests had one similar to it while officiating. '^ It is not known what became of that which belonged to the high priest when it was old ; but the coats of the ordinary priests were all unravelled and made into wicks for the golden candlestick in the Holy Place. The second part of the high priest's dress was the breeches, or trowsers, made of white fine twined linen, like those at present used in the east (n^ *DJDO 0 but Parkhurst, in his Hebrew Lexicon, thinks that both the meaning of the root, and the description in Exod, xxviii. 42 ; xxxix. 28 — should lead us to look upon them rather as a piece of linen wrapped close round the middle, and hanging down so as to cover the thighs, something in the form of the Roman /emm«/m. The first, however, ap- pears the most natural ; for the evident intention of them was to preserve decency in the public service. These, likewise, were not peculiar to the high priest, but made part of the ordinary dress of the common priests while on duty.*^ We do not hear what became of this part of Exod. xxviii. 4. 39 ; xxxix. 27. '' Antiq. iii, 7. Exod. xxviii. 40. ^ lb, xxviii, 42. 213 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the high priest's dress when old ; but those belonging to the ordinary priests were carefully unravelled and made into wicks, to serve as lights at the nightly rejoicings during the feast of tabernacles, which we shall afterwards have occasion to speak of more fully. The third part of the high priest's dress was the gir- dle, (DJDJ<) or a long piece of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, of needlework,'* which went round the body from the breast to the loins, partly to keep them warm, and partly to strengthen them for their hard service. Josephus^ says, that it was four fingers broad, and so artificially set with needlework of divers colours, that it had some resemblance to the skin of a snake. There were wrought in it, he adds, several flowers and figures in blue and purple and scarlet : and it went twice round the body, with ends that hung down to the feet ; except when the high priest was officiating ; at which time he threw them over his left shoulder. This likewise was not peculiar to the high priest, but constituted a part of the officiating dress of the ordinary priests." And, when those of the ordinary priests became old, they were used as wicks for the lights during the feast of tabernacles. The fourth part of the high priest's dress was, the rohe of the ephod, (T^^D) oi" the garment that was over and above the white linen coat, formerly mentioned, but be- low the ephod, and fastened to his body by means of the ephod. In Exod. xxviii. 31 — 33, and xxxix. 22 — 26, its materials were ordered to be of linen, of a sky-blue co- lour, extending from the neck to the feet, all of a-piece ;** like our Saviour's coat*" at the top, for the head to pass ' Exod. xxxix. 29. ^ Antiq. iii. 7. ' Eiod. xxviii. 4. 40. ^ Joseph. Antiq. iii. 7. ' Jotn xix. 23. THE HIGJI PRIEST. 213 through, strongly hemmed round to prevent it from rending, and with openings at the sides in place of sleeves ; while, round the foot, there were tassels made of blue, purple, and scarlet, in the form of pomegra- nates, interspersed with small gold bells, in order to make a noise when he went into, or eame out from, the Holy Place. The Scriptures do not mention the exact number of bells and pomegranates ; but Maimonides tells us, that they were thirty-six of each kind ; and, consequently, seventy- two in all; intended, it would seem, for a double purpose ; to warn the people of his approach, and to re- quest permissipn, as it were, to enter the Divine pre- sence. Accordingly, Moses tells us, that ^^ they were to be upon Aaron, when he went to minister, that his sound might be heard, when he went in unto the Holy Place, before the Lord, and when he came out, that he died not."* This part of dress was peculiar to the high priest, and made no part of the dress of the ordinary priests. The fifth part of the high priest's dress was the ephod, (TidJi) which was also peculiar to him. It consisted of a beautiful rich cloth, composed of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined white linen, interwoven with threads of solid goldj^ intended for the back (as the breast-plate was for the breast;) reaching from shoulder to shoulder; and extending, as Lightfoot, after Jarchi and Mai- monides, says, from between the shoulders to the feet, thereby forming a loose upper garment ; or only to the loins, according to Josephus,'' but fastened to the body with bindings above the shoulders, and around the mid- dle. The bindings above the shoulders had the name of shoulder-pieces.'' They appear to have been formed of « Exod. xxviii. 35. ^ Jb. xxviii. 6 ; xxxix. 2, 3. ' Antiq. iii, 7. <^ Exod. xxviii. 7; xxxix. *. 214 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the same kind of cloth as the ephod ; and they had au ouch, or socket, of gold on the top of each shoulder/ in which, as in a seal, were set two onyx stones, with the names of the children of Israel engraven on them.^ Should it be said that an onyx stone could not contain the names of six of the tribes, I would observe, that the ancients had the custom of contracting letters, in an arti- ficial way, by monograms, or figures, in which might be found a number of letters in a small space : one of which may be seen in Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iii. part ii. chap. 10. From these ouches, or sockets, wreathed chains of gold proceeded forwards to the breast-plate, to join that and the ephod together. And the letters of the names were so divided, as to make exactly twenty- five on each shoulder, for vyhich purpose Joseph's name was extended to Jehoseph. Such were the shoulder-pieces which fastened the ephod to the breast- pi ate above. Let us next attend to the curious girdle of the ephod, which, passing under- neath the arms, fastened the ephod to the breast-plate below. This was of the same materials a§ the ephod ; namely, purple, scarlet, and fine twined white linen, interwoven with threads of gold.*" In this manner was the ephod, or upper garment, fastened to the body of the high priest. When we said above, that the ephod was peculiar to him, our meaning was, that none wore an ephod richly embroidered like his — indeed, that none of the common priests wore them at the beginning; but that afterwards, plain ephods of linen were worn by the rest of the priesthood.'' Nay, even David himself, when he brought up the ark from the house of Obed- cdom, is said to have been girded with a linen ephod. ^ ' Exod. xxviii. 11. 13. -'' lb. xxviii, 11 ; xxxix, 6, 7. ' Exod. xxviii. 8; xxxix. 5. "^ 1 Sam. ii. 18. ' 2 Sam. vi. 14. THE HIGH PRIEST. 215 The sixth part of the high-priest'S dress was, the hreast-plate (ttJ^in)'* This is described to have been a piece of embroidered cloth of gold, purple, scarlet, and fine white twined linen, the same as the ephod. It was a span square, when doubled, and made thus strong, that it might the better hold the precious stones that were set in it. It had a gold ring at each corner, from the two uppermost of which went two golden chains of wreathed work, to meet the chains that came from the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, and fastened the one to the other ; while, from the two undermost rings of the breast-plate, went two laces of blue, to fasten it to two rings in the curious girdle of the ephod. "^ Thus were the ephod and breast-plate joined together, and forbid- den to be separated." Dr. Lightfoot says, that whosoever parted them willingly was whipped. But let us notice particularly the precious stones that are said to have been set in it; and to have had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraven on them. They were twelve in number, arranged in four rows, of three in each row, in the following manner :• — T\it first row had a sardius, (Ol}«{) or ruby, Whicli is a beautiful gem, of a red colour, with an admixture of purple : on this was engraved the tribe of Reuben. 2. A topaz, (n"lD5) or the chrysolite of the moderns^ It is of various sizes ajid figures : its colour is a pale green, with an admixture of yellow ; but the most usual tinge is that of an unripe olive, with somewhat of a brassy yellow. On this was engraved the tribe of Si- meon. 3. A carbuncle {r\T>'^'^) whose colour shines like lightning, or a coal of fire.** On this was engraved the tribe of Levi. These stones composed the first row. » Exod. xxviii. 15—29; xxxix. 8—21. ^ lb. xxxix. 20, 21. " lb. xxvili.28. 'I Carbunculi a similitudiue Ignium appellati.— Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. xxxviij^^ cap. 7. 216 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. The second row had, 1. *dn emerald, (*1fii) or the an- cient smaragdus. It is of a pure and beautiful green, without the mixture of any other colour; and the oriental emeralds are equal to the sapphire and ruby for hard- ness, whilst in lustre they are only excelled by the dia- ftiond. On this was engraved the tribe of Judah. 2. A sapphire (l^fiD-) The sapphire of the ancients was a semi-opaque stone, of a deep blue, veined with white, and spotted with small gold-coloured spangles, in the form of stars, Pliny says, that they glittered with golden spots, and were of an azure, or sky-blue, colour ; but rarely intermixed with purple.* They are now ascer- tained to be the same as our lapis-lazuli, or the lazolite of the modern chemists. On this was engraved the tribe of Issachar. 3. Jl diamond, (O/H*) which is by far the most valuable of all other jewels. It is perfectly white, and beautifully sparkling. On it Was engraved the tribe of Zebulun. These composed the second row. The third row in the breast-plate had, 1. A ligure, (DC^S) which is said to have been spotted like an ounce, and is supposed to have been the same as the jacinth, or hyacinth, which is of a dull red, considerably mixed with yellow. On it was engraved the tribe of Dan. 2. Jin agate, which is a precious stone of the lowest class, but often clouded in a beautiful manner. It is described as varying much in its appearance ; whence, perhaps, it may have acquired its name ; for the original word, *ID^? literally signifies " the varier." Dr. Woodward describes it as having a grey horny ground, and clouded^ lineated, or spotted with different colours, chiefly dusky, black, brown, or red, and sometimes blue. But natural- ists have discovered them with other grounds besides grey. On this was engraved the tribe of Naphthali. " Nat. Hist. lib. ssxvii. cap. 8. THE HIGH PRIEST. 217 3. ^n amethyst (nDSnj<.) This is a transparent gem, of a purple colour, composed of a strong blue and deep red, resembling the breast of a dove. But it is some- times found colourless, and may at any time be made so by exposure to heat ; when it might pass for a diamond, were it equally hard. On it was engraved the tribe of Gad. These composed the third row. The fourth and last row in the high priest's breast- plate had, 1. e^ beryl, (^^^^^^n?) or the aqua marina of naturalists. It is a pellucid gem of a bluish green : but Parkhurst^ thinks, that as the topaz of the ancients is the chrysolite of the moderns, so this is the ancient chrysolite, and corresponds with the modern topaz : the ancients and moderns in this case having changed names. His description of the beryl, or rather of the ancient chrysolite and modern topaz, is that it is of a fine yel- low colour ; that the finest are of a perfect gold colour, but that there are some deeper, and others extremely pale, so as to appear scarcely tinged. On this was en- graved the tribe of Asher. 2. ^7i onyx, (DrTt2^,) so called from its resembling the colour of the human nail. It is a semi-pellucid gem, of which there are several varieties ; but the bluish white kind, with brown and white zones, is the true onyx of the ancients. "^ On this was engraved the tribe of Joseph. 3. Jl jasper, (HtJi^*-) This is of a bright beautiful green colour, sometimes clouded with white, red, or yellow. On this was en- graved the tribe of Benjamin. Such were the names and colours of the precious stones on the breast- plate of the high-priest; and on which the names of the twelve tribes were written. They served not only for beauty, but perpetually to remind him of the lively interest that the ministers of « In his Heb. Lexicon on the word. ^ Hill's Materia Medica. Vol. I. E e 218 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. religion ought ever to take in the temporal and spiritual interests of their people. But there is a circumstance connected with the breast- plate, which ought not to be overlooked; namely, the iirim and thiimmim, by which the high priest ob- tained responses, and on which account the breast-plate itself was called the breast-plate of judgment. Let us then inquire, in the first place, what these urim and thummim were ; and, secondly, how responses were ob- tained by means of them. With regard to the particular nature of the urim and thummim, they must either have been the precious stones that were set in the breast-plate, or something distinct from them. Those who adopt the latter opinion, ground it chiefly on Exod.xxviii. 30, and Levit. viii. 8^ where it is said that he (Moses) put the urim and thum- mim in the breast-plate ; that is, as they think, between the two folds of the breast-plate, as into a purse, or pocket, but they can give no farther account of them. Now it appears singular, that, while Moses describes minutely every other part of the high priest's dress, he does not condescend to describe these. Surely, had they been something distinct from the other things mentioned about the breast-plate, he would have told us what they were : especially as they were known to be of such im- portance to the tribes of Israel. His silence, therefore, may make us doubt, whether they were any thing dis- tinct from the precious stones on which were engraved the names of the tribes. Indeed, the two following rea- sons, assigned by Parkhurst, on the word, and by other commentators, serve to prove that they were one and the same. For, 1. In the description of the breast-plate given in Exod. xxxix. 8 — 21, the urim and thummim are not mentioned, but the rows of stones are ; while, in the description in Levit viii. 8, the urim and thummim THE HIGH PRIEST. 219 are mentioned by name, but the precious stones are not. Does not this shewj that they were both considered as the same thing? 2. It is written in Exod. xxviii. 29, that " Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel (namely, those engraven on the stones,) in the breast- plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth into the holy place for a memorial before the Lord con- tinually." And yet these stones are considered as syno- nimous with the urim and thummim in the following, or thirtieth verse of the same chapter : " And thou shalt put in the breast- plate of judgment the urim and thum- mim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth before the Lord, and (or, so) Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. '^ Whoever compares these two verses attentively, must perceive, that the urim and thummim are the substance, or matter, upon which the names of the tribes were engraven. Having thus seen what the urim and thummim were, let us now inquire, in the second place, in what manner responses were obtained by means of them. It appears ridiculous to suppose, as some have done, that these were obtained by a certain dimness or lustre, depression or elevation of the several letters in the names, which composed the answer: for this in most cases would have been impossible, since it seldom would happen that the answer could be found in the regular order of the letters. Nor does it appear, as others have thought, that the urim and thummim was an inexplicable something, which Moses was directed to put in the breast- plate of Aaron, and which immediately commu- nicated with his mind; perhaps, like the addition of another sense. The most probable explication is, that the responses were given in an audible voice, like that heard by Moses in Num. vii. 89 j and came from Jeho- 220 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. vah from between the cherubim that stood above the mercy-seat : whence it was frequently called the oracle. And, when the Israelites made peace with the GibeoniteS;, they were blamed^ for not having inquired at the mouth of the Lord ; which insinuates, that he was wont to make his voice heard when he was consulted. After all, however, we have nothing certain on the subject in Scripture, and therefore should speak with becoming diffidence. The manner of obtaining the response was as follows : — ^When any affair of national concern was not particu- larly provided for by the law, it was the privilege of the Israelites, that they had an omniscient Being to consult. The high priest was informed of the emergency : he ar- rayed himself in the ephod and breast- plate as their re- presentative ; went into the Holy Place ; stood close be- fore the veil, which separated it from the Most Holy, (but did not open it, for this he might do only one day in the year, in his sacerdotal character ;) and there pro- posed the matter of difficulty to the great and sovereign Ruler of Israel, who, acting as king and the fountain of law, gave his answer from the throne of this glory. Thus, when Joshua died, and the tribes were uncertain how to act, they consulted Jehovah, who should go up first against the Canaanites, and received for answer, that Judah should go up.^ When the Benjamites, instead of being humbled, defended their wicked conduct in the case of tKe Levite's concubine, aiul the tribes asked whether they should go up against them, the Lord in- formed them that they should go.'' And when David, the anointed, although not then the acting king, fled from the fury of Saul, and asked counsel of the Lord con- » Josh. ix. 14. *• Judges i. 1, 2. ' lb. xx. 18— 2S. THE HIGH PRIEST. 221 cerning his journey, Abimelechj the high priest, gave him encouragement." Thus do we see, that affairs of public concern were those only for which the high priest inquired : and that the ordinary way of inquiring was, by standing before the curtain in the tabernacle that separated between the Holy and Most Holy Place, if the ark were there ; but if the ark were in another place, he then stood before the curtains, with which it was constantly covered. We may however remark, that although this was the ordinary way, it was not the only one ; for in 1 Sam. xxiii. 2. 10, we find Abiathar twice consulting by the ephod and breast-plate only, without the ark or the tabernacle, when he fled from Nob at the massacre of the priests.'' The preceding account of the nature and uses of the urim and thummim will lead us to see the propriety of the names given them. For urim and thummim, (tD^DH OmX?) literally signify "lights and perfections;" as, indeed, they are explained in Eccles. xlv. 8. 10; 1. 11 ; and evidently allude to the perfect light which the peo- ple received from the great Fountain of light and perfec- tion in any case of public difficulty. It will also shew, that the long-boasted heathen oracles probably arose from this source : where, seeing the true worshippers obtain their answers from the God of truth, they thought of imitating them in their heathen temples. We shall only remark, farther, that audible responses from Jehovah, if this was really the way of obtaining them, were solely confined to the times of the first tem- ple. For, that which the Rabbins mention under the name of Bath-kol, or Beth-kel (SpTI^,) the daughter of a voice (as meaning that it came, in the time of the second temple, to supply the place of the urim and 1 Sam. xxii. 10. ^ See Prideaux, A.A.C. 534. 222 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. thummim, and which is described by them as consisting in strange and extraordinary voices, on extraordinary occasions, somewhat resembling that of God to young Samuel.) is entirely a fiction of their own, and one of those means which they were assiduous to invent, in or- der to create a higher reverence for their traditions. Indeed, the generality of their traditions and customs, as Calmet on the word well remarks, are founded on this Bath-kol; for they pretend that God revealed them to their elders, not by prophets, but by secret inspiration, or by tradition. There was another kind of Bath-kol, however, of a less extraordinary nature ; which, as Prideaux* tells us, was a fantastical way of divination, in- vented by the Jews, like the Sortes Homericae, or Vir- giliange among the heathens. For, as with them, the words first found in the writings of these poets were the oracle whereby they prognosticated the future events, of which they wished to be informed ; so, with the Jews, when they appealed to the Bath-kol, the next words which they heard from any one's mouth, were taken as the desired oracle. We have been thus long on this sixth part of the high priest's dress, on account of its importance ; and shall now proceed to the seventh, which was the fnitre (n3iS*D-) Josephus; in his Antiq. iii. 7, describes it thus : first giving us the shape of the common priest's mitre, and then adding what was peculiar to the high priest's ; ^^ Upon his head he (viz. the common priest) wears a cap, not brought to a "conic form, nor including the entire head ; but still including more than the half of it. It is named a mitre, but its make is such, that it re- sembles a crown. It is made of tltick swathes, but the contexture is of linen, and it is folded round many times, * Connect, part ii. book v. THE HIGH PRIEST. 223 and sewed together: besides which, a piece of fine linen covers the whole cap from the upper part, and reaches down to the forehead, and hides the seams of the swathes, which would otherwise appear unseemly. This adheres closely to the head, that it may not fall off during the sacred service. Such," he adds, " was the habit of the common priests." And about a page after- wards he says, that " The high priest's tiara, or mitre, was like that of the other priests, only that it had ano- ther of purple, or violet colour, above ; and a crown of gold, of three rows, about that, finishing at top with a small golden cup, above the size of the joint of the little finger." Thus it was somewhat of the form of a diadem : and as Job is supposed to have lived before the days of Moses, and the word that is used for the high priest's mitre is to be found in Job xxix. 14. where it is trans- lated a diadem, so this may have been a token of dis- tinction in those early days. Indeed, the whole descrip- tion gives us the idea of those turbans that form the usual head-dress of the Turks, Persians, Arabs, and other eastern nations at the present day; only far more elegant. The last part of the high priest's dress was the golden plate,'' on which was engraven these remarkable words : ^^ Holiness to the LordP It was fastened to the front of the mitre with a lace of blue ; and the declared intention of it was, that Aaron might bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel should hallow in all their holy gifts, that they might be accepted before the Lord. The above eight articles constituted what was, pro- perly speaking, the ordinary official dress of the high priest: but he had also an extraordinary one for entering * Exod. xxviii. 36, 37, '2iQ, 224 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. into the Holy of Holies on the great day of atonement. This consisted in the four following things : a linen coat, linen breeches, a linen girdle, and a linen mitre. ^ These the Jews called p7 nj!3? his white garments ; and the others they called ^n* Hill? his garments of gold. They were originally laid up in a chamber belonging to the Temple ; but, afterwards, when the Roman power pre- vailed, they were deposited in the tower of Antonia, to be brought forth as occasions required.'' It will be noticed, that in the above description of the dress of the high priest, there are neither shoes nor sandals. The reason of which was, that walking bare- footed was considered as more becoming in a sinful crea- ture, when approaching the presence, and engaged in the service, of a holy God." Such was the official dress of the Jewish high priest, under the tabernacle and first Temple ; but, under the second, it differed in two respects. The first was, that although he had the urira and thummim, or the precious stones in the breast-plate, with the names of the tribes engraven on them, yet he never consulted by them. And the second was, that as the traditions were then come more into repute, so he placed his phy- lacteries between the golden plate and the mitre to give them the greater sanctity. These phylacteries are men- tioned by our Saviour in Matt, xxiii. 5, and consisted of four sections, of the law, written on two parchments, which they wore about them continually ; the one be- tween the eye-brows, and the' other on the left arm, as memoranda of the law, and as evidences of their devo- * Levit. xvi. 4. •> Godwin's Moses and Aaron, lib. i. chap. 5. Owen on the Hebrews, vol. L Exercit. 23. = See an account of the priests and their vestments in Bernsrdus Lamy, Lib. iii. cap. 8, sect. 1 — 6, THE HIGH PRIEST. 225 tion. The portions of the law that were written upon them were as follow -.—First, Exod. xiii. 3—10. Se- condly, Exod. xiii. 11—16. Thirdly, Deut. vi. 4—9. And, Fourthly, Deut. xi. 13—21. The reason assigned for the choice of these passages was, that in each of them there is mention, either of their being frontlets be- tween their eyes, or a memorial between their eyes, or that they should bind them upon their hands. Leo of Modena informs us particularly of these phy- lacteries, in his Ceremonies of the Jews, part i. chap, ii. note 4. Those which were intended for the arm were written on two rolls of parchment, in square letters; two of these portions on each roll, with an ink made on purpose, and with much care. They were rolled up, and inclosed in a sort of case of black leather. Then they were put upon a square piece of the same leather, but somewhat stiifer, from which hung a thong of about a finger's breadth, and a cubit and a-half long. These rolls were placed at the bending of the left arm, and after the thong had made a little knot in the form of the letter /of/, it was wound about the arm in a spiral line, which ended at the top of the middle finger. This was called teffila-shel-id, or the teffila for the hand. Those for the forehead were composed of four pieces of parch- ment, upon each of which was written one of the sen- tences beforementioned. These four pieces were joined together in a square, and they wrote upon them the let- ter schin (t^.) Then they put over them a little square piece of leather, whence proceeded two thongs like the former. This was put on the middle of the forehead, and the thongs going round the head, made a knot be- hind like the letter daleth, and then came round again to the breast. They called this teffila- s he l-rosh, or the teffila for the head. The modern Jews, as Leo informs us, content themselves with putting on these phylac- VoL, L F f 226 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS." teries only at morning prayers. Some of the most devout among them, however, put them on at the time of noon prayers also, but they are under no obligation so to do.* Such were the phylacteries which the high priest and the other scholars of the wise constantly wore, but it is uncertain whether the practice was universal at the time we are now speaking of. One thing, however, is certain, viz. that although they did not all wear phylacteries, they were all bound by their traditions to repeat the phylactery sentences every morning, between the dawn and sunrising, as they found it most convenient ; and every evening, between the time that the priests went in to eat their offerings, and the end of the first watch. Such a repetition was called the keriath-shemon (i^DJi'TlKnp) or the repeating the shemo, because the third of the above sections begins in the Hebrew with that word ; and was always the first repeated, although it neither stood first in their law, nor on their parch- ments : the reason for this preference being, that it con- tained the very foundation of all duties ; namely, '^ love to Jehovah.'^ Having examined the dress of the chief of the priest- hood, we shall next attend to the nature of that oil with which he, his brethren, and all the things about the tabernacle, were anointed. It is mentioned in Exodus XXX. 23, 24, and Levit. viii, 10, 11, 12; and the ingre- dients are as follow : — 500 shekels, or 250 ounces, of pure myrrh. 250 shekels, or 123 ouncesj of sweet cinnamon. 250 shekels, or 125 ounces, of sweet calamus. 500 shekels, or 250 ounces, of Cassia ; and A hin, or 72 egg-shells full, of oil, which, at half a gill to the egg-shell, make 4| English quarts. , * See also Oweu on the Hebrews, vol, i. E.\ercit. 12, THE HIGH PRIEST. 227 Hasselquist is of opinion, that the oil here mentioned means the oil of behen, extracted from the nut of the behen-tree, which grows in Mount Sinai and Upper Egypt. It is without smell, and much used by the inha- bitants of the east, who lay flowei's of jessamine, narcis- sus, &c. in it, and thus make an odoriferous ointment, which those who love perfumes apply to the head, nose, and beard.* The manner of making the anointing oil under the law is thus given by Lightfoot, from Maimonides.^ Every ingredient was bruised apart: the whole was then mixed together ; boiled in clean water till all their substance was obtained in the form of a decoction ; this decoction was carefully strained : the oil was then added, and the operation was finished by the whole being boiled till it came to the consistency required. This was the anointing oil with which Aaron and all the high priests under the tabernacle and first Temple were anointed. It was first poured upon their heads, then between the eyebrows, the person that poured it directing it this way and that, in the form of a cross, till it reached the beard and dropped off from the skirts of the garments." But when kings were anointed, the Jews say, that they were anointed in the form of a crown.*^ Under the second Temple there was no anointing, the Temple itself being consecrated by a visible ap- pearance of the Divine glory,* and all the officers and utensils being looked upon as sanctified by their attend- ance and use. Hence the high priest's instalment under that Temple was by putting on the sacerdotal vestments for seven days successively, after which he is said to be ' Page 257. >> Prospect of the Temple, chap, xxxvii. sect. 6. * Ps, cxxxiii. 2- ■* Prideaux Connect, A. A.C. 534. " 2Chron,Vol3^ 228 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ^^ consecrated by the garments" (CDHJID ilD*l*l)2 0 and, being thus arrayed and anointed, he was prepared for the work of his office, which was three- fold. 1. To offer sacrifices for the people, some of which he performed alone, as on the great day of atonement in the Most Holy Place ; some with the assistance of the priests, as the offering of incense and trimming the lamps at certain times in the Holy Place; and some with the assistance both of the priests and Levites, as all the services of the brazen altar, where the Levites assisted in killing, flaying, and removing the bodies of the beasts that were sacrificed. But the particular sea- sons for these services, diurnal, sabbatical, monthly, and annual, are of too great variety and extent to be dis- cussed in this place. 2. The second part of the high priest's ofiice was his blessing the people ; which was either at stated seasons, according to the form prescribed in Numb. vi. 23 — 27, or occasional, as when Eli blessed Hannah.* 3. And the third part of his office was to judge the people, either in things concerning the house and wor- ship of God,^ or in hard and difficult cases of a civil nature, when he was joined with the civil judge or ru- ler.*" Dr. Owen, in his Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "* makes him also to have been, ex officiOf a member of the Sanhedrin, which he considers counte- nanced by Deut. xvii. 8 — 13, although he owns that this is denied by some of the Jews. He held his high priest's office always for life, until near the end of the Jewish polity, when money and power unfortunately rendered it an object either of emolument or ambition. It is easy to see, that in every » 1 Sam. i. 17. '' Zech. iii. 6, 7. « Deut. xvii. 12. ^ Vol. i. Exercit. 23. THE HIGH PRIEST. 229 period of the Jewish state, policy and piety would both unite in rendering the anointed of the Lord respectable. Accordingly, besides the splendour of his dress, and the dignity of his office, there were certain things of a civil nature in which he differed from other men : it was necessary that he should be free from bodily defect ;* h.e could neither marry a widow, nor a woman who had been divorced, nor a profane woman, but only a virgin;^ he might not rend his clothes for the dead, nor follow the corpse of any relative to the grave j" he might not be veiled if others were, or unveiled if they happened to be so ; and while others sat on the ground he must sit on a seat, &:c. In short, the Jewish policy seems to have been, never to allow this principal functionary to forget that he was the priest of God, and solemnly separated from the rest of men. Yet, high as his character, in a sacred point of view, was, he was not raised above the law ; for there were circumstances which shewed, that, in civil matters, the crown was always superior to the mitre. Thus, he might be a witness in a civil cause, and if necessary, evidence might be given against him ; he might act as a judge occasionally, and, when guilty, could himself be judged. If he so far forgot the sanctity of his character, as to do any thing that required even whipping, he was suspended from his office, punished by the Sanhedrin, and then reinstated. His shoe might be pulled off for not raising seed unto his brother,*^ al- though by the law he was not permitted to marry a widow.^ These, and several other things that could be mentioned, serve to shew, that the sanctity of his cha- racter did not remove him beyond civil control. It was a doctrine contrary to this in the popes of Rome, that » Lev. xxi. 17—21. ^ lb. xxi. 7—15. * lb. x. 6. «• Deut. XXV. 5. « Levit. xxi.- 13, 14. 230 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. created at one time such immense disturbances in the kingdoms of Europe. There is one particular still con- cerning the priesthood, which ought not to be over- looked, and that is, the succession of the high priests, from their first appointment in the wilderness till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, a period which divides itself into three parts, namely, the Tabernacle, the Temple of Solomon, and the Temple after the Cap- tivity. Let us begin with those who held that office during the time of the Tabernacle. They were thirteen, viz. Aaron ;* Eleazar his son ;'' Phinehas, the son of Elea- zar,*" who is tenaciously ♦held by the Jews to be Elias ; Abishua, the son of Phinehas ; Bukki, the son of Abi- shua; Uzzi, the son of Bifkki; Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi; and Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah ;"* after whom, the office of high priest changed for a season, from the line of Eleazar to that of Ithamar ; for Eli, the next high priest, was of the family of Ithamar. This is not mentioned, indeed, in so many words in Scripture ; but Ahimelech is said to be of Ithamar's line," and Ahime- lech is understood to be a descendant of Eli, whose priesthood is mentioned in 1 Sam. i. 9. After Eli, therefore, came Phinehas, his son;^ then Ahitub, the eldest son of Ichabod, and grandson of Phinehas ;^ then Ahiah, or Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub ',^ and, lastly, Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech.' These were the thirteen high priests who are men- tioned as filling the office between its first institution in the wilderness and the building of Solomon's Temple. Yet I doubt, after all, whether there were more than twelve ; for Phinehas appears to have been the chief of » Lev. viii. 7. b Num. XX. 28. «: lb. XXV, 13. d iChroB. vi. 4 — 6. ' lb. xxiv. 3. f 1 Sam. xiv. 3. 8 lb. xiv. 3. t> lb. xiv. 3. xxii. 11. ' lb. xxii. 20. THE HIGH PRIEST. 231 the priests rather than the chief priest himself, since he died before Eli, and it is often asserted by the Jews, that the office of high priest in the first ages of the Jew- ish church, was always held during the life of the pos- sessor. We are not informed particularly of the length of any of their priesthoods, except that of Eli, which is said to have been forty years :* but it is not difficult to strike an average, for the office of high priest was in- stituted during the first year that the Israelites were in the wilderness ; and we are told, that between that and the building of the Temple was four hundred and eighty years ;'' consequently, if we divide four hundred and eighty by twelve, the number of high priests, we have forty as the common average. It is therefore rather a singular coincidence, that the average of all the high priesthoods, between the erection of the Tabernacle and the building of the first Temple, should have been ex- actly the length of that assigned to Eli. But let us now attend to the succession of high priests from the building of Solomon's Temple till the begin- ning of the seventy years' captivity. As soon as Solo- mon was settled on the throne he removed Abiathar from the office, as having been guilty of treason in the conspiracy of Adonijah," and placed Zadok in his room^^ thereby removing the priesthood from the line of Itha- mar back to that of Eleazar. This Zadok was the great grandson of that Mesaiah, who preceded Eli in the office of high priest,'^ and after his death the sacer- dotal dignity descended to his son Ahimaaz;^ then to Azariah, the son of Ahimaaz;^ then to Johanan, the son of Azariah ;^ and then to Azariah, the son of Johanan.'' He is the person who is said, in 1 Chron. vi. 10, to " 1 Sum. iv, 18. «> 1 Kings vi. 1. " lb. i.S.T: ii. 26, 27. d 1 Chron. vi. 7,9. « 2 Sam. xv. 36 ; 1 Chron. vi. 8. f 1 ChroQ. yi. 9. e Ibid, * 1 Cliron. vi. 10. 232 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. have executed the priest's office in the Temple that So- lomon huilt at Jerusalem ; and the difficulty lies in what these words can mean ; for it is not likely that four high priests would have died in the short space of eleven years and a-half, or twelve years, namely, between the accession of Solomon to the throne, and the dedication of the Temple. The Jewish solution of it is, that he was the Azariah who withstood King Uzziah so nobly, when, in defiance of the law, he had gone into the Temple to burn in- cense:* but such an explanation is, although plausible at first sight, scarcely admissible ; for if we deduct, ac- cording to Lightfoot, two thousand nine hundred and ninety, (or the year of the world in which Solomon ascended the throne, and chose Zadok to be high priest) from three thousand two hundred and fifty- two, or the year that Lightfoot fixes upon as that in which Uzziah committed so impious an act, we have two hundred and sixty-two years as the interval. Let us divide these then by five, the number of high priests, including Aza- riah, and we have fifty- two years and a-half as the ave- rage of these priesthoods, which is surely by far too much. What then are we to Tinderstand by the words in question? I answer, that we may, perhaps, ascertain their meaning by the following process : — Lightfoot, in his Chronicle, states the beginning of the Captivity to have happened in the year of the world 3401 ; deduct two thousand nine hundred and ninety, or the year of Solomon's coming to the throne, and you have four hundred and eleven years as the interval. But there were thirteen high priests between his accession and the Captivity : divide then four hundred and eleven by thirteen, and you have thirty-one years and a-half as » 2 Chron. xxvi. 17,.18. i THE HIGH PRIEST. 233 the common average. Let us now take the years of the five high priests, at one hundred and fifty-seven years and a-half, and count forward from two thousand nine hundred and ninety, or the year of Solomon's accession: they bring us down to the year of the world 3147, or to the very time when, according to Dr. Lightfoot, the idolatrous Jews killed Zecharias the priest between the porch of the Temple and the altar.* Now, as this hap- pened after the death of Jehoiada, the priest who had rescued Judah from the tyranny of Athaliah, set Joash on the throne, and restored the worship of Jehovah, may not he and Azariah have been the same person, and may not this have been the time to which the wri- ter refers? For as eliptical expressions are often found in ancient writings, perhaps the whole verse may be filled up thus : — '^^ He it was that executed the priest's office in the Temple that Solomon built at Jerusalem, when Athaliah, the queen, had corrupted Israel ; that crowned Joash king ; that was the honoured instrument in bringing back the nation to God, and that died a little before his son Zechariah was slain between the porch and the altar." After all, it must be confessed, that considerable difficulty attends the subject. We will now proceed with the succession to the high priesthood : — ^ After Azariah came his son Amariah; then Ahitub, the son of Amariah; then Zadok, the son of Ahi- tub; then Shallum, the son of Zadok; then Hilkiah, the son of Shallum ; then Azariah, the son of Hilkiah ; then Seraiah, the son of Azariah ; and then Jehozadak, the son of Seraiah, who was carried by Nebuchadnezzar, along with the rest of the nation, into captivity. •• These were the thirteen high priests during the first Temple, and the average of their continuance in office, as we » 2 Chron. xxiv. 21. i> 1 Chron. vi. 11—15, Vol. I. G g 234 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. have already seen, was thirty- one years and a-half. Jo" sephiis* makes the number of high priests to be eighteen in place of thirteen, and the number of years to be four hundred and sixty-six years and a-half between the building of the Temple and the Captivity, instead of four hundred and eleven which Lightfoot makes of it. In which case, the average of years for each high priest would be twenty-six years instead of thirty- one years and a-half. Their names will be found in his Antiquities, book X. chap. 8. Let us next examine the succession of high priests from the Captivity till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans : which we may premise, as Lightfoot has done, with an observation made by the Jews themselves, viz. that during the first Temple, a steady regard was had to primogeniture, the eldest son always succeeding his father ; but that during the second, they obtained it often for money, and more than once waded to the mitre through the blood of their predecessors. In this period Josephus has no fewer than fifty-six high priests. The first was Joshua or Jeshua, the son of Jozadak who was carried away to Babylon and died there.*" Joshua returned with Zerubbabel after the seventy years had expired, and was priest during all the reigns of Cyrus, of Cambyses his son, called in Scripture Ahasuerus ; of Smerdis, or the Artaxerxes who obstructed the work of the Temple ;'= and even a part of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, by whose decree the Temple was finished. He is often spoken of in Ezra,- Haggai, and Zechariah ; and was high priest fifty-three years, dying A.A.C. 483.** The second was Joiakim, the son of Jeshua :^ he was high priest thirty years, and died A.A.C. 453.^ » Antiq. XX. 10. ^ Ezra. iii. 2. ' lb, iv. 7—24, ^ Prideaux, Connect. Sub. Ann. ' Neh. xii. 10. [ Prideaux, Sub. Ann. THE HIGH PRIEST. 235 The third was Eliashibf the son of Joiakim :' he was high priest forty years, and died A.A.C. 414''. The fourth was Joiada, the son of Eliashib." Josephus calls him Jada.*^ He also enjoyed the high priesthood forty years, dying A.A.C. 373.*^ The fifth was Jonathan, or Johanan, the son of Joiada.*" Josephus calls him John, and relates how he slew his own brother in the Temple, whom Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes the younger, wished to make high priest ; for which crime Bagoses broke into the Temple and laid a tax of forty drachms upon every lamb that was offered in the daily sacrifice.^ He was high priest thirty-two years, dying A.A.C. 341.^ The sixth was Juddua:^ he had a brother named Manasseh, who married Sanballat's daughter, and for that was driven from the priesthood :'' when he went to Sanballat, and occasioned the building of the Samaritan temple on mount Gerizim. It was this Jaddua who met Alexander the Great when he marched in fury against Jerusalem, and appeased him.' He was high priest twenty years, and died A.A.C. 321."* The seventh was Onias, the son of Jaddua :° he held the high priesthood twenty-one years, and died A.A.C. 300." The eighth was Simon the First, on Simeon the Just, a person much celebrated in the Jewish traditions. p. It was his son Onias who built the famous temple at Alexandi'ia in Egypt.^ The following is Josephus's account of it in his History of the War:' '^ Ptolemy complied with his pro- posal, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. It was called the No- » Neh. xii. 10. »> Prideaux, Sub. Ann. ' Neh, xii. 10. d Antiq. xi. 7. ' Prideaux, Sub, Ann. * Neh. xii. 11. 22. « Antiq xi. 7. *> Prideaux. ' Neh. xii. 11. •■ Neh. xiii. 28. ' Antiq. xi. 8. "> Prideaux. n Joseph. Ant. xi. 8. » Pridciiux. » Joseph. Antiq. xii, 2. 1 Antiq. xiii. 3. » JB. vii. 10 236 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. mos of Heliopolis, where Onias built a fortress and a temple, not like that at Jerusalem, but rather resembling a tower. (In his Antiquities, xiii. 3, he speaks some- what differently, for he says that it was like that at Je- rusalem but smaller and meaner.) He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits, making the struc- ture of the altar in imitation of that in our own country, viz. Judea; and adorned it with gifts, excepting the candlestick. For he did not make a candlestick, but had a single lamp hammered out of a piece of gold ; which illuminated the place with its rays ; and which he hung by a chain of gold. But the entire temple was en- compassed with a wall of burnt brick, though it had gates of stone. The king also gave him a large country for a revenue in money, that the. priests might have a plenti- ful provision made for them, and that God might have great abundance of what things were necessary for his worship.* Josephus says, that from the time it was built till the time it was shut up by Paulinus, the Roman go- vernor of Alexandria, it was three hundred and forty- three years ; but Whiston, in a note on the place, makes it only two hundred and twenty-three. So, that, ac- cording to Whiston, it was built A.A.C. 148, and shut up A. D. 75. Let us now return to the history of the high priests at Jerusalem, and state, that Simeon the Just enjoyed the high priesthood nine years, dying A.A.C. 291.^ The ninth was Eleazer^ brother of Simeon the Just : he was the high priest who sent the seventy interpreters to Ptolemy Philadelphus, to translate the Hebrew Scrip- tures into Greek, "^ a full account of the controversy con- cerning which we have in Prideaux, A.A.C. 277. He » See a full account of this Temple in Prideaux Connect, A.A.C 149, »• Prideaux. ' Antiq. xii. 2, THE HIGH PRIEST. 237 enjoyed the high priesthood fifteen years, dying A. A.C. 276. The tenth was Manas f^es, the uncle of Eleazer :=* he was high priest twenty-six years, dying A.A.C. 250.'' The eleventh was Onias the Second, the son of Simeon the Just, a covetous wretch, who brought the displeasure of Ptolemy Euergetes upon him by his avarice.''. He was high priest thirty-three years, and died A.A.C. 217.'^ The twelfth was Simon the Second, the son of Onias the Second. He enjoyed the pontificate twenty- two years, dying A.A.C. 195.® The thirteenth high priest was Onias the Third, the son of Simon the Se- cond.^ He was high priest twenty-one years, when he was supplanted by his brother Jason, who bought the priesthood of Antiochus Epiphanes, A.A.C. 175. ^ Ja- son, therefore, was the fourteenth high priest ;'' he con- tinued in office three years, when he was supplanted by his younger brother Menalaus, who, in imitation of him, bought the pontificate also from Antiochus, A.A.C. 172.' Menelaus, then, was the fifteenth high priest, but he was a disgrace to his office, and the cause of those cru- elties which came upon the Jews by Antiochus ; for he invited him to assist him against his brothers, the two former high priests, who were still living. '^ After hold- ing however the pontificate six years, the patience of the Jews became exhausted, and the cruelties of Antio- chus forced Mattathias, of the course of Jehoiarib,' to step forward and avenge the wrongs of an injured na- tion. He became, therefore, the sixteenth high priest, but being old he did not enjoy his dignity a full year : for he died A.A.C. 166,"" and left the cause in the hands » Antiq. xii. 4. ^ Prideaux. <= Antiq. xii. 4. ^ Prideaux. ' Ibid. ^ Antiq. xii. 4. « Prideaux. •> Antiq. xii. 3. ' Prideaux. * Dan. xii. 1; xi. 30, 31 ; 1 Maccab. i. 44, he. Joseph. Antiq. xii. 5. ' 1 Chron. zxiv. 7. "" Prideaux. 238 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JtWS. of his children." This Mattathias was the first of that renowned family called the AsnionsBH. We find the word translated />rmce5 in Ps. Ixviii. 31, (D^JDtJ^n) and they may have obtained that name, first, because, as princes, they had power and prevailed over the enemy of the Jewish name ; and, secondly, because they after- wards united the princely dignity to the sacerdotal, and were thus both kings and priests to God and his people. After the death of Mattathias, his eldest son Judas, surnamed Maccabxus, undertook the cause of religion and liberty with consummate valour and ability, but at length was slain.'' He obtained the name of Maccabseus from *3D)3, Mcbi, the four first letters in the \yords in- scribed on his standard. The words were these in Exod. XV. 11, which, in our translation, are rendered, ^'Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ?" This Judas was the seventeenth high priest. He enjoyed it six years, dying A.A.C. 160. The eighteenth was his bro- ther Jonathan, who was appointed to that sacred ofiice by Alexander, the son of Antiochus, and confirmed in it by Antiochus, the son of Alexander. He performed many valiant acts, but, at length, was treacherously slain by Tryphon,' in Ptoleraais, A.A.C. 143, after being high priest seventeen years. The nineteenth high priest was Simon, the brother of Jonathan. He was chosen their leader after his brother's death, ^ and greatly ad- vanced the cause of freedom ; but was at length slain treacherously by Ptolemy, or Abubus, his own son-in- law,^ A.A.C. 135, after being -high priest eight years. The twentieth high priest was John, also called Hyrca- nus, or Hyrcanus Jannai. He sacked Samaria, destroyed the temple at Gerizim, slew many of the wise men at •" Autiq. xii. 6. ^ Joseph. Antiq. xii. 7—12. 1 M:icc. iii. iv. till ix. xviii. " Antiq. xiii, 1 — 6, 1 Mace. ix. 29, 8cc. His death is mentioned, ch. xii. 48. <^ 1 Mace. xiii. 8. Antiq. xiii. 6. ' 1 Mace. xvi. 12. 16. Antiq. xiii. 7. THE HIGH PRIEST. 239 Jerusalem, was twenty-nine years high priest, and died a Saddueee, A.A.C. 106,* which then only meant a re- jecter of the Divine authority of the traditions of the elders, and an adherent to the Scriptures alone as the rule of faith and duty. But as the pharisees were then become a numerous and popular sect, his leaving them was the occasion of many disturbances. The twenty-first high priest was Judas, otherwise called JlristobuhiSf the son of John Hyrcanus. He first assumed the name of king, and reigned one year,^ dying A.A.C. 105. The twenty-second high priest was .Alexander Janneus, the brother of Aristobulus. He also had the name of king; was engaged in many wars, and at last died of a quartan ague, A.A.C. 78, after reigning twenty-seven years.** The twenty- third high priest was Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, who appears to have been fonder of retire- ment than of power; and, accordingly, his mother, Alex- andra, through the aid of the pharisees (whom her hus- band, on his death-bed, advised her to consult on all oc- casions, as being well aware of their malice and their power,) kept possession of the kingdom for her family, and reigned prudently as regent for her son nine years. ^ But she dying, and Hyrcanus assuming the reins of go- vernment, he was driven both from the crown and mitre in three months by his brother Aristobulus, after having enjoyed the high priesthood nine years. His pontificate, therefore, at that time, ended A.A.C. 69, and Aristo- bulus became the twenty-fourth high priest, as well as prince of the Jews. But in persons of such equal rank, the fire, although smothered, was not extinguished ; for Hyrcanus and he both applying to the Romans, gave these ambitious peo- » Antiq. xiii. 8—10. •> lb. xiii. 11. - lb. xiii. 12—15 : xx. 8, <* lb. xiii. 16 : xs. 8. 240 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. pie a pretext for entering Judea, and thus subjected it to the Roman yoke. Aristobulus, as being the most dan- gerous to be trusted, was carried by Pompey to Rome, with the greater part of his family, A. A.C. 63, after be- ing high priest and prince six years : and Hyrcanus was restored to the sacerdotal dignity, which he enjoyed twenty-four years, or till A. A.C. 40." The twenty-fifth high priest was Mexander, the son of Aristobulus, who escaped the hands of Pompey when the rest of his family were made prisoners, and entering Judea, raised commotions in several places ; but, affect- ing the kingdom as the birth-right of his family, he was twice vanquished by Gabinius.^ Thus were there two high priests at the same time, viz. Hyrcanus the uncle, supported by the Romans, and Alexander the nephew, countenanced by the Jews. The twenty-sixth high priest VfOsAntigonus, another son of Aristobulus, who escaped from Rome ; and first by the help of the king of Tyre, and then by means of the Parthians, endeavoured to wrest the high priesthood and civil power from Hyrca- nus his uncle. Success in part favoured his plan ; for, getting his uncle into his power, he caused his ear to be cut off, that, by being thus maimed, he might be incapa- ble of the office, and then procured the mitre for him- self: but discord among relatives is seldom productive of any good. Accordingly, Antony, having made him his prisoner, treated him as an intruder, brought him to Antioch, A.A.C. 37, and, after whipping and cruci- fixion, decapitated his corpse. ' Antigonus held the dig- nity of high priest and prince three years. "^ The twenty- seventh high priest was Jlnaelus, an inferior priest, sent for out of Babylon by Herod. But this offended Alex- » Antiq. xiv. 1—4 ; xx. 8. *> lb. xiv. 5. "^ lb. xiv. 12 ; XT. 1. Dion. Cassius, lib. xlr. THE HIGH PRIEST. 241 andra, the daughter of Hyrcanus, and wife to Alexan- der, the son of Aristobulus ; it also piqued Mariamne, Herod's wife, and Alexandra's daughter: and, therefore, both mother and daughter conspiring together obtained the deposition of Anaelus, and procured Aristobulus, their own son and brother, to be elected in his room." Aristobulus then, the son of Hyrcanus, and Alexandra, and brother of Mariamne, was the twenty- eighth high priest. He was only between fifteen and sixteen years old when chosen, and was possessed of uncommon beauty and elegance ; but, after enjoying his elevation for little more than a year, he was drowned by Herod's policy while swimming,^ and Anaelus was restored. The twen- ty-ninth high priest was Jesus^ the son of Favens, who was removed from it afterwards by Herod." The thir- tieth was Simon, the son of Boethus, an ordinary priest; but Herod having married his daughter, a very beauti- ful woman, raised him afterwards to the ofiice of high priest.'' The thirty-first was Matthias, the son of Theo- philus. He was appointed to the ofiice by Herod, in con- sequence of the deposition of Simon, whom Herod sus- pected of being privy to the designs of his own son An- tipater.® The thirty-second was Jozarus, the son of Boethus, and brother of Simon, the thirtieth high priest; Matthias having lost the favour of that suspicious and volatile prince.*^ The thirty-third was Eleazar, the bro- ther of Jozarus, who was appointed by king Archelaus, after the deposition of his predecessor. ^^ The thirty- fourth was Jesus, the son of Sie, by whose intrigues Eleazar was deprived of the priesthood.** The thirty- fifth was Jozarus again, who was high priest in Judea when it was taxed under Cyrenius, and, consequently, ' Antiq. sv. 2. ^ lb. xv.3. ' lb, xv. 9. ^ Ibid. « Antiq. xvii. 4. ^ lb. xvii. 13. s Ibid. ^ Ibid, Vol. I. H h 343 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was the person who held that high ofSce when Christ was born. Josepluis tells us, that when the people were ready to rebel he had such influence with them as to dis- suade them from so rash a conduct.'' On the removal of Jozarus, Ananua, the thirty-sixth high priest, was made by Cyrenius.^ On his deposition, JshmaeU the thirty-seventh high priest, was promoted by Valerius Gratus ;"^ and on his removal, Eleazar, the son of Ananus, was the thirty-eighth : he was promoted by the same Valerius, but enjoyed it only for one year.** The thirty-ninth was Simon, the son of Kamith, who was advanced by the same Valerius Gratus.*" The for- tieth was Caiaphas, who was also called Joseph. He also was a creature of Gratus ; and all these changes hap- pened in the space of eleven years.*" The christian reader is well acquainted with Caiaphas's name from the gospel history ;^ where Annas, or the Ananus form- erly mentioned as the thirty-sixth high priest, is said to be joined with him in the high priesthood ;*• not that he was really so at that time, but because he was formerly in office, and still living. This leads us to the reason why he sent our Saviour to Caiaphas, and did not pass judgment on him himself.' The forty-first high priest was Jonathan, the son of Annas, or Ananus : he was raised to the office by the influence of Vitellius, in the room of Caiaphas, who h:id been dismissed,'' but did not long enjoy his dignity, being removed by Vitel- lius, to give place to Thcoplillus, his brother, who was the forty-second high priest.' The forty-third high priest was Simon, called also Kantheras, or a cup ; but for what reason it is impossible now to ascertain. By Josephus he is called the son of Boetlius, whose daugh- » Antiq. xviii. 1. '' lb xviii. 2. ' Ibid. '' Ibid. « Ibid. * Ibid. s Mitt, xxvi, 3. 5r. John xviii. 14. Acts iv. 6. ^Lukeiii. 2. » John xviii. 13. 24. ^ Joseph. Antiq xviii. 4. ' lb. xviii. 5. TlIK HIGH PRIEST. 243 tcr Herod luul married; and if that was tlic case, he must have been the satnc with that Simon who wfis mentioned as the thirtieth hij^h priest: hut it is jirohahle he was his son ; for Josephiis says, that hoth his father and brethren had the high priesthood/ The forty-fourth higli priest wiis Jonalkan : Fie is the same whom we mentioned as the forty-first hij^h priest, and obtained his restoration from Herod Aj^rippa: but he appears to have been sensible of the insUibility of human greatness, and wished to avoid becoming the tool of the civil power ; for he abdicated his office, and recommended his brother as a litter person.'' Accordingly, Jonathan's brother , MdtUdas, was the forty- fiftli high priest: but JUiorutuH, the forty-sixth high priest, son of Kanlheras, was soon substituted in his place by the politic and jea- lous Agrippa, as being, perhaps, more complying and unassuming." 'J'lie forty-seventh was Joscplius, the son of Camus, or Camydus : he was promoted by Herod, king of Chal- cis.'' The forty-eighth was JlnanioH, the son of Nebe- deus.*" The forty-ninth was Jonalkan, but not the Jonar than who abdicated in favour of his brother. In his time the troubles among the Jews were evidently increasing; for he was assassinated by one of the Sicarii, in the days of Felix, the Roman governor. *^ hhmael, the son of Fabi,"^ was the fiftieth ; and Jonapk, the son of Simon, was the fifty- first, who held the pontifical dignity.'' The fifty-second was JJnanus, the son of the Annas, or Ana- nus, formerly mentioned.' As the struggle for the mitre was then merely politi- cal, it is not to be wondered at, if those who wore it were regardless of religion : nor shall we be much sur- ^ Aiitifj x,x. 6. '' Ibid, ' ibid. •• lb. XX. 1; ' lb. x\. 5. f lb. xx,«. « Ibid. ^ Ibid, ' Ib.xx, 9. 244 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. prised to hear that he was a Sadducee. It may, how- ever, be interesting to know, that he was the person who caused James, the brother of our Lord, to be put to death ; and is, on that account, reproved as a whited wall by the apostle — or one who was unworthy of the sacred office.* The fifty-third high priest was Jesus, the son of Damneus ; he was raised to that office by Agrippa king of Chalcis, in the room of Ananus.^ The fifty- fourth was Jesus, the son of Gamaliel." The fifty-fifth was Matthias, the son of Theophilus, the forty-second high priest, under whose pontificate Josephus remarks, that the war between the Jews and Romans began.^ And the fifty-sixth was Phannias, the son of Samuel, the last and most worthless of the priesthood, chosen by the zealots in Jerusalem, who were the real cause of the destruction of that city.® Thus have we finished the history of the chief priest- hood, from the return from the Captivity, till the be- ginning of the convulsions which overwhelmed the state : and, in such a long and confused time, it is not to be expected that we should state the precise periods during which each individual held his office. Their average duration, however, may be ascertained in the following manner : — The year of return was A.M. 3471, and the beginning of the Jewish war, A.M. 4071 ; making an interval of six hundred years. Now this, if divided by fifty-six, or the number of high priests, makes ten years and three-quarters as the average of each. Thus were the averages always less according to the progress of religious indiff'erence, and political ambition : for the average under the Tabernacle was forty years ; under the first Temple, thirty-one and a-half ; and under the second, only ten years and three-quarters. • Acts xxiii. 2. 5. <> Aatiq. xx. 9. = Ibid. <> Ibid, « Warsof the JewSjiv. 3. SUPERIOR OFFICERS OF THE TEMPLE. 453 SECT. II. The superior Officers of the Temple. The sagan : kethulikin, or overseers of the treasuries : amercelin, or overseers of the gates : the gezberin, or deputy collectors : the chief priests of every course: the heads of the houses of their fathers : overseers of the times, doors, guards, singers, cymbal music, lots, birds, tickets, drink-offerings, sick, wa- ters, shew bread, incense, veils, and priests' garments. Particular account of the duties of each of these. It was formerly said, that there were several orders of officers in the Temple, of whom the high priest was the most eminent; we must now, therefore, prosecute the subject in all its ramifications, beginning with the sagan, or pQ segen. This is a word not mentioned in Scripture, but often used in the Jewish writings. The only hint that appears of it in the sacred volume is in 2 Kings XXV. 18, and Jer. Hi. 24, where Zephaniah is called the second priest, a phrase which is interpreted by the Chaldee paraphrast to mean the sagan ; but the difficulty lies, not so much in the name or degree of dig- nity (for all allow that he was next to the high priest,) as in the precise duties attached to his office. Some make him the substitute of that exalted person on the day of expiation, when ceremonial defilement, or bodily indis- position, prevented him from engaging in that important work ; of which Josephus gives one instance'* in the case of Matthias ; who, having dreamt that he had conversa- tion with his wife, Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kins- • man, assisted him in that sacred office. But this was con- fining the whole of his office to a single day, whereas the Jews, in their writings, give him always a permanent employ. Others, therefore, have conjectured, that he was the high priest elect, or the person who was to sue- » Antiq. xvii, 6. 246 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ceed on the first vacancy : but this likewise is untenable, for the following reasons : — In the first place, it is some^- what singular, that the word sagan is never used during the continuance of the Tabernacle and first Temple, al- though the high priests elect were constantly the first born; and, secondly, during the second Temple, when the word sagan was in general use : such was the uncer- tainty of Jewish aflairs, and so frequently did the office change its possessors, that persons unexpected, and till the time unheard of, were sometimes raised to the pon- tifical dignity. The most probable opinion therefore is, that the sagan was the assistant of the high priest while present, and his substitute when absent : for, as all the affairs of the Temple were officially under the care of that principal functionary, and no individual could at- tend to them all, so it was judged requisite to give him an assistant, to remove from his shoulders a part of the weight. Hence he acted as high priest in all the business of the Temple, which was not peculiar to that sacred character, when the high priest himself was either absent or indisposed : but his ordinary aiid specific business seems to have been, the oversight of the priests ; for Maimonides says, that all the priests were under the disposal of the sagan. It is probable, then, that the daily reports were brought to him, and that they resorted to him in cases of difficulty. The third office in point of dignity was that of the kethidikin, (ppvirip) or the overseers of the treasuries. They were two in number, and their ollice was to take care that all the inferior treasurers did their duty. In short, they appear to have been over the property of the Temple what the sagan was over the service.; but as the service was more important than the property, so the sagan was accounted more honourable than the kethCilikin. SUPERIOR OFFICERS OF THE TEMPLE. 247 The fourth office in the Temple, in point of dignity, was that of the amercelin^ p*7D"lD?taif) and sitters {YlapsSpoi.) Joseph of Arimathea is supposed to have been a member of this consistory ; for in Mark XV. 43, he is called an honourable counsellor. {^ovT^vtyjg rifiiDi;.) These then were the permanent officers of the Temple, and accordingly they differed from those next mentioned, whose period of service was only tem- porary. The sixth office in point of dignity was, the chief priest of every course, or the person who presided over the course that served for the week. He was commonly a member of the Sanhedrin : and all the heads of the courses are those who are known by the names of chief priests in the gospels. The seventh office in point of dignity was that of the heads of the houses of their fathers. And the eighth, or lowest order among the priests, were the ordinary priests. But besides the orders already mentioned, there were fifteen overseers, over fifteen several companies, in so many several employments, whose names were as follow : — 1. The overseer concerning the times, who, either personally, or by deputy, when it was time to begin the service, cried out, " O ye priests, to your service ! O ye Levites, to your desks ! 0 ye Israelites, to your sta- tion !'' And immediately these went to their several employments. 2. The overseer for shutting the doors, by whose ap- pointment they were opened a^id shut, and who also took care that the trumpets were sounded when the doors were set open. It would appear, that he was a person appointed by the amercelin, to act as their deputy : for the latter had the keeping and disposing of the keys which opened the gates of the Court of Israel. 3. The overseer of the guards, captain of the Te7n- SUPERIOR OFFICERS OF THE TEMPLE. 249 j&/e,* or, the mmi of the Mountain of the House, who visited the Levites' guards every night, preceded by lighted torches, to praise or punish them as he found they deserved. His common salutation to them was, ^^ Peace he unto you ;" to which they made a suitable reply. But if they were asleep, he either beat them with his rod, or set fire to their clothes. 4. The overseer of the singers, who appointed to every one his particular department in the vocal music, trumpets, and stringed instruments. 5, The overseer of the cymbal music ; which, as we^ shall see in a subsequent page, was of a different kind from the former. 6. The overseer of the lots, or he who cast the lots every morning for the different services to be performed by the priests. 7. The overseer about birds, or he who provided turtles and pigeons for those who needed them ; sold them at the stated prices ; and was accountable to the treasurer for the money. 8. The overseer of the tickets, or seals. They were gf four kinds, each kind having a distinct mark. Thus the first kind had the word 7^^, ogel, or a calf, marked on it. The second, "i^f, zecer, a male; the third, »i;i, gedi, a hid; and the fourth KDItl? huta, a sinner. The particular uses of them were as follow: — When any person brought a sacrifice, for which he needed a drink- offering, he went to the overseer of the tickets, inform- ing him of what kind his sacrifice was. This led the overseer to consult the law, what kind of drink-offering was requisite ; and, after having done so, he gave the person the ticket that his sacrifice needed. Thus, if it was a ram, he gave him the ticket marked ")^f, or a '^ Acts iv, 1. Vol. I. I i 250 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. male; if a sin-offering, the ticket marked J^DIfl? or a sinner ; and so on of the rest. But these tickets were not given till the price of the drink-offering was laid down; and, when paid, the person carried his ticket to 9. The ovci'seei- of the drink-offerings, who had them all in readiness to give to the offerers ; the tickets which they brought being both a direction to him what to give, and an evidence that the price had been paid. At the close of every day's service, the overseer of tickets, and the overseer of drink-offerings, compared accounts, and the former delivered the money he had got to the treasurer, or one of the kathiilikin. 10. The overseer of the sick, or (to speak in the lan- guage of modern times) the physician of the priesthood : whose office it w^as to prescribe for those who had caught colds, cholics, or dysenteries, from their walking bare- footed and thin-clothed during the service; or who had unfortunately fallen sick from other causes. 11. The overseer of the waters, whose office it was to take care that Jerusalem, but especially the Temple, should have abundance of water, both for the daily ser- vice, and for the vast numbers who collected together at the three great festivals. If the Nicodemus mentioned in the gospel, be the same Nicodemus that is mentioned in the Talmud, he appears to have been placed over this department. 12. The overseer at the making of the shew-bread. 13. The overseer at the making of inecnse. 14. The ovei'seer of the workmen that made the veils. 15. The overseer of those who made garments for the priests. Such were the gradations of rank among the priest- hood, and the several overseers attached to the Temple: but it will be proper to enter with more minuteness into the characters and duties of the priests and I.cvites, THE PRIESTS. 251 Before the giving of the law, the first-horn of every family was the priest of the family. Thus Abraham, Job, Abimelech, Laban, Isaac, and Jacob, are men- tioned as discharging that important oflice. But after the delivery of the law from Mount Sinai, the office in Israel was confined to the family of Aaron and tribe of Levi, who obtained no lot among the tribes on the divi- sion of the land, God thereby wishing to teach them, that the minds of their countrymen was the soil they ought to cultivate; yet their subsistence, on that account, was not allowed to be precarious. For the tithes of the produce were the support of the tribe, when residing at home, and the perquisites of the Temple their fund of maintenance while engaged in duty. Thus were they freed from bodily labour and worldly cares : the pro- ductions of the earth were delivered to them ready pre- pared by the diff'erent families of Israel : the proprietors of the soil supported the teachers of religion ;** and by this wise and just provision, these teachers were enabled to dedicate their time to spiritual duties. But let us attend particularly to this first national establishment, of which we have any authentic account. SECT. III. The Priests. Their courses during the first Temple ; the way in whrch these were revived after the Captivity. The three ranks into which each course was subdivided. Their manner of attendance at the Temple ; the day of the week on which they entered upon, and left off attendance. How the Unofficiating priests were employed at home : the age at which they began to serve, and were ex- cused from serving. The form of consecration at different periods of the Jewish economy : the dress they wore while on duty : how procured — how » 1 Cor. ix. 11. 13, 14. 252 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. applied when old : their ordinary dress when at home : their duties in the Temple : their employment at home. The general utility of the priesthood. The manses and glebes of the Jewish clergy. The nine items which com- posed their stipends. How the half sliekel for every Israelite was applied. Tlie marriages and numbers of the priesthood. The Jewish priests were the descendants of the fa- mily of Aaron, and as Nadab and Abihii died without children, the whole of the priesthood was confined to the descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar. We have but little information concerning the number of the priests, as distinct from the Levites, during the continuance of the Tabernacle (though it must have been very considerable :) nor do we know very distinctly all the offices which were assigned to the different sons of Aaron. But when the Temple was about to be erected, we find David, by Divine appointment,'' dividing the whole posterity of Eleazar and Ithamar into twenty-four courses ; viz. six- teen of the house of Eleazar, and eight of the house of Ithamar ; each of which courses was to serve a week in its turn:'' and in this state they appear to have remained all the time of the first Temple. When, however, the Jews returned from Babylon, after the seventy years' captivity, very few of these courses returned with them ; they either preferred to remain in that country, or had lost their genealogies ; so that those which did return, were confined to four, whose names were as follow : — The course of Jedaiah, which corresponded with the second of the ancient courses; the course of Harim, which corresponded with the third ; the course of Im- mer, which corresponded with the sixteenth ; and the course of Pashur, whose najiie is not mentioned in the courses of David.*" We find, indeed, one Pashur fre- quently mentioned in the Old Testament, as the son of •' 1 Chron. xxviii. 11. 13. 19. >> lb, sxiv. 1—19. 2 Chron. xxiii. 4. §. " Ezra ii. 36—39. Neh. vii. 39—42. THE PRIESTS. 233 Immer, the head of the sixteenth course;^ but this could not be he who came back from the captivity; for he was one of those who ill-treated Jeremiah before the capti- vity, and of whom that prophet said, that both he and his family should die in Babylon.^ We must, therefore, be contented to remain in a state of uncertainty con- cerning him ; unless we take him for the son of that Mal- chia, or Malchijah, mentioned in Neh. xi. 12, which would make him correspond with the fourth course.'^ Let us now attend to the numbers of those who re- turned to Judea. Ezra, in chap. ii. 36 — 39, and Nehe- miah, in chap. vii. 39 — 42, give them as follow : — The family of Jedaiah had nine hundred and seventy-three ; the family of Harim one thousand and seventeen ; the family of Immer one thousand and fifty- two; and the fa- mily of Pashur one thousand two hundred and forty- seven : so that the whole of the priests who returned were four thousand two hundred and eighty-nine. But the difficulty lay in the revival of the ancient number of twenty -four courses, so as to carry on the service of the Temple. Accordingly, we are told by the Jewish writers, that Ezra and the other prophets who came with them from Babylon, had recourse to the following expedient: — They had the name of four courses already (for they surely knew to which of the ancient courses Pashur belonged ;) they therefore wrote the names of the other twenty upon twenty tickets, and desired the four heads of the courses which returned, to draw from the box, each person five; so that whichever of the ancient names each of them drew, their family was di- vided into six parts, and called by these names.'' In this way Jedaiah's family of nine hundred and » 1 Chron ix. 12. Jer. xx. 1; sxi. 1. ^ Jer. xx. 6. ' 1 Chron. xxiv. 9. ^ Prideaux, Connect. A.A.C. 536. 254 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. seventy-threcj when divided into six parts, would give one hundred and sixty-two persons to each course. Ha- rim's family of one thousand and seventeen, when divided into six parts, would give one hundred and sixty-nine persons to each course. Immer's family of one thousand and fifty- two, when divided into six parts, would give one hundred and seventy-five persons for each course. And Pashur's family of one thousand two hundred and forty-seven, when divided into six parts, would give about two hundred and eight for each course. Thus were the twenty-four ancient courses revived nominally, so as to carry on the service in the former manner; and the only alteration was, the precedence that was given to Jedaiah before Jehoiarib, because he was of the fa- mily of Joshua, the high priest."* We find only one refe- rence to these courses in the whole New Testament, viz. when Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, is said to be of the course of Abia:^ not that he really was of the course of Abia, or the eighth course that was esta- blished by David ;"" for that was lost, as we have just seen, during the captivity ; but that he belonged to the revived course of that name after the captivity, yet under which of the four families that drew the lots it is impossible for us to say.*^ Having mentioned the revival of the twenty- four ancient courses, we may further remark, that every course was divided into three ranks, viz. the chief of the course^ the chief of every family in that course, and the common priests : forming, as we have seen, when treating of the ofiicers in the Temple, the sixth, seventh, and eighth of the orders of the priesthood. Thus a constant system of subordination and superintendance * Ezra ill. 2. *> Luke 1. 5. <= 1 Cliron. xxiv. 10. ^ Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Luke i. 5, THE PRIESTS. 255 was preserved among that immense bodyj that all tlie parts of the Temple service might be done decently and in order. The manner in which the priests attended in these courses was as follows : — Each course, hy preserving its rotation^ naturally knew its own time ; so that, although they were all scattered through different parts of the land, there was little fear of the service being neglected. Yet, lest it should be so, they provided for the worst, by enjoining, that full one-half of all the courses should reside in Jerusalem, to be in perpetual readiness ; a number more were stationed about Jericho; and the rest in other parts of Judea. The Jerusalem Talmud, in the treatise Taanith," says, that twenty-four thousand was the stationary number of priests, Levites, and stationary men at Jerusalem ; and that half that station, or tw^elve thousand, was at Jeri- cho : so that it is easy to see how numerous the tribe of Levi was in the days of our Saviour. We do not find that every individual in every course was called to the service, but they were all certainly in a state of requisition. It was needful, therefore, that the heads of the several families should know the parti- culars of their respective families, viz. concerning their age, health, and residence, that they might be able to report to the heads of their respective courses, and these, in their turn, to the high priest, as the common head of the sacerdotal body. Thus orders were issued by the high priest to the heads of the courses ; by these to the heads of families in their respective courses j and by these to the common priests. As the time of their attendance drew nigh, notice was issued by the high priest, or his sagan : those of the » Fol. 6T. 4. 256 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. course who resided at Jerusalem, repaired at the time appointed to the Temple; and those at Jericho, and the other parts of Judea, whose presence was required, re- sorted to Jerusalem. The houses of their fathers were then counted, and the service of every course was thus arranged. If it had five heads of families, three of these served three days, and two of them four ; if it had six heads of families, five served five days, and one of them two; if it had seven heads of families, each family served a day ; if it had eight heads of families, six served six days, and two one day ; and if it had nine, five served five days, and four two. This was the rule which was constantly observed by the course during its attend- ance.^ The time when they entered on duty was always on the sabbath, and on the sabbath following they went out,'' accompanied by the good wishes and prayers of the people. For when they saw them departing, their common form of expression was — " Let Him who dwells in this house, plant among you brotherhood, love, peace, and friendship."*' By this weekly change in the courses, the whole four-and-twenty made two revolutions in the year; the one beginning the first sabbath after the pass- over, and the other the first sabbath after the feast of tabernacles, exclusive of the common attendance of all the courses at the great festivals. In Lightfoot's Har- mony of the Four Evangelists,^ we have a table of these courses through the year, with the lessons from the law and the prophets, the feasts,' fasts, &,c. which are well deserving of a perusal. Such was the conduct of the part of the courses that were successively at Jerusalem; but we are not to think that the individuals, who were » Lightf, Hcb. andTalm. Exer. on Luke i. 8. ^ 2 Kings xi. 7. 2 Chron. xxiii. 4. 8. ^ Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on John xv. 12. <* Part i. § 2 THE PRIE9TS. 257 allowed to remain at home were altogether uninterested; for they, and the portion of the Levites of the corres- ponding course, which were also excepted, met together in the synagogues every day to read the law, fast, pray, and put up supplications to the God of Israel that the service of their brethren might be accepted at Jeru- salem, Having mentioned the nature of the rotation which was adopted for attendance both during the first and se- cond Temple, it becomes us next to consider the age at which they could minister, — the manner of their conse- cration,— their dress while officiating, — their duties., both in the Temple and at their respective places of re- sidence,— their means of subsistence, — their marriages and numbers. The age at which the priests could minister is not mentioned in express terms in Scripture ; but as the Le- vites in Numb. viii. 24, are said to go in to wait on the Lord at twenty-five, and in Numb. iv. 3, are stated to begin their ministrations at thirty, and continue them till fifty ; so this is commonly considered as the age when the priests were at liberty to attend. And, indeed, the matter appears reasonable ; for the body was then come to its full strength, and the faculties of the mind were then in their full vigour. They learned their office from, twenty- five to thirty, and served from thirty to fifty? when they might retire if they chose. It is, perhaps, in allusion to this circumstance, that Christ, the great high priest of our profession, is mentioned in Luke iii. 23, to be about thirty years of age when he entered on his public ministry. Nor is the case of Samuel of such a nature as to overturn the general opinion ; for it was an exception to the general rule, and implied, that, al- though he attended at the tabernacle from a child, it Vol. I. K k 258 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was only as a candidate for sacred orders, till he should gradually arrive at the legal age. The manner of their consecration to the office of priesthood was different in the different periods of Jew- ish history. Thus, on their first appointment, at the erection of the tabernacle, the manner of their consecra- tion was similar to that of the high priest already de- scribed. Aaron and his sons were consecrated together, and the same ceremonies were used to both. But after their first solemn consecration, there was no occasion for its constant repetition to every priest on his entrance into the sacerdotal office. It was sufficient that he be- longed to the family of Aaron, and was free from any bodily blemish or legal pollution.* These, in the law, are plainly enumerated '^ but when the traditions of the fa- thers began to prevail, they were exceedingly multiplied. Accordingly, under the second Temple, the Sanhedrin sat daily in the room Gezith to judge of these matters ; it being one of the branches of their duty to examine the priests that were of age, relative to the clearness of their descent, and their freedom from the one hundred and forty blemishes,*" which were then considered as exclud- ing them from the priesthood. If they were deficient in the evidence they could bring of their descent from Aa- I'on, they were clothed in black, veiled in black, and dis- missed in disgrace : or, if they were priests, but having blemishes sufficient to exclude them from officiating at the altar, they were sent to the wood room in the north- east corner of the Court of the Women, which we form- erly described ; and were there maintained as priests, ■ and employed in examining the wood for the altar, lest there should be any worms in it. But if they could » Ezra ii. 61—63. Nell. vii. 5. *> Levit. xxi. 16—23. Deut. xxiii. 1» 2. = Lamy, lib. iii. cap. 9, makes them only ninety. THE PRIESTS. 259 prove their descent, and were free from blemish, then they were enrolled as priests, clothed in white raiment, consecrated by the offering of a young bullock and seven rams,^ with the meat-offering of initiation, mentioned in Lev. vi. 20 — 22 ; unless they were very poor, when the meat-offering only was required : after which their hands were filled, as the original words for '•' consecrate" in the subjoined passages signify ;^ that is, they were al- lowed to officiate for others by killing and offering sa- crifices ; and when the public service was finished, the rest of the day was spent in holy rejoicing." It was, per- haps, in allusion to this, that Christ says to the church t)f Sardis, in Rev. iii. 4, 5, — ^^ Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments : and they shall walk with me in white, for they are wor- thy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Fa- ther, and before his angels :" unless we prefer to explain the words, as alluding rather to the triumphal dress of the ancient conquerors. The dress used by the priests while officiating con- sisted of the four following parts : a white linen bonnet, coat, and breeches, and a white linen girdle embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet.** The bonnet was of the same form as the high priest's mitre, only not so full and ornamented, and without the golden plate on which ^^ Holiness to the Lord" was engraved. The coat was a long upper garment.® The girdle was of considerable length, so as to fold round them several times, serving thus both for warmth and for strengthening the loins. 3 2 Chron. xiii. 9. »> Exod. xxxii, 29. Levit. xvi. 32. 1 Chron. xxix. 5. 2 Chron. xiii. 9. ^ Lightf. Heb. and Tahn. Exer. Luke i. 80. •^ Exod. xxviii. 40. 42 ; xxxix. 27—29. Levit. i. 8, 13. • Esdras i. 2. 260 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. And the breeches were ordered for the sake of decency when they ascended the altar, or had occasion to walk round its several sides. These clothes were all provided at the public expense, or by private donation ;'' were kept in certain chambers, in the Temple when unemployed ;^ and when they be- came old were unravelled to make wicks for the lamps that were required at the nightly festivities during the feast of tabernacles. It should, however, be remarked, that, although they wore these while officiating, they had an ordinary dress at other times,'' which, as Jose- ph us says, resembled that of the rest of their countrymen. Accordingly, it must have consisted of the following parts : — 1 . A woollen shirt ; 2. A coat, or long robe of linen or cotten, fringed with large borders of purple, called phylacteries ;** 3. A girdle with a purse ; 4. A cloak or mantle; 5. A pair of shoes or sandals; 6. A bon- net or turban ; and, 7. A scrip, or leathern bag, v/hich shepherds or travellers hung about their necks to carry provisions. "^ If there was any thing particular about them it seems to have been their hair,^ which, together with their beards, Calmet tells us, they trimmed every fort- night with scissars. It is upon this supposition of the priesthood having no distinctive dress when not engaged in duty, that Dr. Jennings^ accounts for Paul's not knowr ing the high priest Ananias, when he appeared before him in the Sanhedrin ;'' and it is surely a more natural way than to suppose the words ovx aheuv to signify, that he did not acknowledge him ; or, that the prophetic im- pulse which moved him to utter the prophecy which re- garded his fate, " God shall smite thee, thou whited » Ezra ii. 69. Ncli. vii. 70, 72. '' Ezek. xlii. 14; xliv. 19. ' Levit. vi. 11. '' Numb, xv, 38—40. ■= Lightf. Heb. .ind Talm. Exer. Luke ix, 3. * Ezek. xliv. 20. 8 Jewish Antiquities, book i. cb. 5. ^ Acts xxsiii. 5. THE PRIESTS. 261 wall," did not suffer him to consider «^t the time that he was the high priest. Yet, whatever was their ordinary- dress when not engaged in duty, it is certain, that when they came in their course they laid it aside, washed them- selves in water, and habited themselves in their robes of office." We are not to suppose, however, that they never appeared in any other during the week. On the con- trary, when they slept during the night in the chamber called Muked, in the north-west corner of the Court of Israel, where the guard chamber of the priests was si- tuated, or in their own apartments, wherever these were, they laid aside these holy vestments and put on their ordinary robes ; so that, strictly speaking, the official dress was confined to the hours of attendance at the Tem- ple, or during their abode in the Court of the Priests, or of Israel ;^ so that they had to wash and change every morning before they could appear in their stations at the altar. It is probable that the following expressions in Scripture refer to this usage : Rom. xiii. 14, ^^ Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.'' — Gal. iii. 27, " As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."— Eph. iv. 22—24, ^- That ye put off, concern- ing the former conversation, the old man, and put on the new, w^hich after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." — Rev. i. 5, 6, '' Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us priests unto God and his Father : to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." — 2 Cor. v. 4, '^ Not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." It is exceedingly probable that the heathen priests imitated the Jewish in the linen dresses which they wore. For we are told by Silius Italicus,'' that the priests of » Rvit. viii. 6. 1,3. ^ Ezek. xUv. 17—19. ' De Bell. Punic, lib. lii. 262 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Hercules were clothed with linen : and by Herodotus," that the Egyptian priests wore only a linen garment. Hence the priests of Isis, who are represented by Juve- nal as surrounding their divinity, are called by him grex liniger ;^ and by Martial, linigeri.'' The duties of the priests i72 the Temple are fully de- scribed in the Pentateuch. They kept alive the heavenly fire on the altar of burnt- offering in the Court of the Priests, which was perhaps the origin of the same kind of employment in the heathen temples. They killed the animals appointed by law, that were devoted either by the public or by private individuals, oifering them in the manner appointed for each. They trimmed the lamps on the golden candlestick in the Holy Place ; prepared, brought, and removed the shew bread; offered up prayers for the people ; judged of leprosy, the causes of divorce, the waters of jealousy, vows, uncleanness. Sec. In short, they had the charge of the sanctuary, altar, service, and all the vessels connected with it ;** to keep them in order, and to free them from pollution when neglected by idola- trous princes f to preserve decency during the whole of the ritual ; for which last purpose none were allowed to taste wine until the evening.' And as this injunction was given immediately after Nadab and Abihu were con- sumed by Jehovah for offering strange fire before the Lord, it is conjectured, with much probability, that they had been flushed with wine, and had forgotten both the sanctity of their character, and the majesty of that Being they were called upon to approach. But if these were the duties of the priests when at- tending the tabernacle and Temple, in their courses, we are not to suppose, that they were idle when at home. ^ Lib. ii. cap. 38. ^ Sat. vi. <= Lib. xii. Epig. 26. '' Numb, xviii. 3. 5.7. '2 Chron. xxix. 16. ' Levit. s. 9. Ezek.xliv. 21. THE PRIESTS. 263 For in the thirteen cities that were given them/ out of the forty-eight that were separated from the tribe of Levi in general, they are mentioned as judges in civil matters,^ and would naturally be employed in offices suited to their character, either in reading, and explain- ing, and translating the law;" or, when synagogues were appointed, in sending a sufficient number of their order to the several places of public worship to carry on the Divine service."* Nor should we overlook the in- fluence which the examples and studies of so large a body of men would naturally have on the Jewish nation : for if the order of Druids, in our own country, by being the bards as well as the ministers of religion, infused along with their narratives, which were committed to memory as the annals of the nation, the refined senti- ments that they had acquired in colleges, and thereby raised the tone of morals and refinement among their countrymen above those of other nations in the same stage of society ; why may we not suppose that similar effects would be produced by the Jewish priesthood^ devoted to the study of true religion, and exempted from the ordinary business and cares of life? The higher kind of instruction, therefore, was committed to the priests;'' their colleges were centres of the different branches of knowledge ; their brethren who conducted the synagogue service throughout the land were centres of instruction to their several congregations ; and the residence of the clergy in their respective benefices has always been attended with many advantages.^ » 1 Chron. vi. 54—60. •» 2 Chron. xix. 8—10. Ezek. xllv, 24. <= Deut.xxxiii. 10. Neh. viii. 2—8. 2 Chron. xvii. 8, 9, d See Lightf. Harm, of the Four Evangelists, part i. § 7, and part ili. § 17. « Ezek. xliv. 23. Mai. ii. 7. f Lightfoot's Harmony of the Four Evangelists, Luke iv. 15, sec. viii. and Chorograplj. Cent, of the land of Israel, ch. xcviL 264 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. One thing, however, ought not to be omitted, viz, that their ecclesiastical function did not prevent them from serving the state in times of danger. They well knew that every member of a community should be ready to defend it; and, therefore, as they were offi- cially the first in the religious assemblies, so they were sometimes also the first in the field. Thus, Jehoiada, when he came to the coronation of David, brought with him three thousand seven hundred of the Aaronites ; and Zadok, a young man, mighty in valour, brought at the same time twenty-two of his brethren who were captains.* Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest, had his name among David's three worthies.'' And in Immer's course of the priesthood after the captivity, are mentioned one hundred and twenty-eight mighty men of valour." Such a conduct in those who served at the altar was perfectly consistent with their relation to that Being who condescended to be styled the King of Israel ; and under whom, even when they had kings, every king was only a viceroy. Thus they had the best opportunity of shewing, that religion was the friend of liberty ; that patriotism and piety should always run in the same channel ; and that love to God, and love to their country, should ever animate the tribes of Israel. What, indeed, could be more encouraging at the head of an army advancing to battle, than the priests blowing the silver trumpets,*^ And one of the servants of God addressing them, as commanded in Deut. xx. 1 — 4, <^ When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them ; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. » 1 Chron. xii. 27, 28, ^ 1 Chron. xi. 22—25; xxvii. 5, 6. ' Neh. xi. 14. ^ Numb. x. 9. THE PRIEST. 265 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the peo- ple, and say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye 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 you?" Accordingly, Nehemiah, a priest by birth, and a civil ruler of those who returned from Babylon, made use of the motives which a patriot and a saint would naturally urge against the enemies of his country :* ^^ Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible ; and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses." The subsistence of the priesthood was derived from the following sources: — In the first place, they had thirteen cities assigned them in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin,^ to be near the Temple, with a certain quan- tity of ground on every side. This quantity is defined in Numb. xxxv. 4, to reach from the city on every side to the distance of a thousand cubits ; and yet they were enjoined in verse 5, to measure from each side of the city two thousand cubits ; a difference which has occa- sioned some difiiculty among commentators. For if these two sums mean that three thousand cubits were to be set off on each side of the Levitical city, they would evi- dently include far too much. The most natural solution, therefore, seems to be a thousand cubits in length by a thousand cubits in breadth, hence called two thousand cubits ; since a single line on either side could not define space, without a boundary at either end. Adopting, then, this as the most natural explanation, we shall find that » Ch. iv. 14. k Josh. xxi. 13—19. 1 Chron. vi. 54—60. Vol. L L 1 266 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. a thousand cubits of 21 .888 inches each, multiplied into itself, and divided by the usual divisors, will give seven= ty-six English acres, one rood, tv^renty poles, and eighty square feet, as the quantity of ground on each side of the city ; or three hundred and five acres, two roods, and one pole around the whole ; making thus the whole portion of land that was allotted to the thirteen cities of the priesthood to amount to three thousand nine hun- dred and seventy-one English acres, two roods, thirteen poles. Such was their legal appointment for gardens, Vineyards, and pasture for their cattle ; besides a certain portion beyond that, which Maimonides says they had for burial. And these cities, with their suburbs, to use the language of modern times, were the manses and glebes of the Jewish clergy. Their stipends were as follow : — First, The portions of the sacrifices that were reserved from the altar; namely, the whole of the meat-offerings, except the handful of them that was burnt ;* the skins of all the burnt- offerings, that were offered by individuals ;^ the right shoulders, that were heaved;'' the breasts that were waved ;^ the cheeks and the maw of all the sacri- fices that any of the Jews off'ered;^ and the sodden shoulder of the Nazarite's peace-offering.^ It is easy to see what emolument these would bring to the priests on duty, under a ritual that abounded in sacrifices. All the families of the priests of the course that was in attend- ance, ate of these : that is to say, their wives, children, servants bought with money, and daughters, who, after being married, had either been divorced or become wi-. dows, provided they had no children. But neither stran- gers, nor hired servants might taste of them : and if any ^ Lev. ii. 3— 1« ; v. 13 ; vi. 14—18. Ezek. xlLv. 29. ^ Lev. vii. 8, ' Lev. vii, 32, 33. ^ Lev. vii. 34; x. 12—15. ' Deut, xvViL 3. ^ Numb. vi. 19, 20. THE PRIESTS. 267 person did it unwittingly, lie had to restore it, with a Hfth part more, to the priesthood." A second item of stipend arose from the first-fruits of the oil, wine, wheat, barley, and, in general, of every kind of crop.'' This, by the rabbins, was fixed at the fortieth, and not below the sixtieth, of the whole crop.'' The reason for fixing on the sixtieth part as the mini- mum was founded on Ezekiel xlv. 13, where it is said, that the oiFering which they should offer, was the sixth part of an ephah out of an homer, or the sixtieth part of the whole ; because an homer contained ten ephahs. Hence they took that distinction as the ground of their oiferings. Some, they said, gave the fortieth of their increase, which, being the greatest quantity given in this kind of oblations, they termed it, " the oblation of a good eye :" others, who were not so liberal, gave the fiftieth part ; these they termed " the oblation of a mid- dle eye :" and others, whom they reputed sordid, by giving only the sixtieth part, they termed ^^ the obla- tion of an evil eye.'' So that the payment of these was bounded, by the tradition of the elders, between the sixtieth and fortieth part. But the Pharisees, that they might be holy above others, made their bounds between the fiftieth and the thirtieth part : hence he was reputed sordid among them who paid the fiftieth part ; and none was accounted liberal Vk^ho did not pay the thirtieth.** The time of delivering the first-fruits to the priests was between the third and seventh months j because harvest was finished in, or before, the third month, but the vin- tage not till the seventh month. Accordingly, we are told in 2 Chron. xxxi. 5—7, that ^« the children of Is- rael brought the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and » Lev, xxii. 10—16. ^ Num. xviii. 12, 13. Deut. xviii. 4. Ezek.xliv. 30, <= Calmet's Diet. Art. First-fruits : and Li^htf. Heb, and Talm, Exer. on Matth. vi, 23. ^ Godwin's Moses and Aaron, book vi. chap. 2. 268 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. honey, and of all the increase of the field, and laid them up in heaps. In the third inonth they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month." A third item of Jewish stipend, was that of every thing devoted to the Lord. This depended, indeed, on the will of the people, but throughout all Judea it must have been considerable.* The following was the manner in which these vows were redeemed : — When a male or female of the human species was devoted to the Lord, the estimation was, for a male, between a month old and five years, five shekels, and a female of the same age, three shekels ; between five years old and twenty, the male was to be valued at twenty shekels, and the female at ten shekels ; between the years of twenty and sixty, a male was to be fifty shekels, and a female thirty she- kels ; and from sixty years old and upv/ard, the male was to be fifteen shekels, and the female ten shekels.^ Such was the estimation as to persons in general ; but if those who vowed were poor, the priest had the power of lowering the estimation. "^ With regard to beasts ac- counted clean, when any person vowed one of these to the Lord, it could not be exchanged, even for a better; and if it was exchanged, both the devoted beast and the exchanged became the Lord's.** And with respect to beasts accounted unclean, when one of these was vowed, it was valued by the priest, and either redeemed by the owner with a fifth part more than the valuation, or sold to any who chose to buy it at the valuation.^ In the €ase of houses that were vowed to the Lord, they were, appointed to be valued by the priest, and either re- deemed by the proprietor by giving a fifth part more » Num. xvii. I4. *> Lev. xxvii. 1 — 7. " lb. xxvii. 8. * lb. xxviii. 9, 10. ^ lb. xxvii. 1 1, 12, 13. 27. THE PRIESTS. 269 than the valuation, or considered the property of the priesthood.'* And as for those who vowed a part of the family inheritance, the estimation of the priest was fixed at fifty shekels for an homer of all the barley-seed re- quired for sowing the land; taking that as the maximum between jubilee and jubilee; but less in proportion to the number of years that had elapsed between these two periods. And if the proprietor wished to redeem his vow, he added a fifth part to the priest's estimation: but if it was either not redeemed at the above price, or was sold to another, it became at the jubilee the pro- perty of the priesthood.^ And when any person vowed land that had been purchased from another, but return- able to the proprietor at the year of jubilee, the priest w^as to value it, and the intermediate proprietor to pay according to his valuation, but not to add a fifth, be- cause he was not the perpetual proprietor." Such were the regulations concerning things devoted, whether re- deemable or not ; and every one must see, that they must have considerably augmented the funds of the priesthood. A fourth item of stipend among the Jews was the firstlings of cattle, or the first calf, lamb, kid, &c. which every cow, ewe, or goat should bring forth ;^ on account of their having been preserved when those of the Egyp- tians were destroyed.^ These must have been a fruitful source of support. They could not be redeemed with money; when eight days old they were delivered in kind:^ the blood and fat were offered to Jehovah, and the carcasses were the priests'.^ Asses, as being im- proper for food, were redeemed by a lamb, or else slain.'' » Lev. xxvii. 14, 15. ^ lb. xxvii. 16—21. ' lb. xxvii. 22, 23, 24. ^ Num. xviii. 15. 17, 18. ^ lb, viii. 17. f Exod. xxli. 30. 8 Num. xviii. 17. ^ Exod. xiii. 13. 270 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. And all the firstlings of unclean beasts were to be re- deemed and given to the priests.* A fifth item was the first fleece of all the sheep;* which, in a pastoral country must have produced much. A sixth item was the first-born of man, on account of their having been preserved when the first-born of the Egyptians were destroyed;"" every male child, that ar- rived at a month old, was appointed to be redeemed with five shekels,"^ or about 12*. 6c?. of our money. And liow much this would come to may be ascertained from Num. iii. 43, where the first-born males of all Israel, from a month old and upward, are stated to be 22,273. But these are the first-born of a whole generation ; let us therefore divide them by thirty-three, the commonly- assigned length of a generation, and we have six hun- dred and seventy-three as the average of the first-born males for one year, which at five shekels each, makes 421/. 175. 6c?. Calmet tells us,^ that the ceremony of redemption among the modern Jews is as follows : — If the first-born be a girl, there is no redemption, let the children afterwards be ever so many; but, if a boy, then, when he is thirty days old, a descendant of Aaron is sent for, who is most agreeable to the father, and the company being met, the father brings gold or silver in a cup or basin, to the value of five shekels at least. Then the child is put into the priest's hands, who asks the mother aloud, whether the boy be her's ? And if she had any other male, or female, or untimely birth ? To all of which, when satisfactory answers are given, the priest declares that the child, as first-born, belongs, to him, but that he is willing to restore him to his law- ful parent, on receiving the money which the law en- =• Lev. xxviii. 27, ^ Deut. xviii, 4. "^ Num. viii. 17. <* lb. xvii. 16. <= Art. First-born. THE PRIESTS. 271 joins. The money in the cup is accordingly delivered, being more or less, according to the ability of the pa- rent, and the day is concluded with rejoicing. But if the father or mother be of the family of Aaron, they do not redeem their first-born. Buxtorff'' adds several other circumstances to those of Calmet; for their usages are different in different countries. A seventh item of Jewish stipend was, the tenth of the tithes, which the Levites collected as their right, throughout the tribes. They were commanded to de- vote that part as a heave- offering to Jehovah ; which, like all the other heave-offerings, belonged to the priests.'' What the value of this tenth of the whole tithes of Israel might be, it is impossible to say : but in a district of two hundred miles long, by above one hun- dred broad, taking in both the sides of Jordan, it could not be trifling. An eighth item was, the fifth part that was added to every estimation of trespass, in the things of the Lord.*^ Lastly, the fruit was unclean for the first three years, of all the trees that were planted ; but, in the fourth year, all the fruit was the Lord's ; and, consequently, the property of the priesthood.*^ Such were the funds allotted to the priests ; and if the consideration of their amount should create a suspi- cion, that part of them was intended for the use of the Temple, it may be remarked, that the half shekel, which was enjoined in Exod. xxx. 11 — 16, to be paid by every male of twenty years old and upwards, for the service of the sanctuary, when they were numbered, and whose value and application at that time are particularly men- tioned in Exod. xxxviii. 25 — ^28, became afterwards a » Synag. Juda. cap. 6. '' Num. xviii. 26 — 31. <= Lev. V. 15, 16. <* lb. xix. 23, 24. 272 ANTHiUlTIES OF THE JEWS. yearly tax, and was regularly collected by the proper persons, before and at the feast of the passover. No\\> what would have been the use of these half shekels, if the ordinary expenses had been defrayed out of the funds appropriated to the priesthood ? Must it not be obvious to every one, that so large a sum, rigidly ex- acted, was fully equal to the annual ordinary expenses? Nor are we to suppose that these half shekels were con- fined to Judea, for they were paid by every proselyte;" and, in Josephus,^ we have the decrees of Augustus to the Roman empire ; of Agrippa to the Ephesians and people of Cyrene; of Flaccus, the proconsul, to the Sar- dinians ; and of Antonius, the proconsul, to the Ephe- sians, forbidding any to prevent the sacred money from being sent to Jerusalem. And we are further told,'= that the Jews in Babylon, depending on the strength of the cities Neerda and Nisibis, " deposited in them that half shekel, which every one, by the custom of their coun- try, offered to God ; as well as the other things they had devoted to him; for they made use of these cities as a treasury, whence, at a proper time, they were trans- mitted to Jerusalem ; and many thousand men," adds Josephus, " undertook the carriage of these donations, out of fear of the ravages of the Parthians, to whom the Babylonians were then subject." On the festivals, the priests were supplied in the fol- lowing way : — From those nine parts, which remained to the proprietors of Judea, after the tithe was paid to the Levites, they took another tenth part, which wa5 either carried to Jerusalem in kind, or if that they were, too far, they sent the value of it in money, adding thereto a fifth from the whole, as the rabbins inform us ; ^ in » Ps. Ixviii. 3(X ^ Antiq. xvi. 6. <- lb. xviii. 9.. '' Lyran.Deut. xxvi. 12. tttE PtllESTS. 273 order, with both, to defray the expense of the public festivals.'^ It is in reference to this, that they explain Deut. xiv. 22, 23. " Thou shalt surely tithe all the in- crease of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy oil, and of the firstlings of thy herds, and of thy flocks: that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.^''' Josephus also speaks of these feasts which were made in the Temple, and in the holy city.'' We may therefore conclude, that the nine preceding articles were the sti- pends of the Jewish priesthood ; and that God intended them to be so liberal, in order to give weight to their in- structions, as well as to compensate for their having no lot among the tribes of Israel. Indeed, we have positive evi- dence that, besides the regular collection of the half shekel annually, for the ordinary expenses of the Temple, the morning and evening burnt- offerings for the sabbaths, for the new moons, and for the set feasts, were provided, not by the priests, but by the king, in order to keep the stipends entire for their support.*^ It is but just, however, to own, that when the nation was poor, after their return from the Captivity, and when mutual privations became necessary, the funds of the priesthood were evidently trenched upon, and part of them was applied to the support of the Temple f with the consent, no doubt, of that body, who were as for- ward, as others to give their aid to the support of reli- gion, when necessity required their example. I have not been able to learn in what proportions these items of support were divided ; but, as the priests were » Godwin's Moses and Aaron, book vi. ch. 3. '' Calmet Art. Tithes. 0 Antiq.iv.8. •< 2Chron.xxxi.3. Ezravi.8— 10; vii.l6, 17.Ezek.xlv, 17. • Neh, X. 32—39. Vol. I. M m. ^74 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. positively precluded from inheritances in land, and yet appear to have been possessed of very different degrees of wealth, it would seem but natural to conclude^ that there was some scale of proportions, according to which the ranks of the priesthood received their respective shares. Indeed, we have some general mention of this in 2 Chron. xxxi. 15 — 19. Thus have we run over a variety of particulars re- specting the priesthood : there are yet, however, two things, which one would wish to know respecting them, and these are their marriages and numbers. Of their marriages we know but little. Like the high priests, they were forbidden to marry a widow, or one divorced ; but might marry virgins, or the widow of a priest ;* and it was reckoned disgraceful to marry either into families of bad character, or having hereditary diseases.^ Concerning their numbers^ we have very few hints in Scripture. When God made choice of the family of Aa- ron, a short time after the Israelites came out of Egypt, A.M. 2514, and before Christ, 1490, there were only himself and his four sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar ;" the two eldest of whom soon died,^ and left the priesthood exclusively to the families of Eleazar and Ithamar. We have no more notice of them, as distinct from the rest of the tribe of Levi, for four hundred and forty-three years, or till the time that the Israelites met to make David king, A.M.. 2957, and before Christ 1047, when Jehoiada is said to be the leader of three thousand seven hundred Aaronites; and Zadok, another person mighty in valour, with twenty-two captains, all his brethren.^ The next notice we have of them is a » Ezek. xliv. 22. '' Lev. xxi. 7. " Exod, xxviii, 1 ^ Lev. X. 1, 2. « 1 Chron. xii. 27, 28. THE PRIESTS. 275 short time after, at the bringmg up of the ark from Kir- jathjearim, but they are not particularly specified i'' it is only said in what manner some of them were employed on the occasion.^ It may be remarked, that at this time^ and for a great while before, the ark and tabernacle were in separate places ; the one being formerly at Kir- jathjearim, and Obededom, and now at Jerusalem, while the tabernacle of the congregation remained at Gibeon : now, therefore, was the time when the pious David ap- pointed attendants for each ; for Benaiah and Jahaziel was appointed to the ark at Jerusalem," and Zadok and his brethren to the tabernacle at Gibeon.** Afterwards, however, he altered this arrangement ; for, having pro- posed to build a temple to Jehovah, and the proposal having been accepted, God gave him, by particular in- spiration,^ a model of the temple and all its service ; and therefore, among other things, he divided the priesthood into twenty-four courses, but without giving us the sum total of the order/ We have already seen, that the number of those who returned from Babylon was four thousand two hundred and eighty-nine ;^ some of these had unfortunately taken strange wives, •" whom they af- terwards divorced ; but the whole of them, when Nehe- miah came, were so changed to the better, that the heads of their families signed the national covenant of adhe- rence to the true worship of Jehovah ;' and most of them resided at Jerusalem, where their presence and influence were much needed. We have the number of those who resided at Jerusalem particularly mentioned in Neh. xi. 10 — 14. They were one thousand one hundred and ninety-two ; and were a part of the one thousand seven hundred and sixty which are mentioned in 1 Chron. ix. » 1 Chron. xv. 4, 5. *> Verse 24. ■= 1 Clwon. xvi. 6. ^ lb. xvi. 39, 40. « lb. xxviii. 11—19. ' lb. xxiv. 1. « Ezr», ii. 36—39, h lb, x. 19—22. t Neh. x. 1—8. 276 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 10 — 13 ; the rest being scattered throughout the coun- try.* Yet we are not to suppose that the Jews, who served in their courses at the Temple, in our Saviour's days, were so very few : for, in the Hebrew writings, we read of numerous stations of them in different places ; and Josephus'' says, that there were four tribes of priest's and every tribe above five thousand persons. Now this happened after our Saviour's death ; for Josephus was living at the time that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. There is one thing still which we ought to notice con- cerning the priesthood, and that is, the care that was taken to prevent them from being polluted by any cere- monial defilement; and, consequently, disqualified for public service. Now, in this respect, they were to be holier than other men ; for, besides the caution to avoid ordinary violations of the Divine law,*" their mourning for the dead, and consequent defilement on that account, was confined to the nearest relations,^ lest the service of God should be interrupted. The preceding statements contain all that is necessary to be known at present y concerning the priesthood. Any other observations Vvhich such a religious establishment may suggest, will be noticed when we treat of the other -orders who ministered at the Temple. SECTION IV. The Levites. 'J"he reason why they were cliosen ; nature of their ennployment during the Ta- bernacle. The twenty-four courses during the Temple ; three catalogues of these. Their employments while at the Temple, threefold, 1st. As porters and servants through the day. 2nd. As guards along with the priests dui-ing =• Neh. xi. 20. ^ In his second book against Apion. ' Lev. xxii. 1—10. ^ Ley. sxi. 1—3. THE LEVITES. 277 the night. The man of the Mountain of the House, who ? 3cl. As musicians. The temple Music, cither vocal or instrumental. The instrumental music, three kinds. 1st. Wind instruments, as the trumpet, flute, timbrel, tabret, and organ. 2d, Instruments with strings, as the psaltery and harp. 3d. Those that sounded by concussion, as the cymbals. A particular account of all these. The maximum and minimum of the Temple band. Account of the music during divine service. The psalms sung on the different days of the week. Every psalm divided into three parts : the 24th Psalm given as an ex- ample. The meaning of Selah, and the number of times it occurs in Scrip- ture. How the Levites were employed at home. The age when they might serve, and could retire from service; the form of their consecration ; their distinctive dress. The thirty-five Levitical cities : the Cities of Refuge de- scribed ; the other funds for their support ; their numbers. After having treated of the priests, the ministers of the Temple, next in order, that present themselves to our consideration, are the Levites. These included the whole tribe of Levi, except the family of Aaron ; and they were chosen to the service of the Tabernacle and Temple in place of the first-born of the males of Israel, which, in Old Testament times, were accounted holy to the Lord.^ Accordingly, when the numbers of the two were taken, and the Levites were found to be considerably fewer than the first-born males of Israel,^ those of the first-born that were too many, were ordered to be redeemed at the rate of five shekels, or 12s. 6d. each, allowing the shekel to be half-a-crown ;" and the money to be given to Aaron and his sons, as a part of their allotted subsistence.'* At that time, also, as the Levites stood in need of cattle to feed round the su- burbs of their cities, and afford them the conveniences of milk, butter, cheese, and animal food, so the cattle which they then happened to have, were considered at that time, as an equivalent for all the firstlings of the cattle that the Israelites then had. And, accordingly, the firstlings were not then brought, as they were en- » Numb. lii. 12. ^ lb. iii. 43; iii. 22. 28. 34. ' lb. iii. 4r. * lb. iii. 48— 51, 278 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. joined to be in the succeeding years, to the altar, and to the priesthood.'* Having thus seen their original appointment, let us next consider the nature of their office. Under the Tabernacle, their office was to carry it, and its furniture, from place to place ; after they had been packed up by the priests :^ and each of the families of the Levites had its particular department. Thus the Gershonites carried the Tabernacle, the tent and its covering, the hanging of the door of the Tabernacle, the hanging of the court, the curtain for the door of the court, which was by the Tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords,' for which they were al- lowed two waggons, drawn by two oxen each.** The Ko- hathites carried the ark, the table of the shew bread, the candlestick, the two altars of burnt-offering and in- cense, the vessels of the sanctuary, the hangings, and all the service thereof,^ for which they were allowed no waggons, because these were carried on their shoulders.^ The Merarites carried the boards of the Tabernacle, the bars, pillars, sockets, and vessels thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords,^ for which they were allowed four waggons, drawn by two oxen each.'* In this manner they proceeded in all their journeys ; and when they settled in a place, and had erected the Tabernacle, the different families pitched themselves around it in the fol- lowing order : — The Gershonites behind it on the west;' the Kohathites on the south ;'' the Merarites on the north;" and Aaron and his sons on the east:" and all of them assisted Aaron and his family in taking care of => Numb. iii. 41. ^ lb. iv. 4—15. ' lb. iii. 25, 26 ; iv. 24—28. ^ lb. vii. 7. ' Numb. iii. 31 ; iv. 4—15. * lb. vii. 9. g lb. iii. 36, 37; iy. 31, 32. ^ lb. vii. 8. « lb. iii. 23. f= lb. iii. 29. ' lb. iii, 35. » lb. iii. 38. THE LEVITES. 279 the Tabernacle when it was pitched, — only they were not allowed to approach the altar.* Such appears to have been the nature of their ser- vice while in the wilderness ; but when they came into Canaan, it was somewhat altered : for, while part of them attended the Tabernacle and ark, the rest were distributed through the land, in the several cities that were allotted to them. These cities are commonly said to be forty-eight ; but it was not strictly so, for thirteen of them were the residence of the priests,^ and only thirty- five the cities of the Levites ; the names of which, and the tribes in which they were situated, may be seen by consulting Josh. xxi. 20 — 42, and 1 Chron. vi. 64 — 81. It is generally known, also, that six of these Aaronical and Levitical cities were styled Cities of Refuge, because they were appointed for those who had unintentionally been guilty of murder.'' Now, as the unofficiating Le- vites had a residence in thirty-five of these cities, and possessed a kind of sacred character, it is natural to think that they would employ themselves in something suited to that character. Accordingly, they are thought to have assisted in preparing the minds of the young for waiting with profit on the public ordinances. In short, while the family of Aaron were the established ministers, they have been considered as the established schoolmas- ters of the children of Israel.'* In the days of David, we find a third alteration taking place in the service of the Levites : for, when God accepted his intention of build- ing a temple to his name, he also gave him a draft of that sacred edifice, and of the courses of the Levites that should attend it.^ While the priests, therefore, were di- " lb. xviii. 2— r. b Josh. xxi. 13—19. 1 Chron. vi. 54—60. = Deut. iv. 41 — 43. Josh. xx. 2—9. * Lightfoot's Harm, of the Four Evangelists, part i. § 7, and part iii. § 17. " I Chron, xxviii. 12, 13. 280 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. vided into twenty-four courses, that they might attend the Temple weekly, and only officiate about two weeks in the year, the Levites were divided into twenty-four courses also. In the first Book of Chronicles, we have four times twenty-four courses of Levites mentioned, but all their offices are not distinctly stated. The first is in ch. xxiii. 7 — 23, and stands thus : — Gershon-^ Kohath < Merari 1. Jehiel. 2. Zetham. 3. JoeL 4. Shelomith. 5. Haziel. 6. Ha ran. 7. Jahath. 8. Zina. 9. Jeush. 10. Beriah. ^, C Gershom. 11. ShebuelEli- ^ ^^ ^ ezer. 12. Rehabiah. 13. Shelomith, the chief. 14. Jeriah. 15. Amariah. 16. Ja- haziel. 17. Jekaraeam. 18. Micah. 19. Jesiah. 20. Eleazar. 21. Kish. 22. Mahli. 23. Eder. 24. Jere- moth. This is the first catalogue of the twenty-four courses ; but I cannot determine to what department they were appointed. It is probable, from the fifth verse, that they were either porters or musicians. Those who examine the passage where they are mentioned, will find Shimei mentioned in the ninth verse : but he is evidently mis- placed, for his sons are given in the tenth verse ; and the end of the ninth verse plainly tells us, that the per- sons mentioned in it, were not his sons, but those of Laadan. We have a second catalogue of Levites. divided into twenty-four courses, in 1 Chron. xxiv. 20 — 31; as follows : — THE LEVITES. 5281 Gershon Kohath Merari -< None. Amram Izhar Hebron Uzziel Mahli Mushi Jaaziah I. Shubael. 2. His son Jehdeiah. 3. Rehabiah. 4. His son Isshiah. 5. Shelomith. 6. His son Jahath. 7. Jeriah. 8. Amariah. 9. Jaha- ziel. 10. Jekameam. II. Michah. 12. His son Shamir. 13. Isshiah. 14. His son Zecha- riah. 15. Eleazar. 16. Kish. 17. His son Jerahmeel. 18. Mahli. 19. Eder. 20. Jere- moth. 21. Beno. 22. Shoham. 23. Zac- cur. 24. Ibri. In this catalogue we have almost the same names as in the former, only the sons of some of them are also added ; and the reason given for it is, that '•' they like- wise cast lots over against their brethren, the sons of Aaron, in the presence of David the king, and Zadok and Ahimelech, and the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites, even the principal fathers over against their younger brethren."" The third catalogue is given us in 1 Chron. xxv. 1, &c. where the courses are first classed, according to their employment of musicians, and then in the order in which they served. Their arrangement according to their employment is as follows : — 1. Asaph. 2. Jeduthan. Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, Azarelah. Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, Mattithiah, Jesharelah.'' » 1 Chron. xxiv. 31. ■> I have added Jesharelah to make up the six ; because, in the third verse, although he is said to have six sons, five only are mentioned ; and in comparing them with the courses, Jesharelah is mentioned as one additional. Vol. T. N n *i52 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 3. Heman. Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Elia- thah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Josh- bekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Maha- zioth. According to their courses they served as follows : — 1. Joseph; 2. Gedaliah ; 3. Zaccur; 4. Izri; 5. Ne- thaniah ; 6. Bukkiah ; 7. Jesharelah ; 8. Jeshaiah ; 9. Mattaniah ; 10. Shimei, who I take to be the same as Uzziel in the above table, because all the names corres- pond but his; 11. Azareel, or Azarelah ; 12. Hasha- biah; 13. Shubael, or Shebuel; 14. Mattithiah ; 15. Jerimoth; 16. Hananiah; 17. Joshbekashah ; 18. Hana- ni; 19. Mallothi ; 20. Eliathah; 21. Hothir; 22, Gid- dalti; 23. Mahazioth ; arid, 24. Romamti-ezer. After the above list of the musicians, we have only- one other calalogue, viz, that of the twenty-four courses of porters : this is inserted in 1 Chron. xxvi. 1 — 12, and stands as follows : — Kore Meshelemiah Obededom Merari Hosah 1. Zechariah. 2. Jedaiel. 3. Zebadiah, 4. Jathniel. 5. Elam. 6. Jehohanan. 7. Eli- oenai. Shemaiah, whose sons were, 8. Othni. 9. Raphael. 10. Obed. 11. Elzabad. 12. Elihu. 13. Semachiah. , 14. Jehozabad. 15. Joah. 16. Sacur. 17. Nethaneel. 18. Ammiel. 19. Issachar. 20. Peulthai. 21. Simri. 22. Hilkiah. 2;>. Tebaliah. 24. Zechariah. These were the twenty-four courses of porters : their different posts are given in 1 Chron. xxvi. 13 — 16; and it would appear from 1 Chron. xxvi. 17 — 19, that the THE LEVITES. 283 guard of Levites for each day was twenty-four. In 1 Chron. ix. 20 — 34, we have some additional particulars, respecting the articles of which they had the charge. As the business of the Levites under the second Tem- ple was much the same as under the first, it will not be necessary to discuss it in a separate article ; we shall, therefore, here consider at once the office of the Levites under both Temples. And first, of their acting as por- ters and servants to the priests in the Temple. In the preceding tables of courses we have seen that the porters were distinct from the singers ; and, accor- dingly, in the Temple service, the one, we are told, might not intrude on the office of the other ; nor either of them on the priesthood. The office of the porters was threefold : — 1. They opened the doors into the outer wall which led into the Court of the Gentiles, and the east, north, and south doors of the Court of the Women ; for the priest opened the west, and all the other doors that led into the Court of Israel. They attended in these gates through the day, twenty-four in number, so as to pre- vent any prejudice that might happen to the purity, safety, or peace of the Temple ;* and they shut them at night. 2. They had the charge of keeping the gilding that was around the gates (formerly mentioned) clear and bright. 3. Their's, likewise, was the care of the treasure cham- bers at their respective wards, for we find four of the chief porters so appointed in I Chron. ix. 26 ; and their names and articles of trust are given in 1 Chron. xxvi. 20—29 ; 2 Chron. xxxi. 12—14. But besides their acting as porters and servants through •* 1 Chron. xxvi. 17,18. !284 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the day, we are informed, in the second place, that they acted as gua7'ds of the Temple, in conjunction with the priests, during the night. These stations were twenty- four in number, and were as follow : — One at the east gate of the outer wall, or the gate Shushan; one at the north gate Tedi ; two at the two south gates of Huldah ; and one at the north-west gate Coponius. The three other gates on that quarter, of Parbar, and the two Asuppim, although they had porters through the day, had no guards appointed them in the night, either because the steepness of the ascent without formed the security, or because they were provided for in some other way. Thus, there were five guards during the night round the gates of the outer wall: but, besides these there were four others in the four cornei^ of the Court of the Gen- tiles; so that, round the outer wall, there were no fewer than nine guards. If we approach nearer the Temple, there was one at each of the four corners of the wall that surrounded the Courts of the Women and of Israel; who had their stations without the wall, but within the Sacred Fence. The east, north, and south gates, that led into the Court of the Women, had no guards, pro- bably because they thought them sufliciently defended by the guards already mentioned. But the Courts of Israel and the priests being far more sacred, a number of guards was stationed around them. Thus the Levites had a nightly station at the east gate of Nicanor, which led from the Court of the Women into the Court of Is- rael : one at the gate of Firstlings, and two at the gate of Kindling, both on the south side : one immediately, behind the Most Holy Place on the west, although there was no gate in that quarter, probably out of respect. And on the north side there were two at the gate Cor- ban, or Kerben, opposite the porch, and one at the gate Nitsuo; opposite the altar, thereby making ei^ht in all, THE LEVITES. 285 while the priests had three stations, — viz. one at Bith- muked, on the north-west ; one at the gate Nitsiio, on the north-east; and one at the Water Gate on the south- east. Having thus enumerated them, let us see how the account stands : At five of the gates in the outer wall there were - 5 At the four corners of the Court of the Gentiles - 4 At the four corners of the wall within the Sacred Fence „ - - . - 4 The Levitical guards round the Court of Israel - 8 The priests' guards round the Court of Israel - 3 In all 24 Thus the whole guards round the Temple every night were twenty-four ; of which twenty-one were Levites, and three were priests. But in a matter of such importance as that of defend- ing the Temple, it is natural to think that an overseer would be appointed over these guards to see that every one did his duty. And, accordingly, we noticed,* that the third class of overseers in the Temple was this very person. His common name was " The Man of the Moun- tain of the House :" and Maimonides tells us, " that if he found any not standing, he said unto him, ' Peace be unto thee,' having thus a respect to human weakness ; but if he found any asleep, he immediately struck him, and sometimes setfire to his garments. So that they would sometimes say to their next neighbour, ^ What noise is yonder in the Court?' and would receive for answer, <' It is the noise of a Levite beaten, and his coat burnt because he slept upon guard.' " Perhaps it is to this that our glorified Redeemer refers, when he says, in » Fart iii. § ii. 286 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Rev. xvi. 15, " Behold I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Dr. Lowth, in his new translation of Isaiah,* sup- poses that the hundred and thirty-fourth psalm gives us an example of the manner in which the watchmen of the Temple acted during the night; and that the whole psalm is nothing more that the alternate cry of two dif- ferent divisions. The first of which addresses the second, reminding them of their duty, and the second answers by a solemn blessing. The address and the answer, he thinks, seem both to be a set form which each division proclaimed, or sung aloud, at stated intervals, to notify the time of night. The following is his translation and division of the psalm : — First chorus, ^^ Come on now, bless ye Jehovah ; all ye servants of Jehovah, ye that stand in the house of Jehovah in the nights ; lift up your hands towards the sanctuary and bless ye Jehovah." Second chorus, ^* Je- hovah, bless thee out of Zion ; he that made heaven and earth." Were I to form a conjecture on this psalm, I should differ a little from that learned prelate, and suppose it to be the address of, and response to, the Man of the Mountain of the House, as he was going his nightly rounds; or the address and response of the com- panies when they came to change guard. Having seen how one division of the Levites acted as porters through the day, and another as guards through the night; let us next attend to those whose office it was to act as musicians. These we already mentioned in a . general way, when speaking of the third catalogue of the courses, as recorded in 1 Chron. xxv. 1, &c. ; and it m^y now be added, that, on grand occasions, when » Ch, Ixii. 6. Note. THE LEVITES. 287 a full band was formed^ the family of Heman sung in the midle;" the family of Asaph on his right hand;^ and the family of Ethan on his left ;" the ordinary place of singing, being (as we have already seen) between the Court of Israel and the altar, in the east end of the Court of the Priests. But although the Levites were the appointed ministers of song, we are not to suppose that they exclusively performed at the Temple service; for the Jewish writers tell us, that those of the Israelites who were men of note, and married to any daughters of the priests, might sometimes ascend the desk, and join the department of instrumental music with the particular instruments on which they excelled ; but they were not permitted, on any account, to join in the vocal, that being considered the most solemn part. Perhaps it was this which gave occasion for the observation in 2 Sam, vi. 5, at the bringing up the ark from Kirjathjearim, that ^' David and all the house of Israel played on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and cymbals." In the vocal department there might never be fewer than twelve, because that was particularly mentioned at their first appointment f but there was no restriction as to any number above it. And although the Levites' children were not permitted at other times to enter the Court, yet when their fathers attended, they were al- lowed to stand between their feet and join in the psalm. Two reasons are commonly assigned for this conduct : the first from Scripture, because it is mentioned in Ezra iii. 9, that Jeshua, Kadmiel, and Henadad attended with their sons ; and the second from the Gemara, when the • 1 Chron. vi. 33—38. <• lb. vi. 39—43. = lb. vi. 44— 4^. * I Chroo. xxv. ?, 288 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. variety of voices, as sweetening the music, is particularly noticed. Might not a third with as great propriety have been added, — viz. that it was creating a reverence in their young minds for the service of the sanctuary, and preparing them to act when officially called upon ? Calniet, in his Dictionary, when treating of the Jewish music, takes occasion to remark, that women as well as men were often employed in the vocal department of the Temple music; and that they were always the daughters of the Levites. His arguments for which are the follow- ing:— Heman is said to have had fourteen sons and three daughters who sang in the House of the Lord."* The ninth psalm is addressed to Benaiah, chief of the band of young women, who sang in the Temple. Ezra, in his enumeration of those whom he brought back with him from the Captivity, reckons up two hundred singing men and singing women.^ The Chaldee paraphrast on Ecclesiastes ii. 8, where Solomon says that he procured singing men and singing women, understands it of sing- ing women for the Temple. And in 1 Chron. xv. 20, it is said in the Hebrew, that Zechariah, Aziel, and She- miramoth presided over the seventh band of music, which was that of the young women. To which we may add Psalm Ixviii. 25, where women are mentioned. But besides the voice we frequently hear of the use of instruments in the Old Testament worship. These were commonly of three kinds — wind instruments, in- struments with strings, and. those which gave their sounds by percussion. The wind instruments were the following — the trumpet, the flute, hautboy or timbrel, the tabor or tabret, and the organ. With respect to the trumpet (nni^^H or nSItT?) its form is generally known. It was always used by the » 1 Chron. xxv. 5, 6. >» Ch. u. 65. TKE LEVITES. 289 pl'iests,* both on extraordinary occasions,^ and in the daily service/ but not along with the music, for it com- monly sounded while the music paused. The number of trumpets in the public service of the sanctuary and Temple could never be less than two, founded on Num. X. 2, nor above one hundred and twenty, because that was the number at the beginning of the Temple service.^ The place where the priests stood with the trumpets was different from that of the other musicians ; for while the Levites were in their desks on the east of the altar, the priests were beside the marble table on the south- west of the altar, yet both of them stood with their faces to the altar. The manner of blowing the trumpets was, first by a long plain blast, then by one with breakings and quaverings, and then by a long plain blast again. The Jews called this way of blowing the trumpets ihekuoe theruoe thekuoe {T^)^^pT^ T\)^*r\Ty Hi^lpn?) and in their abbreviated way of writing, they used to express it by the three initial letters — thus, iiriH- In our lan- guage the blowing of the trumpet is often described by the arbitrary word taratantara ; but if such a word were to describe the Jewish manner, it should be tantaratarij making the flourish in the middle, and the plain notes at either end. Concerning the number of times that the trumpets sounded, the Jews, though apparently at va- riance, are in reality agreed. For while some say that they never sounded less than twenty-one times in a day, nor more than forty- eight ; and others, that they never sounded less than seven times a day, nor more than six- teen ; it is evident that the one class counted every blast by its parts, and the other by its whole. Thus in each blast there were three parts — two plain notes and a a Numb. X, 8, 1 Chron. xv. 24. '' Numb. x. 10. « 2 Chron, vii. 6 ; xxix. 26. * 2 Chron. v. 12'. Vol. I. Go 290 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. flourish : now seven times three are twenty-one, or the minimum ; and sixteen times three form forty- eight, or the maximum. Next to the trumpet was the helil or abub, meaning the Jlute, or hautboy (tSh oi* ^*)iN?) vvhich our trans- lators frequently render timbrel, but improperly ; for the timbrel, in our language, is a stringed, and not a wind instrument.'' The Jews, in their Gemara, give us the following account of it : — " Our rabbins have deli- vered,'' say they, " that there was an abub or pipe in the sanctuary. It was smooth, thin, made of reed, and so old as the days of MOses. The king commanded, and they gilded it with gold, but it was not so sweet as be- fore ; they took off the gilding, and the sound was as sweet as ever." With the flute, hautboy, or timbrel (as our translators have rendered it,) is frequently joined the thep, mean- ing the tabor or tabret (fljl) : hut in place of the tabor or tabret, our translators have it often the dance^ thus substituting, rather improperly, the effect for the cause ; for although in common life the tabret might have been employed to encourage dancing,*^ it certainly was not in- troduced into the Temple service with that design, un- less we refer it to the solemn dancing at the nightly re- joicings during the feast of tabernacles. It resembled in form the flute or hautboy, only it had fewer holes, and consequently possessed a more limited range of musical notes. The ogeb or organ (DJip) also is often mentioned in the Old Testament service ; but we can hardly imagine that it was like the modern organ. It seems, from Eze- kiel xxxiii. 31, rather to have been a kind of flute com- » Exod. XV. 20. Judges xi. 34. •» Exod. XV. IJO. Judges xi. 34- Ps. cxlix. 3 \ cl. 4. " Job xvii. 6, THE LEVITES. 291 nosed oF several pipes of unequal thickness and length joined together, which gave an harmonious sound when they were blown into by moving them successively under the'lower Up.^ And it is worthy of remark, that, ui the additional psalm which we have in the Septuagint, David says of himself, when a shepherd, "My hands made the organ" (Al x^ig^g ^lov ETtoiYiaav o^yavov,) which seems to shew that these translators meant by opyavov, some kind of pastoral instrument of music not unlike that described by Virgil, " A pipe formed of seven unequal reeds" — Dlsparibus septem compacta cicutis Fistula.'' Which Ovid tells us were joined with wax— Disparibus calamis compagine cerx Inter se junctis.'= Such were the wind instruments that were used in the service of the Temple.— 7%e instruments with strings were the psaltery and harp. The psalteri/, nabla, or nebel {h^^^^Y obtained its name from its resemblance to a bottle or flaggon, and began to be in use in the time of David ; for although we find it frequently mentioned by succeeding writers, it is never spoken of by any before him. Hesychius says it was " a harsh sounding instrument" {hvanxov,) but others highly commend it. Thus Bochart^ quotes a passage from the Adulterer of Philomen, where, when one says that he is ignorant of the nabla, the answer is given— ii Not know the nabla? Then thou knowest nothing that is good" {Ovx oLoda ^a^^av ; ovbsv ovv oiaB' ayaBov.) Jo- sephus's account of it is, that " it had twelve sounds, or musical notes, and was struck or played upon by the « Calmet's Diet. Art. Music, and Lucretius, lib. iv. ver. 592, 593. ^ ,, , .. n« ' Met. lib. i. Im. 711. *> Eel. 11. V. 36. d Psal. cl, 3. 2 Chron. xxix. 25. = Vol. i. p. 728. 292 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lingers" ('H 6e valSia, 6u8exa cpdoyyovg £')(pvGa, ton; haKTvXoiq xpovErai.y We learn, likewise, from Ovid^ that in the act of playing, it was turned about with both the hands — Disce etiam dupUci ^enial'ia nablia palma Vertere ; conveiaunt dulcibus ilia modis;'' a circumstance which will be fully explained by the fol- lowing short account of the modern psaltery. It is in the form of a triangle truncated at top, strung with thir- teen wire chords set to unison or octave, and mounted on two bridges on the two sides. It is struck, not with the fingers, as of old, but with a plectrum, or little iron rod, and sometimes with a crooked stick.'' The ciniir or harp ("llj^), was something like that in modern use. It had ten strings, and was played upon by David with the hand ;** but Josephus's account of it is, that it had ten strings, and was played upon, or struck with a plectrum, "H ^v xLVvpa, hsxa j^op8ai/; e^y!(i^£vyjf rvTiTErai TtXYixrpa.^ It does not appear, how- ever, to have had always the same number of strings ; for Rabbi Judah says, in the Gemara, that " the ciniir or harp of the sanctuary had seven strings ; but in the days of the Messias it would have eight : according as it is said. To him that excelleth upon sheminith, or upon the eighth string of the world to come.'' In the first Temple the psalteries and harps were made of the algum trees that came from Ophir. Such were the wind and stringed instruments in use among the Jews: but there is one remaining which comes under neither of these descriptions — I mean the tseltself- or the cymbals (^V'^V-) These, Josephus*^ tells us, were '^ broad and large plates of brass," {Kv^^a^a re yjv » Antiq. vii. 12. ^ D& Arte Amandi, lib. iii. = Eiif.ycl. Perthcnsis, art. Psaltery. ^ ISam. xvi. 23. « Antiq. vii, 12. * Ibid. THE LEVITES. 293 nXatea Jtat ^yaXa ;^aA-;fea) of a convex form ; whichj being struck against each other, made a hollow ringing sound. They are commonly used in our days in every military hand. In the Gemara and Jerusalem Talmud, we are told of " a cymbal in the sanctuary made of brass, whose sound was very sweet. It became cracked, and the wise men sent to Alexandria for workmen to mend it, but when mended it was not so sweet as before; they, therefore, took off* the mending, and allowed it to con- tinue as it was." In 2 Sam. vi. 5, we find D*I?i)^^Q rendered cornets, which are wind instruments resembling the trumpets, but the best Hebrew scholars render it sistnims. These, as the Hebrew word imports, were played upon by shaking, and were thus made : — they were of an oval figure, or a dilated semicircle in the shape of a shoulder- belt, with brass wires across, which pL.yed in holes, wherein they were stopped by their flat heads. They were played on by shaking in cadence, and thereby the brass wires made a shrill and loud noise.* They were not used in the Temple. The eastern instrument named the diff*, and our tambourines, are instruments of the same kind with the sistrums. Having thus described the several instruments in the musical part of the Temple service; it may now be pro- per to consider the proportion which they bore to each other. We have already seen that there could not be less than twelve voices, though there might be as many more as they chose ; and that there could not be fewer than two trumpets, nor more than one hundred and twenty. We may now add, that there could not be fewer than two flutes, hautboys, or timbrels, nor more than twelve ; » See Calmet's Diet, also Virgil's JEneid, viii. 696. 294 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the number of tabrets is not mentioned ; but of psalte- ries there could not be fewer than two, nor more than six ; of harps not fewer than nine, but as many more as they judged necessary ; and there could only be one cymbal for the bass. Thus the least band that could ap- pear was composed of twelve singers, two trumpeters, two tabrets,'' two psalteries, nine harps, and one cymbal, making twenty-eight in all. It will, perhaps, be said, that in this enumeration I have forgotten the flutes, hautboys or timbrels, but the omission was made de- signedly ; for the Talmud tells us, that they formed no part of the constant worship, but were used only twelve times in the year ; namely, at the killing of the first passover (or passover of the first month ;) at the killing of the second passover (in the second month ;) on the first holiday of the passover week ; on the holiday of pentecost ; and on the eight days of the feast of taber- nacles. But when the flutes were used, it was not in the desks appointed for the Levites, but before the altar at the time of the offering, and while the Levites on these davs were in their desks singing the Hallel, of which we shall have occasion to speak in a subsequent page. After this enumeration of the various instruments of music, it will naturally be expected, that we should give an account of the music itself during the time of divine service. In the first place, then, the priests with the trumpets on the south-west side of the altar, sounded their nnn? or tan-tara-tan, every morning at the opening of the gates of the Courts of Israel, particularly at the opening - of the east gate, or gate of Nicanor, in order that the Levites might have notice to attend their desks; the ^ I speak of the tubrets not from autherity, but on the supposition that Ihey wovild not have less than two, if any at all. THE LEVITES. 295 Stationary men their stations ; and that those of the in- habitants of Jerusalem might be warned, whom duty or inclination led to the Temple. In short, this was the signal that the daily service was about to begin; and after this the trumpets sounded not again till the time of the morning sacrifice. Secondly, the vocal and instrumental music, which was conducted by the Levites on their desks, did not begin to sound till the time of the morning sacrifice," or, to speak more particularly, till the time that the drink-off'ering, which was attached to it, was poured out.^ This is distinctly mentioned in the treatise Tamid, or the treatise concerning the daily service, in the following manner : " When the high priest intended to offer the sacrifice, he ascended the rise of the altar with the sagan on his right hand, and when he came to the top of the rise, the first person who was allotted to bring the pieces of the sacrifice, brought him up the head and the feet ; the second brought the two shoul- ders ; and the rest of them the other parts in their order, till the whole was brought. These the high priest dis- posed properly on the fire ; and when he went about the altar, as usual, to sprinkle the blood, he began at the south-east corner, whence he proceeded to the north- east and north-west, ending at the south-west (for the reason already given, when describing the altar.) Then came the time of the drink-offering; when, having given him the wine of which it consisted, the sagan, who stood beside the horn of the altar, observed the time of his pouring it out, and, with a napkin, gave the signal for the music to begin. The reason of their being so long was, that the perfect sacrifice might be before God, and that silence suited best so solemn a duty ; but that while the sacrifice was burning, it was proper that praise ' Exod. xxix. 38—42. ^ Ecclus. l 15—19. 296 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. should ascend with it."' It would appear, however, tha£ in the reign of Hezekiah, the music played during the whole time that the daily burnt-offering was burning." The psalms that were sang on this occasion were the following : — On the first day of the week, or our sabbath, they sang the twenty-fourth psalm, because, as they said, on the first day of the creation week God possessed the world as chief, and gave a delegated possession of it to our first parents. On the second day of the week, or our Monday, they sang the forty-eighth psalm ; for on the second day of creation, the Lord divided the wa- ters and reigned over them. On the third day of the week, or our Tuesday, they sang the eighty-second psalm ; because on that day the earth appeared, on w^hich are judging and judges, and by his wisdom he established the world. On the fourth day of the week, or our Wednesday, they sang the ninety-fourth psalm ; because on the fourth day of creation he made the sun, moon, and stars, and will be avenged on them that wor- ship them. On the fifth day of the week, or our Thurs- day, they sang the eighty-first psalm ; because of the variety of creatures that were made on the fifth day of the creation to praise his name. On the sixth day of the week, or our Friday, they sang the ninety- third psalm ; because on the sixth day of creation the Lord finished his works by making man, who understands the glory of the Creator. And on the seventh day of the week, or our Saturday, and their Sabbath, they sang the ninety-second psalm, which is entitled a psalm or. song for the sabbath day. Such were the psalms that were usually sung, and such the reasons for their singing of them. It is ob- ^ 3 Chron. xxix. 27, 28. THE LEVITES. 297 servable, that the above reasons assigned by the Gemara^ are far less spiritual than the psalms themselves would naturally suggest to a pious mind; but they were written when piety was on the decline, and when the form had supplanted the power of godliness. This, however, does not prevent us from thinking that the spiritual-minded Jews would adapt them to themselves in a spiritual manner : for even in the times of the greatest indiffe- rence, the Lord has always had a seed to serve him. As none of the other psalms are mentioned, it is pro- bable that they were either added occasionally to the or- dinary psalms, or were sung during the middle of the day, when the voluntary or commanded sacrifices were offered by individuals. With respect to their manner of singing the psalms — they always divided them into three parts, making pauses between the parts ; the intention of which was, to give time for the trumpets to sound their ordinary blast, and to allow the people time to worship. In this way they acted both at the morning and evening sacri- fice, so that the Levites sang six portions of music, and the priests sounded with the trumpet seven times; or, if we count every time they sounded as three, then they would sound twenty-one times ; namely, three at the opening of the gates, nine during the morning service, and nine during the evening. On the eve of the sab- bath, the trumpets sounded twice more than on other days, viz. once to warn the people to desist from work- ing, and once to distinguish between the common and sacred day, which had then commenced. But as the sabbath was holier than other days, so there was an ad- ditional sacrifice appointed for that day besides the ordinary daily sacrifice -^ and, during the time of its " Xum. xxvni. 9, 10. Vol. I. P p 298 ANTIQUITIKS OF THE JEWS, observance, the Levites sang in the morning that song of Moses, which is recorded in the thirty-second chap- ter of Deuteronomy ; and in the evening, that mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus, except, that they did not sing them all at once, but divided them into six parts, and then finished them every sixth sabbath. Light- foot tells us, that the part for each day was divided by the Levites into three subdivisions, like the several psalms for the other days, to allow the trumpets to sound the usual blast, and give the people time to worship. Thus, as there was a double sacrifice on the morning and evening of the sabbath, so there was a double psalm, and double time was given to the people to join the public worship of God. Perhaps it was this to which reference is made in Rev. xv. 3, when the saints are said " to sing the song of Moses, the servant of God ;" for they had reached the land of everlasting sabbath, or rest ; had obtained the victory over their numerous foes ; and then had the harps of God in their hands. The ancient Jews were not acquainted with what is now called harmony, or the carrying on of diflTerent parts of tenor, treble, contra, and bass, at the same time, by different classes of performers ; for this was invented by Guido Aretin, a monk of Arezzo, in Italy, about the year of our Lord 1022. On the contrary, it appears, from the Scriptures in general, and the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus 1. 18, in particular, that their whole sacred music consisted, of melodies, or a number of voices and instruments carrying on the tenor at the same time ; unless we make the addition of the cymbal a species of harmony. Yet, although they do not appear to have carried on the service according to the modern idea of harmony, they were perfectly acquainted with the effect that is produced by the band sometimes sing- THE LEVITES. 299 ing in divisions,^ and sometimes united. Thus Philo** says of the Essenes, who were a religious sect among the JewSj that the night after their festivals was spent " in singing hymns in all sorts of metre and music, to the praise of God, sometimes alternately in parts, and some- times in a chorus altogether." Were this idea pursued through the whole of the psalms, it would certainly give them additional beauty ; but I shall content myself here with giving the twenty-fourth, or that which was sung by them every first day of the week, by way of specimen. It has been already stated, that the psalm for every day of the week was commonly divided into three parts : let us suppose this, therefore, to have been the case with the psalm before us. The whole band probably sang the first and second verses : — " The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." Then began the first stated pause ; when the trumpets sounded, and after they had done, the people worshipped. We are not told how long this interval lasted ; but when it was finished, the second division of the psalm began by the one-half of the band asking, as in the third verse, " Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? And who shall stand in his holy place ?" And the other half answering, as in verses 4, 5, 6, " He that hath clean hands and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, aud righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob." Upon which the last- mentioned half, or more probably the whole band, added the word ^' Selah" (n» iSDj) or " Praise ye the Lord ;" when the Ezra, iii. 11. t De Vita ConU.-npUiAT.. 300 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. second division of the psalm ended, and the second stated pause began, to give time to the trumpets to sound, and the people to worship. The following verses, to the end of the psalm, form the third division, and seem to have been conducted thus : — The one half of the band sang this ascription of praise to Jehovah," ^^Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates (meaning the gates of the Temple, which were straight before them, and an emblem of the gates of their hearts,) and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." The other half asked, as in the beginning of the eighth verse, " Who is this King of glory ?" The first half answered, as in verses eight and nine, '^ The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." Upon which the second half of the baiyJ asked again, as in verse 10, '* Who is this King of gUWy ?" And the first half re- peated, " The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." When the antlicm of praise concludes with the whole hand uniting and singing in grand chorus, ^^ Selah." Thus do we see the three divisions into which this part of the service was divided ; and, in the above psalm, we have a distinct idea of the manner in which they con- ducted the musical department of the temple. Let me notice here, before leaving the subject, that the word Selah was probably fixed at some of these pauses, or places where the band should, call upon the worshippers to praise God. It occurs seventy-one times in the Psalms, and thrice in the third chapter of Habakkuk, which are all the times it is found in the Bible. Those in the Psalms may be arranged thus : — It occurs only once in Psalms vii. xx. xxi. xliv. xlvii. xlviii. 1. liv. Ix. Ixi. Ixxv. » Verse 7- THE LEVITES. 301 Ixxxi. Ixxxii. Ixxxiii. Ixxxv. cxliii. ; twice in Psalms iv. ix. xxiv. xxxix. xlix. lii. Iv. Ivii. lix. Ixii. Ixvii. Ixxvi. Ixxxiv. Ixxxvii. Ixxxviii. ; thrice in Psalms iii. xxxii. xlvi. Ixvi. Ixviii. Ixxvii. cxl. ; and four times in Psalm Ixxxix. We have now seen how the Levites acted as porters, guards, and musicians in the Temple ; but we may also remark, that while these were the duties of the respec- tive courses, during their attendance, we are not to sup- pose that the rest of the tribe were inactive at home. For it was formerly hinted, that they are thought to have been useful during the tabernacle service, as the instructors of youth ; and we may now observe, that in the times of the Temple they instructed sometimes both the old and the young;" that they also assisted the priests, on extraordinary occasions, in killing the sacri- fices, without, however, intermeddling with the blood ;^ and that, when the Temple was neglected and polluted, during tlie reigns of idolatrous kings, while the priests cleansed the Holy Place and the porch, they cleansed the court and other parts of the building, carrying the whole to the brook Kidron/ They seem also to have had some share in the solemn act of blessing the people, at the conclusion of the public service ;'^ to have joined with the priests in the general distribution of the funds for maintaining the sacerdotal order throughout the several cities allotted to them f to have copied the law for the benefit of their countrymen, and even sometimes to have had schools for explaining it ; to have acted in the situa- tion of oflicers and judges,^ and to have given their pro- » 2 Chron. xvii. 8, 9 : xxx. 22 ; xxxv. 3. I^eh. viii. 7, 8. >> 2 Chron. xxix. 34; xxx. 16, 17; xxxv. 11. = lb. xxix. 5 — 7; 16 — 19. <» lb. xxx. 27. = lb. xxxi. 15—19. - 1 Chron. xxlli. 4: xxvi, 29, 2 Chron, six. 8 — 11, 302 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. portion of defence to the state.* Indeed, of the twelve captains whom David appointed for the twelve months, it is worthy of notice, that those over the fifth, eighth, and tenth months were from among the Levites;'' and that the Levites, as a distinct body of military men, had a captain of their own.*" Nay, at the coronation of that monarch, among the bands mentioned as ready armed for war, who were resolved to turn the kingdom from the family of Saul to David, we find of the children of Levi, four thousand six hundred, besides three thousand seven hundred and twenty- two of the priests, or Aaronites."^ We are next to inquire, at what age the Levites ob- tained the liberty of entering on their functions. Now this is represented differently in Scripture. For in Num. iv. 3. thirty years i? the time specified ; in Num. viii. 24, 25. twenty-five is mentioned ; and in 1 Chron. xxiii. 24. 27. and Ezra iii. 8. twenty years are fixed. The reason of which difference is, that, from twenty-five to thirty, they were in the state of probationers, doing some things, but not permitted to do others ; for they might attend at the tabernacle, but could not carry the ark.^ At thirty they became qualified to do every part of the service allotted them under the tabernacle. But when the Temple was built, and bodily strength was not so much wanted, the age was then reduced to twenty. Such was the age at which the Levites entered on their ofiice ; and, till they arrived at fifty, *^ they were liable to be called upon, but after fifty they were allowed to retire. Yet that did not mean that they were pre- vented from attending, if they were so disposed. For. persons above the age might appear in their place, both " 1 Chron. xxiv, 23 ; xxvi. 30—32. *> lb. xxvii. 8, 11. 13. ' lb xxvil. \7. "^ 1 Chron. xii. 26—28. ' Abcn-Ezra on Num. vili. ' Num. iv. 3 ; viii. 25. THE LEVITES. 303 in the tabernacle and in the temple, only they were not allowed, from motives of humanity, to carry any part of the burdens, when the tabernacle and ark were in tlie act of removing." The consecration of the Levites to their sacred office is particularly mentioned in Num. viii. 6 — 22 ; where, after being sprinkled with water, having their bodies shaved, and their clothes washed, we are informed, that they took two young bullocks, with the necessary ap- pendages, and came before the tabernacle and people of Israel ; gave them to Aaron, and had them offered, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt- offering. Thus, by their solemn presentation before the Lord and the several rites here enjoined, the Levites were conse- crated to their particular office. And in l£,ter times, when any of them came of age, it was sufficient to prove that they belonged to that body, and offer, it may be, some trifling sacrifice. I do not find that the Levites, when at home, had any distinctive dress, to make them known to their coun- trymen ; nor have I been able to ascertain positively, what their dress consisted of, when on duty at the Tem- ple. But it is probable, that they had something parti- cular, suited to their offices of porters and musicians ; and even when at home, some little discrimination to distinguish them as invested with a sacred cliaracter. For Josephus^ says, that in the reign of Agrippa, or about the year of our Lord 62, which was only six years before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, the Levites requested permission from that prince to wear a linen tunic, like the priests, which was granted. But this innovation was displeasing to the priests, and Jose- phus remarks, that the ancient customs of the country » Numb. viii. 25, 26, <» Antiquities, xx, 9. 304 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. were never departed from with impunity ; thereby in* timating two things — 1st. That the dress of the priests and Levites was different; and, 2d. That he looked upon this spirit of innovation in religion as one of the causes why God gave them into the power of the Romans. We have already seen the different funds of support allotted to the priests ; let us now attend to the subsis- tence of the Levites. This was of two kinds. First, they had thirty-five out of the forty-eight cities that were devoted to the whole tribe of Levi;^ thirteen of them being given, as we have already seen, to the family of Aaron, or the priesthood. These cities of the Levites were scattered throughout the different tribes, as centres of instruction, and had a thousand square cubits attached to each side of them ; equal to three hundred and five English acres, two roods, and one pole for every city, to serve for gardens, vineyards, and pasture: conse- quently, around all the thirty-five cities that belonged to the Levites, there were ten thousand six hundred and ninty-two English acres, two roods, and thirty-five poles : which, supposing the Levites to have been thirty- eight thousand, as they were in the days of Solomon,'* gave only one rood and five poles to each man ; but it is probable that several of these went to one household. The uses of the Levitical cities were twofold ; viz. to be cities of residence for the priests and Levites, and ci- ties of refuge to those who had killed a man unwittingly. That is to say, forty-two of them were cities of residence, and the other six were both for residence and refuge. Maimonides, indeed, advances a different opinion ; for he assures us, from the traditions of the fathers, that all the forty-eight cities appointed for the habitation of the priests and Levites were cities of refuge ; and that the ■- Josh. sxi. 1—42. 1 Chron. vi. 54—81. •> 1 Chron. xxxiii. 5 THE LEVITES. 305 only difference between them was, that the six cities^ appointed by law, were obliged to receive, and lodge gratis, all who should fly to them. Those cities which were publicly destined for refuge, were obliged to be provided with the following facilities : — They were to be of easy access ; to have good roads leading to them, and good bridges on these roads. The width of the roads was to be, at least, thirty-two cubits : for the Rabbins decreed, that a private road ("T^n\1 ITl) was four cu- bits ; a road from city to city, or the side-roads through the districts, eight cubits ; a public road (d'^rr *1*T1?) sixteen cubits ; and the roads to the cities of refuge, thirty-two cubits. But the roads to sepulchres, and the king's road, had no specified width, for the company at a funeral was not to be divided ; and the king, in his journeying, might break down hedges as he pleased.' At all the cross-roads, that were to be met with in the way to the cities of refuge, signposts were erected, with the words tD^pD dSdD? Mecklet, Mecklet, " Refuge, Refuge," painted on them ; and every year, on the 15th of Adar, answering to the beginning of our March, the magistrates presiding in them inspected the roads, to see that they were in good condition. All the cities were to be well supplied with provisions : it was not allowed to make any weapons of war in them, lest the relations of the deceased might purchase arms to gratify their revenge: and it was necessary, that whoever took refuge there, should understand a trade or profession, that they might not be chargeable. Maimonides adds, that on the arrival of a manslayer, the magistrates of the city sent some prudent persons to meet the pursuers, and advise them to peace, till the law had time to take its course ; in con- formity with Numb. xxxv. 12. For if the case was not » Lightf, Chorograph. Decad, before Mark, V*L. I. Qq 306 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. manslaughter, but murder," the guilty person was in- stantly slain : but if it really came within the terms of the statute, the person was bound to remain within the city till the death of the high priest, and might not till then return to his home unless at his peril. ^ Accordingly, we are told, that the mother of the high priest for the time being, was wont to support and clothe the culprits in the latter periods of the Jewish history, that they might not pray for the death of her son. We do not read that the Jews accepted of a certain sum of money as the price of blood, but it was not unu- sual among the Greeks in the days of Homer. Thus Pope, in his note on Iliad ix. 746, tells us it was the cus- tom for the murderer to go into banishment for a year ; but if the relations of the person murdered were willing, the criminal, by paying them a certain fine, might buy off the exile, and return home. The same thing is no- ticed by him when describing the shield of Achilles.' And Sir John Malcolm mentions the same of Persia, in his History of that kingdom, chap, xxiii. The following extract from the Talmud'' will shew the (exact situation of those cities, which were strictly cities of refuge. " The rabbins deliver this : Moses separated three cities of refuge beyond Jordan ;^ and Joshua sepa- rated three opposite to them in the land of Gilead;^ and these were placed one by another, as two rows of vines in a vineyard. Hebron in Judea, against Bezer in the wilderness ; Shechem in Mount Ephraim, against Ra- moth in Gilead ; Kadesh in Mount Naphthali, against Golan in Bashan." And these three were so equally dis- posed on either side Jordan, that they divided the length of the land into four equal parts. For in the land of Ju- •• Numb. XXXV. 16—24. Deut. xix. 1—13. * Numb. XXXV. 25—28. Josh. xx. 6. • Iliad, xvlii. 579. ' Maccoth. fol. ix. 2. "= Numb. sxxv. 6, Deut. xix, 2. * Josh, xx, 7, 8. THE LEVITES. 307 dea, there was an equal space between the southern boundary and Hebron ; between Hebron and Shechem ; between Shechem and Kadesh; and between Kadesh and the northern extremity. And the same might be said of the three cities on the other side, or east of Jordan. They were equi- distant from the extremities of the land and from each other ; in conformity with the injunctions in Deut. xix. 3—10.^ Besides the thirty-five cities which were thus given to the Levites for their residence, they had also, for their subsistence, nine-tenths of all the titheable productions of their eleven tribes, after the priests had received the first-fruits :'' because no portion of the land of Israel was assigned to them in the division.'^ But it becomes us to inquire more particularly in what these tithes consisted. Let it be observed, then, that the yearly increase of Ju- dea, was either of fruits of trees, fruits of the land, or of cattle : of all which they paid tithes, even to mint, anise, and cummin.*^ The tithes paid by the husbandman out of the fruits of trees, and of land, were twofold, and paid in the fol- lowing manner : — When the harvest was cut down, and gathered in, he first laid aside his great therume, or heave- offering for the priests, which we have already described in part iii. sect. iii. : otherwise called the first- fruits of the threshing-floor. And then, out of the re- mainder, he paid a tenth part to the Levites, which was termed " the first tithe.''^ This was always paid in kind, and does not seem to have been carried up to Jerusalem, but to have been given to the Levites in their several cities.^ Yet the Levites had a right only to nine-tenths » Calmet's Dictionary. Lightfoot's Chorographical Century, 50. 97. and Godwin's Moses and Aaron, lib. ii. chap. 5. ' Numb, xviii. 21 — 24. Deut. xvi. 28, 29. • Josh. xiii. 33. <» Matt, xxiii. 23. ' To|jit, i. 7. ^ Neh. x. 37. 308 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of it ; for they were ordered to give the other tenth to their brethren, the priests, as mentioned when treating of the funds of support for the priesthood, in part iii. sect. iii. This was called the tithe of the tithes," and the tithe of the holy things:^ and was enjoined to be brought up by the Levites to the house of God at Jerusalem,' as the right of the priesthood. This tithe being paid, the husbandman drew out of that which remained a second tithe, which he might either pay in kind, or commute with money, by adding a fifth part to its esteemed value. So that what, in kind, was ten in the hundred, became, when commuted, twelve in the hundred. This the husbandman brought up to Je- rusalem, and made a love-feast, unto which he invited the priests and the Levites:^ only it should be remarked, that he did not carry it up every third year, but spent it at home, " within his gates, upon the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow."® And this third year they reckoned from the sabbatical year, on which the land rested ; so that in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years after the sabbatical year, they either carried the second tithe to Jerusalem, or commuted it in money; but on the third and ' sixth years, they consumed it at home. Hence, in respect of kind, this was called '^ the second tithe :"^ and, because it was paid to the poor every third year, it was called " the poor man's tithe," and " tKe third tithe,"^ or " the poor man's tithe of the third year ;" which, in Deut.' xxvi. 12, is termed a year of tithes. In the same chapter of Deuteronomy,** we have the form of words they were to use, when these tithes of the third year were brought to Jerusalem ; in which are three things that evidently referred to the » Neh. X. 38. *> 2 Chron. xxxi. 6. ' Neh. x. 38. ^ Deut. xiv. 22—27. <= Deut. xiv. 28, 39; xxvi. 12—16. ' Tobit, i. 7. » Toblt, i. 8. . '' Ch. sxvi. 12—15. THE LEVtTES. 309 idolatry of Egypt. For, after asserting their honesty as to the proportion brought, they declared, 1. That they had not eaten thereof, in their mourning, before they came from home, in imitation of the Egyptians : who, in collecting their grain, and in offering their first-fruits to Isis, indulged in great grief.'' 2. That they had not taken away aught thereof for any unclean use, as the Egyptians did to their idol temple. And, 3. That they had not given aught thereof for the dead, like the Egyptians, as an evra^tov on the grave of a dead friend ; or as an of- fering to the dii inferi : or rather, as an offering to Isis or Osiris, meaning Adonis or Thummuz, whose death the Egyptians annually lamented. After which they entreated God to bless the people and land of Israel.^ But besides the tithes which the Levites received from the fruits of trees and of grain, they likewise received tithes of cattle ; or, as it is expressed in the law," they received " the tithe of the herd, and of the flock, even of whatsoever passed under the rod :'' by which last ex- pression, some understand all those which lived under the custody of a neatherd, or shepherd, as if there was an allusion to the rod of the one, and the staff, or crook, of the other. But, by this expression, the Jewish writers understand the manner in which they tithed the cattle ; and which, according to Maimonides,'' was as follows : — Having gathered them into a fold, that had a small opening, through which one only could pass at a time ; their dams, whether cows, sheep, or goats, were first of all turned out; and while the calves, lambs, or kids, has- tened to follow, the tithesman touched every tenth with a rod dipped in red, as the property of the Levites. And if the proprietor had any particular liking for any » Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. § 13. Julius Firmicus De Error, profaii. reliq. § 4. ^ Spencer De Leg. Heb. lib. ii. cap. 37. '^ Lev. xxv'i^ 32. "* De Primitvs AoJniantimn, cap. vii. § 1. 510 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of the marked animals, he could obtain it by adding a fifth to the priest's valuation." But if he exchanged it without the priest's knowledge, both it and the ex- changed became the Lord's.^ The time of the year, at which they reckoned the tithes payable, was different according to the different productions. Thus, they tithed fruit from Shebat to Shebat, or from January to January ; grain, pulse, and herhs, from Tizri to Tizri, or from September to Sep- tember ; and cattle, from Elul to Elul, or from August to August."" The following will shew the proportion which the tithes in grain bore to the whole produce, and will illus- trate the preceding statement : Suppose the husbandman to have had 100 bolls The least that could be paid to the priests, as the first-fruits of the threshing-floor was one sixtieth, or . 1.66=1| boll nearly Leaving 98.34 Out of which the husbandman paid the first tithe to the Levites, or . 9.83=9fo bolls Leaving to the husbandman 88.51 From which he drew the second tithe, either to be carried to Jeru- salem, or commuted for with money; equal to 8.85=8^ bolls Leavina; to the husbandman as 7 .., . > 79.66 his net produce • • • 3 » Lev. xxvii. 31. *> lb. xxvii. 33. ' Buitorff. S^nag. Judaic, cap. xvii. THE LEVITES. 3H Thus, in every 100 bolls of farm produce, the hus- bandman got 79^ bolls, and the priests and Levites 20^ bolls, including the second tithe, which, however, was not solely their's. Should it be asked, in what proportion these 20^ bolls were divided between the priests and Levites, I would answer that the priests re- ceived confessedly the 1.66, or l^ boll nearly, first de- ducted, as the first-fruits of the threshing-floor; and they were entitled to a tenth of the first tithes that was due to the Levites ; which, being in the present case 9.83 bolls, left .98, or 1 boll nearly, to the priests. Their whole proportion, therefore, of the 20.34 bolls was 2.64, or above 2| bolls, leaving to the Levites 17.70, or 17| bolls nearly. Thus had the priests about one- eighth part, and the Levites seven-eighths. Yet this cannot be stated as exact ; for, when the second tithes were brought to Jerusalem, they were eaten, not by the priests and Levites solely, but by the husbandman^s family, and the priests and Levites conjointly.* Conse- quently, the priests would come in for their share, in proportion only to their numbers, when compared with the Levites who were on duty, and the husbandman's family. Thus have we seen the provision which was made for the Levites during the Mosaic economy. It consisted of thirty-five distinct cities, with a certain portion of land around each ; and the tithes of all the titheable produc- tions of the tribes of Israel, except the tenth of them that was given to the priests. Nor was this provision unreasonable ; on the contrary, it was both just and con- siderate : just, because the tithes were virtually the pro- duce of that part of Canaan, which, of right, belonged to them ; and which they would have had, if they had » faeut. xii. ir— 19. 312 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. not been separated to the service of God : and conside- rate, because it prevented them from fixing their minds too much on earthly things : afforded them leisure to im- prove in useful knowledge : wos a reward for their at- tention to the rising generation ; and gave them greater respectability in the eyes of those who were farther ad- vanced in life. But although we have seen the respective proportions of the priests and Levites as to the whole tithes, I have not been able to discover the proportions in which these tithes were divided among the Levites themselves. It appears from 2 Chron. xxxi. 15 — 19, that they had a set of regulations for that purpose ; and it is probable that it would be in proportion to their rank ; for they possessed very unequal ranks as to respectability and opulence. In the troublesome times of the judges, Mi- cah's Levite received from him ten shekels of silver by the year, a suit of apparel, and victuals.* Should it be asked, why a tenth part was fixed, rather than any other proportion? I can only answer, that it seemed just and reasonable to the Divine Being. The proportion of a tenth, however, was not peculiar to the Jews : for Aristotle mentions it as an ancient law in Babylon, that they gave this proportion to kings. Spencer observes, from a passage in Aristophanes, that it was the custom of Athens, although a commonwealth, for the people to pay a tenth to the magistracy. And that this was rec- koned a part of the royal prerogative in eastern coun- tries, appears from hence, that among the other oppres- sions which Samuel tells the Israelites they might expect from a king, he mentions his demanding their tithes — " He will take the tithe of your seed, and of your vine- yards, and give to his officers, and to his servants."**, * Judg. xvii. 10. •• 1 Sam. viii. 15- THE LEVITES. 313 Now, as the priests and Levites were properly the offi- cers and ministers of state under God, as king of Israel; the Israelites paying through their hands one-tenth to him, was agreeable to the custom of almost all nations to pay one-tenth as revenue to their kings. Whilst we here see, that their evil in preferring a mortal to the Almighty, was punished by a double portion of taxes ; viz. a tenth to Jehovah, and a tenth to Saul. It only remains now to offer a few observations con- cerning the numbers of the Levites. The first notice we have of them, is in the second year after their return from Egypt, or in the year of the world 2515, and 1489 years before Christ ; when all the males, from a month old and upward, are stated to have been twenty-two thousand three hundred ;* but Moses, contenting him- self with round numbers (a mode of reckoning which is sometimes adopted by other writers of Scripture,) states the total number of the Levites only at twenty-two thousand*'' Of these there were fit for the service of the sanctuary, or between the age of thirty and fifty, eight thousand five hundred and eighty persons.'^ The next account that we have of them is about thirty-eight years after, or just before they entered Ca- naan, in the year of the world 2553, and before Christ 1451 ; when the number of males, from a month old and upward, had increased to twenty-three thousand ; not one of whom was born at the time of their former num- bering."* About four hundred and thirty-six years after they entered Canaan, or in the year of the world 2989, and before Christ 1015, they were again numbered by David a little before his death, when the males from thirty years old and upward, were found to be advanced • Num. lii. 22. 28. 34. ^ lb, iii. 39. = lb. iv. 2. 35, 36. 40. 44. 46, 47, 48. •• lb. xxvi. 57. 62. 64, 65- VoL. I. R r 314 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. to thirty-eight thousand^, of whom twenty-four thousand were set over the work of the Lord, six thousand were officers and judges, four thousand were porters, and four thousand were musicians.* But if we were to sup- pose the same proportion to exist between those come of age, and those a month old, as was found to be the case at their coming out of Egypt, the tribe must have been much more numerous ; for the proportion in tliat case would stand thus : — As, when there were eight thousand five hundred and eighty males between thirty and fifty, there were found to be twenty-two thousand three hundred of a month old and upward ; so, when there are thirty-eight thousand males between thirty and fifty, there should be ninety-six thousand four hun- dred and thirty- three cff a month old and upwards. Thus stood the proportion before the death of David ; but after that we have no complete enumeration of them. There are, however, some detached hints, both before and after David's time, which it may be worth while to collect. Thus, when David was made king four thou- sand six hundred Levites are mentioned on the occasion.'' At the bringing up of the ark there were eight hundred and sixty-two,'' some of whom carried it, others acted as musicians, others as door-keepers.*' After the ark was brought up from Obededom, and placed under the tent which David had made for it at Jerusalem, we find the establishment divided ; a part of the Levites being appointed to it at Jerusalem,^ and a part to the taber- nacle of the congregation, which was still stationed at Ezra ii. 40—42. ' Neh. vii. 43—45. ** Compare 1 Chron. ix. 14, with Neh. xi. 15. ^ Ezra x. 23, 2t. * Neh. X. 9—13. e lb. xi. 15—19. 316 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. SECTION V. The Stationary Men and JVethinim. The twenty-four courses of the former; the reasons for their appointment ; their duties at the Temple : the duty of that part of the course that staid at home. TheNethinim — who they were ; their employment ; their numbers. After treating of the priests and the Levites, it naturally follows that we speak of the thi?^d class of mi- nisters in the Temple, viz. the stationary men (lOJ^D ^^'JK?) or, Israelites of the station : a name which is not known, indeed, in Scripture, but which is frequently mentioned in the Jewish writings. They were divided into twenty-four courses, in the same manner as the priests and Levites ; though it is by no means certain whether every course was a twenty-fourth part of the Jewish nation, exclusive of the Levites.* The reasons, however, for their appointment were as follow: — 1. That a decent number of persons should always be present during the Temple service : and they were so precise on this point, that even in their synagogues, they would not begin prayers, or the reading of the law, till they could count ten men at the least. 2. There were daily sacrifices appointed to be offered for the whole nation ; now, as the law required that the persons offering, should be present at their sacrifice,^ and as it was impossible for all the Jews to be really present, these were appointed to appear as their repre- sentatives. 3. These stationary men had always a chief person who presided over the course, called " the President of the Station," whose office it was to bring the persons who had been under any uncleanness, from the Court » Godv\'in's Moses and Aaron, b. i. ch. 5. •> Lev. i. 3 ; iii. 2. 8. STATIONARY MEN AND NETHlNIM. 317 of the Women, where they usually attended, into that part of the gate Nicanor, which was next the Court of Israel, that they migiit thus be near enough to lay their hands on the head of the animal to be slain for their atonement. This arrangement was judged necessary ; because, the gate Nicanor being accounted of equal sanctity with the Court of the Women, they might stand in it before their complete purification, and yet be able to comply with the law. The usual time for this part of the president's duty was, when the priests that went into the Holy Place to offer incense, rang the Megru- pitha, great bell^ or gong, which lay near the steps of the porch. 4. There is another duty assigned to the stationary men by some writers, viz. that they laid their hands on the head of the daily sacrifice, as the offering appointed for all the people ; but the Jews deny that this was the case. For Maimonides asserts,^ that " there was no laying on of hands upon the sacrifices of the whole con- gregation, unless in two cases. The one was upon the scape-goat, and the other upon the bullock that was offered for the whole congregation, when they sinned from ignorance, and the thing was hid from the eyes of the assembly." Further, we may remark, that there were divers sacrifices, from attending on which the stationary men were excused ; although the sacrifices were for the whole congregation. Thus Maimonides in the above- mentioned treatise, tells us, that " they never made a station at the morning sacrifice, all the eight days of the feast of dedication ; nor at the evening sacrifice on those days when there was an additional sacrifice added to the daily." During the week of their attendance, these stationary ' Corban, perek 3. 318 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. men might neither be trimmed by a barber, nor wash their clothes ; because they ought to have these things done before they came. And those of the course who were at home, usually met the priests and Levites in the syna- gogues of their cities, to pray, to read the law, and to beseech of Jehovah for their brethren that attended, that their service at Jerusalem for Israel might be ac- cepted. As every course lasted a week, although we are not told of what number it consisted, nor how many were bound to attend, yet there was great piety shewn among them during that time ; for, though they durst not fast on the first and sixth days of the week, on account of their proximity to the sabbath, which was reckoned al- ways a day of spiritual joy and delight, yet they fasted or humbled themselves before God on the other four, •viz. the second, third, fourth, and fifth. And the pas- sages of Scripture which they read during the week, were the first and second chapters of Genesis. These they divided into six parts, and read a part every day ; the portion for the sabbath being otherwise provided for. The fourth and last class of ministers in the Temple, were the JVethlnim, D^^TI^j or persons given (as the word signifies) to the priests and Levites for performing the servile offices of the Tabernacle and Temple.'' Hence the Septuagint render the word in 1 Chron. ix. 3 5 by hshofisvoL, or persons given. The Gibeonites (of whom we read in Josh. ix. 21. 27. that Joshua gave [U^tV] them for hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the congregation, and for the altar of Jehovah) were the first of this kind. We next read of the Nethinim whom David and the princes gave (jrij) for the service of the Levites, in Ezra viii. 20 ; and it is probable, that these were taken from some of the people that were conquered » Josh. ix. 27. STATIONARY MEN AND NETHINIM. 319 by David. When Solomon built the Temple, ^^ the stran- gers that were in the land of Israel/' by which some un- derstand the Nethinim, amounted to one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred; eighty thousand of whom were made hewers of wood, and seventy thou- sand bearers of burdens,* under the superintendance of three thousand six hundred of the chief of Solomon's officers.'' With respect to those mentioned after the Captivity, it is probable that they were partly the de- scendants of the Gibeonites ; partly the decendants of those whom David and the princes devoted ; and partly the descendants of those Canaanites whom Solomon sub- jected to bond service ;"" for we find them mentioned with Solomon's servants in the roll of those who returned from Babylon f and who dwelt in Ophel within Jerusa- lem, over against the Water Gate.^ It is, indeed, much to their honour, that so many of them are named f for it shews that they did not think their former service in- tolerable ; that they resumed their employment volun- tarily ; and that, having become proselytes to the Jewish faith, they preferred a mean office at the Temple, to re- maining in the midst of heathen darkness. » 2 Chron. ii. 17, 18. "» 1 Kings v. 16, <= lb. ix. 30, 21. "• Ezra ii. 58. ^ Neh. iii. 26. f Neh. vii. 46—60. Ezra viii. 20. PART IV. THE SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. In treating of the Temple service, five things present themselves to our review — viz. the vessels of service; the animal sacrifices; meat and drink -off'erings; wave and heave-ofierings ; the ritual of the daily service ; and some occasional duties of the priesthood. SECT. I. The Vessels of Service. Very many ; provided partly by the public, and partly by the piety of indivi- duals ; some of them mentioned. The fate of the sacred vessels after the de- struction of Jerusalem. With respect to the vessels employed in the service, a brief account must suffice ; for it is not to be expected that the numbers, names, fashions, and uses of all of them can be clearly ascertained at this distance of time. Indeed, it is doubtful whether many of the priests, even during the time that the Temple stood, were able to give a full enumeration of them. Josephus^ says, that there were in Solomon's Temple, twenty thousand golden cups and vessels ; forty thousand silver ones ; twelve thousand candlesticks ; eighty thousand wine cups ; ten thousand golden vessels and goblets ; twenty thousand silver ditto ; eighty thousand plates and dishes of gold, to mix the flour in that was destined for the meat-offer- ings ; one hundred and sixty thousand silver plates and •" Antiquities, viii. 3. VESSELS OF SERVICE. 321 dishes ; twenty thousand golden measures, such as the hm and assaron ; twenty thousand silver measures; twenty thousand censers for incense ; and fifty thousand other censers for the purpose of carrying fire from the great altar into the Temple. But every one that reads these numbers, must be sensible that they are greatly exaggerated. There was surely an abundance, without calling in the aid of exaggeration; for, besides those which might have been lost during the Captivity, we have in Ezra i. 9, 10. an account of two thousand five hundred and ninety-nine of different kinds; and yet these were not all, for in verse 11. the sum total is said to have been five thousand four hundred. In the Tal- mud,'* ninety-three are said to have been used every day about the daily service ; in the treatise Joma, per. 3. it appears, that there were special vessels for the day of expiation ; and from the other Talmudical writings, we find, that other particular days had their particular ves- sels. What a burdensome ritual was it then become, when the form had usurped the power of godliness ! Yet we are not to suppose that all the vessels in use at the Temple were procured by the public as absolutely necessary ; for many of them were the gifts of individuals, as expressive of piety. Thus the princes of Israel, or heads of the tribes, gave silver chargers, silver bowls, and spoons of gold.'' Joshua dedicated all the silver and gold, the vessels of brass, and the vessels of iron to the service of God, which he found in Jericho." David de- voted to the Lord all the vessels of silver, gold, and brass which he had taken from the conquered nations.** Monobazes, King of Adiabene, a country of note in As- » Tamld, per. 3. '' Num. vii. 13, &c. ' Ch. vi. 19- *i 2 Sam. viii. 10—12. Vol. L S s 322 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Syria/ made golden handles to the vessels that were used on the day of expiation.'' ^ueen Helena, the mother of Monobazes, gave the golden candlestick that was over the door, between the porch and the Holy Place; and also the golden tablet over the gate Nicanor, on which was written the section of the law concerning the snspected wife. Num. v. 11 — 31.*^ And Ptolemy Phila- delphus, king of Egypt, when sending for persons to translate the Old Testament Scriptures into Greek, dedicated to the Temple gold and silver goblets, golden vials, and an astonishingly rich gold table. '^ These are a few of the instances in which the libera- lity of individuals tended to increase the number and value of the vessels of the Temple. And it should not be forgotten, that, in the days of our Saviour, libera- lity to the Temple was inculcated, even at the expense of filial affection ; a striking instance of which we have in Mark vii. 10 — 13: ^^ Moses said, ^Honour thy fa- ther and thy mother,' and ^ whoso curseth father or mo- ther, let him die the death.' But ye say, ^ If a man shall say to his father or mother. It is corban (or devoted to the Temple,) by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free.' And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or mother ; making the word of God of none effect by your traditions." It is easy to see how Lliis false charity would operate on certain charac- ters, and how much it would tend to add to the riches of the Temple. What became. of the vessels in the Temple of Solomon, we all know. They were taken to Babylon, and a considerable number of them returned to the se- cond Temple ; but it may be proper to state, that those of the second Temple which were found by the Romans, » So called from the river Adiab, one of the tributary streams of the Tigris, in Kurdistan. '' Joma, per. 3. " Jerus Gemaraj fol. 41. * Afisteas in Ilist. TO. Joseph. Antiq. xii. 2. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 323 made part of the triumph that was granted to Titus, and were afterwards deposited in the temples of Jupiter Ca- pitolinus and of Peace. SECT. II. The Animal Sacrifices. The kinds of animals used ; and vegetables and minerals. Bnrnt-offerings ; the occasion of them ; way of devoting them ; killing; sprinkling the blood; salting; laying on the altar. Manner of offering turtle-doves and young pi- geons. Burnt-offerings prior to the Mosaic dispensation. Sin-offerings; the occasion of them ; persons by whom they might be offered ; the whole con- gregation ; individuals under three supposed cases. Trespass-offerings ; how they differed from sin-offerings; commonly divided into certain and doubt- ful; the doubtful explained; the five certain cases specified; the place where the priest's portion of them was eaten, and the time : the probable ori- gin of the Agapac, or love-feasts, among tlie first Christians. Peace-offtrings t comprehending thank-offerings, free-rvill-offerings, and votvs. The animals used; how devoted by the offerer, and slain by the priests ; the portion of them that belonged to the priests, and that which was eaten by the offerer; the meat-offering that accompanied them; the additions made to the law con- cerning tliem under the second Temple; the persons who could offer them. Although the animal sacrifices were different ac- cording to the situations and wishes of the worshippers, there were only five kinds of animals which were ac- cepted; viz. bullocks, sheep, goats (including the young of each kind of eight days old,)" turtle-doves and young pigeons. But let us attend to the animal sacrifices more particularly, beginning with burnt-offerings. The reason of their name is given in Lev. vi. 9 ; and the Hebrew word for them is r\h)^y Ouluth, or sacri- fices which ascend in flame or smoke. It is disputed among the Jews concerning the occasion of burnt- offer- ings, and when they became due : but the following appears to be the general opinion ; viz. that they were either intended to expiate the evil thoughts of the heart, a Lev. xxii. 27. 324 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. by the faith of the offerer looking to the Messiah as the great antitype ; or to expiate from the breach of afRr- mative precepts. Burnt-offerings might be offered of any of the five kinds of animals just mentioned; and the manner of offering them was as follows : 1. The offerer brought his burnt- offering to the door of the Tabernacle before the Lord, while the tabernacle stood ;^ but when the Temple was erected, this phrase '^ before the Lord" was interpreted to mean — from the gate Nicanor inward, or in any part of the Court of Israel, but especially of the Priests, which was inclosed within the Court of Israel. This part of the injunction, concerning the appearance of the offerer, was considered so indispensable, that even women, who were forbidden the Court of Israel at all other times, were obliged to enter it when they offered a burnt- offering. 2. The owner of the sacrifice, after having brought it, laid his hand upon its head while it was yet alive.'* This was intended as a solemn transfer of sin from him- self to the animal; and in its death he acknowledged his own liability to suff'er. Who does not see in this trans- action a striking type of the atonement, when Christ, our sacrifice, bore our sins, and graciously became our great propitiation? It was commonly at the place of rings, on the north side of the altar, "^ and with his face directed towards the Temple, that this transaction took place ; and the words made use of were as follow : ^' I have sinned: I have done perversely: I have rebelled, and done thus and thus (here specifying, either mentally or audibly, the specific cause of his offering.) But I re- turn by repentance before thee, and let this be my ex- piation." 3. The next thing commonly done was, the bleeding > Lev. i, a ^ lb. i. 4. ' lb. J. 11. ANIMAL SACHIFICES. 325 of the animal, which was performed by tying it to one of the rings if large, or by the feet if small ; its head lying towards the south, and its face towards the west, while he that killed it stood on tlie east side of the ani- mal with his face to the west, or to the Temple. During the Tabernacle, the bleeding of the animal was often performed by the offerer himself;* but in the time of the Temple it was transferred to the priesthood, because they were then more numerous, and better skilled in the right manner of doing it. The blood was received in a sacred vessel, and taken by the priest to be sprin- kled on the altar ;^ which sprinkling, during every pe- riod of the Mosaic economy, was exclusively the pre- rogative of the priesthood. But as this was deemed a very important part of the service, the Jews, especially after the introduction of traditions, were very anxious to have it done aright. Accordingly, no priest that was a mourner, by having a person dead in his house that day, — nor one who was unclean in any way, — nor one who had not on all his priestly garments, — nor one who sat or stood on any thing but the bare pavement while he was receiving the blood, — nor one who received it with his left hand, miglit carry the blood to sprinkle it on the altar. But if they had a mixture of precept and tradition in the requisites for the priest, so had they also in their manner of sprinkling. For having esta- blished the rule, that it was essential to the merit of the sacrifices that the blood should be sprinkled either above or below the red line which encircled the altar, and divided it into two equal parts ; the priest, in the pre- sent case, had to go with the blood, first to the north- east corner, and then to the south-west, and throw a part of it against the altar, below the red line, in such ^ Lev. i. 5. •• Ibid. 326 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. a manner as that it spread on both the sides of the cor- ners equally, forming the figure of the Greek letter gamma ; and if any blood remained in the vessel, it was ordered to be poured out upon the foundation of the altar on the south-west corner, where the two holes were, which we formerly mentioned when treating of the altar, and through which the blood that remained was con- veyed to the brook Kidron. It was in consequence of the blood making atonement for the soul, and thus typical of the blood of Christ, that the Israelites were forbidden to eat it.^ 4. In the next place, the person whose office it was to flay and divide the animal, proceeded as follows : he hung it on the hooks near the place of rings ; removed the skin ; opened the heart to let the remaining blood escape (notice how accidentally, to human appearance, this happened to Christ, our great sacrifice,'* although the express subject of prophecy j*") took out the fat; and, dividing the animal into its several parts, gave them in succession to the priests in waiting ; first, the head, then the shoulders and foreparts, and lastly, the hind quar- ters.'' The Jewish treatise Tamid is very particular with respect to all the pieces, but such an enumeration would be here unnecessary. 5. Having each received their allotted portions, the priests carried them to the ascent of the altar, where they laid, them down to salt them, according to the law,^ which said — ^^ With all thin^ offerings thou shalt offer salt." Indeed, no injunction in the whole law was more sacredly observed than this ; for the Jews themselves" tell us, that " nothing came to the altar unsalted but the wine of the drink-offering, the blood sprinkled, and » Lev. xvij. 10 — 14. '' John xix. 34. " Zech.xii. 10. * Lev. i. 8, 9. 12, 13. « lb. ii. 13. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 327 the wood for the fire.*' And in three places they used salt, namely, in the salt chamber on the north-west cor- ner of the Court of Israel, for salting the skins ; upon the rise of the altar, for salting the sacrifices, to season them, and to take away the smoke ; and on the top of the altar, for salting the handful of flour, oil, and frank- incense.'' It was to this typical law that our Saviour referred in Mark ix. 49, 50, when he says, concerning the effect of the gospel on those who embrace it, " Every one shall be salted with fire, {nvpL for the fire of God's altar, as a spiritual sacrifice, holy and acceptable) and (or rather, as) every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good : but if the salt have lost its saltness, where- with will ye season it? Have ye salt then in yourselves, and have peace one with another." For as salt, when plentifully applied, preserves meat from putrefaction,'' so will the gospel keep men from being corrupted by sin. And, as salt was indispensable to sacrifices, in order to render them acceptable to God, so the gospel, brought home to the hearts of men by the Holy Ghost, is indis- pensably requisite to their ofiering up of themselves living sacrifices, holy and acceptable, which is their most reasonable service.*" Perhaps the heathen derived their salted cakes from this Jewish practice. 6. The next particular concerning the burnt- offerings was, that he, whose office it was to lay the pieces on the altar, having received them from those who brought and salted them, cut out the sinew that shrank,*^ threw it among the ashes, and when there was no reason for haste, laid the pieces in order upon the altar, ^ or as near their natural position in the animal as possible : » Lev. ii. 2. See Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. Mark ix. 49. f" 'Whitby on Mark is, 49. "= Rom. xii. 1. ^ Gen. xxxii. 32. « Lev. i. 8. 328 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. but when numbers were offered at the same time, and, consequently, when haste was required, and the large- ness of the fire made delay insupportable, this rule was dispensed with, and the different parts were thrown carelessly upon the altar, yet so as to be completely con- sumed. Tlius were the burnt-offerings properly called holocausts^ or whole burnt-offerings, for the priesthood received no part of them but the skin.* Hitherto we have spoken only of the larger animals, or the manner in which the bullocks, rams, and he-goats were sacrificed, including the young of the several spe- cies. We are now to inquire how they sacrificed the two remaining kinds of animals, or the turtle-doves and young pigeons. Moses, in Lev. i. 14 — 17, says it was as follows : — The person that brought the pair of either kind (for they were always brought in pairs,'') gave them to the priest, who offered up one of them for a sin-offering in the manner we shall afterwards describCj and the other for a burnt- offering,*^ That for the burnt- offering was disposed of thus : it was carried by the priest to the circuit of the altar, who there wrung off its head, sprinkled the blood on the altar above the red line, which was the reverse of what was done with the beasts ; turned to the south-east, by the place of ashes, during the Tabernacle,'^ and also during the Temple (for we have seen that such a closet was under the as- cent on the east side ;) pulled off its feathers, and tore out its crop ; cast them both into that closet, or caused them to be cast ; cleft it down the middle, but not asun- der ; salted both it and the head w hich had been wrung off with salt, and then laid it on the fire. The reason, perhaps, why Moses ordered two turtle-doves, or two » Lev. vii. 8. ^ lb. v. 7; xii, 8; xlv. 22. ^ lb. xiv. 30, 31 ; xv. 15. SO. <* ^b- i. 16. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 329 young pigeons, was not merely according to the plea- sure of the offerer, but according as they were in season, pigeons being sometimes quite hard and unfit for eat- ing; at which time, Harmer remarks, turtle-doves are very good in Egypt, and, as we may suppose, also in the Holy Land. The turtle-doves are not restricted as to any age, because they are good always when they appear in these countries, being birds of passage ; but the ^^ young pigeons'^ are particulaily marked, that they might not be given to God when they were de- spised by man.* Such was the nature, and such were the directions for the burnt- offerings ; but we may remark, that they were not confined to the Mosaic dispensation, for we have frequent mention of them before it. Tims, Noah is said to have offered burnt- offerings after the flood :^ Isaac was ordered to be offered up as a burnt- offering :*= and Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, when he came to the Israelites, before they reached Sinai, offered a burnt- offering and sacrifices to God.** Let us now inquire, in the second place, into the nature of the sin-offerings (riJ^DH-) The law concerning sin- offerings particularizes nothing respecting them but only this, that they were to be offered for sins ignorantly com- mitted against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done ; that is, they were offered for sins of ignorance against negative precepts.^ But the Hebrew doctors generally confine them to sins ignorantly committed against negative pre- cepts ; which, if they had been done wittingly, had de- served ^^ cutting off:" and the reason of their limitation is in regard to the nature of the transgression; for » Harm. Ob. vol. ii. p. 3i2. ^ Gen. viii. 20. '^ lb. sxll, 2. ^ Exod. xviii. 12, « Lev. iv. 2. 13. 22. 27. Vol. I. T t 330 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JKWS. whereas they enumerate no fewer than three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts/ yet they attach sin- oiferings only to forty-three of them ; or to the particu- lar cases wliich incurred the greatest punishment, if ig- norance could not have been urged as a mitigation. It is true, indeed, that there are some sin-offerings appointed by name which cannot be exactly brought under this de- finition, such as the sin-offering of Aaron on his conse- cration ;^ the sin-offering of the woman at her purifica- tion ;" and the sin-offering of the leper at his cleansing j^ but particular exceptions do not invalidate general rules, and the cases mentioned are evidently intended to incul- cate on the offerers the evil of sin, and the necessity of providing against the possibility of danger. Having thus seen the'reasoji of their appointment, let us next attend to the persons for whom the sin-offerings were offered ; and these were of two kinds — either the whole congregation or pm^ticular individuals. When the whole congregation offered, it was either statedly every year on the day of expiation,*' as we shall see in the following part of this work, or occasionally, when they had done what was wrong ignorantly, and after- wards came to the knowledge of their offence. It is this occasional offering which is so fully described in Levit. iv. 13 — 21, where a young bullock was ordered to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation, or during the Temple, into the Court of the Priests, when the elders or heads of the .tribes, as representing the people, having laid their hands upon its head, the bul- lock was killed according to the form mentioned for the burnt-offerings ; the blood was taken by the priest into the Holy Place, where, having dipped his finger in it » An account of these, with the two hundred and forty-eight affirmative, is given by Owen, in his Commentary on the Hebrews, vol. i. Exercit, 20. •» Lev. i.x. 2. ' lb. xii. 6. ^ Ih. siv. 19. ' lt». xvi. 15, ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 33i seven times, he sprinkled what adhered to it seven times before the veil, after which he returned from the Holy Place into the Court of the Priests, went up the ascent of the altar, put some of the blood above the red line or upon the horns, and poured out the rest at the foot of the altar. The fat was the only part of the animal that was offered on the altar ; for the rest, including the skin, in- wards, and even the dung, were carried forth unto a clean portion of that place where the ashes of the altar were wont to be poured out, and there burnt completely with fire." Such was the sin-offering that was appointed for the congregation when they had ignorantly offended : but in process of time, when the decisions of the Sanhe- drin were implicitly obeyed, it was considered also to ap- ply to them when they erred in their explanation of any of the three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts, and had thereby misled the congregation, only in place of one bullock they were to bring twelve ; and in the case of idolatry, which was considered as high treason against Jehovah their king, twelve goats were to be added to the twelve bullocks. This they grounded on Numb. XV. 22 — 26, although the case is not there par- ticularly specified.^ With regard to the manner in which sin-offerings were conducted in behalf oi particular individuals, the Scrip- tures specify three cases in which they were to be brought. The first was, when the high priest had of- fended ignorantly : he was enjoined to bring a young bullock,'' and the same ceremonies were to be observed as in the case of the congregation, with this difference, however, that the priest, in returning from the sprink- ling of the blood before the veil, should sprinkle some of » Compare Levit. iv. 20, 21, with verses 11, 12. <> Maimonid. De Noxiis Imprudenter Admissis, cap. 12, 13, 14. * Levit. iv. 3— 12. 332 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it also upon the horns of the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place as he was on his way to the Court of the Priests.' The second case was, when any of the rulei's sinned through ignorance : they were to bring a kid of the goatS; a male without blemish,'' to the appointed place, to do with its blood as was done with that for the whole congregation ; and to burn its fat and inv.ards, after being washed and salted, upon the altar ; but the rest of the carcass was to be the priest's : all the males might eat of it, and the place of eating was appointed to be the court of the tabernacle of the congregation, while the Tabernacle stood,'' or the precincts of the Temple when it was erected. The third case was, when any of the common people sinned ignorantly : they were en- joined to bring a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, or a ewe lamb v/itliout blemish,*^ whose blood and fat v, ere to be disposed of as before, and whose flesh was to be eaten exactly in the manner of that which was offered by the ruler. When birds were offered they were treated in the same way as in the burnt- offerings, only their blood was sprinkled beneath the red line that en- compassed the altar. See cases of this sin by the com- mon people mentioned in Lev. v. 1 — 13. Of the various sin-offerings that were appointed to be offered, it will be observed, that some were expressly commanded, and some were offered upon the general principle of seeking atonement for sins unwittingly com- mitted : but in corrupt times it was charged upon the priests, that they regarded their bellies more than the desire of promoting devotion ; and it is, perhaps, to this that Hosea refers, when he says,*' '* They eat up the sin (or sin-offerings, nXDH) of my people, and set their =" Lev. Iv. 7. ^ lb. iv. 22— 26. ' lb- vi. 24—29. <» lb. iv. 27 -3:. Num. xv. 27—29. ' " Ch. iv. 8. ANIMAL SACRTTICES. 333 hearts on their iniquity." Nor should we forget, while treating of sin-oiFerings, that Jesus Christ is often spoken of under that character. Thus, in Rom. viii. 3, ^^ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (jtept a^aprtag, by a sin-off*ering) condemned sin in the flesh." In 2 Cor. v. 21, it is said, that " He was made sin (or a sin-offering, a^apriav) for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righ- teousness of God in him." And in Heb. ix. 28, it is ad- ded, that he " was once offered to bear the sins of many ; but unto them that look for him shall he appear the se- cond time without sin, (or without a sin-offering, ^optg afxaptia^) unto salvation." Indeed, the apostle to the Hebrews clearly applies these offerings for sin as types of Christ; ^^For the bodies of those beasts," says he, ^^ whose blood was brought into the sanctuary by the high priest, or by any of the priesthood for sin, were burnt without the camp ; wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."'' The third kind of offerings were called trespass-offer- ings (Dli^J^,) and they differed from sin-offerings in the following respects : — They were appointed for persons who had either done evil unwittingly, or were in doubt as to their own criminality, or who had been guilty of certain things that required reparation, or who stood in such a specific situation as required sacrifices of that kind. Accordingly, they were divided by the Jews into two kinds — the doubtful and the undoubted. The doubtful, or the cases in Vv'hich their consciences surmised, but their understandings were in doubt, whe- ther they were criminal, will best be understood by se- » Heb. xiii. 11, 12. 334 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lecting a case or two as given in Scripture. Thus in Levit. V. 2 — 5, When a person touched, unknown to himself at the time, any unclean thing ; or sware to do good or evil without having seen sufficiently the nature and consequences of his oath ; or, in general, trans- gressed any of the commandments of God unwittingly." When he came to the knowledge of his fault he was en- joined to bring a trespass -offering of a ram, a female lamb, or kid for a sin-offering. If unable to bring any of these, he might bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons ; the one to be offered for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering: and if very poor, the law was contented with the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour without oil or frankincense, as a sin-offering.^ But the Jewish doctors, in later times, added a variety of other cases. Thus he that ate the fat of the inwards, which was forbidden to be eaten,"" but which might be applied to other purposes, if he did it wittingly, was to be cut off; and if he did it unwittingly, and came to the knowledge of it afterwards, was to offer a sin-offering: but if it chanced to be at a table, among fat that might be eaten (for they were not restricted from eating the fat in gene- ral,*^ but only the fat of the inwards in particular,) and if he feared that he had tasted of it, then he was bound to bring a doubtful trespass- offering; and if he after- wards learnt for certain that he had tasted of it, he had also to bring a sin-offe^ting. They mention a second case of two men who happened to. be together, and one of them offended, but neither of them could say who it was : they were, therefore, both enjoined to bring a suspense, trespass-offering. In Dr. Lightfoot's treatise on the Ser- vice of the Temple, *" and in Maimonides,*" many other » Lev. V. 17—19. •» lb. v. 6—13. ' lb. iii. 17; vii. 23—25. «> Neh. viii. 10. ' Ch. viii. seel. 3. ^ De Noxiis Impi'mlenter Admissis, cap. ix. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 335 Gases are quoted, but these will shew what they under- stood by trespass- offerings in the cases of doubt. They were evidently intended to keep the conscience tender, and to make men shun the very appearance of evil. With respect to the certain or undoubted trespass- offerings, so called because the cases included in it were specifically mentioned, they were the five following : those regarding things stolen, unjustly gotten, or detained ; the trespass- offering for sacrilege ; that in the case of the bondmaid ; that in the case of the Nazarite ; and that in the case of the leper. As these will most natiirally explain the law, we shall attend to each of them. The first of the cases, or that regarding things stolen, unjustly gotten, or detained, is fully described in Lev. vi. 2 — 7 ; Num. v. 5 — 8. The person was to restore what belonged not to him, together with a fifth part more out of his own property : and while he thus did justice to his neighbour, and repaired the injury he had done to him and to society, he was also enjoined to bring a trespass- offering to Jehovah, as a sense of the injury he had done to religion. The trespass-offering, in such a case, was to be a ram without blemish, which was to be killed in the place where they killed the burnt- offer- ing, or on the north side of the altar ; its blood was to be sprinkled round about upon the altar ; but in after times it was enjoined to be done in the form of the Greek letter gamma {y,) by throwing it against the north- east and south-west corners, below the red line, in such a manner as to make it extend to both the sides of the corner at once ; the rump, which in the sheep of these countries is a lump of fat of many pounds weight, the fat that covered the inwards, and the kidneys and caul, with the fat that was on them, were, in the next place, all burnt on the altar ; after which, the flesh was the priest's and appointed to be eaten in the Holy Place, 336 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. that is, in the Court of the Tabernacle of the congrega- tion, while the Tabernacle stood ; and in the Court of Israel, or of the Priests, after the building of the Tem- ple.* Strabo'' tells us, that the Persians and their magi covered tliose parts of the victims which they offered with fat, that they might be more completely consumed. Rous" says the same thing of the Greeks, and Persius,^ of the Romans ; for they accounted it unlucky if it did not consume entirely ; a circumstance which made Gre- gory Nazianzen speak of the gods as "delighting in fat'' [xviOaYi x<^ipovreg ;) and which may serve to explain, why fat was so strictly enjoined to be offered as a part of the Jewish sacnfices. Indeed, in Lev. iii. 11. 16, it is called " the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord," or that which would assist the fire in consum- ing it. 2. The case of sacrilege is treated of in Lev. v. 16. The person was understood to have done it from igno- rance ; the thing wasted, or taken, was to be restored, with the addition of the fifth of its value, according to the estimation of the priest ; and the trespass-offering was a ram, killed and treated as in the former case. 3. With respect to the injury done to the bondmaid, it is mentioned in Lev. xix. 20 — 22, where we see of how little account females in a state of servitude were, in a political point of view. Indeed, they never were of the tribes of Israel, but were always the children of heathens, either purchased or taken captive.*" They ap- pear to have had no rights. No pecuniary, or matri- monial reparation is enjoined ; and the only thing men- tioned is a trespass-offering. 4. In the case of the Nazarite, as fully described in » Lev. vii. 1 — 7. Num. xviii. 9, 10. Ezek. Ixii. 13. >» Geog. lib. XV. p. 504. ' Arclixologise Attic*, lib. ii. cap. 9. * Sat. ii. 47. ' Lev. xxv. 44. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 337 Num. vi. 2 — 21, the trespass- offering was enjoined to be a lamb of the first year/ and treated every way as in the former cases. 5. The trespass- offering enjoined for the leper^ was, indeed, somewhat different. For a part of the blood of the he-Iamb was to be put upon the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot. And as it was accounted by the Jews as one of those sacrifices that were less holy, it was not killed on the north side of the altar, but on the south ; and;, instead of being eaten solely by the males of the priest- hood in the Court of Israel, or the Priests, it might be eaten by others, and even in the city of Jerusalem. This distinction of sacrifices, into more and less holy, is frequently mentioned in the Jewish writings ; and the eating of the more holy, in the Court of Israel, or the Priests, is commonly called by them ^* the eating within the curtains," in allusion to the Court of the Taberna- ele, which was inclosed with curtains. — We have often mentioned, while treating of the sacrifices, that the priests ate them in the Court of Israel, or of the Priests, thereby including all the space within the wall that sur- rounded these Courts ; but we never mentioned either the particular place in that Court, or the particular time. Let it be remarked then, that although the place where the priests ate the sacrifices in the Court of Israel, or of the Priests, be not particularly mentioned by the Jewish writers, it is generally understood to have been under the piazza, or covered walk that surrounded the Court, during the summer season ;*= and in the rooms Gezith, Muked, Nitsuo, or some of the chambers adjoin- ing the Temple, during the winter.*^ The twie when they sat down to eat, is particularly stated to have been " Num. vi. 13, <• Lev. siv. 12. ' lb. x. 12—15, '' Ezek. xlii. 13- Vol. I. U u 338 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. after the whole service was over.* Consequently, their chief meal must have been supper, which they were al- lowed to take any time before midnight ; but after mid- night it was accounted unlawful to eat of any of the holy things. The fourth kind of offerings were those which went un- der the general name o^ peace-offerings (fi^t CD^O/C^;) and which comprehended both thank-offerings, free- will-offerings, and offerings to be made in consequence of vows. Accordingly, these are the three reasons that are assigned for them in Levit. vii. 12. 16. And the common offerings in such cases were, either a he or she- calf, a he or she-lamb, or a goat,^ accompanied with its proper meat-offering : and the manner of offering these animals was as follows :— ^They were to be without ble- mish for vows and thank-offerings,'' but a free-will-offer- ing might be either lacking or superfluous in its parts. ^ And when any kind of them was brought, the offerers laid their hands upon their heads as an acknowledgment of guilt : after which, they were killed before the taber- nacle of the congregation ; their blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about ; the fat, the kidneys, the caul, and the rump, if it was a lamb, were all burnt on the altar ;'' the breast, after it was waved, and the shoul- der, after it was heaved, became the property of the priests ;*" and the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer, under the following restrictions, namely, that he was free from all manner, of uncleanness ;s that, in the case of thank-offerings, they should be eaten on the same day on which they were offered ;'' and that, in the cases of free-will -offerings and vows, although they were allowed to eat them on tlie first and second days, yet » 2 Cliron. xxxv. U. ^ Lev. iii. 1. 6. 12. ^ Levit. xxii. 18—22. ^ Lev. xxii. 23. ' Levit. iii. 1 — 5. ^ Lev, vii. 31 — 34 R Lev. vii. 19 — 21. '' Levit. vii. 15; xxii. 30. ANIMAL SACRIFICES. 339 whatever remained on the third was to be burnt, and if any ate of it then, he became criminal." — But it was said that every peace-oifering was ordained to have its meat-offering. Now this was composed of four parts, viz. unleavened cakes mingled with oil, unleavened wa- fers anointed with oil, cakes mingled with oil of fine flour fried, and leavened bread : a part of which was offered on the altar, and the rest was given to the priests, as part of their subsistence. *• Such were the original regulations with respect to peace-offerings, or those which were commonly known by the name of thank-offerings, free-will-offerings, and offerings in consequence of vows. But in the times of the second Temple, there were several alterations intro- duced. Thus, as the peace-offerings in general were ranked among the sacrifices that were less holy, so they were commonly killed on the south side of the altar. The sprinkling also of the blood round about the altar, was changed into the two sprinklings, like the Greek letter gamma (y,) at the north-east and south-west cor- ners ; thereby indeed besprinkling, though more expe- ditiously, the four sides. With respect to the waving, or heaving, the manner of doing it during the second Temple was as follows : The offerer having gone into the Court of the Priests to lay his hand upon the head of the animal, waited till it was flayed ; he then went into the space between the altar and the porch, and received first the fat into his hands, then the breast and shoulder above it, then the kidneys and caul, and in the case of thank-offerings, the bread also ; after which, the priest put his hands below the hands of the offerer, and waved the whole from right to left, and up and down, but always to the east, or towards the altar. This was ' Levit. vii. 15— 18; xix. 5—8. '- Lev. vii. 11—21. 346 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the established mode of waving, or heaving. The next thing was, to salt the fat and the inwards, and burn them : after which, the priest carried away his murem (CD'^IDO 01* portiqn, namely, the wave-breast, heave- shoulder, and a part of the cakes and bread likewise ; while the person who owned the sacrifice, took the rest to feast upon with his family. Yet we are not to sup- pose, that he took it instantly away : for, being holy, it was ordered (except at the great festivals) to be pre- pared in the Temple before it was carried out. Ac- cordingly, as we have already seen, in the south-east cor- ner of the Court of the Women, there were boiling places for the Nazarite's peace-offering ; and Lightfoot tells us, that in some of these they boiled also the peace- offerings of other persons. Perhaps it was to this that 1 Sam. ii. 13, 14, refers, when it is said, that the sons of Eli sent a servant with a flesh-hook, to take a piece of the meat while it was boiling. They were not con- tented with the portion assigned by the law, but greedily took a part of what belonged to the offerer : for in no case, but in that of the Nazarite, as we shall see by-and- by, had they any right to interfere with the part that was salted, or sodden. As this kind of offerings was classed among those which were less holy, and as the whole of the priests, who were ceremonially clean, might partake of their portion of them, either in the Temple or in Jerusalem j^ so the whole family of the offerer, servants included, who were also clean, might partake of their part, either in the precincts of the Temple, or in Jerusalem ; for all the worshippers were always supposed to have either a temporary or perma- nent residence in that city. — May not this eating of the peace-offerings in the Temple by the offerer and his a Lev. vii. 19—21. ANIMAL SACHIPICES. 341 family;* have given rise to the custom among the hea- thens, of eating flesh offered to idols in an idol temple?* Having thus seen the manner in which tiie peace- offerings were presented, let us next attend to the per- sons who might legally offer them. There were three, the devout among the heathen^ the congregation of Israel as a whole, and the several individuals of that congregation. With respect to the first, or the devout among the heathen, although the motives which actuated them to do this honour to Jehovah, were the same as two of those which induced the Israelites to offer peace-offer- ings, namely, a free-will-offering or a vow, yet the sacrifices they gave were never offered as peace-offer- ings, but always as burnt-offerings. And the reason assigned by the Jews for it is, that the law forbade them to receive the bread of the Lord from the hand of a stranger to offer it.^ But though the heathen might not offer a peace-offering for themselves, it did not prevent them from furnishing one, either for the whole Jewish nation, or for the priesthood ; since in such a case, the of- fering, after delivery, ceased to be their's, and virtually became the same, as if the nation or the priesthood had purchased it themselves." So much then with respect to the peace-offerings dedicated by the heathen : it was granting them permission to honour God in the right way, and affording them an inducement to become pro- selytes.— 2. The peace-offering for the whole congregation was made only once a year, at the feast of pentecost,** when two lambs composed the sacrifice : and as this, of all the a 1 Cor. viii. 10. ^ Levit. xxii. 25, = Basnage, History and Religion of the Jews, book v. chap. 6. '' Levit, xxiii. 19. 343 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. peace-offerings, was the only one that was accounted most holy, so it was slain like them, on the north side of the altar, and the part that belonged to the priest was, of course, obliged to be eaten before the Lord, or in the Court of Israel, or of the Priests. 3. The peace-offerings of individuals were of three kinds; viz. those which were offered ivithout bread, which we shall have occasion to notice in a subsequent page, when we treat of the manner in which the Jews celebrated solemn festivals : those which were offered with bread ; and the peace-offerings of the Nazarites, which had in them something particular. Those of- fered with bread, were the thank-offerings, which were expressive of gratitude for signal blessings and delive- rances : free-will-offerings, which were the voluntary tribute of the heart for common and continued mercies : and offerings in consequence of vows, or those which had been promised and set apart for some specific reason. It may here be observed, tliat the Jews considered the obligation to present these last as stronger than that in the two former. For they determined in their traditions, that if any accident happened to thank-offerings, or free-will- offerings, before they reached the Temple, they were not bound to replace them j but in the case of animals, vowed or devoted, they had always to make them good. With respect to the ram for the peace-of- fering of the Nazarite, it also was offered with bread," but there were some things in it different from the rest. Thus, after it was killed on the south side of the altar, as a sacrifice less holy, and its blood sprinkled in the usual manner, the right shoulder and whole breast were separated by the priest ;^' the rest was put into one of the boiling places in the south-east corner of the Court " Num. vi. 17. '' Levit. vii. 31, 32. MEAT AND DRINK-OFFERINGS, &C. 343 of the Women ; when sodden, the priest came and took out the other or left shoulder, laid it upon the hands of the Nazarite, with one of the cakes of unleavened bread and one of the wafers of the meat- offering/ placed above these the heave shoulder and wave breast which he had formerly cut off, and then laid the inwards and fat above them all, in order to be waved before the Lord ; which being done, the fat and inwards were burnt upon the altar in the way we have frequently described; the cake and wafer were also burnt according to the law of the meat-offerings ;^ the heave shoulder, wave breast, the shoulder that was sodden, and the rest of the cakes and wafers were the property of the priest ; the remain- ing part of the victim was eaten by the Nazarite, either in the precincts of the Temple or at Jerusalem ; and af- ter that, he was released from his vow. SECT. III. Meat and Drink-offerings: Wave and Heave- offerings. Meat-offerings — Thirteen kinds of them ; rules for managing them : the pro- portion of meat-offerings for the different kinds of sacrifices under the Ta- bernacle and first Temple ; why honey forbidden. The alterations introduced under the second temple. The manner of offering them in our Saviour's days. Dririk-offeriiigs — what; the quantity requu-ed for the different animals; the sacrifices that had both meat and drink-offerings. The drink-offering of the daily sacrifice was the signal for the music to begin. Heave and fVavf offerings — their nature ; the property of the priests. An equitable regulation about the dead and of spoil founded on them. Two questions answered ; 1st. How the persons liable for offerings were induced to pay them ? 2nd. At what time the offerings which they owed became due .' We are now come to the fifth class of offerings, or those known by the name of meat-offerings (niliDj) of which there were thirteen kinds ; three for the whole » Num. vJ. 15. 19, 20. "> Lev. ii. 2, 344 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. congregation, and ten for particular persons. The three for the whole congregation were as follow: — 1. The twelve loaves of shew bread, which were set before the Lord every sabbath, removed on the sabbath following, and eaten by the priests.* 2. The sheaf, or, as the word also signifies, the omer of the first-fruits of their harvest.^ This Dr. Lightfoot informs us was barley, because the harvest of tliat grain was the earliest. It was waved be- fore the Lord, part of it was offered, and part of it eaten. ^^ Every waving," says Rabbi Solomon on Lev. xxiii. 9, " is bringing it this way and that way, up and down : and the waving it this way and that way, was for the restraining of evil winds ; while the waving of it up and down was for the restraining of evil dews." The third meat-offering for the whole congregation, consisted in the two wheaten wave loaves, that were offered at the feast of pentecost, as the first-fruits of the wheat harvest.* Such were the three meat-offerings that were peculiar to the whole congregation. — The ten for particular per- sons were as follow : — 1. The daily meat-offering of the high priest ; which was the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour baked in a pan with oil, and the half of it of- fered in the morning, and the other half at night.^ 2. The meat-offering of initiation ; which every priest brought in his hand at his first entrance into the office.^ 3. The sinners' meat-offering ; or that which a poor man who should have brought a sin-offering, substituted in place of it, on account of his poverty. This is mentioned in Levit. v. 11, and shews the regard that God had for those who were in indigent circumstances. It was the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour, without either, oil or » Exod. XXV. 30. Levit. xxiv. 5—9. ^ Levit. xxiii. 9—14. <= lb. xxiii. 15—17. '^ lb. vi. 20—23. ' lb. vi. 20-- 23. MEAT AND DRINK-OFFERINGS, &C. 345 frankincense. 4. The jealousy meat-offering ; or the of- fering brought with the suspected wife, and mentioned in Num. v. 15. It was the tenth part of an ephah of bar- ley meal, without either oil or frankincense : and it is worthy of remark, that this, and the meat-offering of the first-fruits of the barley harvest, were the only meat-of- ferings which were enjoined to be of barley ; for all the other kinds were of the fine flour of wheat. 5. The meat-offeringof fine flour unbaked, which was prepared by pouring oil and frankincense upon it. This is men- tioned in Lev. ii. 1 — 3. 6. The meat-offering baked in the oven ; which was either unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. These are mentioned in Lev. ii. 4. 7. The meat-offering baked in a pan ; which was fine flour un- leavened mingled with oil, parted in pieces, and oil poured on the pieces. This is mentioned in Lev. ii. 5, 6. 8. The meat-offering that was made in the frying-pan ; and which was fine flour mingled with oil. This is men- tioned in Lev. ii. 7. 9. The wafers baked in the oven^ which were classed with the unleavened cakes, in No. 6. And, 10. The offerings of the first-fruits by individuals at the feast of pentecost, as we shall have occasion to notice in a subsequent page.* Such were the different kinds of meat-offerings; both of a public and private nature, which were enjoined upon the Jews. The rules for managing them out of the law, were generally as follow : — They were brought to the priest, who car- ried them to the altar, took a handful from each of them as an oblation, salted it, and burnt it upon the altar : after which the remainder became the property of the priesthood, and was eaten by those whose course it was to serve.'' No leaven or honey was allowed in any of- =• Lev. ii 14— le.Deut, xxvi. 1— 10. •> Lev. ii. 2. 8, 9, 10; vi. 14—18; x. 12, 12. Vol. L X X 346 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ferring.^ And the last appears the more singular, that it was apparently agreeable in itself, and honourable to God. But the reasons may have been, first, that God might not appear pleased with things merely on account of their sweetness ; and, secondly, because the heathens offered honey to Bacchus,^ the dii superi" and the dii inferi, and departed heroes.** Hence Orpheus, in the be- ginning of his Hymns, calls the infernal gods \i£ikiyiQi OsoLy and the souls of the dead, ij.£?Lia under- stand, obey, learn, teach, observe, do, and perform all the words of the doctrine of thy law in love. And en- lighten our eyes by thy law, and cause our hearts to cleave to thy commandments^ and unite our hearts to love and fear thy name." After this prayer they rehearsed the ten command- ments, and after the ten commandments they repeated their phylacteries ; which it is needless here to insist upon, as they were described particularly when treating of the mitre as part of the dress belonging to the high priest. We now come to the third time of their casting \o% the object of which was twofold: — 1. To choose two persons to offer incense on the golden altar ; and, 2. To determine the person who should take the pieces from the top of the ascent of the altar and lay them before the fire. Having ascertained, therefore, both of these in the ordinary way, the two who were ballotted to offer incense immediately began to discharge their duty ; for the regulation was, " that the incense of the morning should be offered between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying on of the pieces upon the altar; and the incense of the evening, between the laying on of the pieces on the altar and the drink offering." Accord- Vol, I, Z z 362 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS'. ingly, one of them took a silver dish, capable of con- taining three cabs, in which was a censer full of frank- incense ;* and the other took a censer to fetch some live coals from the small fire on the south-west corner of the altar that was destined for that purpose, and both pro- ceeded forwards to the Temple, ringing the Megru- pitha, (great bell, or gong,) as they passed, to warn the priests that might happen to be absent, to come to wor- ship ; the Levites that might happen to be absent to come to sing ; and the stationary men to bring in those, whose purification was not perfected, to the gate of Nicanor. Having reached those steps that led to the porch, they ascended them with becoming solemnity, preceded by the two priests who had been in the Holy Place before, trimming the lamps and cleansing the altar of incense. He who had trimmed the five lamps now trimmed the other two, took up his golden dish called ciiz, worshipped towards the Most Holy Place, and came out into the porch. He who had cleansed the altar of incense, but had left his golden dish called teni, now took it up, worshipped, and came out into the porch. And he who carried the censer of coals, after kj^idling the fire on the incense-altar, also worshipped and came out into the porch, leaving the priest who should olTer the incense alone in the Holy Place. But this priest was not allowed to kindle the incense when he pleased ; for whether it were a priest or the high priest who was engaged in .that office, he might not proceed till the president from without should give him the signal by calling unto him to offer : the intention of which restriction evidently w^as, to allow the priests time to retire from the space between the porch and the altar, and to see that the people were ready for wor- * Lightf. Ileb. and Talm. Exer. on Luke i. 9. DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 363 ship/ Accordingly, on the signal being given, the in- cense was kindled, the Holy Place was filled with per- fume, and the congregation joined in prayer throughout. As curiosity naturally prompts us to enquire what these prayers were, I shall first premise, that they prayed for those heathens who were the friends of the Jewish peo- ple as well as for themselves,^ and then copy four of the prayers which they put up for their own nation, which Lightfoot has translated from the Jewish ritual. The first, which they called Ameth and Itsib, (because it be- gan with these two words y*^''^ riDX^) regarded their phylacteries, and was as follows : — '^ Truth and stability, and firm and sure, and upright and faithful, and beloved and lovely, and delightful and fair, and terrible and glorious, and ordered and accepta- ble, and good and beautiful, is this word for us for ever and ever. The truth of the everlasting God our King, the rock of Jacob, the shield of our salvation for ever and ever. He is sure, and his name sure, and his throne settled, and his kingdom and truth established for ever- more." The second prayer, which the Talmud calls Obudh (*7-]«l^^,) from the word with which it begins, and which Maimonides calls Retse (n^*)?) from one of the principal words in it, is as follows : — ^' Be pleased, 0 Lord our God, with thy people Is- rael, and with their prayer, and restore the service to the oracle of thy house, and accept the burnt-offering of Israel, and their prayer in love with well-pleasedness; and let the service of Israel, thy people, be continually well- pleasing to thee. We praise thee, who art the Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, the God of all flesh, our Creator, and the maker of all the creation. Blessing " Lightf, Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Luke i. 9, 10, ^ Maccab, xii. 11, 364 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, and praise be to thy great and holy name, because thou hast preserved and kept us ! So preserve and keep us, and bring back our captivity to the courts of thy ho- liness/' The third prayer, called Shim Shelinrij, from the two first words (QlSjj,* Q^tJ^) begins thus : — ^^ Appoint peace, goodness, and blessing, grace, mercy, and compassion, for us, and for all Israel, thy people. Bless us, O, our Father, even all of us as one man with the light of thy countenance; for in the light of thy coun- tenance, thou, O Lord our God, hast given us the law of life, and loving mercy and righteousness, and blessing and compassion, and life and peace. Let it please thee to bless thy people Israel at all times. In the book of life, with blessing, and peace, -and sustentation, let us be re- membered and written before thee, we, and all thy peo- ple, the house of Israel." The fourth prayer, which Lightfoot translates, way that which was used on the sabbath morning by the course that went out, as a farewell blessing on the course that came in. It was as follows : ^^ He that caused his name to dwell in this house, cause to dwell among you, love and brotherhood, and peace and friendship." Let any one compare these prayers with the Hymns of Orpheus, and the other prayers of the heathen, and they will see the advantages which a land possesses by being favoured with revelation. At the same time it must be acknowledged, that they are much disfigured by vain repetitions, as if they wished to be heard for their much speaking. But let us attend to the remainder of the morning ser- vice.— When these prayers, therefore, were ended, and before the priests had left the Temple, the priest, whose lot it was to lay the pieces of the lamb upon the altar, did it in the following manner : he first threw them all DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 365 into the fire as fast as he could reverently fetch them, and then taking the tongs, he disposed them, piece by piece, in somewhat of their natural order, and after- wards came down. It ought here to be stated that, be- sides the other wood which was laid upon the great fire on which the morning and other sacrifices were burnt, there were two distinct faggots reserved for the morning and evening sacrifice, which in the morning were carried and laid on by one priest, but in the evening by two. What their reason was for so doing is not mentioned by Lightfoot, although he says that they had a distinct tra- dition on tb.e subject. We are not particularly told how long the person that was left to bur^i the incense staid in the Holy Place ; whether it was during the time that the people prayed, or till the pieces were laid upon the altar (it is probable that it was only during the time of prayer:) but one thing is certain, that after the pieces were disposed on the altar, and the priest who disposed them had de- scended into the Court, the four priests who had been in the Holy Place stood upon the steps that led to the porch, with their eyes towards the ground in token of humility ; their arms extended, so as that their hands were in a line higher than their heads; and one of them, probably he who burnt the incense, in a solemn and audible voice blessed the people in the following words, as taken from Num. vi. 24, 25, 26 : — '* The Lord bless thee and keep thee : the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee : the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.'' After which the daily meat-ofi'ering was offered; then the meat-offering of the high priest, which was called Hebi- thin (prion?) and last of all the drink-offerings, at the conclusion of which the Levites began the song of praise, formerly described when speaking of the Levites ; and 366 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. at every pause in the music the people worshipped. Tluis did the morning service end, and the people depart to their respective habitations. The duties of the Temple during the middle of the day cannot be specifically pointed out, for they varied constantly in their nature and number, since the priests, between the morning and evening sacrifice, held them- selves always in readiness to offer the sacrifices which any of the Israelites might happen to present, either of a voluntary or expiatory nature. In that interval, there- fore, was the time for offering up of burnt- offerings, sin- offerings, trespass-offerings, and peace-offerings, with their respective meat and drink-offerings. Hence, it is natural to suppose, that they sometimes had few, some- times a considerable number, and at the great festivals a great many ; since these were the times for offering, not only the peculiar sacrifices which these feasts required, but also the sacrifices, whether expiatory or voluntary, which the persons residing at a distance from Jerusalem owed to the Temple. The Evening Service began about the ninth hour* and was nearly the same with that in the morning, the differences between them being but trifling. Thus, in the ist place, they had no new lots in the evening, for that which was assigned them in the morning, they retained in the afternoon. 2. If there happened to be any in the house of their father that had not burnt incense, these cast lots who should do it ; but if all of them had been employed in that particular service, then he who burnt it in the morning did the same at evening. 3. The burn- . ing of incense was later in the evening than in the morn- ing, for in the morning it was between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying of the pieces upon the altar; but Acts iii. 1 ; and Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 4. DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 367 in the evenings it was between the laying of the pieces upon the altar and the drink-offering : thus the public prayers in the evening coincided with the time of the daily meat-offering. Lastly, there were some days when the priests did not bless the people in the evening from the steps of the porch ; but the reason is not specified by Dr. Lightfoot, as being too trifling to be mentioned. It is impossible to peruse the preceding account of the daily service, without being struck in the first place with the regularity and exactness with which every thing was conducted. These were requisite in a place where so many persons were assembled, and so many duties were going on. They caused all things to be done decently and in order ; and were suited to the service of that Being, who is the God of order, and not of confusion. Secondly, As the mind was pleased with its exactness, so there were many circumstances which tended much to inspire it with awe. The early hour at which it be- gan, when the shades of night were not completely dis- pelled ; the nature of the sacrifice, as founded on their being sinners, and leading them to him who was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ; the silence of the people at the season of prayer ; the solemn bene- diction from the steps of the Temple ; the large band of vocal and instrumental music employed in celebrating the praises of Jehovah ; and the repetition of these sacred rites every evening ; all conspired to fill the mind with solemn awe, to raise the worshipper from earth to hea- ven, and to make him anticipate the joys of the blessed. How different in their nature and tendency was the abo- minable ritual of the heathen temples ! Thirdly, Does not what has been said concerning the priest that was appointed to offer incense, serve to explain the situation of Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, as mentioned in Luke i. 9, &c. ? For he was that very person^ on whom 368 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the lot had fallen that day, '^ according to the custom of the priest's office, to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord : while the whole multitude of the people were praying without." While he was thus en- gaged, with his face to the Most Holy Place, and his heart perhaps longing for the consolation of Israel, " the angel of the lord Lord appeared on the right side of the altar," to inform him of the birth of the Messiah's fore- runner; and struck him dumb on account of his unbelief. But while this was transacting fully, more than the usual time for the priest's remaining in the Holy place had elapsed : ^^ The people therefore waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple." At length, however, he came; but what must have been their surprise, w^ien, instead of 'blessing them, as usual, from the steps of the temple, he could only beckon to them and remain speechless ! Such an event would spread far and wide. Jerusalem and Judea would hear of the mira- cle ; and all would unite in raising the character of John the Bapsist.* Lastly, May not the duty of the priest who was appointed to the incense, serve to lead us to the Lord Jesus, as the great high priest of his church, who was not appointed merely for a day, but appears continually at the altar above, with a golden censer in his hand, full of incense, that he should offer it up with the prayers of the saints on the golden altar that is be- fore the throne ?^ How happy are those for whom he intercedes ! For, him the Father heareth always ! Hitherto we have confined our attention to the daily service of the Temple, but we ought also to notice the standing regulations, which the Sanhedrin made to keep order and decency among the worshippers. There is indeed a general rule mentioned in Lev. » Sec Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Eser. on Luke i. 8— H. '' Rev. viii. ?, 4. DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 369 xix. 3 ; xxvi. 2, which says " Ye shall reverence my sanctuary;" and all who were ceremonially unclean, were consequently forbidden to enter these sacred courts: but the standing regulations in our Saviour's days prohibited many things which came not under this legal impurity. The following table has been copied by Lightfoot, from their own writings. 1. ^^None might enter the mountain of the house (or within the 500 cubits square) with his staff." Hence, when our Lord drove out the buyers and sellers from the Court of the gentiles, he was forced to use a scourge of cords. And the only exception to this rule was with re- spect to " the man of the mountain of the house," who carried a staff when he went his rounds in the night, to beat those Levites who were sleeping while on guard. 2. None might enter in thither ^'^ with his shoes on his feet." This they grounded on Exod. iii. 5, and Josh, v. 15 ; but though shoes were prohibited, sandals were not : unless we except the priests and Levites while on duty, which they always performed barefooted. 3. '^ None might go in with dust on his feet." The in- junction was to wash or wipe them, that by thus looking to his feet when he entered into the house of God, he might be reminded to shake off all worldly thoughts and affections. 4. " None might enter the mountain of the house with his scrip on." This Rabbi Nathan explains to be a kind of vesture, or little upper garment, in which were many places sewed, where they could put what they needed. It was a kind of apron, which served them as pockets, and could readily be either put off or on. 5. ^^ None might enter the mountain of the house with money in his purse." These purses were not in the little aprons just mentioned, but in their girdles ; which were so folded and stitched, that whilst they served to bind Vol. L 3 A 370 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. their under garments, they were also employed to keep their money. Hence, though they were enjoined to lay aside their scrips, they were not enjoined to lay aside their girdles, for these last could not be wanted: the only thing required of them was to have no money in their girdles. But if this was the case, how, it may be asked, did Peter say to the lame man at the beautiful gate of the Temple '^'' Silver and gold have I none?" does it not lead us to suppose, that although Peter had none, yet the lame man took it for granted that others might; else, why did he cause himself to be laid within the Temple to ask alms ? I answer, that although no one might carry money into the Temple in their girdles, many carried it in their hands : either to give to the priests for the sa- crifices they required, and the meat and drink-offerings connected with them ; or to the treasuries for the poor, for the repairs of the Temple, &c. ; and therefore the beggar might well expect some small portion of these in charity. In these regulations, we may notice a wonder- ful resemblance to the injunctions which our Saviour gave to his apostles, in Matt. x. 9, 10, when he sent them out to preach the gospel : ^^ Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in your purses, nor scrip for, your journey, neither shoes, nor yet staves ;" for he adds, " the workman is worthy of his meat ; thus intimating, that they would procure a sufficiency among those who believe in their instructions, and were benefited by their miracles. Accordingly, after .they returned, our Saviour asked them, Luke xxii. 35, " When I sent you without purse and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? and they said, Nothing."' A 6th regulation was, that '* None might spit on the ground of the Temple ;-' but if they felt themselves under that necessity, they were enjoined to do it in a corner of their garments. "DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 371 7. '^ All irreverent gestures were strictly forbidden :" under which were included, laughing, scoffing, idle talk- ing, as well as openly indecent behaviour. These were especially forbidden in that part of the Women's Court, which was before the Gate Nicanor ; because there the persons were in view of the Temple. 8. ^^ The Mountain of the Lord's House was not to be made a thoroughfare," under the pretence of its giving a nearer road to those who were in haste : for it was de- dicated, not for the business of this world, but for re- ligion. 9. ^^ Every worshipper had to go leisurely and gravely to the place where he should stand ; and there demean himself as in the presence of God, with reverence and godly fear." 10. ^^ The established posture for worship was that of standing, with the feet close to each other, the eyes bent to the ground, the hands upon the breast, and the right hand above the left." How similar to this was the pos- ture of the publican,'* who '^ would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast!" Nay, even the priests, who stood on the steps of the Temple to bless the people, did not form an exception to this rule ; for they neither looked up to heaven, nor forwards on the people, which we should consider the natural pos- ture, but downwards to the ground ; and the people, on their part, were forbidden to change their suppliant pos- ture by looking up to them. 11. '^ No one might sit in the Court of Israel, or the Priests, although they had been ever so weary, or had stood ever so long." The only exception to this rule was, in the kings of the house of David, who, when they came into the Court of Israel, were allowed the privi- lege of sitting if they chose. * Luke xviii. 13. U7^ ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 12. '* None might pray with their heads uncovered :" but the wise men and the scholars added a veil, for dis- tinction's sake ; and the priests, because they always wore their linen bonnets while they served, did not con- sider them as sufficient, and therefore, when they prayed, they added another covering. It was this practice of praying with the head covered, that the apostle condemns in 1 Cor. xi. 4, &c. and his injunction is, that men in the Christian church shall reverse the practice in the Jewish church, and pray with their heads uncovered; but that the women should continue, as formerly, to have their heads covered. 13. The gesture in bowing before the Lord, was either by bowing the head, or falling down on the knees, or falling prostrate on the ground : but this last, although most frequently mentioned, was least practised, for they commonly substituted a very low bending of the body towards the ground in its place ; giving as a reason, that prostration was not fit for every man, but only for such as knew themselves to be righteous men, like Joshua ; a reason, one would think, the very reverse of what it should be, since sinners certainly have most reason to shew their humiliation, unless it were on the general principle, that the greater our attainments in piety, the deeper sense we shall have of our own unworthiness. Lastly, When the different worshippers had finished the service, they might not, in retiring, turn their backs on the altar: and, therefore, they went backward till they were out of the Court. My author does not say whether this rule was confined to the Courts of Israel and the Priests, or extended to all the courts. But I am inclined to limit it to the two former, since he immediately adds, what was evidently a rule in these courts, that none might go out at the same door at which he entered, to prevent confusion among the priests and other wor- shippers. OCCASIONAL DUTIES OF THE VUIESTHOOD. 373 SECT. V. Occasional Duties of the Priesthood. 1. The method o^ burning the red heifer, and using its ashes ; ceremonies used in our Saviour's days : their great care about the person who burnt, and the person who purified : the number of red heifers slain from the time of Moses, till the destruction of Jerusalem. The probable reason of their appointment. — 2. The mode of administering the luaters of jealousy ; much burdened with traditions. It is natural to think, that besides the stated service of the priests, there were occasional duties which they were called upon to observe. The two, however, which were of most note, were the burning the red heifer, and administering the waters of jealousy : on each of which we shall offer some remarks. As the preparation of the ashes of the red heifer, for cleansing those who were defiled with a dead body, was an important article in the Jewish ritual, we shall here add an account of it ; not as it was performed in Num- bers, chap. xix. but according as it was burdened with the traditions of the fathers in the days of our Saviour. In the 1st place, then, the marks for choosing the red heifer take up no less than the first two chapters of the treatise entitled Parah ; but it is needless to spend time in repeating them. 2. For seven days before it was burnt, the person who was to burn it was shut up in the chamber in the north-east corner of the Court of Israel, called the chamber of stone vessels : and the reason of his confinement was, to prevent his being defiled by a grave or dead body. 3. On the day appointed for burning it, the person who was to be employed in that work, left the chamber of stone vessels, accompanied by some of the priests, and advanced towards Mount Oli- vet, preceded by the elders of the people ; where, to prevent all possibility of defilement from graves, or a 574 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ' dead body, the whole of the space from the east gate of the Temple, through the Valley of Kidron, to the place where it was to be burnt, was one continued causeway of arch upon arch. 4. Having reached the spot, the pei'son who was to officiate, was desired by the elders to bathe himself in a chamber, which had been made for the purpose ; whilst the other priests erected the pile, tied the animal with cords, and laid it upon the pile, with its head pointing to the south, and its back to the west, or the Temple. 5. When all was thus ready, the priest who was to officiate came forward, stood on the east side of the heifer, between its fore-legs and head, with his face to the Temple, and in that atti- tude killed it with his right hand, and received the blood with his left : whicTi blood, as he could not, from his situation, sprinkle seven times before the tabernacle of the congregation, according to the statute, Num. xix. 4, so it was considered sufficient to stand with his face to the Temple, and to sprinkle it towards it seven times. 6. The next thing in order was, his setting fire to the pile, and while it was burning, taking cedar- wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool, and throwing them into it in succession, saying as he did it, " This is cedar- wood — this is cedar- wood — this is cedar-wood :" to which the priests and elders always replied, " Well — well — well." " This is hyssop — this is hyssop — this is hyssop :" to which they replied, " Well-^well — well." ^^ This is scarlet wool — this is scarlet wool — this is scarlet wool :" to which they again replied in the same manner. Lastly, After the whole was reduced to- ashes, and these were collected with great care, pound- ed, and sifted, one-third of them was laid up in a cham- ber in Mount Olivet, for sprinkling the people ; one third was delivered to the twenty-four courses, for sprinkling the priests ; and one- third was laid up in a OCCASIONAL DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 375 chamber in the Sacred Fence, to be kept for a memo- rial. Such was the manner of making these ashes in oui* Saviour's days ; let us next see how they used them. The general injunction in the law was, that they should be sprinkled by a clean person ;'' but the traditions strained this to a person that had never been defiled by a dead body in his life : and, accordingly, that such per- sons might be had, there were arches formed in a rock in Jerusalem, like those already described, with houses built upon these arches, into which certain women with child were brought to be delivered ; whose children were kept at the public expense, to be ready, when they came of age, to sprinkle the ashes on those who needed them : and the prescribed form of doing it was this : — One of these persons, mounted on an ox, went to the Pool of Siloam, alighted in the water for fear of being defiled with some dead body, filled a pitcher with water, remounted the ox, went to the chamber on Mount Olivet, which contained the ashes, took as many as were sufficient for his pitcher, mixed them and the water well together, sprinkled them on the persons that needed cleansing by means of a bunch of hyssop, mounted the ox, and returned to his cell. Lightfoot, from whom this account is taken, tells us,^ that nine of these kine were killed between the time of Moses and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans ; viz. one by Eleazar, the son of Aaron; one by Ezra; two by Simeon the just; two by Jochanan, the son of Matthias ; one by Elioenai, the son of Hakkoph ; one by Hanameel Hammizri ; one by Ishmael, the son of Fabi ; and that they look for a tenth in the days of the Messiah. On reviewing these nine red heifers, one cannot help remarking, how their de- » Num. xix. 18. '' Temple Service, ch. xvii. sect. 2. 376 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. iileinents increased with their traditions. For two of these kine served till after Ezra's time, which was about a thousand years : but when the traditions were intro- duced, the other seven were killed in less than five hun- dred years. Hitherto we have said nothing about the probable reason, why God appointed this law for purification ; let us now inquire into it. In the first place, then, God chose a female rather than a male, to pour contempt on the worship of Egypt; for the females were sacred to Isis or Apis. Thus, He- rodotus'* says, that " All the Egyptians sacrifice clean cattle, and always males ; for it is not allowed to sacri- fice females, as being sacred to Isis." Porphyry^ says, that, ^^ With the Egyptians and Phoenicians, any one would sooner taste human flesh than the flesh of a cow." And Tacitus'^ observes of the Jews, ^^ That they slew a ram in contempt of Hammon; and sacrificed a cow, which the Egyptians worship, as a symbol of Apis." In the second place, God appointed to the Jews a red heifer in particular, not because it was most highly esteemed, or resembled the golden calf which Aaron made, but because cows of that colour were ofiered by the Egyptians to Typhon, Python, or the devil. Thus Diodorus Siculus'' tells us, that " the Egyptians sacri- fice red cows, because Typhon, who oppressed Osiris by his snares, had this colour." And Plutarch^ says, ^^ The Egyptians, thinking Typhon to have been of a red colour, sacrifice no cows unless they be red ; making such minute observation, that if they had but one black hair, they were not to be sacrificed." The Egyptians, indeed, suited their sacrifices to their gods. Thus a * Lib. ii. cup. 41. ^ De Abstin. lib. ii. sect, 11. " Hist. lib. v. ■* Hist. lib. i. § 79. = De Iside. OCCASIONAL DUTIES OF THE PPvIESTHOOD. 377 black cow was sacrificed to the Nile^ because the Nile was black : the obelisks were of pyrites, which are of a red colour, to resemble the rays of the sun; horned bulls were oITered to the moon ; white horses to the sun ; and red cows to Typhon, or the devil. In the third place, the singular ceremonies used in killing the heifer, had an evident reference to heathen usages, and were intended to counteract them. Thus, it was killed in the presence of the high priest, who represented Jehovah, to shew that it was not sacrificed to a heathen deity. It was slain without the camp, not only to be a type of Christ who suffered without the gate, but also to cast contempt on their sacrificing it in their temples to Typhon. Its blood was sprinkled, not thrice only towards the Tabernacle, which was the heathen number of sprink- ling, but seven times, or the sacred number which was appropriated to the sprinklings in the sacrifices to Je- hovah. And when its carcass was burnt, three different articles were thrown into the fire along with it — cedar- wood and hyssop, each the size of a man's hand, ac- cording to Maimonides, and scarlet wool of the weight of five shekels, according to the same author. These were used by heathens in their lustrations, and were ordered to be burnt along with the heifer, to teach tlie Israelites their inefiiciency. Lastly, The method of applying the ashes of the red heifer as a lustration in the case of defilement by a dead body, was intended to vilify the sacred heifer of Egypt, and to lead them from those heathen methods of puri- fying which they had seen, and probably had approved of in Egypt ; for the Egyptians employed the water in which the Ibis had drunk, and which had been farther consecrated by certain magical rites, in order to remove various kinds of pollution. Now, by confining the lus- Vol. I. 3 B " 378 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. tration of the Jews to that one case of defilement by a dead body, it checked a tendency to other lustrations ; and;, by employing the ashes of the red heifer mixed in water, it had the double effect of dishonouring the sa- cred animal of the Egyptians, and undermining their veneration for the water accounted sacred by the Ibis and by magic. It is scarcely necessary to add, that by this sprinkling of a solution of the ashes of the red heifer in water, on persons defiled by a dead body, there was, on the one hand, a lesson given them of sanctity for the Tabernacle and Temple, since none who were polluted could enter that holy place ; and, on the other, a mean of preventing the spread of contagion, which, in warm climates, becomes exceedingly active after death. Having thus treated of the burning the red heifer, and the application of its ashes for the purification of those who had been defiled by the dead, let us next at- tend to the manner in which they administered the wa- ters of jealousy to the suspected wife. In Numbers v. 11, &c. we have a simple, solemn, and delicate line of conduct prescribed for the wife, who, whether justly or unjustly, had fallen under the jealousy of her husband. He was to bring her to the priest, with an offering of barley without oil or frankincense; and the priest was to bring her near before the Lord, take holy water in an earthen vessel, mix some of the dust that was on the floor of the Tabernacle with the water, uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of jea- lousy in her hand. In this solemn condition was he to state to her the nature and consequences of her offence, if guilty ; viz. that, by drinking the water thus pre- pared, her ^^ belly would swell, and her thigh rot,'* and she would be a curse and an oath among her people: but if she was innocent, she had nothing to fear; adding, at the same time; that^ in token of her acquiescence in OCCASIONAL DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 379 these consequences, she must give her assent, by repeat- ing these words, Smen, Amen. When this was given, the curse and her assent were written in a book, and afterwards blotted out with the bitter water, a part of which, in that state, was given her to drink. Then the matter was referred to God, as the searcher of hearts, by taking the jealousy- offering from the woman's hand, waving it before the Lord, and offering it upon the altar : after which the matter ended, by giving her the remainder of the water to drink ; leaving the event with Him who had instituted such a mean to prevent impro- priety and criminality of conduct in the married state. This was the original mode of procedure, before the introduction of tradition ; but, as it may not be un- pleasing to notice its effect in corrupting this appoint- ment of Heaven, we shall add the manner in which it was observed in the days of our Saviour. If a husband, in consequence of previous suspicions, should charge his wife in the presence of two witnesses, saying, ^^ See thou speak not to such an one," although she was so imprudent as to do it, she was still free to live with her husband. But if she went into that man's company, and remained with him alone in a suspected place, she was forbidden, by the traditions, the company of her husband ; and he was enjoined to bring her be- fore the Lesser Sanhedrin, or council of twenty-three, that happened to be the nearest ; who, in their turn, sent them both to the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, accompanied by two of the scholars of the wise, to pre- vent them from having any intimacy on the road, and to report the conduct of the inferior court to the supe- rior. But when arrived there, what did they ? Did they suppose the woman innocent till they found her guilty, and treat her accordingly with humanity and de- licacy ? No : they terrified her with dreadful words to 380 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. make her confess guilt ; and if she confessed it, she was made to tear her matrimonial certificate, and depart from the council, which was equal to a divorce. But if she persisted in her innocence, "^ they brought her," says the Talmud, " through the east gates that are be- fore the gate Nicanor ;'' that is, they must have brought her from the chamber of Gezith, which was situated in the south-east corner of the Court of Israel, along the Sacred Fence, which was on the south side of the Court of the Women, for two hundred cubits, till they came to the east gate of the Court of the Women, that was called Beautiful ; where, as Rambam, upon the passage above quoted, expounds it, " they dragged her up and down the stairs of these gates, to bring her by weari- ness and fainting to confession.'' If she still persisted, these Jewish inquisitors had other methods still in re- serve : for she was then taken one hundred and thirty- five cubits farther, or through the whole length of the Court of the Women, and set in the gate Nicanor, where the priest, who was to put her to the trial, took hold of her ; publicly tore that part of her garments which co- vered her bosom, till she was exposed as far down as the heart; stripped her of her white raiment, if she chanced to have such, and clothed her in black ; un- loosed the tresses of her hair, and made it hang dishe- velled on her shoulders ; removing f\ny rings or jewels which she might be wearing ; tied a cord around her body across her breasts in this exposed state, and who- ever chose (excepting her own servants,) might come and gaze at her. Church censures, in some of the Chris- tian churches, are often condemned as making women profligate, by destroying tlic remains of female delicacy, and that excellent barrier of female virtue — a sense of character ; but these are trifles compared with those of the Jews. OCCASIONAL DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 381 Let US, however, hear the conclusion of this singular trial. Persisting in her innocence, the jealousy-offering was put into her hand in a wicker basket ; a little water was taken from the laver in an earthen vessel ; some dust was taken from under the flag in the five cubit space, between the porch of the Temple and the Holy Place, and mixed with it ; the curse, mentioned in Num. v. 19 — ^22, was uttered ; both it and her response were re- corded in a book ; they were then blotted out with the bitter water, and afterwards given her to drink. If she was afraid to drink the water, and confessed her guilt, the officiating priest poured it out, and scattered her offering among the ashes that lay below the ascent to the altar. If she refused, and yet would not confess, she was forced to take the bitter draught. If she drank the water, pursuant to the Mosaic statute, her offering was presented before the Lord, and herself dismissed as in God's hands. Notliing, perhaps, can give a more striking picture of the state of morals among tlie Jews, than the above alterations in the divine injunction. It is pro- bable, that, in the first ages, these direct appeals to the Searcher of hearts were never in vain, and that guilty persons were visibly punished : but it is not equally pro- bable, that, when corrupted by tradition, the Divine Being would give so visible a decision. Indeed, the Jews themselves seem to confess this, for they tell us, that " the operation of these waters was not immediate, but followed after, though sometimes it did not appear for two or three years; for she bare no children, became sickly, languid, and in the end died." It is not for us to deny the truth of this assertion ; but a medical person could easily shew how all these effects might have been produced by the previous treatment, although water had never been tasted. PART V. THE THREE GREAT FESTIVALS. SECTION I. The Passover. Fixed by the appearance of the new moon in March ; the way the Sanliedrin took to know this ; the times when the couriers went through the land ; all the males bound to appear, with a few exceptions ; the fifteen days of prepa- ration ; three reasons assigned as the origin of the passover ; manner of ob- serving it under the 'J'abernacle- and first Temple; lessons it taught the spiritual-minded Jews. The manner of observing it in our Saviour's days ; the choice of the lambs; searching for leaven; the evening sacrifice, when killed to make room for the passover ; the paschal societies, and regulations of the Sanhedrin concerning ; hour at which they brought the lambs to the Temple to be killed; the three companies they formed; their manner of kill- ing them ; the part of the lesser Hallel that was sung ; manner of singing it ; the eighteen days of the year on which it was sung. Probable number of paschal lambs ; the number of blasts of the silver trumpets during the kill- ing of them ; the Court of the Priests washed when done ; regulations when the passover happened to fall on the sabbath. The paschal lambs how roast- ed; when and how eaten. The first cup of wine and water; prayer over it j size of the cup; the first washing of hands ; manner of doing it; form of prayer during the operation. The five dishes that were brought to the table ; the bitter herbs and sauce tasted ; the dishes removed, and why ; the dishes brought buck, with the prayers on their return. The second cup of wine and water, and second washing of hands ; the unleavened bread and bitter herbs dipped in the sauce and eaten ; the prayer pronounced on the occasion ; the meat and peace-offerings eaten, with the pi'ayer before. The paschal lamb eaten, with the prayer before it. The Apicumen, or last piece. The third washing of hands, and third cup of wine and water. The fourth cup, and the. rest of the Hallel, The president's concluding prayer. A fifth cup sometimes taken but seldom. Then the great Hallel sung ; what it consisted of. Pass- over of the second month descril)ed. Paschal feast lasted eight days ; the first seen already. The duties of the second day, or first of the passover week. On tliat day Christ was crucified; the circumstances attending that event considered. The duties of the second day of the passover week ; manner of cutting down and presenting the first-fruits of the barley harvest; Christ THE PASSOVER. 383 lay in the grave the whole of this day. Duties of tlie third day of the pass- over week : on this day Christ rose. The duties of the remaining days. The way in which the modern Jews observe the passover. JlIaving reached that part of our plan which requires a description of the festivals observed at the Temple, it is natural to premise them with the manner in which the Sanhedrin informed the nation of the times of their attendance. This is given by Maimonides'' at great length, of whose account the following is an abridg- ment : — The first appearance of the new moon was the sign for calculating their religious feasts : but the Sanhedrin did not determine it themselves. They rather, as being judges, and wishing to appear impartial, encouraged others to come to Jerusalem to testify of the matter by giving good entertainment to all that came into that part of the city which was called Bith-iozek (py^'TlO j) and after having taken the deposition of two witnesses as to the time they had seen the new moon, the next thing was to spread the intelligence through the country. This they did in the following manner: — A person with a bundle of brushwood, or straw, went to the top of Mount Olivet, where he kindled his torch, and waved it backwards and forwards till he was answered by fires of a similar nature from the surrounding hills ; while these, in their turn, spread the intelligence to others, and those others to persons at a farther distance, till the whole of Judea was informed. Hence the words of the Talmud : — • " It (viz. the signal) went from Mount Olivet to Sar- taba; from Sartaba to Gryphena; from Gryphena to Hevaron, part of Antilibanus on the north of the Holy land ; from Hevaron to Bith Baltin, near the Euphrates on the west (taking Judea in the largest sense ;) and he I In his Treatise De Consecratione Calendraruin, cap. ii. § 4, 5. 384 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. \ that stood there never left off waving his torch till he saw all the place of the captivity full of the like." Such then was the original mode of communicating intelligence among the Jews : but as the Samaritans sometimes coun- terfeited the sign, and thus caused great confusion, ano- ther signal of a more specific nature was adopted, namely, that of messengers, who were dispersed over the country. How much trouble w ould the simple contrivance of an almanack have prevented! But these messengers did not go abroad every month ; they were only dispersed seven times in the year ; — viz, 1. In Nisan, or the first month, that the people might know the right day for keeping the passover. 2. In Jair, or the second month, on ac- count of the second passover that was appointed for those who could not keep the first. 3. In Ab, or the fifth month, on account of the fast on the ninth day. 4. In Elul, or the sixth month, on account of the beginning of the civil year the next month after : for Elul was most commonly a mensis vacuus^ or month of twenty-nine days only; consequently, the Jews, knowing the first day of Elul, might observe the thirtieth day after for the first of Tizri, or beginning of the civil year ; and if on the thirtieth they did not find, either by the sight of the moon, or the intelligence of the Sanhedrin, that it was the first of the month, they also, to make sure, kept the next day after. This shews us the very rude notion they had of astronomy. The 5th time that the messengers were sent was in Tizri, or the seventh month, on account of the day of expiation and the feast of tabernacles. The 6th was Chisleu, or the ninth month, for the feast of de- dication. And the 7th in Adar, or the twelfth month, for the feast of Purim. The times being thus fixed for the three festivals of the passover, pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles ; let us attend particularly to their observance of the pass- over. THE PASSOVER. 385 Ail the males of Israel were enjoined to attend, and the only persons exempted, were the men servants who had not obtained their freedom; the deaf; the dumb ; the lame; persons who laboured under a defect of reason; the old ; the uncircumcised ; the sick ; the delicate, to whom travelling so far would be dangerous ; and infants, till they were able to walk up to the Mountain of the Lord's House from the city by the help of their father's hand." Having premised thus much concerning the manner in which the nation was informed of the feasts, and the par- ticular persons who were legally exempted ; we may ob- serve, farther, that we have frequent mention of the peres (£31D) of the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles, which included the fifteen days immediately preceding any of these festivals ; and which may be re- garded as their preparation for these solemnities. This preparation was ^iXhev personal oy public. The personal preparation included every method that was used for impressing the mind with its solemnity, or the perform- ing of those purifications which prepared them for the feast.'' And the public preparation consisted in repairing the roads, bridges, streets, and pools, or tanks as they are called in the east, for holding rain or river water for the convenience of travellers; in painting their sepul- chres, so as to make them easily noticed, and thereby prevent defilement ; and in dispatching all business of a public nature, to give perfect freedom to public cha- racters." Let us now, however, attend to the passover in par- ticular, the original institution of which, on the night before they left Egypt, was as follows : — First, they '' Maimonid. De Sacris Solemnibus, cap. 2. sect. 1. 3. *> John xi. 55. Joseph. Bell. i. 11. " Lightf, Heb, and Talm. Exercit. on John vi. 1. Vol. L 3 C 386 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. were to search for leaven, and abstain from it seven days;* then a he-lamb, or kid without blemish, was chosen by every family, or, if the family were too small, two families might join themselves together. *• The lamb or kid was to be taken up on the tenth and kept till the evening of the fourteenth day of that moon which ap- peared in the first ecclesiastical month, or Abib.' It was then enjoined to be killed ; its blood was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the lintels and door-posts of their houses ; it was to be roasted with fire, eaten with bitter herbs, with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, their staves in their hands, and in haste ; not a bone of it was to be broken ; and none of it was to remain until the morning ; or if it did it was to be burnt with fire.*^ The intention of all which was — 1. To remind the Is- raelites of the deliverance of their first-born from the power of the destroying angel/ 2. To be a standing me- morial in succeeding ages of the Lord's goodness to that nation. Hence it is that Moses says, in verses 25 — 27, ^^ It shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath pro- mised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you. What mean you by this service ? That ye shall say. It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." And, 3. To be an antidote to the Egyptian idolatry. For the Egyp- tians reckoned the ram among the sacred animals, and worshipped it as a symbol of fecundity and of the con- stellation of Aries, in which their year began. Nay, even Jupiter himself was called Ammon, and his statue » Exod xu. 18. &.C.; xiii. 7. Lev. xxiii. 6. Num. xxviii. If. »> Exod. xii. 3, 4. ' lb. xii. 3- 6. '' lb. xii. 6—11. 46. ' lb. xii. 2S. THE PASSOVER. 387 made in the form of a ram. By ordering, therefore, a he-lamb to be killed, and its blood to be sprinkled on their doors, it was treating their divinity very lightly indeed. The Jewish passover was not to be eaten raw," thereby to distinguish it from what they had been accus- tomed to see in Egypt, where, in the worship of demons, and making of treaties, it was customary to eat flesh newly torn off, and drink blood recently poured out. Accordingly, Julius Firmicus,** when describing the ho- nours done to Bacchus, tells us, "Illic inter ebrias puellas, et vinolentos senes,cum scelerum pompa prsecederet, alter nigro amictu teter, alter ostenso angue terribilis, alter cruentus ore, dum viva pecoris membra discerpit." Plu- tarch says much the same thing, •" as does Catullus in the following lines :** Pars e divulso jactabant membra juvenco : Pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant. Hence Bacchus was called idiiyicn^g Auovvaog, Bacchus, the devourer of raw flesh. And Maimonides tells us,* that '' they cut off" some part of a living animal, and after sprinkling it with blood, eat it.'' The Jewish passover was ^^ not to be sodden in water, but roasted with fire."^ For the Egyptians and Syrians in sacrificing, sometimes boiled the flesh of the victims in water, and sometimes in milk. Hence the practice of the Athenians, mentioned by Philochorus,^ who, "when sacrificing to the Hours, boiled flesh, but did not roast it, praying to these god- desses to drive away filth and noxious heats." Before the jfire is particularly mentioned, both because it occasioned uniformity, for it might have been roasted in an oven, or in a brazen vessel, or in a frying-pan, or suspended in a furnace; and because it was contrary to an Egyptian and » Exod. xli. 9- •> De Error. prolan, relig. p. 10. ' Lib. de Orac. Detect,. ■=• In Nupt, Pelii. et Thet.d. « Mor. Neb. ^ Exod. xii. 9. « Apud Athenxum, lib. xiv. 388 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWSl Chaldean practice, who, like the Eretrian women, men- tioned by Plutarch/ and the ancient Persians mentioned by Herodotus,'' roasted their sacrifices not at the fire but in the sun. Another circumstance attending the pass- over was, that it was to be entirely eaten, not only the flesh, the head, and the feet, but even the intestines \^ which last was the more remarkable, as in every other case the intestines of animals were either burnt on the altar or otherwise disposed of. But the eating them at the passover was in opposition to the heathens, who, in the solemnities of Bacchus, eat the entrails raw. Thus Arnobius*^ says, '^ Caprorum reclamantium viscera cru- entatis oribus dissiparunt." And it might also have been in contempt of their examination of entrails for the pur- poses of divination. It is added, concerning the pass- over, that none of it was to be left until the morning,^ partly to shew the haste in which they were to depart from Egypt, and its idols ; and partly in opposition to the heathen practice of carrying a portion of the sacri- fice home for preservation, to insure good omens. ^ But although this feast was instituted primarily to preserve the first-born, to commemorate their deliver- ance from Egypt, and to create in them a hatred of Egyptian idolatry ; it certainly typified to the spiritual- minded Jews a greater deliverance from the bondage of sin and Satan. Hence, by their searching for leaven, they were taught, as an apostle says, to purge out the old leaven of malice and wick,edness, that they might be a new lump of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ^ The lamb represented the Lamb of God slain be; fore the foundation of the world in the divine purpose ; from tlie foundation of the world in the divine promise, * Quccst. Grxc. p. 298. •> Lib. i. cap. 133. ' Exod. xii. 9. '' Contra Gent, lib. v. p. 169. " Exod. xii. 10. f Sjpencer, De Leg. Heb. lib. i. cap. 4. si Cor. v. 7, 8. THE PASSOVER. 389 and on Mount Calvary in reality, to take away the sins of his people. Its being chosen by every family shewed their need of an individual acceptance of the promised Messiah. The sprinkling of its blood indicated, that, unless the blood of that Messiah were sprinkled on the lintels and door-posts of their hearts, they could never be saved from the destroying angel. Its being roasted with fire, evidently typified the Messiah's sufferings while standing in the place of sinners, when his heart was like wax, and melted in the midst of his bowels."* By eating it with bitter herbs they were taught, that, at the same time that they were grateful for an interest in the Saviour, they should feel a heartfelt sorrow for their numberless trans- gressions. The spiritual meaning of the attitude pre- scribed for eating, was also to teach, that, as they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth, seeking after a bet- ter country, even an heavenly, so they should have their loins girt about with truth ; their feet shod with the pre- paration of the gospel of peace ; the staff of faith and hope in the divine promise firm in their hands ; and that they should be in haste to proceed through the wilder- ness of this world to the heavenly Canaan. Such was the original institution of the passover, and such were the spiritual truths that w ere concealed under it. But this simple ordinance was wonderfully changed in the days of our Saviour, by means of their traditions. It will therefore be necessary to examine the manner of celebrating it then, both to gratify the curiosity of the reader, and also to explain those passages in the New Testament which contain an allusion to them. Let it be observed, then, that, to all the principal feasts, the companies from the different corners of the land came preceded by a bullock, with gilded horns, and » Ps. xxii. 14. 390 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the sound of music ; a circumstance which even Plutarch notices. For, in his ATto^deyfiara^ when he is speaking of Antiochus, he has the following anecdote : — *^ While he was besieging Jerusalem, the Jews asked a respite during the seven days of the feast ; which he not only granted, but having provided bulls with golden horns (a/l/la xai ravpovg '^pwoxspog Txapcuyxevaaanevog^) and plenty of incense and odours, he brought them to the gates, and having delivered them to the priests, retired with his army. This so much astonished the Jews, that, immediately after the feast, they delivered themselves up to his power." Having come to Jerusalem, the first thing connected with the solemnity was the choice of lambs, which might either be brought by individuals, or purchased from the priests. We are not informed whether they were then kept from the tenth to the fourteenth day; but it is pro- bable they were, for the lambs for the daily sacrifice were so kept, and it would take all the four days to ex- amine the lambs destined for the people, concerning those seventy-three blemishes, which, according to their tradition, excluded from the altar. The next thing that engaged their attention was, the searching for leaven ; because they were commanded to eat unleavened bread all the seven days of the feast. Accordingly, on the thirteenth day at even, and, conse- quently, when the fourteenth day, according to the Jewish manner of computing time, began (for their day commonly began at sunsetting, and continued till sun- setting again,)^ they searched their houses with lighted. wax candles.^ No work might take the precedence of this, — not even the study of the law; and, therefore, on that evening, there were no divinity lectures. Before » Levit, ixiii. 32. "» Zeph. i. 12. THE PASSOVER. 391 they began this search, they uttered the following short prayer : — " Blessed be thou, 0 Lord our God, the King everlasting, who hast sanctified us by thy com- mandments, and hast enjoined us the putting away of leaven." Between the conclusion of this prayer and the conclusion of the search, they uttered not a word ; and whatever leaven they found, they put either into a box, or hung up in some place to keep it from the mice, lest they might carry some part of it into their holes. And as the exact compliance with this Divine command, was justly considered of the greatest consequence, they finished the whole with this execration: — '' All the leaven that is within my possession, which I have seen, or have not seen, let it be null ; let it be as the dust of the earth.^'" Such was the work of the beginning of the fourteenth day, or between the sunsetting of the thirteenth and the time that they went to rest : but, although they were evidently employed in a very sacred and commanded duty, the schools of Shammai and Hil- lei difliered in their opinion, whether this part of the day were common or sacred. It was at length, however, decided, that the works which were begun on the thir- teenth day, and could not be finished till after sunset, should be performed on the fourteenth, or between sun- setting and bed-time ; and when morals became more lax, the custom of the place became the rule. A difference of opinion also existed, relative to the sanctity of the fourteenth day, after they rose (which the New Testament calls the " first day of unleavened bread;")'' for some made it entirely a holiday, and others only half a holiday, by ceasing from labour at noon. The Talmud states, that in Galilee they ceased the whole day, and in Judea only the half, a circumstance • Buxtorff. Syn, Jud. cap. ir. ^ Matt. xxvi. 17. Mark xiv. 12. 393 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. which may appear strange ; for one would have thought, that the persons nearest Jerusalem would have been the most strict. The reason, however, that is assigned is, that those in Galilee who abode at home, had nothing to do but to meditate on the passover, whilst those in Judea had either to travel on the former part of the day to Jerusalem, or found it necessary to make some pre- parations for the passover in the evening. It was then in particular that they began to make the unleavened bread, which they were enjoined to use during the feast. It was commonly of wheat, which had been ground three days before, to give it time to cool, for fear of fermentation. The figure of the cakes was round, thin, full of holes^ perforated like a honey-comb to keep them from fermenting ; and they were neither salted, nor made with butter, nor olive oil, but with water. Some rich Jews added eggs and sugar to make them taste better, but these might not be eaten on the first day of the feast.'' On this day, at noon, every person throughout the land began either to burn, or throw into the water, or scatter with the wind, the leaven which had been collected, repeating anew the former maledic- tion,** with the following little addition : — " All the lea- ven that is in my possession, which I have seen, or have not seen, which I have cast out or have not cast out, let it be null, and as the dust of the earth.*' Yet they did not cease to eat the leavened bread immediately after collecting it, for they both ate it, and gave it to beasts or birds, or sold it to a stranger, from the sunsetting of of the night before, till this day about two hours before- noon. Hence Maimonides observes, that " it was lawful to eat leaven on the fourteenth day till the end of the fourth hour ; in the fifth hour they might not eat it, yet ? Buxtorff. Synag. Jud. cap. 17. ^ See p. 433. supra. THE PASSOVER. 39^ inight they use it (for birds, beasts, or strangers, as I suppose;) but he that ate it in the sixth hour was beaten with the rebels' beating, and he that ate it after the be- ginning of the seventh was to be whipped." Having thus seen how the leaven was disposed of, w6 come next to inquire into the particular time of the af- ternoon when the paschal lamb was killed. And on this point the Scriptures say, in general, that it was the evening ;* and, more particularly, that it was " at the even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that they came forth out of Egypt.'"* But it naturally occurs td a reflecting mind, that these phrases must be taken in a very extended sense, in order to allow time for killing so great a number. Indeed, the Hebrew words, both in Exodus xii. 6, where the passover is spoken of, and in Exod. xxix. 39, where the daily evening sacrifice is mentioned, are somewhat singular ; for they literally signify, not the eveni7ig, but between the evenings. Now, what sense are we to affix to this expression? Aben Ezra explains it between sunset and dark; but that is by far too late for the work. The common opi- nion therefore is, that it signifies strictly the middle point between noon and sunset, or about three o'clock in the afternoon, at the time of the equinox : but, gene- rally speaking, it included the whole of that space ; and with this agrees the following extract from the Talmud: — " They slew the daily (evening) sacrifice at the eighth hour and a-half (or half past two,) and offered it up at the ninth hour and a-half (or half past three.) But on the eve of the passover, they slew it at the seventh hour and a-half (or half past one ;) and offered it up at the eighth hour and a-half (or half past two.) And, if the eve of the passover fell on the eve of the sabbath, the » Exod. xii. 6. b Deut. xvi. 6. Vol. I. 3D 394 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. daily sacrifice (which was on that day doubled) was killed at the sixth hour and a-half (or half past twelve,) and offered up at the seventh hour and a-half (or half- after one;) and the passover after it."" Thus do we see, from their own authorities, that when the passover fell on a week-day, the Jews began to kill the lambs a little before three o'clock in the afternoon, and continued till sunset ; and when it fell on the sabbath-day, they began at much the same hour ; for the additional lambs and songs of praise would naturally require the additional time that the Talmud allots them. But Dr. Lightfoot explains it differently. ^^ The common time,"' says he, <^ when they began to kill the passover, was about three o'clock ; and if the passover lighted on the eve of the sabbath, or on the day that preceded it, they began an hour sooner, that they might the better dispatch their business before the sabbath began." But whichever of these two explanations we adopt, the conclusion as to time is nearly the same ; viz. that in six cases out of seven, the killing of the passover began at three o'clock in the afternoon, or the ninth hour ; and would continue till sunset, or the time that they came out of Egypt, as expressed in Deut. xvi. 6. Josephus indeed says, that they slew their paschal sacrifices from the ninth till the eleventh hour. But before they killed the passover, there was an ar- rangement made relative to the number of individuals that joined together, about eating each lamb. These little societies were called Ilebure (rTIIDn?) crumftg, and <|)paT'p(a. In the original institution, this arrange- ment took place on the tenth of the month, ^' or the day when they took up the lamb ; and the rule then was, ■- Godwin's Motes and Aaron, book iil. chap. 4. Buxtorff. Synagog^a Judaica, cap. 13. '' Exod. xii. 3. THE PASSOVER. 395 that every house should have a lamb, or if that was too much, that two neighbouring families should join toge- ther." But, in our Saviour's days, the case was some- what altered : for, as the lambs appear then to have been bought by the priests at Jerusalem on the tenth, and examined, and kept ready for sale against the four- teenth ; so the late arrival, and uncertain number from every family, naturally required that the paschal socie- ties should be formed almost immediately before the killing of the passover : and the number adjusted, ac- cording to the appetites of the individuals, so that none of it might be left. Accordingly, Josephus^ says, that "^ a company of not less than ten, belong to every sacri- fice (for it is not lawful for them to eat singly by them- selves ;) and many of us," adds he, ^^ are twenty in a company." In conformity with which, the general re- gulations were, that every paschal society should consist of ten at the least r*" that none was at liberty to change his society after the passover was slain ; and that none could be reckoned a member of that society who did not at least eat the size of an olive. "^ Although women were not directly called upon to ap- pear thrice a year, yet they were considered as bound to some services which attended these appearances, and therefore were construed as included in the command- ment ; for thus they explained Exod. xii. 6, where it is said, that ^* the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening." Hence many pious women attended these feasts, but especially the pass- over 5 and, in forming these little societies, the Sanhe- drin, to keep order, thought proper to issue the follow- ing rules : — That none of them should consist of women 2 Exod. xii. 4- '' War, vi. 9. ' Targum on Exod, xii. 4. ^ Maim, de Sacrif. I'aschali, cap. ii. § 3, 14. 396 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and servants only, or of servants and children only, lest they should forget the gravity that was requisite. That none should consist solely of aged or sick persons, lest they should leave the lamb unconsumed. That none of them should consist of proselytes or children only, lest they could not converse about the subjects it was in- tended to commemorate. But they might be composed of Jewish women, or of Jewish servants : or, as was com- monly the case, of all the variety that was found in a family ; namely, husbands and wives, children and ser- vants.^ Our Saviour's paschal society consisted of him- self and his apostles.'' And it will be remembered, that there was something singular in the manner in which lie gave his instructions. " Go," said he, " into the city, to such a man, and say unto him. The master saith, my time is at hand, I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples." Where, besides the proof it gives us of his omniscience, we are apt to think, when judging according to our manners, that this was making very free with the house of another ; or else, that the person to whom he sent them, must have been a parti- cular acquaintance, which, I make no doubt, was indeed the case. The following extract, however, from the Talmud, will explain the matter somewhat better : — ^^ Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes, for the tradition is, that the houses are not hired out at Jeru- salem, because they were no man's own ; Rabbi Eleazar bar Zadok said, nor beds either. Therefore, the mas- ter of the family received the skins of sacrifices from the guests. Abai added, and their earthen jugs also," which must naturally mean the skins of the paschal lambs, for these belonged to individuals : but at the pentecost and » Maimon. dc Sacrif, Paschali, chap, ii, § 4. ^ Matth. xxvJ. 20. Luke xxii. 14. THE PASSOVER. 397 the feast of tabernacles they had nothing of that kind to give ; and this may explain what the gloss upon the above passage adds, ^^ that the inhabitants of Jerusalem did not let their houses at a price to those that came to the feasts, but gave them the use of them gratis.''* It was for this reason that Jerusalem was called ^^ our com- mon city" by the Idumean proselytes of righteousness in Josephus' Wars of the Jews,'' they being in the habit of attending the festivals. Let us next consider how they employed their time as the day advanced. As we have already seen, it was a common day till noon, when those who lived at Jeru- salem might work ; and when those who came from a distance would be forming their paschal societies, and going to the Temple to purchase their paschal lambs. At noon they destroyed the leaven. About one o'clock they began to repair to the Temple ; for the evening sacrifice, on that day, was slain so early as half- past one, and the offering it up was fixed at half-past two ; when the Levites sang the psalm for the day, the priests sounded the two silver trumpets, and the people wor- shipped. Consequently, about three o'clock they began to fetch their paschal lambs. At first, they were killed in their own houses, but when the Temple was erected, the common place for killing them was in the Court of the Priests; into which, we are told, that they entered in three divisions, or companies, composed of one from every paschal society. An orderly arrangement, indeed, but founded on rather a whimsical reason — namely, because the three words assembly, congregation, and Israel, are mentioned in the following injunction concerning the passover.*" " The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill » Lighlf. vol. ii. Chorograph. Cent. ch. 21. ^ Book iv. 4. " Exod. xii. 6. 398 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it." — When the first company entered the Court, which consisted commonly of as many as it could well hold, the doors were shut, and the owners of the lambs assisted each other, some suspending them from shoulder to shoulder on a stick, and others flaying them, for in this case they were their own priests ; while the blood was given to the priests to be sprinkled on the altar, and poured out on the foundation ; and the entrails and fat to be burnt on the altar. But we are not to suppose that a priest attended every individual lamb to receive the parts mentioned, for this would have created a great confusion: they stood, therefore, in rows, from the slaughtering-places to the altar; and handed the articles from one to another.^ Nor were the Levites idle, while the priests and people vv6re so much engaged. For they sang the 113th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 118th psalms once, twice, and even a third time, during the continuance of each company, but they never got to the end of them the third time; for, before they had finished, the slaying of the sacrifices of that company was ended."' These psalms have received different appellations in the Jewish vv'ritings. Sometimes they are called Hallel v^/H) or Helel, because they generally begin or end with the word Halleluiah: sometimes the Egyptian Hal- lel, because they treat much of the deliverance from Egypt : and sometimes, the Lesser Hallel, when com- pared with the Greater, which we shall consider in a subsequent page. The Jewish definition of Hallel, is this: — It recordeth five things; the coming out of Egypt, the dividing of the sea, the giving of the law, the resur-- rection of the dead, and the lot of the Messias.'''^ — As we have already treated at some length, on the common « Lightf, Ileb. and Talm. Exer. Matt. xxvi. 19. " Maimon. de Sacrificio Pascliali, cap. i. sect. 9 — 11 ■ ' 'I'ulmnd in Pesarh.fol. 118. THE PASSOVER. 399 manner of singing the psalm for the daily service, per- [laps it may gratify some of our readers to know how they sang the Lesser Hallel. Maimonides, in his Trea- tise on the Feasts of Purim and Dedication, describes it thus: — "^'The chief among them (or the master of the band of Levites, acting as musicians,) whose office it was to read the Hallel, after he had repeated a prayer (the words of which have not been handed down to us) began, thus : — ^ Halleluiah/ (which are the first words of the 113th psalm, and translated in our Bibles, praise ye the Lord,) and all the people (through their organ, the Le- vites, or the rest of the band) answered, Halleluiah. He went on and said, '^ Praise, O ye servants of the Lord :' to which all the people (through their appointed organ, the Levites) said, Halleluiah. He added, ^ Praise ye the name of the Lord :' to which all the people (in the per- sons of the Levites) answered. Halleluiah. He said (verse 2,) ^ Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth, and for evermore :' and all the people (through their representatives, the Levites) answered, Halleluiah ; and so on at every passage (through the whole six psalms,) till they repeated Halleluiah one hun- dred and twenty-three times, or equal to the age of Aa- ron."* Maimonides adds, that " When he that read the Hallel came to the beginning of any psalm, as when he read^ ^ When Israel went out of Egypt,' the people (in the persons of the Levites) repeated ^ When Israel went out of Egypt :■ but when he said, '^ And the house of Ja- cob from a people of a strange language,' they only said Halleluiah.'' And so forward till he came to'' ^ I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice:' then the people (through the Levites, as their representatives) repeated, 3 Num. xxxiii. 39. '' Psal. cxiv. 1. <= The begiuiiing' of the 115th psalm is not mentioned ; but I do not know the reason : as is also the beginning of the^llStb, aftenvar Js. '' Ps. cxvi. 1 . 400 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ' I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice.' And so when he said," ^ O praise the Lord all ye nations :' they repeated, ' Praise the Lord all ye nations.' And when he came to'' ' Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord,' they repeated ^ Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord,' though it was not the beginning of the psalm. And when he said, * O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity :' they rehearsed and said, ^ 0 Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.' And when he said,"' ^ Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord :' all the people (in the persons of the Levites) answered, ^ Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' We have quoted this verbose passage of Maimonides literally, because it gives us an accurate idea of their manner of singing this ex- traordinary national hymn. And before we leave the subject of the Lesser Hallel, we may observe, from the same treatise of Maimonides, that ^^ this Hallel was re- peated on eighteen days in the year, and one night ; namely, at the killing of the passover ; at the feast of pentecost ; on the eight days of the feast of tabernacles ; on the eight days of the feast of dedication, and on the passover night." From the particular manner in which the Hallel was sung, partly by the master of the band, and partly by the rest of the musicians, it would appear, that the music in the Temple resembled the chanting and response which are used in the modern episcopal cathedrals. Such was the manner in which they killed the paschal lambs belonging to each company; for, by describing one, we have described the whole ; since all of thenL acted in the same manner. But it is impossible for us to estimate the number which might have been used. It must evidently have been various, according to the piety ^ Vs. cxvii, 1. ^ \h. cxviii. 25. ' Verse 26, THE PASSOVER. 401 or indifference of the age. We have two instances, how- ever, which may give us some idea of it. The first is in 2 Chron. xxxv. 7 — 9, where we are told, that, at the passover observed in Josiah's time, thirty seven thousand six hundred paschal lambs and kids were used, which, at ten to a company, at an average, would make three hundred and seventy-six thousand persons attending the feast. Yet this would be a much smaller number than probably attended before the revolt of the ten tribes. The other instance is taken from a late period of the Jewish history, and is mentioned by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews ;* where we are told, that Nero had so great a contempt for the Jews, that Cestius requested the high priest to bethink himself of some way of num- bering the people ; and this he did, to shew Nero that the Jewish nation was not so despicable as he imagined. So they took their time to enter upon the computation at the celebration of the passover; when, offering up sa- crifices, according to the custom, from the ninth hour of the day to the eleventh, and those sacrifices to be eaten afterwards in their families, by ten at least, and sometimes by twenty to a lamb, they reckoned up two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred oblations ; which, at the rate of ten to a lamb, amounted to two million five hundred and sixty -five thousand ; all legally pure, for neither lepers, &c. nor any strangers, except proselytes of righteousness, were admitted to the solem- nity. In his History of the War,'' when speaking of the same thing, Josephus states the number who attended the passover in the time of Cestius at three millions, which was about twelve to each lamb ; for twelve times two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred, is equal to three million and seventy-eight thousand. ^ Book vi.9. >> Bookii. 1. 4. Vol. I. 3 E 402 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. It may be proper to add, that, during the killing of the passover of the three companies, the silver trumpets gave twenty -seven full blasts, or nine during the attend- ance of each company ; besides the nine that were given during the time of the evening sacrifice. - It is not, in- deed, said when they sounded ; but it is probable, that they either gave three before they began the Hallel the first time ; three between the first and second reading ; and three between the second and third reading : or else three between the first and second reading, three be- tween the second and third, and three before they left the Court. It was also a tradition among them, that there ought not to be fewer than thirty men in each company ; and yet they contrived to make fifty count thirty three times over — thus : Thirty of the fifty went into the Court as the first company. After these had done, ten of them went out, and other ten came in, to form thirty for the second company ; and when these had done, an- other ten went out, and the last ten came in, so as to form the indispensable number.* It is natural to think, that the Court of the Priests would require washing after the departure of the third company ; and accordingly they had no sooner left it, than the priests set about freeing it of every defilement, by opening the cocks of the pipes that were supplied with water from the fountain of Etam or Nephtoah ; and conducted under ground till they reached the Temple. Aristeas tells us,*" that he saw them; and that those espe- cially which were intended for cleansing the Court, had many openings unseen to every one but the priests; who, in a moment, could float the whole square, and remove I^he blood and filth of the sacrifices, however great, by means of conduits wliich conveyed it under ground to Maimon, de Sacr. Paschali, cap. i. sec. 1 1—15. *> Hist. LXX. interp. THE PASSOVER. 403 the brook Kidron. Nor was this duty of cleansing the Court dispensed with, even when the killing of the pass- over fell on the sabbath. For it was a common tradition among them, that the rest on the sabbath did not extend to the ordinary or extraordinary work of the Temple ; and hence our Saviour, when the Jews objected to his disciples for eating corn to satisfy their hunger on the sabbath day, not only noticed the conduct of David in eating the shew-bread, which was an act of necessity ; but also the conduct of the priests, in the commanded and traditionary work of the Temple, ** " Have ye not read in the law,'' said he, " how that on the sabbath day the priests, in the Temple, profane the sabbath, and are blameless ?" But since we are speaking of the years when the killing of the passover fell on the sabbath, we may further remark, that, although the lambs were killed on that holy day in the Court of the Priests, be- cause the fourteenth was the day appointed, yet they were not taken home by the owners to their lodgings in Jerusalem, till after the sabbath. And the manner of disposing of them till that time was as follows : When the first company had killed their lambs, they retired into the Court of the Gentiles ; when the second com- pany had killed their's they retired into the Sacred Fence ; and when the third company had killed their's, they remained in the Court of the Priests. The reason of which conduct is stated by them to be, that they con- sidered the commandment express as to killing the lambs on the fourteenth day of the month^ on whatever day of the week that fourteenth day might happen to fall ; but not express as to the eating of them directly after they were killed on the sabbath; and, therefore, they delayed it till the conclusion of the sabbath. It will easily be seen ' Matt. xii. 5. 404 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. whether this their conduct was more influenced by tra- dition, or by the divine injunction concerning the pass- over.* We have now to follow them from the Temple to their lodgings, to see how they ate the paschal sapper. The first thing they did, on their arrival there, was to roast the several lambs by thrusting them through, from head to tail, with a wooden spit of the pomegranate tree, and placing them before a large fire. It is not said, that all the individuals of the paschal society who were to eat the lambs were present at the roasting of them ; but it is probable they were, for they had all a particular in- terest in what was going on ; and Jerusalem would be so crowded, that an apartment for each company would be all they could get. The time for eating it is said to be in the evening ;'' and after all that we have said about the Temple, and seen in the guest-chambers," it could not well be sooner. We are therefore come, in strict propriety of speech, to the beginning of the fifteenth day ; for we formerly saw, that the Jewish manner of computing time was from sun- setting to sunsetting. The paschal lamb, therefore, al- though it was killed on the fourteenth day of the month, was not eaten till the beginning of the fifteenth ; for it was killed between three o'clock in the afternoon and sunset, but was not eaten till after sunset. In feasting on the lamb destined for the passover, they might not however eat .it immediately after ano- ther meal. On the contrary, they were commanded by their traditions to fast from a little before the evening, sacrifice till dark. But the evening sacrifice, on the eve of the passover, was slain (as we have already seen) at ■T Maimon. de Sacrlf. Paschali, cap. i. sect. 17. b Exod. xii. 8. Mark xiv. 17. ' Mark siv. 14. The PASSOVER. 405 the seventh hour and a-half ; and, if the passover fell on the sabbath, then was the evening sacrifice slain at the sixth hour and a-half. Consequently, the injunction of fasting from before the evening sacrifice till dark, was the same as fasting from half- past one in the afternoon, if the passover fell on a week day ; or from half- past twelve, if it fell on a sabbath ; which was full six or seven hours at an average. Their manner of sitting at the paschal table was this : they had couches ranged around it," on which they lay on their left side, with their left elbows leaning on the table, '' their heads leaning on their left hands, and their feet extending outwards from the table ; but at such a distance from each other, that they could easily use the right in carrying the meat from the table to their mouths. Hence we see the propriety of Luke's language, when he says,*" that the woman who was a sinner, and had brought an alabaster box of ointment, stood at his (name- ly, Christ's) feet behind him weeping, when she began to wash them with tears ; wiped them with the hairs of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. This manner of sitting was rather different from the common one. For at ordinary meals, they ate either sitting as we do, or sitting with their legs under them, as is the present custom in the east ; but seldom in a reclining posture. Hence the observation of Mai- monides, " How different is this night from all other nights ! for on all other nights we eat either sitting or leaning at pleasure, but this night we all sit leaning.'' This manner of sitting was called by them Eisebe, ilDD^n? 01' " The sitting," by way of eminence ; and 3 Like those mentioned in Horace, lib. i. sat. 4. — Sspe tribus lectis videas cxnare quaternos. '' Languidus iu cubltumjatn seconvlva reponet.— Horace, lib. ii. sat. 4. <= Chap. vii. 38. 406 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was considered by them as a mark of freedom ; for ser- vants, or slaves (and such they once were in the land of Egypt) commonly ate standing.'* They, therefore, used this posture as the established mark, in our Saviour's days, of their possessing that freedom of which they so often boasted.'' This manner of sitting at the paschal supper will serve also to explain a passage in the gospel by John,'' where it is said, that the beloved disciple leaned on Jesus's bosom, at the paschal feast. For it shews us, that Christ and his disciples lay round the table, in the manner above described ; and that John, being tlie person next before Christ, may be said to have lain in his bosom, and actually to have leaned upon it, when, at the suggestion of Peter, he turned his head round to ask Jesus, over his shoulder, who it was that should betray him. — But let us proceed in our descrip- tion of the paschal supper. After being laid on their couches round the table, a cup containing not less than the fourth part of a quarter hin of wine (or four and a-half egg-shells full) was min- gled with water, according to the taste of each ; but be- fore they tasted it, either the master of the family, or some other fit person, whom they called " the rehearser of the office of the passover," rnilH iiDpy gave thanks to God in the following words : — '^ Blessed be thou, 0 Lord, who hast created the fruit of the vine. Blessed be thou for this good day, and for this holy convocation, which thou hast given us for joy and rejoicing. Blessed be thou, O Lord, who hast sanctified Israel and the times." It is not, indeed, said to what these times re-, ferred ; but it is probable that they alluded to Exodus xxxiv. 23, 24. where the Divine protection was pro- => Lightf. Heb. and Talm.Exercit. on Matth. xxvi. 20. •^ John vlii. 3.>. ' Cliap. xiii. 23. 25; xxi. 20, THE FASSOVEK. 407 misecl to the land, at the times when the males had to appear at Jerusalem ; and, in this point of view, they were an annual acknowledgment of the Divine good- ness : after the conclusion of which blessing, the whole company drank each the cup of wine and water that had been prepared for him. In the original institution of the passover, there is no mention made of wine ; but they adopted it on the general ground, that the liquor, which cheereth the heart, was proper to be used at the commemoration of so great a deliverance. Indeed, they were not contented with one cup; but judged four to be indispensable before they left the paschal feast : we shall therefore notice the other three in their proper places. Nor were these drunk by the rich only, for the com- mandment was binding even on the poorest ; and hence the injunction, that ^^ if he had no other way to obtain so much wine, or if the almoners gave him not enough for four cups, he must sell or pawn his coat, or hire himself out to procure them." Rabbi Chaia says,* that these four cups contained an Italian quart ; and that the cup, out of which they drank, was two fingers square^ and a finger, a-half, and a third part of a finger deep. In the Jewish writings, several reasons are given for the number four. Some making it refer to the four He- brew words which are used about Israel's redemption, *^ bringing out, delivering, redeeming, and taking.'' Others to the four times that Pharaoh's cup is mentioned in Gen. xl. 11. 13; and others to the four monarchies in the seventh chapter of Daniel. But the most pro- bable interpretation is that which refers it to the four cups of vengeance that are mentioned for God's ene- mies, in Ps. xi. 6 ; Ixxv. 8 ; Jer. xxv. 15 ; li. 7; and the » Jcr. Talm. Shabb. fol. 11. 1 . 408 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. four cups of consolation that are mentioned for his friends in Ps. xvi. 5 ; xxiii. 5 ; cxvi. 13 ; Jer. xvi. 7.* After they had each drunk their cup of wine and water, the ceremony of washing hands was introduced. They, who are conversant in Jewish customs, know that they had two ways of washing their hands ; the one hy allowing water to he poured on them by a servant or slave ; the other, by dipping their hands themselves in a basin. In the first case, which was the genteeler kind, the hands were lifted up, but so as to prevent the water either from running above the wrist, or returning upon the hands to pollute them. Hence the phrase nvyfiyi w^^xt, which Mark uses in chap. vii. 3. when he speaks of the Pharisees washing their hands before and after meat. In the last case they hung down. The first needed a towel, but the last did not ; although I cannot see the reason of this distinction. Their phrase for the the first was VI* HH /DIJ^ to wash his hands ; and for the last, VI* il{< SoDD^ to dip his hands. In the Talmud there is a tract on the washing of hands, called C3n% from which the following extract is taken. " They allow the fourth of a log of water to the hands of one man or two : half a log to three or four ; a whole log to five, ten, or a hundred." But I should think the last proportion very small, since a log was only six egg- shells full. It is easy to see, however, that this propor- tion was only the minimum, or that which constituted the washing legal ; for they might otherwise use as much as they pleased. Hence in the marriage at Cana in Galilee, we find six water- pots of stone, containing two or three {(ZErpyjraL) firkins, or rather perhaps baths, a-piece, on account of the largeness of the company, with reference to which we may cite the following ex- « Lightf. Heb. and Talra. Exer. Matth. xxvi. 27, THE PASSOVER. 409 tract from Dr. Clarke's Travels.* " It is worthy of note/' says he, " that walking among these ruins (of Cana) we saw large massy stone water- pots, answering the description given of the ancient vessels of that coun- try : not preserved, nor exhibited as reliques, but lying about disregarded by the present inhabitants, as anti- quities, with whose original use they were unacquainted. From their appearance, and the number of them, it was quite evident that a practice of keeping water in large stone pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common in the country." It is easy to see the reason of the common practice of washing ; for as they used in tliose days neither spoons, knives, nor forks, but ate with their hands, it became absolutely necessary to cleanliness, and even to health, to wash their hands before and after meat. Hence the propriety of our Saviour's words in Matt. xxvi. 23 : " He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall be- tray me." — It was the meaner custom of dipping, there- fore, their hands in a basin when washing, which they used at the beginning of the paschal feast ; perhaps to remind them that they were slaves in Egypt, or to in- dicate that in observing the ordinances, all are on a level, and that persons coming into the presence of God should be clothed with humility. Accordingly, this custom was constituted sacred, by the person who pre- sided uttering a prayer while the company washed ; the words of which were these, " Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us concerning the washing of our hands." In this way did they with clean hands encircle the table of the Lord. As hitherto no food had been placed on the table, it * Vol, iii, part. li. ch. I4. Vol. L 3 F 410 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was now brought forth ; and the dishes they used were the following: — 1. There were two or three cakes of unleavened bread ; it is not said of what size, nor were they even limited in their number, for in the times we are speaking of, they had two, and afterwards three ; either in reference to the threefold division of the na- tion into priests, Levites, and people, or to the three cakes which a delivered captive had to offer for his de- liverance ; for Israel was delivered out of slavery at the passover. 2. Bitter herbs, under which appellation they comprehended nitH lettuce, Vl^b)^^ endive, N*DOn succory, niOH^in beet, and mD horehound. These they used either green or dried, but neither boile^ nor pickled : and the general and proper reason why they used them was, that they might remember the bitter affliction they underwent in Egypt. 3. The paschal lamb, roasted entire, with the heart and liver, either roasted within it, or fastened to its side. 4. A part of the fourteenth day's peace-offerings, or of those thank- offerings, vows, or free-will-offerings, which they owed to the Lord, and had offered on the forenoon of the fourteenth day. And, 5. A dish of thick sauce, which they called Heruseth (ilD"l"inO compounded of bruised dates, figs, or raisins steeped in vinegar, till it was of the consistence of clay ; to remind them of the clay in which their fathers wrought while in Egypt. Such were the dishes usually set upon the paschal table ; the three first by divine authority, the two last by the appointment .of the elders. The Talmudists indeed speak of two more, which they call the two boiled meats (t^TtJ^DH ♦iKN) but if they were used in the time of the Temple, they may have been intended to supply the place of peace-offerings to those who had none to offer: or if begun to be used only after its destruction, they may have been adopted instead of the paschal lamb, and THE PASSOVER. 411 peace-offerings ; neither of which could then be killed in the Court of the Priests, nor sanctified by the altar, as they had formerly been.* The table being thus furnished, the next thing the company did, was to take each the size of an olive at least of the bitter herbs, and having dipped it in some- thing (probably the Heriiseth, or thick sauce,) they stopped till the president had blessed God for creating the fruit of the ground, and then ate it. But this dip- ping and eating was not understood to be done as a fulfilment of the law with respect to eating bitter herbs (for that came on afterwards;) the only intention of it was to excite the wonder of children at such an unusual beginning of a meal, and to make them inquire into the reason of it. In order, therefore, to increase this sur- prise, the whole of the dishes were ordered away im- mediately after eating the herbs, and a cup of wine and water was set before the president and every individual. But the cups, although brought, were not drunk for some time. For the children began to inquire into the reason of what they saw; and if there were no children, the wife inquired ; and if there were no wife, the com- pany inquired ; and if none inquired, the person who presided began as follows of his own accord : — " How different is this night from all other nights ! For on all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread in- differently, but on this night unleavened bread only. On other nights we eat any herbs whatever ; but this night bitter herbs. On all other nights we eat flesh either roasted or stewed, or boiled, but on this night we eat flesh roasted only. On all other nights we wash but once, but on this night we wash twice (as will be seen in a following page.) On all other nights we eat Lightf. Heb. and Talmud, Exer. on Matth. xxvi. 26. 412 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. cither sitting or leaning indifferently ; on this night we all sit leaning." But although the case has been sup- posed that there were no children, and therefore that the president uttered the above of his own accord, yet it commonly happened that there were children, whom he kindly addressed according to their capacity. If very young, he would say, '^ Children, we were all ser- vants, like this maid servant, or this man servant that waiteth, and on this night, many years ago, the Lord redeemed us, and brought us to liberty." But to chil- dren of greater capacity, and to the rest of the company, he would particularly relate the wonders done in Egypt, the manner of their deliverance, and God's manifold goodness towards them : or, as the Talmud briefly re- lates it, '^ He began with their disgrace, and ended with their glory ; and expounded from that texf — Jl Sylvian ready to perish was my father j even throughout, to the end of the section :" which, according to the sense given by the glossaries, means, that he began with the idolatry of Terah and their fathers beyond the flood, and led on the story to their bondage in Egypt, the won- ders done for their deliverance, the giving of the law, and God's adopting them for his people. It is easy to see the effect which this discourse would have on the minds of the young, and the sentiments of gratitude it would naturally excite in their breasts. In short, it was an annual commentary on Exod. xii. 26 and 27 : " It shall come to pass, when yaur children shall say unto you. What mean you by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." Having thus endeavoured to impress the mind with » Deut xxvi. 5. THE PASSOVER. 413 religious sentiments, the president ordered the several dishes to be brought back, and as they returned in suc- cession, he spoke thus : — Holding up the paschal lamb, he said : " This is the passover, which we eat, because that the Lord passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt." Holding up the bitter herbs, he said : "These are the bitter herbs, that we eat in remembrance that the Egyptians made the lives of our fathers bitter in Egypt." We do not hear him say any thing about the portion of the peace offerings, or the Heruseth ; but when the unleavened bread came, he held it up in his hand and said, '^ This is the unleavened bread which we eat, because the dough of our fathers had not time to be lea- vened, before the Lord revealed himself, and redeemed them immediately. Therefore are we bound to give thanks, to praise, to laud, to glorify, to extol, to honour, to praise, to magnify him, that hath done for our fathers, and for us, all these wonders : who hath brought us from bondage to freedom, from sorrow to rejoicing, from mourning to a good day, from darkness to a great light, from affliction to redemption. Therefore must we say before him. Halleluiah, ' Praise ye the Lord, praise, 0 ye servants of the Lord,^ " &c. Here the president repeated or read the 113th and 114th psalms, of which the above words are the beginning ; and concluded them with this prayer, " Blessed be thou, O Lord, our God, King everlasting, who hast redeemed us, and redeemed our fathers out of Egypt, and brought us to this night, to eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs." At the con- clusion of this address, rehearsal, and prayer, the pre- sident and all the company drank off the cup of wine and water which had been brought in some time before ; and this was the second of the four cups that were ordered to be drunk during the passover. In mentioning one of the president's addresses to the 414 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. paschal society, it was obsei'ved, that he distinguished the niglit of the passover by this, among other tilings, that, on other nights, they washed but once, but on that night they washed twice ; and accordingly we are now come to the time of the second washing. For, after the second cup of wine and water, they washed their hands in a basin that was brought them by some of the domes- tics, the president repeating during the operation his former prayer: " Blessed be thou, O Lord, our God, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us concerning the washing of our hands.'* This second washing was preparatory to their eating the paschal feast, and in order to give it a great sanctity. After they had washed, and the basins were removed, the president took the two cakes of unleavened bread, broke one of them into two pieces, laid the broken cake upon the whole one, and gave thanks to Jehovah who brought bread out of the earth : when both he and the others divided the bread among themselves, wrapped each their piece in some of the bitter herbs, dipped it in the thick sauce formerly mentioned, and ate it, after the president had pronounced the following prayer : — " Blessed be thou, O Lord, our God, King everlasting, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us concerning the eating of the unleavened bread." It will be noticed that the president of the paschal so- ciety, in his conduct here, exactly reversed the conduct of our Lord at his appointment of the Lord's supper. For, instead of breaking bread and giving thanks, as the- president did, our blessed Lord first gave thanks and then brake.'' Tlie reason given by the Jews for their conduct is, that the bread of the passover was the bread » Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor, xi. 24. THE PASSOVER. 415 of poverty and affliction ; and that the poor have not al- ways whole cakes for which to he thankful. What our Saviour's reason was, for reversing the Jewish practice, it would be presumptuous in me to say. We should not omit, however to remark, that it was to this part of the feast that our Lord's words in Matt. xxvi. 21 — 25, Mark xxiv. 18 — 21, and John xiii. 26, 27, evidently refer; when he speaks of the betrayer dipping his hand with him in the dish, and when he pointed him out by giving Judas the sop, or piece of unleavened bread and bitter herbs that had been dipped in the thick sauce, called Heruseth. After eating the unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, those who sat at the paschal table proceeded next to the meat of the peace-offerings, after the president had pro- nounced the following prayer :— ^^ Blessed be tliou, O Lord, our God, King everlasting, who hast sanctified us by thy command j and hast commanded us concerning the eating of the sacrifice." In the days of our Saviour, they commonly made the principal part of the meal of these peace-offerings ; and then, giving thanks again, by their president, in the following words, "Blessed be thou, 0 Lord, our God, King everlasting, who hast sanc- tified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us concerning eating the passover ;" they finished all with the paschal lamb : of which every one was bound to eat the size of an olive at the least. It is evident, that their eating so much of the peace- offerings, would make the paschal lambs divide farther among the people ; and thus cause both a less demand for the occasion, and less trouble to the priesthood. It may further be remarked, that, before the destruction of the city and Temple, the last dish of the paschal feast was always the paschal lamb ; but that after that period 416 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the unleavened bread became its substitute ; because they could not get the lambs killed after that time in the ap- pointed manner. And their ordinary way of using the bread was this : — After breaking it, they ate a part of it, as formerly mentioned, reserving one of the halves for the conclusion of the feast. This half they called Apicumen (f^1p^t3J Chap. six. 31. ' Luke vi. 1. THE PASSOVER. 42f gl'ave. What awful sensations did it occasion! Earth and hell were anxiously awaiting the event ! But let us now proceed to the 17th day of the month, or the third day of the passover week. This, like the other intermediate days, was accounted by the Jews to be less holy than the first and the last of the passover week. But at the passover when our Saviour suffered, it happened to be a remarkable day ; for it was the day of our Saviour's resurrection, and consequently, the first of our Christian sabbaths. He had been laid in the se- pulchre about 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the first day; lay all the second, and rose about four o'clock in the morning of the third : for the sun at that season would rise about half-an-hour after five, and the twilight would reach back an hour and a-half. Accordingly, Mark, in his gospel,* states the time of our Lord's resurrection to have been in the morning watch, or between three o'clock and six. Some, however, make Christ to have risen several hours earlier.'' According to the above ac- count, our Saviour must have lain in the sepulchre thir- ty-six hours ; and the time between his death and resur- rection must have been thirty-seven hours. The fourth, fifth, and sixth days of the passover week were similar in their sanctity and temple duties, to the second and third; and the seventh was similar to the first ; so that any particular description of them would only be a repetition of what has been said. We may however notice, that, although the feast lasted for eight days, the whole of the persons who ate the passover did not continue at it. When necessity called, they returned home, and indifference sometimes made others retire : but their traditions bound them to lodge in Jerusalem the first night of the feast ; and it was generally understood, » Chap. xvi. 9. ^ M'Knight's Harm. sect. 147. 428 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. that those who were near, or could conveniently attend, were expected to remain till the festival was concluded. The importance of the subject must be an apology for treating thus copiously on the passover : and the real ex- cellence of inquiries like the present, is to omit nothing that can either give us an idea of ancient customs, or ena- ble us to understand the sacred Scriptures. Perhaps it may be interesting to some to know in what manner the modern Jews observe this ordinance. We remark then, from Leo of Modena,^ that on the 14th of the first month, the first-born among the Jews commonly fast, as a testimony of their gratitude to God for having spared the first-born of Israel, while he destroyed the first-born of Egypt ; and that in the synagogue service during the feast, the same prayers are used that are ap- pointed for the other festivals ; and the portions in Exo- dus and Numbers relating to the passover are read ; but the principal part of the observance is to be sought for at home. Accordingly, we are informed, that the matron of the family spreads a table; sets upon it two unleavened cakes, and two pieces of lamb — viz. a shoulder boiled, and a shoulder roasted; to which she adds, bitter herbs ; some small fishes, because of the leviathan ; a hard egg, because of the ziz ; some meal, because of the behemoth (these three animals being appointed for the feast of the elect in the other life ;) and peas and nuts for the chil- dren, to provoke their curiosity to ask the reason of the institution. They likewise use a kind of mustard, which, conveying to their minds the idea of mortar, reminds them of the bricks which were made in Egypt. Thus is the table furnished. And the father of the family sits with his children and servants, because his ancestors were once slaves in Egypt ; takes of the bitter herbs, » Cerem. of the Jews, part iii. ch. 3 ; and Buxtorff. Synag. Judaic, cap. 18. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 429 dips them in the mustard, eats them, distributes the re- mainder among the rest ; divides also the pieces of the lamb ; and informs them of the reason of the divine ap- pointment. The whole repast is intermixed with hymns and prayers; among which is one for the country in which they happen to reside, according to the advice of Jeremiah." The same things, we are informed, are re- peated on the two following days ; and the festival con- cludes with the H/IIin? HehdelQ, or separation-bless- ing, in which the head of the family takes a cup of wine mixed with spices ; repeats some portion of Scripture, as Ps. cxvi. 13 ; blesses the candle which shines before them ; casts his eyes on his hands, as remembering that he must resume his usual labour ; and then the family wish each other a good-night. Such are the ceremonies mentioned by Leo and Buxtorff, but they are probably different in different countries. SECT. II. The Feast of Pentecost. Divine ordinance concerning ; way of counting the weeks ; time of the year it fell to be observed : the eight duties on the day of Pentecost : the impressive manner in which the tribes went to Jerusalem. Reasons for the appointing of Pentecost. This feast the time when the Spirit descended on the apostles : the time of the day, and the day of the week Inquired into. W^ay in which the modern Jews observe Pentecost. It is mentioned in Exod. xxiii. 14 — 17, and Deut. xvi. 16, that all the males of Israel should appear before the Lord, at three stated times annually, in the place which he should choose; namely, at Jerusalem and the Temple : and it is there said, that these times were the passover, the feast of weeks or of Pentecost, and the feast of ta- bernacles. We have attended very minutely to the first a Chap. xxix. 7. 430 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of these, and are naturally called upon, therefore, to con- sider the second. The divine ordinance concerning which was as follows :^ — '' Seven weeks shalt thou numher unto thee. Begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou be- ginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God, with a tribute of a free-will- offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. And thou shalt rejoice be- fore the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man servant, and thy maid servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates ; and the stran- ger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which' the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond man in Egypt ; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." The first thing worthy of notice in this passage is, the way in which they used to count the weeks : they were to begin at the time when they began to put the sickle into the corn. But this was not left to the will of every individual, for we have already seen^ that it was a public, national, religious act, and fixed statedly to the second day of the passover week. Accordingly, the injunction to them in Levit. xxiii. 15, 16, is as follows : — " Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath (or from the morrow after the first day of the passover week, which was accounted a sabbath,) from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave- offering, seven sabbaths shall ye complete : even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye num- ber fifty days." It was from this, that the Jews them- selves, in their Talmudical writings, call it Turn Heme- » Deut. xvi. 9—12. ^ See p. 425. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 431 shim (D^S^^DPT DV?) or the fiftieth day, and that in the New Testament it is called Pentecost,'' which is a word of the same meaning. But the most common name for it among the Jews is Otsreth (n*lV),^,) which signifies "^ a restraining or shutting up ;" probably because the joy of harvest was at that season restrained. For, although the first-fruits of the barley harvest had been presented on the second day of the passover week, and the corn had been cut down; and although the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were off'ered at Pentecost, and the wine was then in the grape^ yet the labours of the husbandman were not completed till several months after, or the feast of tabernacles, when the ingathering of the whole harvest was celebrated. It is impossible to say exactly on what particular day of our year this feast happened ; for the Jews regulated their religious feasts by the appearance of the moon, which, we know, is always varying. The feast in question evidently depended on the appearance of the moon in the first month of the ecclesiastical year, or Abib : for, whenever the new moon belonging to that month appeared, they counted fourteen days forward for the passover. The fifteenth day was the first day of tlie passover week. The sixteenth was that on which they cut down and presented the first-fruits at the Temple ; and the forty-ninth day after that (or tlie fiftieth in- cluding it) was the feast of Pentecost, or of weeks ; be- cause seven weeks, or forty nine days, were completed between the one and the other. To illustrate this more particularly, let us suppose that the new moon in Abib on one of the years appeared on the day of the vernal equinox, or the 21st of March — the fourteenth day, or the passover, would fall on the 4tli of our April. The 5th day of April would be the first day of the passover week. ' Acts ii. 1 J XX. 16. 1 Cor. xvi. 8. 432 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. On the 6th of April they would present the fii*st fruits ; and, on the forty-ninth day after that, or on the 25th of May, they would keep the feast of Pentecost. Having said thus much concerning the time when it fell to be observed, we may next notice the duties that were enjoined on the worshippers. In the first place, it was to be a holy convocation, in which they were to do no servile work in all the land of Judea.^ This was in- tended to arrest the attention of the inhabitants, and to interest them in the duties which were prescribed at the Temple. 2. All the males were solemnly commanded to resort to the capital, and appear in their places at the time of worship in the Temple. This was noticed in the beginning of the section, to be the case at all the three principal feasts ; but the following portion from Exod. xxiii. 14 — 17, more fully describes it : — ^^ Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread; and the feast of har- vest, the first-fruits of thy labours which thou hast sown in the field j and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord thy God." A third duty of the worshippers was, that they should bring out of their habitations two wave-loaves, of two tenth deals of fine flour (equal to rather more than ten English pints or pounds weight,) baken with leaven.^ On these directions we may remark, first, that as the wave-sheaf at the passover was the sanctifying of the barley harvest, so the two loaves of fine flour at the feast of Pentecost, were the sanctifying of the wheat harvest; and, accordingly, they are called the first-fruits of that part of the harvest unto the Lord in Levit. xxiii. a Levit. xxiii. 21, '' Levit. xxiii. 17. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 433 17. 20, but especially in Exod. xxxiv. 22. Nothing is said in the law about the form of these loaves ; but it is mentioned in the Talmud, that each loaf should be seven hand-breadths long, four broad, and four thick. Let us further remark concerning them, that the very reverse is enjoined with respect to them here which was enjoined concerning the loaves at the passover : for the passover loaves were to be unleavened, but the loaves at this feast were to be leavened. For this difference no better rea- son can be assigned, than that which the Jews themselves give ; namely, that the one was a memorial of the haste with which they departed from Egypt, when they had not time to get it leavened j and the other a token of thankfulness to God for their ordinary food. Hence the one was eaten by themselves, the other offered to God. But it may here be asked, whether the whole of these loaves, or only a part of them, was consumed on the al- tar? I answer, that wave- offerings were a part of the fund for the support of the priesthood ; the law therefore concerning them (as we noticed when treating of meat- offerings,) was to offer a portion of them, commonly about a handful, on the altar, and give the remainder to the priest. Accordingly, it is thus we are to understand the injunction in Levit. xxiii. 17. 20, where they are commanded to be waved along with peace-offerings. There is only one other particular respecting these loaves that deserves our attention, and that is, that they constituted one of the three general meat-offerings which were enjoined to be offered by all the congregation. The first of which was, the weekly shew bread, as an acknowledgment to God for their daily temporal and spiritual food. The second, the first-fruits of the barley harvest, on the second day of the passover week. And the third, the loaves in question, or the first-fruits of the wheat harvest on this day of Pentecost. Such was the Vol. T. 3 I 434 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. national consecration of the wheat harvest ; but the learned Calmet justly observes, that, besides the first- fruits, which might strictly be termed national, every individual was obliged to bring his first-fruits to the Temple. This, therefore, was the fourth duty of the day, and was founded on the following passage in Deut. xxvi. 1 — 10 : ^^ And it shall be, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take the first-fruits of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto a place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come into the countiy which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God : and thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation great, mighty, and popu- lous. And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage : and when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression : and the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs and with wonders ; and he brought us unto this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey : and now behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me." Such was the ordinance on which they founded THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 435 their individual presentation of their firet-fruits to Je- hovah. But, as Cahiief and Lightfoot'' have given us several interesting particulars relative to the manner in which they carried it into effect, I shall here transcribe them. They tell us, that all the males within the limits of the several districts throughout the land, having met at the principal cities in these districts, with the view of going up to Jerusalem to the feast of Pentecost, lodged in the streets during the night, for fear of pollution : and, as the air was mild, they could do it without in- jury to their health: that, on the morning of the follow- ing day, the president of each company called them be- times, saying, ^^ Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord thy God:" that they set out on their journey, pre- ceded by a bullock, intended for the sacrifice, whose horns were gilded (like that afterwards vowed by Dio- med to Pallas, and by Nestor to Minerva ;)' and whose head was decorated with a garland of olive branches ; and that a person, playing on a pipe, went also before them, to cheer them on their journey,** whilst bursts of religious fervour were frequently heard by the people, exclaiming, as in Ps. cxxii. 1, ^U was glad when they said unto mg, let us go up to the house of the Lord." Delightful, indeed, must the sight liave been, to observe the companies coming from the different districts of the land to Jerusalem, as to a common centre, to worship God. We are informed that, to avoid fatigue, they tra- velled only two parts of the day, and that when they came near the city, they sent a messenger to announce their approach; on which, some of the chiefs of the priesthood went out to meet them. Their entry into » See his Dictionary, under the article //•-yf-Aora. '' Chorographical Decad. before Mark; ami T*;mple Service, chap, xvii, aect. 5. ■= Iliad, x. 293. Odyss. iii. ?R4. 4'3~ -i Alluded to in Fs, xxx, 29 436 ANTIQUITIES OF THE J£WS. the city was exceedingly picturesque. Each carried his basket of wheat, grapes, figs, apricots, olives, or dates. The baskets of the rich were of gold or silver, and those of the poor were of wicker work, fancifully ornamented with flowers. As they entered the city, they joyfully exclaimed,^ " Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem :" and all the artificers in their shops rose as they passed, and bade them welcome. Indeed, the whole of Ps. cxxii. receives an additional beauty, if we con- sider it as expressive of what would naturally happen on tliis occasion. Let us then suppose the several tribes to be near the walls of the city, and preparing to enter it, headed by the several chiefs of the priesthood: what was more na- tural than for them to say in holy exultation, as in verses 1, 2, " I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.'^ Having entered the city, and seen the private and public buildings, which to many of them would be new and wonderful, they would naturally exclaim, as in verses 3, 4, 5, ^' Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together (and unlike our shep- herds' tents, or cottages of clay ;) whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord ; for there are the thrones of judgment, the thrones, of the house of David." The very welcome that was given to them as they passed, by the artificers 'and other inhabitants from the doors of their shops, and the tops of their houses, seems to be contained in verse 6, '' Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." To which the tribes would naturally reply, " They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. " Ps. cxxii. 2. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 437 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our Godj I will seek thy good." Thus did they pro- ceed with the sound of music to the mountain on which the Temple stood : at the foot of which every individual, of whatever rank, took his basket on his shoulder, and repeated as he ascended the whole of the 150th psalm, probably in a kind of musical cadence, to make the pro- cession more solemn and impressive. When come into the Court of the Priests, the band of the Temple sang the 30th psalm, and the president of the company, with his basket on his shoulder, in the name of the rest, repeated the words which God had enjoined on the occasion, as we have already transcribed them from Deut. xxvi. 3 — 10, " I profess this day," &c. ; a priest in the meantime putting his hand under the president's basket, and wa- ving it before the Lord. Thus were the first-fruits of the individuals of the several companies consecrated to the Lord, and, like every such kind of offering, they were deposited by the side of the altar, as the property of the course that then officiated : after which the wor- shippers prostrated themselves and departed. It was an article in this part of the ritual, that they should all lodge for that night in Jerusalem, and go home next day, unless detained either by business or inclination : that the quantity brought should not be less than the six- tieth part ; and that they might offer these first-fruits any time between Pentecost and the feast of dedication ; or between the middle of May and the beginning of December. Such was the manner in which the national and in- dividual first-fruits were presented at the Temple, in the days of our Saviour. But it is easy to see that the same forms could not be observed after the destruction 438 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of that sacred edifice. Accordingly, Leo of Modena* tells us, that the modern practice is to take a piece of dough, about the size of forty eggs, and to make it into a cake, which was formerly given to the priest, but is now cast into the fire to be consumed. This is one of the three precepts, he adds, which should be observed by the women, as they generally bake the bread of the family : and the prayer that is repeated by them when they throw it into the fire, is as follows : — " Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the king of the world, who hast sanctified us by thy precepts, and commanded us to se- parate a cake of our dough." In Spencer's elaborate work,^ we have sufficient evidence given us, that the custom of presenting the first-fruits among the heathens to their divinities, originated from the annual offerings of the like kind among the Jews. Hitherto we have attended to four of the duties of the day of Pentecost. It was to be separated from a common to a sacred use : all the males of Judea were enjoined to be present on that day at Jerusalem : two wheaten loaves were presented as the first-fruits of the wheat harvest for the whole nation ; and every indi- vidual brought his first-fruits to present at the altar, as a token of gratitude for the bounties of Providence. The fifth public duty of the day was the oifering of a burnt- offering, consisting of seven lambs of the first year without blemish, one young bullock, and two rams." In Numbers xxviii. 27, it is tvvq young bullocks and one ram ; but it is needless here to explain particularly how these were offered, having already described the mode under the article hvrnt-offerings. It may, however, be proper to repeat the general reason for the offering of =* Cei'ctnoii.es of the Jews, part li. chap. 9. '' T>e Lcgibus. Heb. Kit. Lib. i. c. 9. sect. 3. = Lev. x.xuj. 18. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 439 such sacrificesj as the jDrobable cause vvliy God enjoined them at this time. Burnt-offerings were intended for two purposes — either to expiate evil thoughts, or to atone for the breach of affirmative precepts. What was more natural, then, than that God should enjoin the of- fering of it, at a general meeting of the people ? It would impressively call their sins to their remembrance ; would lead them to a serious and solemn confession ; and would make them pray, at least in effect, during the burning of the sacrifice. ^^ Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sin. Let them not any longer have dominion over me.*' We do not know the particular psalm that was sung on the oc- casion, but it would certainly be one that was appro- priate to the nature and spirit of the duty. — In the same place in Leviticus,^ where the burnt-offering is pre- scribed, we find it accompanied with its meat-offering and its drink-offering. It will therefore be proper to say somewhat concerning them. Meat-offerings, except in two cases, viz. the conse- cration of the barley harvest, and the jealousy offering, always consisted of a certain quantity of fine flour, either with oil and frankincense, or without oil and frankin- cense, or with the one of them only. We had occasion to shew formerly, when speaking of the meat and drink- offerings, that the offering of the first-fruits (of which this certainly was a part,) was accompanied both with oil and frankincense. It will not be necessary here to repeat all that was then said, but only to state in sub- stance, that the meat and drink-offerings to the different animals which composed the burnt-offering, if furnished according to the ordinary rule, w ould stand thus : — Each of the seven iambs would have a tenth deal of fine « Lev xkUV. 18, 440 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ilour mingled with oil and frankincense for a meat-offer- ing, and a quarter of a hin of wine each for their drink- offering. The bullock would have three tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil and frankincense for a meat- offering, and half a hin of wine for a drink-offering. And the two rams would each have two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil and frankincense for their meat- offering, and a third of a hin of wine each for their drink-offering. Hence it is evident that the meat and drink-offerings, mentioned as belonging to them, must have been entirely distinct from the two tenth deals that were to be made into two loaves, and waved before the Lord as a sanctification of the wheat harvest.* The sixth duty on the day of Pentecost was, the sa- crificing of a kid of the goats for a sin-offering.^ The in- tention of sin-offerings, as we have already seen,*" was to expiate for sins committed ignorantly against any of the commandments of God. Hence the appointment of a kid at this time, was intended to lead the minds of the Is- raelites to those particular sins of ignorance, which the best of them were guilty of; and, consequently, to raise their hopes to the Messiah, who was afterwards to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. It is not necessary to dwell upon the mode of offering this sacrifice, as the special directions have already been mentioned under the head oi sin-offonngs. The seventh kind of duty appointed for the feast of Pentecost, was a sacrifice of peace-offering, consisting of two lambs of the first year.*^ These, in ordinary cases, after being waved before the Lord, were partly con- sumed on the altar, partly eaten by the priest, and partly by the offerer. In general, also, they were ac- ^ Concerning the manner in wliich these meat and drink-offerings were mixed and offered, see part iv. sect. iii. p. 345, supra. ^ Lgv. xxiii. 19. ' See part iv. siect. ii. p. 329, supra. '' Lev. xxiii. 19. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST, 441 counted among the less holy sacrifices; and consequently were killed on the south side of the altar, and eaten either in the Temple, or in the city. But in this par- ticular instance the case was different: for it was esteemed among the most holy sacrifices ; was killed on the north side of the altar ; and was eaten by the priests before the Lord, in the Court of Israel, or in the Court of the Priests.'' Further we may remark, that, as it was enjoined that the peace-offerings under the law, should each have a meat-offering ; so the lambs now before us, had the occasion been an ordinary one, would na- turally have been accompanied with unleavened cakes mingled with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, cakes of fine flour fried with oil, and leavened bread. But as the occasion was extraordinary, the meat-offer- ing was dispensed with, and the two loaves of the first- fruits were substituted for it.'' Maimonides gives us the following account of the matter in his treatise entitled Becurim :" — " The priest first waved the lambs up and down, while they were yet alive, and then slew them : when, having flayed them, he took out the breast and shoulder of each of them, and laid them beside the two cakes ; and putting his hands under them, waved them together upwards and downwards, this way and that, but always towards the east, on which side the altar stood. After having done which, he burnt the inwards, and the rest was given to the priesthood." With respect to the loaves, the same author tells us, that the high priest received one, and the other was divided among all the courses of the priesthood that were then present The eighth and last duty, on this day of Pentecost, was the singing of the Hallel; or the whole of the Psalms from the 113th to the 118th inclusive : a duty which » Levit, xxiii. 20. ^ Ibid. • Per, 2^ Vol. I. 3 K 442 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was distinct from the Psalms appointed for the morning and evening service. For the sacrifices, of which we are now speaking, were offered in the forenoon of the day, and the Hallel was sung during their slaying and of- fering. Such were the duties of the day of Pentecost. They were solemn in their nature, and being the acts of a whole nation, they were calculated to impress the public mind with a deep sense, of religious obligation. But still it may be asked, what was the reason why all the males were enjoined to attend it? Had it lasted for eight days, like the passover and the feast of tabernacles, there might have been some visible cause for bringing them together ; but since it only lasted a single day, was it not needless to put the whole of them to that trouble ? I an- swer, that the duty ought not to be objected to, because it was easy, and soon at an end ; and that God had a right to command his creatures how and when he pleased : but the particular reason which God had in view, besides the national and individual offering of the first-fruits, was to excite their gratitude for his giving them the law; since such condescension was unparalleled in the history of any other nation, and their sense of it accordingly should be deep and marked. The manner ia which the feast of Pentecost is proved to be commemora- tive of the giving of the law, is briefly as follows : — The passover was enjoined to be on the 14th day of the first month." Considering that day therefore as one, and al- lowing the month to consist of thirty days, there remains of the first month seventeen days. Add to this all the twenty-nine days of the second month, and this brings up the amount to forty-six. In Exodus xix. 1. we are told that they came to the wilderness of Sinai in the third ' Exod. xii. 18* THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 443 month. The day is not mentioned, but let us suppose it on the evening of the first; this brings the number up to forty-seven; and in the 10th and 11th verses of that chapter, we find God commanding Moses, probably af- ter the evening service, when the sun might be set, and the forty-eighth day consequently begun, to sanctify the people that day and the next, for that on the third day he intended to descend visibly. Here then are the re- maining two days, and the proof that fifty existed be- tween the feast of the passover and the giving of the law. But a difficulty remains which I am unable to solve : for although fifty days did exist between these two events, yet the feast of Pentecost was annually celebrated two days later than the giving of the law : since, by positive precept, they were to count the time, not from the pass- over, but from the second day of the passover week on which the first-fruits of the barley harvest were pre- sented.* That there must have been a sufficient reason for such a choice, is naturally to be expected ; but what that reason was, appears difficult to divine. — Let me add that the day of Pentecost is a memorable epocha in the history of Christianity ; as being the day when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. It is an event therefore which deserves our attention. The companions of Jesus had often seen him during the forty days that succeeded his resurrection. They had witnessed his ascension to the heavenly abodes exactly ten days before the feast we are treating of. It was the injunction of God that all the males should be present at Pentecost: and it was customary for the pious to go some days before to perform their lustrations, and pay their vows. The apostles, however, had a double reason. They had the command of God and the command of * Levit. xxiii. 15, 16. 444 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Christ. As Jews they appeared to celebrate the feast ; and as Christians, they were called upon to tarry at Je- rusalem, until they were endowed with power from on high.^ They therefore went up in anxious expectation ; and the feast which commemorated the descent of God to publish the law, was that at which they hoped to feel the descent of the Spirit to enlighten and enable them to preach the gospel. It is not said at what particular hour the Spirit descended: but it is probable that it was after the conclusion of the evening service at the Tem- ple, and when they had gone to their apartment to re- flect on the duties in which they had been engaged, and the hopes they were led to entertain. For the words in Acts ii. 1, which we render " when the day of Pente- cost was fully come," literally signify ^^ after the con- clusion of the day of Pentecost."^ Such an event there- fore began to make a noise that evening; and multitudes the next morning went to the Temple, not only to attend the service, but in the hope of meeting with the apostles. Accordingly, after the morning service was ended, and when the worshippers were returning to their several homes at the third hour, or nine o'clock,'' they were ad- dressed by the disciples, very probably in the Court of the Gentiles. Those who were ignorant of other lan- guages, when they heard a number of mean-looking men uttering uncouth sounds, concluded that they were drunk:'' although Josephus tells us,'' that on festival days they did not eat before noony and on no account ate any thing before nine in the morning, or the hour of prayer. But the Jewish converts, who either resided at that tim'e at Jerusalem, or were come to attend the feast, and were * Luke XXIV. 49. '' Eji T* a-u/xTrKtigoua-But thv i/ue^uv Ttff TltvruMffrii;. — P'or (rujufrxn^oai signifies " compleo, expleo, perficio." "= Acts ii. 15. «< Acts ii. 13. ' Lib. de Vitft sua. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 443 natives of very different and distant countries, were astonished to hear, in their own language, the wonderful works of God; and said one to another, " What meaneth this?"^ A finer opportunity could scarcely be afforded to the Christian painter, nor a more interesting occasion to the Christian orator. Accordingly, Peter stood up, and de- livered a sermon, which by the Holy Spirit was carried to the hearts of three thousand. Such was the success of the apostles of our Lord, on their first appearance among the people in this gifted manner: but it did not rest here, for we are told,^ that they continued daily in the Temple attending the service, and conversing with those whom they happened to meet. Nay, in the following chapter,*" the evangelist records another wonderful instance of Pe- ter's success. For, as he and John went up to the Tem- ple at the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the hour of evening prayer, they saw a man lame from his birth, at the gate called Beautiful, asking for alms of all those who went into the Temple : him therefore they healed ; accompanied by him, they went into the Court of the Women to attend the evening ser- vice, and when it was ended they retired through the Sacred Fence into the Court of the Gentiles ; where, under the eastern piazza, or Solomon's porch,'' the Apostle Peter preached a sermon, which was blessed to the conversion of about five thousand.^ Thus were eight thousand souls added to the church ; and thus do w^e see the need of the Spirit to convert, sanctify, and save the soul. Indeed, nothing less than power so extraordinary would have fitted the apostles for so arduous a work. ^^ Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith » Acts ii. 1 1, 12. b Acts ii. 46. ' Chap. iil. 1. " Acts iii. 11. e Acts iv. 4. 446 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the Lord."* It may be added, that the particular day of the week on which the Holy Ghost descended was the Christian sabbath ; and thus an additional honour was put by the Trinity on that holy day. For, when treating of the passover, we noticed that the paschal lamb was eaten on Thursday ; that Friday, when our Lord was crucified, was the first day of the passover week ; and that on Saturday, the first-fruits were offered up. Con- sequently, the fiftieth day after, or Pentecost, would fall on a Saturday ; after the sunset of which, or on the be- ginning of the Christian sabbath, the Holy Ghost pro- bably descended.^ The modern Jews celebrate the feast of Pentecost, not one day only, but two days ; decking their synagogues and houses with garlands' of flowers, because Sinai was green at that season, and hearing a sermon in praise of the law, as having been delivered to their forefathers on that day. In Germany, the Jews are said to make a very thick cake for that feast, consisting of seven layers; which cake they call Sinai ; and the layers of which are meant to represent the seven heavens through which Jehovah passed when he descended upon, and re- ascended from, the mountain.*^ But the customs of the modern Jews are very different in different countries. SECT. III. The Feast of Tabernacles. Reasons of its appointment threefold : the time of the year when kept ; way it was observed during the Tabernacle ; first and second Temples ; in the days of our Saviour. The lulebs and pomecitrons which they carried in their » Zech. iv. 6. ■» See a minute calendar of the time between our Saviour's death, and the day of I'entecost, in Lightfoot's Commentary on the Acts, chap. 2. ^ Buxtorff. Synag. Jud. cap. 20, and Leo of Modena, Cerera. of the Jews. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 447 hands. Routine of service during the first day , The ceremony of fetching the watef* from the Pool of Siloam ; singing the Hallel ; the pecullai- sacrifices for that day ; way in which the courses divided the work among them ; their encircling the altar ; attendance on the divinity schools in the afternoon ; manner of teaching, and subjects taught; the evening sacrifice ; the nightly rejoicing ; the fifteen Psalms of Degrees that were sung ; the persons who danced ; and manner in which the assembly was dismissed : reasons assigned for this singular rejoicing; manner of disposing of their lulebs when parting. The routine of the second day ; third ; fourth ; fifth ; sixth ; seventh, when they encompassed the altar seven times ; eighth, when the solemnity closed. The way in which they were lodged and supported while at Jerusalem. The won- derful promise of divine protection while attending the three yearly festivals- The three great festivals honoured with three remarkable events. The last of the three principal feasts, which God ap- pointed to the Israelites, was the Feast of Tabernacles, and the reasons of its appointment were the following: — 1. To remind them, that their fathers had lived in tents in the wilderness." 2. To be a yearly thanksgiving af- ter the ingathering of the harvest.* And, 3. To assure them of God's return to dwell among them, after they had made and worshipped the golden calf. For Moses, after long fasting and prayer, having obtained their for- giveness, and a renewal of the tables of the law, toge- ther with a commission to proceed in building the Ta- bernacle, which had been suspended in consequence of their idolatry, descended from the mount, on the 10th of the 7th month, to communicate to the Israelites these agreeable tidings. Accordingly, that day was observed ever afterwards with religious veneration ; and the peo- ple, then hearing that they must make the Tabernacle for Jehovah to dwell in, and consequently that they must continue where they were till that was accom- plished, proceeded to pitch their tents, and make them- selves booths to screen themselves from the weather. Five days, therefore, after Moses's descent, did God appoint the Feast of Tabernacles, to cheer them in their * Lev. xsiii. 40—43. ^ Exod. xxxiv. 22. Lev. xxiii. 39. Deut. xvi. 3L. 448 ANTIQt^ITIES OF THE JEWS. work, and to be a standing memorial, in every age of the Jewish economy, of that peculiar residence which he had among them. Such were the reasons for the Feast of Tabernacles, and the season of its observance was answerable to these ends ; for it was appointed to be held on the 15th day of the moon which appeared in the 7th month, ^ or Tizri ; corresponding with the latter part of our Sep- tember and the beginning of our October. It is obvious, therefore, that the Feast of Tabernacles was in a certain degree ambulatory : for as the moon, in that month, ap- peared earlier or later, so would its observance be in proportion. Calculations in that case must of course be arbitrary ; but we may suppose, for the sake of illustra- tion, as we did when treating of the passover, that the new moon of the first month appeared, in one of the years, on the 21st of March, or the vernal equinox. On such a supposition, the new moon of the 7th month would appear on the 13th of September, (allowing twenty- nine days and a half between every change,) and the 15th day of the 7th month, or the feast of Ta- bernacles, would fall to be observed on the 28th of Sep- tember. This calculation, however, is only given for one year ; for, as formerly remarked, it would change annually with the change of the moon. Having thus considered the time ordained for it, the next circumstance which naturally presents itself to our consideration, is the mode of- its observance in the dif- ferent periods of the Jewish history. Let us begin then with its observance under the existence of the Taber- nacle. This is described by Moses in the following man- ner:— On the first day of the feast, which was accounted a sabbath, they were to abstain from all servile,^ or or- » liev. xxiii. 34. Num.xxix. 12. '' Lev. xxiii. 39. Num.xxix. 12 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 449 dinary work, in order that they might have time to construct themselves booths, made of the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook :* within which, they were ordered to dwell during the seven days of the feast, that their generations might know that God made their fathers to dwell in booths when he brought them out of Egypt. ^ And when this was done, they were to attend the public worship on the several days, and offer in their order the appropriate, peculiar, and daily decreasing sacrifices. Thus, besides the daily morning and evening sacrifices, which were never to be dispensed with, they had to offer, on the first day, thir- teen bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offerings :" on the se- cond day, twelve bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offer- ings :** on the third day, eleven bullocks, two rams, four- teen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offerings :'' on the fourth day, ten bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offerings -^ on the fifth day, nine bul- locks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offerings;^ on the sixth day, eight bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offerings :^ on the seventh day, seven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink-offer- ings :' but on the eighth day, which was accounted a sabbath,'' there were only one bullock, one ram, seven * Lev. xxiii, 40, •> Lev. xxiii. 42, 43. "= Num. xxix. 12 — 1,6. d Num. xxix. 17--19. ^ lb. xxix. 20—22. ^ lb. xxix. 23—25. « lb. xxix. 26—28. i» lb. xxix. 29—31, ' lb, xxix. 32— :i4. ^ Lev. xxiii. 35. Vol. L 3 L C^ 450 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lambs, and a kid of the goats, with their meat and drink- offerings/ Various reasons have been assigned by the Jews, for this daily decrease, but all of them are conjectural ; some having imagined, that the whole number of bul- locks was reduced to seventy, '^ in reference to the seventy nations" of the world, which they thus distin- guished from the Jews, and, ^^ which should be abating and decaying ; while Israel, like the number of rams, lambs, and goats, remained fixed.'"' Others supposed that they were reduced to seventy, to suit the life of man, which was gradually shortened till it came to that sum. Others, that it pointed to the gradual decay of sacrifice; or was intended merely to have seven bullocks on the seventh day ; or to reduce the number of animals slain on that day to twenty-four, which was the number of the courses : whilst others, again, have considered the abatement on each day, as suiting the people who abated daily, and withdrew to their own homes. But whatever might have been the reasons, it is worthy of observation, that if we add the morning and evening sacrifices for the eight days, which were never dispensed with,*" to the number of sacrifices prescribed for these days, we have precisely two hundred and fifteen, which was the exact number of years that the Israelites were in Egypt. As the Feast of Tabernacles, therefore, was intended to commemorate the residence of the Israelites in the wil- derness, where they lived in booths, and saw his won- ders in their daily preservation ; might not these sacri- fices have been so ordered, as to bring to their remem- brance also the number of the years, when their fathers dwelt in that land of bondage ? = Num. xxix. 36 — 38. f" Rabbi Solomon on Numb. xxix. 12, &c. and Abarbinel on the same place. = Numb. xxix. 16. 19, 22. 25, 28. 31. 34- 38. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 451 Such was the manner in which they observed this annual feast during the times of the Tabernacle : let us next see how they observed it under the first Temple ; although on this part we can say but little. We find indeed Solomon dedicating the Temple, immediately before the Feast of Tabernacles f but we have nothing particular concerning the way in which that feast was observed. It is probable, however, that they partly dwelt in booths without their cities, and partly erected them on the flat tops of their houses. Yet there is rea- son to suppose that, afterwards, especially under the wicked kings, they had become very remiss. For at the first observance of that festival after the captivity, we find them reviving the primitive practice, and cast- ing a reflection on the conduct of their forefathers. We shall transcribe the words of Nehemiah viii. 13, as the best commentary on these observations. *^ And on the second day (of the seventh month, verse 2,) were ga- thered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month ; and that they should publish and proclaim, in all their cities, and in Jerusa- lem, saying. Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their Courts, and in the Courts of the house of God, and in the street of the Water-gate, (which lay between the east or principal » 2Chron. V. 3; vii. 9, 10. 452 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. front of the Temple, and the gate in the city wall of that name,) and in the street of the gate of Ephraim^ (which Lightfoot places near the south-west corner of the city.) And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths ; for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun, unto that day had not the children of Israel done so ; and there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God : and they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth was a solemn assembly accord- ing unto the manner." It appears unnecessary at this time to trace the gra- dual influence of the traditions of the fathers (which be- gan after the captivity)" on the feast of which we are now treating. It will be sufficient for our present pur- pose, if we hasten at once to the days of our Saviour, and shew their accumulated influence in the manner in which the Jews at that time kept the Feast of Taber- nacles. Perhaps it will add likewise to the elucidation of the subject, if we keep each of the eight days dis- tinct, and explain the duties of each in its order. Let us begin then with the first. In the original ap- pointment of the Feast of Tabernacles, the people were commanded to dwell in booths; but, a dispute having arisen between the Pharisees and Sadducees on that point, the Sadducees were for adhering to the words of Scripture ; but the Pharisees explain the branches used, not as intended for booths, but for branches to carry in their hands during their solemnity. Common sense cer- tainly was on the side of the Sadducees ; but tlie Phari- sees had by that time become the more popular sect, and therefore prevailed. Accordingly, by their tradi- tions, the first thing the Jews did, on this first day of the feast, was to get some palm and myrtle branches THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 453 wherever they could find them, (Calmet says, there was one palm branch, and three of myrtle,) and then to go to a place called Miitsa, a little below Jerusalem, on the banks of the brook Kidron, for two willow branches each ; one to place on the altar as we shall afterwards see ; and the other to be bound up with the palms and myrtles by means of a twig, cord, silver or gold twist, according to the fancy of the individual. This last was called his luleb,^ and he was bound to carry it in his hand all this first day of the feast, whenever he went out of his house, and into whatsoever place he entered. Leo of Modena^ tells us, that the modern Jews, not having the opportunity of going to the Temple, nor of performing the ceremonies prescribed by Moses, make, in some countries, each for himself, in some open place, an arbour of branches of trees, hung round and adorned as much as they can, where they eat and drink, and sometimes sleep : spending as much time there, as they used to do in their houses, during the whole- eight days of the festival.'' The next thing, necessary for the feast, was the pome- citrons, or apples of the citron tree. They are well known in Judea, and are a species of orange, but larger. We find no mention of them in Scripture as appendages of the Feast of Tabernacles, but the traditions drew them into notice, from the explanations they gave of Levit. xxiii. 40. For the words which are rendered by our translators, " the boughs of goodly trees," and which literally signify, ^^ the fruit of the beautiful tree," they explain to be the fruit of the citron tree, because no other, in their estimation, is so deserving of the name : since its appearance is noble,** the smell of the apples is » 3S1S. ^ Ceremonies of the Jews, part ii. chap. 7. " See also Buxtorff. Synag. Judaic, cap. 21 . «< Joel i. 12. Cant. ii. 3; viii. 5., 454 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. extremely fragrant/ their taste very pleasant and re- freshing,^ and their colour of a beautiful yellow/ Hence the Chaldee paraphrast on the above-men- tioned verse, expressly renders the words thus, ^^Ye shall take unto you the fruit of the citron tree." It may be remarked, that although in all the above places the word nifin is rendered apples, we are not to under- stand them as resembling our's ; but uniformly as mean- ing the apples of the citron tree. For the species of apples which we most value, is unknown there ; and the only kinds they have are bad in quality. Thus Dr. Russell,'' when enumerating all the variety of fruits pro- duced at Aleppo, mentions only '^ two or three sorts of apples, but all very bad." Even at this day, rows of orange trees are a necessary appendage of an eastern garden. They cool the air by their shade, and per- fume it with their smell. But, it may be asked, what did they with these apples when they had them ? I an- swer, they carried them constantly in their hands as ac- companiments to their lulebs. For the fathers enjoined, that while they carried the branches in one hand, they were always to have the pomecitrons in the other. With these two therefore they were equipped for appearing in public, and our duty is to follow them in their pro- gress through the day. The first place they resorted to, as might be expected, was the Temple, to attend the morning service : some standing in the Court of Israel, and others in the Court of the Women, as they could find room. Not to repeat the manner in which the morning sacrifice was offered up, already described when treating of the daily sacri- fice, we may observe, that when the parts of the sacrifice '^ C.iiit. vii. 8, ■> Cant. ii. 5, "^ Prov. xxv, 11- ^ Nat. Hl&t, of Aleppo, p. 21. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 455 were laid on the altar, the singular ceremony commenced of pouring out the water, which was peculiar to this solemnity ; and the manner of doing it was as follows : — One of the priests, with a golden flaggon, capable of holding three logs (or eighteen egg-shells full,)'' went to the Pool of Siloam, or Bethesda, which lay** within the city, and on the south side of the Temple ; where, fill- ing it with water, he returned to the Court of the Priests by the gate on the south side of the Court of Israel, thence called the Water Gate ; and no sooner did he ap- pear than the silver trumpets sounded to announce his arrival. But he did not stop on that account, but went directly up to the top of the altar, to the two basons which stood there at that time, the one with the wine for the ordinary drink-offering, and the other for the water which he had brought : where, pouring the water into the empty bason, he mixed the wine and the water together, with the intent of pouring both out afterwards in the way of libation.*" Yet the manner of pouring it out was not left entirely to himself; for after he had mixed it, and held it in his hand ready for pouring, the people called to him to raise and extend his arm that they might see whether he did it in a proper manner ; for a Baitheusaean, or Sadducee, in contempt of their traditions, instead of pouring it over the altar, and upon the foundation, had once poured it upon his own feet ; which had almost cost him his life, for the people fell upon him with their pomecitrons and pelted him un- mercifully. It was formerly stated, '^ that every day of the week had its appointed Psalm, during the offering of the daily sacrifice ; but although that was the case on ordinary ' See Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple, ch. 24. •> See part ii. sect, i, BuxtorfF, De Synag. Jud. cap. 21. «• See part iii. sect, iv. 456 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. occasions, it was departed from at the solemn feasts; and the Psalms always sung during the daily sacrifice at the Feast of Tabernacles were those which composed the Hallel, or from Psalm 113 to 118, both inclusive. ''^ That being renewed daily," as the Jerusalem Targum expresses it, "because their lulebs were renewed daily." By which we are not to understand, that they were all renewed every day ; but either were accounted as re- newed, by their daily appearance at the Temple, or by the presenting of new ones that would become needful, either from accidents, or the lateness of individuals. It is worthy of remark, that, during the Hallel of each day, the crowd expressed the ardour of their feelings at par- ticular parts, by outward tokens. Thus, when they came to these words in the beginning of the 118th Psalm, " 0 give thanks unto the Lord," all the multi- tude shook their branches. The same thing was done twice, when the band came to the 25th verse, '' Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord," and " O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity." And at the concluding verse, " O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever ;" the whole multitude joined a fourth time in the shaking of their lulebs, which was appointed to be on the right hand, and on the left: upwards and downwards.* Hitherto the people had only joined in the daily morn- ing sacrifice ; but after that sacrifice was offered, instead of returning home, as they usually did on other days, they immediately joined in the appointed and peculiar service of the day. And that which was enjoined for the first day of the feast, or that concerning which we are treating, was thirteen bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid '^ during which, we are informed by ^ Lightf. Heb. and Taltn. Exer. Matt. xxi. 11. ^ Numb. xxix. 12—16. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 457 Lightfoot, that the Levites sang the 105th Psalm. But the priests did not cast lots for these sacrifices, as for the daily sacrifice ; for the traditions so ordered it, that all the four and twenty courses which were present, had the killing and offering of them divided among them. Thus, on this first day of the feast, the thirteen bullocks, two rams, and the kid, being sixteen in all, were given to sixteen of the courses ; making two animals a-piece to each course ;• twelve of the lambs were given to other six of the courses, making two a-piece for each course ; and the remaining two lambs to the remaining two courses, making one a-piece for each of them. After these general and appointed sacrifices, it is probable that they would next attend to the sacrifice that was prescribed for the prince on each of the days of the feast, as mentioned in Ezek. xlv. 25. viz. seven bullocks and seven rams for a burnt-offering, and a kid of the goats for a sin-offering, with their meat-offerings and drink-offerings. Such was the manner of conducting the morning sa- crifice, and the other peculiar services that were ap- pointed for the morning of the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. If they had no vows, nor free-will-offer- ings, they were then allowed to retire ; but if they owed any of these to the Lord, they waited, till they saw them consumed on the altar. Let it not be thought, however, that they left the Mountain of the Lord's House in con- fusion ; for they went in succession round the altar ; set one of their willow branches against it ; repeated aloud Ps. cxviii. 25, ^^ Save now, I beseech thee, 0 Lord ; O Lord I beseech thee, send now prosperity ;" and as they retired through the gates in the Court of Israel nearest the altar, they solemnly uttered this benedic- tion— " Beauty be to thee, 0 altar : beauty be to thee, 0 altar." At present, they carry these branches into Vol. L 3 M 45S ANTIQUITIES Of THE JEWS. the synagogue, and provide themselves with oranges and citrons in countries where they do not grow. They make it a part also of their ceremony to walk round the desk in the middle of the synagogue, once a day at least, singing Psalm cxviii. 25, &,c. and they eat nothing till they have done this.* We are not informed how the Israelites spent the forenoon : but after dinner, they re- tired to the divinity schools to hear the traditions ex- pounded by the doctor : for there were four sorts of teachers and teaching of the law among them : — 1 . In every city and town there was a school where children were taught to read the law ; and if there was any town where there was no such school, the men of the place stood excommunicated till such an one was erected. 2. There were the public preachers and teachers of the law in their synagogues,'* most commonly the iixed or settled ministers, or angels of the churches, and some- times learned men that came occasionally.' 3. There were those who had their divinity schools in which they expounded the traditions to their scholars or disciples, of which there is frequent mention among the Jewish writers ; especially of tlie schools of Hillel and Shammaiv Such a divinity professor was Gamaliel.'^ And, 4. The whole Sanhedrin, in its sessions, was the great school of the nation, as well as the great Judicatory : for it fixed the sense of the law, especially in practical matters ; and expounded Moses witli such authority, that their expo- sition was not to be questioned. As the Jews therefore went in the afternoon to the schools of the third kind, I may notice that the doctor did not speak to the people himself, but whispered the Hebrew of the traditions into the ear of the interpreter, who rendered them in the a Calmet's Diet. Art. Feast of Tabernacles. ^ Acts xv. 21 . ' Acts xiii. 14. ** Acts xxii. 3. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 459 mother tongue to the people : that it was customary in these schools to propose and discuss questions ; and that while the interpreter preached from the mouth of the doctor the people sat on the ground.^ In this way were they employed in the afternoon, and when the hour of evening service came, they returned to the Temple to witness the killing and offering of the evening sacrifice. On ordinary days, and during the other feasts, the end of the evening sacrifice was always the end of the public service ; but at this feast, the people did not leave the Temple till a very late hour. For it was not till night, that the t^ejoicing for the pouring (nDKItJ^H no nnOtS^) out of the water, as it was called, was ob- served ; because the solemnity of the public service during the day would not allow them to do it at that time. Their manner of observing it, therefore, at night, was as follows : they all met in the Court of the Women ; the women above, in the balconies which surrounded three sides of the Court, and the men below, on the ground. The Court was lighted by four golden lamps, one on each side, which were raised to a great height ; and kept burning by four young men of the priesthood, who ascended them by a ladder, poured into each of them one hundred and twenty logs of oil, and supplied them with wicks that had formerly been prepared from the old coats and girdles of the priests.^ Things being thus arranged, the pipe of the Temple (whatever that was) began to play ; the Levites brought their instru- ments from the music chambers, under the fifteen steps which led from the Court of the Women up to the gate Nicanor, and seated themselves on the steps ; whilst those who could join in the vocal department also took » Lightf. Heb. and Talm Exer. Matt. iv. 23. '» Lightf. Heb, and Talm. Exer. .Tohn vii. 2. 460 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. their stations. Nor should we overlook the Psalms that were sung, which were those entitled " Psalms of De- grees," fifteen in number (from the 120th to thel34th in- clusive,) and answering to the fifteen steps on which the musicans sat. A native of Britain would imagine, that all the au- dience would sit in silence, and hear attentively the sa- cred music ; but that did not coincide with the Jewish idea of rejoicing. When merry they indeed sang psalms," but they also danced, like David before the ark, and like him imagined that the more they abased themselves, the more commendably they acted.^ The members of the Sanhedrin, therefore, rulers of synagogues, doctors of schools, all who were eminent for rank or piety, ac- companied the sacred music with their voices ; and leaped, and danced, with torches in their hands, for a .great part of the night, while the women and common people looked on." During this strange kind of religious festivity, frequent ejaculations were uttered by the ex- hibiters. Thus some of them would say, " Blessed be thou, O my youth, which hast not shamed my old age," (these were called men of performances :) others would say, " Blessed be thou, 0 my old age, which hast gain- said my youth," (these were called Chasidin, and men of repentance :) and both of them would exclaim, " Blessed is he that hath not sinned ; and he that hath sinned, but his sin is pardoned." At length weariness, sleep, and satiety, concluding the rejoicing for the night, they parted, some to their own homes, and some to their hired apartments, while others remained all night in the Court. But we are not to think that so public a meeting would be dismissed ' James v. 13. •> 2 Sam. vi. 14 — 22. = BuxtorfF. De Synag. Judaic, cap. 21 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 461 without due solemnity. For at the appointed time, two priests appeared in the gate Nicanor, with trumpets in their hands, and sounded. They then descended to the tenth step and sounded a second time ; then to the Court of the Women and sounded a third time; and then ad- vanced towards the east, or Beautiful Gate, sounding as they went. This was the signal for the multitude to retire always before them ; so that they could not sur- round the altar, as in the morning, but had to move out in a contrary direction ; namely, through the north, south, and east gates of the Court of the Women. And when the trumpeters had reached the east gate, they then turned themselves round to the Temple, and ut- tered the following words : " Our fathei's, which were in this place, turned their backs upon the Temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the east, towards the sun ; but as for us, we are towards him, and our eyes are towards him." After which, they retraced their steps through the Court of the Women ; and entered the Court of Israel, and of the Priests, by the gate Nicanor. We have already mentioned three reasons why the Feast of Tabernacles was a time of unusual rejoicing; namely, because it commemorated their fathers living in booths in the wilderness ; was an annual thanksgiving for the in-gathering of the harvest ; and an evidence of Jehovah's gracious return, after they had worshipped the golden calf. But it is not easy to say, what was the particular cause of their exceeding rejoicing for the pouring out of the water. Rabbi Akibah gives this as a reason : " Bring the libation of water at the Feast of Tabernacles, that the showers may be blessed to thee," in conformity with Joel ii. 23. Maimonides says, " It was a rejoicing for the keeping of the law, to which no joy was comparable." But most remarkable is that 462 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. passage in the Jerusalem Talmud, upon the question of Rabbi Levi, who asked, why the name of it was called the drawing of water? ^^ Because," says the Talmud, *• of the drawing, or pouring out of the Holy Ghost ; according to what is said in Is. xii. 3, ^ With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.' " Such are some of the reasons why the Jews rejoiced so greatly; but all of them agree, <^^ that he who never saw the re- joicing of the dra'^ing of water, never saw rejoicing in his life."^ There is only one thing more that falls to be noticed on this day, and that is, the disposal of their lulebs after they left the Court of the Women. When these were intro- duced, it was not their custom to take them home ; but to carry them along with them from the Court of the Women, through the Sacred Fence, into the Court of the Gentiles, where they were arranged around the piazzas or covered walks, to remain till next morning. But it often hap- pened that they had disputes about them, and sometimes they were lost, so that the Sanhedrin very properly de- termined that every individual should carry home his luleb, and bring it back with him on the following day. Thus decency and order were preserved. The fii'st night of this feast they were bound to lodge within the city, but all the other nights they might lodge without it, provided they kept within a sabbath-day's journey, or two thousand cubits.^ We have now gone through the duties and ceremonies of the first day of the feast; let us briefly state what were the duties and ceremonies of the second. On this day they were not bound by their traditions to carry their lulebs and pomecitrons with them where- ever they went. It was only necessary that they should » Succah, per. 5. '' Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. John viii. 1. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 463 have them when they went to the Temple. On the se- cond day also, after the morning sacrifice, the water was brought from Siloam, mixed with the wine, and poured out ; and the Hallel was sung instead of the ordinary psalm for the day. But the peculiar sacrifices for that day, which came next in course, were fewer than those on the former day; being only twelve bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid ;" and they were di- vided among the courses of the priests as follows : the twelve bullocks, two rams, and the kid (being fifteen animals,) were given to fifteen of the courses to be slain; ten of the lambs were given to other five of the courses for the same end ; and the remaining four lambs were given to the remaining four courses. During their offer- ing, the 29th Psalm was sung; and when the morning service was ended, the companies, in succession, encom- passed the altar once, as on the former day, singing Ps. cxviii. 25. ; uttered their usual benediction of the altar ; and retired by the nearest gate, from the Court of the Priests, home. The rest of the day, (including the prince's offering, mentioned Ezek. xlv. 25.) and their rejoicings in the evening for the pouring out of the wa- ter, were exactly the same as on the former day. On the third day of the feast, the routine was as on the second with respect to the luiebs, pomecitrons, mor- ning sacrifice, pouring out of the water, and the singing of the Hallel. But the peculiar sacrifices were fewer than on that day ; being only eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid:^ and the maimer of disposing of them among the courses was this : the eleven bullocks, two rams, and the goat (fourteen in number) were ofiered by fourteen of the courses ; eight of the lambs were given to other four ; and the remaining six courses had i Numb. xxix. 17—19. ^ lb. xxix. 20—22. 464 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. a Iamb a- piece. The Psalm which was sung during their oiiering up, was the 50th, from the sixteenth verse to the end. And when the- whole morning service was ended, the encompassing of the altar, the prince's offer- ing, &:c. till the end of the rejoicing in the evening, were the very same as on the former day. On the fourth day of the feast, they brought their lu- lebs and pomecitrons, as usual, to the Temple ; attended the daily sacrifice ; witnessed the pouring out of the wine and water ; and heard the Hallel sung. But the peculiar sacrifices were only ten bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid f and the manner of distributing them among the courses was, to give the ten bullocks, two rams, and the kid to thirteen of the courses ; six of the lambs to other three of the sourses ; and the remaining eight courses had each a lamb. The Psalm which they sang on this occasion was the 94th, from the sixteenth verse to the end. And the encompassing of the altar, the prince's offering, &c. till the end of the rejoicing in the evening, was the same as on the former days. On the Jifth day, the lulebs and pomecitrons were again brought ; the morning sacrifice was offered ; the water mixed with wine poured out; and the Hallel sung. But the peculiar sacrifices were daily decreasing in num- ber ; for on this day there were only nine bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs and a kid ;^ which were disposed of among the courses in the following manner : the nine bullocks, two rams, and the kid, were offered by twelve of the courses ; four lambs were given to two more of the courses ; and the other ten to the remainder. The Psalm sung during their offering was the 94th, from the eighth verse to the end. And the encompassing the altar, the prince's offering, &c. till the end of the rejoicing at night, were exactly the same as on former days. » Numb. xxix. 23—25- ^ lb. xxix. 26—28. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 465 On the sixth day, they had still their lulebs and pomecitrons when they went to the Temple to attend the morning sacrifice, to witness the pouring out of the wine and water, and to hear the Hallel. But when they began the peculiar sacrifices of the day, they found them reduced to eight bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid ;'' which were thus disposed of among the courses : the eight bullocks, two rams, and the kid were ofiered by eleven of the courses ; one course offered two lambs; and the remaining twelve courses had the remaining twelve lambs. The Psalm sung on the occasion was the 81st, from the sixth verse to the end. And the encom- passing the altar, the prince's oifering, &c. till the con- clusion of the rejoicing at night, were exactly the same as on former days. On the seventh day, they carried their lulebs and pomecitrons as usual to the Temple, attended the daily sacrifice, and the pouring out of water mixed with wine; heard the Hallel, and then joined in the peculiar sa- crifices, which were seven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid.'' These were divided among the courses, to be sacrificed, as follows : the whole animals were twenty-four in number, and each course received one. The Psalm that was sung on the occasion was Ps. Ixxxii. 5. to the end. After which they proceeded to the prince's offering, &c. encompassing of the altar, but in- stead of doing it once only, as they had done on each of the preceding days, they encompassed it seven times, always repeating at each revolution, Ps. cxviii. 25. adding, " For thy sake, O our Creator, Hosanna ; for thy sake, O our Redeemer, Hosanna; for thy sake, O our Seeker, Hosanna ;" as if they implored help of the Trinity ; and then retired blessing the altar, and » Numb. xxix. 29-31. ^ lb, xxix, 32— S4. Vol. I. 3 N 466 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. saying, '^ Beauty be to thee, O altar ; beauty be to thee^ O altar." On this seventh day of the feast, which they call Hoscmna Rabba, the modern Jews quit their myrtle and palm branches, and take only those of willow ; with which they make seven turns round the desk in their synagogue, singing the 29th Psalm, ^^Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty," &e. Such was their conduct in the former part of the day ; and in the afternoon they at- tended the Divinity Schools, and after them the evening sacrifice at the Temple ; but at night they had no re- joicings, because the eighth day of the feast was a holy day, and (as we have already seen) such a rejoicing would have interfered with it, since their day began with the sunsetting of the day before. It may be here noticed, that the same thing happened on the evening before the weekly sabbath, whatever day of the feast it fell upon : they had no rejoicings in the Court of the Women. The eighth day, as well as the first, was accounted a sabbath,* on which no servile work was to be done, that the minds of the people might be duly solemnized. To the Temple, therefore, on this day did all the Israelites devoutly proceed, with their lulebs and pomecitrons, to attend the daily service, the pouring out of the wine and water, the singing of the Hallel, and the peculiar sacri- fices. But these last were much less numerous than on the former days ; for they consisted of only one bullock, one ram, seven lambs, and a kid;'' nor are we told either how the twenty-four courses, of the priests divided them among them, or what Psalm was sung on the occasion. We are simply told, that they encompassed the altar once as on the first six days ; repeated Ps. cxviii. 25 ; uttered their benediction of the altar ; retired home to breakfast ; attended the Divinity Schools after dinner ; went to the evening sacrifice at the Temple ; continued » Levit. xxiii. 39. Numb. xxix. o5. ^ Nuijib. xxix. 36—38. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 467 their rejoicing for the pouring out of the water till a late hour ; ate their poraecitrons ; and concluded the feast with the usual formalities. It was on this " last and great day of the feast (as being a holy day) that Jesus stood and cried, saying, * If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' "* We are not told at what time of the day he uttered these words; but if it was, as some have thought, while the priest was pouring the water from the belly of the goblet, on the foundation of the altar, it would give them an astonishing energy, although the respect which Christ uniformly paid to public ordinances, would ra- ther lead us to conclude, that they were uttered after the public service was ended. Such were the usual formalities on the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles ; but Leo of Modena^ informs us, that the influence of custom, and impulse of devotion, led many to add a ninth, which was called '^^ the joy of the law ;" because on that day they completed the read- ing of the Pentateuch; and Buxtorlf "^ gives a full ac- count of it. Thus have we finished the consideration of the three principal feasts, which the males of Israel were enjoined to attend every year at Jerusalem; and, on reviewing the whole, there were several things which naturally strike a reflecting mind : viz. the season of the year in which they were observed ; the manner in which the Jews pro- cured lodging and food, while attending them; the seeming impolicy of leaving the land defenceless so many times in the year ; and the striking coincidence between these feasts, and some remarkable events in the gospel history. » John vii. 37, 38. ^ Part ii. ch. 7. • De Synag. Judaic, cap. 27, 466 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 1. The time of the year, in which they were observed;, was during the dry season of Judea. For the latter rains, which served to mature the crops, in our spring, but be- fore their harvest, fell before the Passover; and the former rains in autumn, which was their seed time, had not commenced, when they were commanded to observe the Feast of Tabernacles ; although it sometimes hap- pened, that they were scarcely all got home before these began to fall. Thus was the ground in the best state for travelling, when the three principal feasts were ob- served ; and the God of Israel, in his religious institu- tions, consulted the health and convenience of his people. 2. With respect to the manner in which the Jews pro- cured food and lodging' at these feasts, it may be ob- served, that the rich often shewed their charity by dis- tributing presents of food, as in 2 Chron. xxxv. 7 — 9, and that when these were inadequate, other means were resorted to. These may be explained by the following extracts from some modern travellers in the East. Pitts, in hrs account of the religion and mannei's of the Maho- metans,^ says, " Mecca has not one thousand families constantly residing in it, yet seventy thousand pilgrims visit it every year. As for house-room, the inhabitants do straiten themselves very much, in order at this time to make their market. And as for such as come last, af- ter the town is filled, they pitch their tents without the town, and their abide until they return home. As for provisions, they always bring sufficient with them, ex- cept it be of flesh, which they may have at Mecca ; but all other provisions, as butter, honey, oil, olives, rice, biscuit, &c. they bring with them as much as will last through the wilderness, forward and backward, as well » p. 87, 88. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 469 as the time they stay at Mecca; and as for their camels, they bring store of provender with them." Hasselquist gives us nearly the same account ;^ for when he was at Cairo, Jan. 1, 1751, the Mecca caravan, which had set out the 10th Sept. before, returned to that city. ^*' It should seem," says he, '^ that a hundred thousand souls coming into a city on one day, would occasion a great change in the price of provisions ; and I doubt whether there is a city in Europe capable of receiving at once so large a number of guests without feeling it. But in Cairo no want of victuals was known on account of the re- markable increase of inhabitants. This is not only a proof of a rich country, but likewise of a sparing people, who have not yet forgot that nature is content with a little." — Such are the words of Pitts and Hasselquist, and they shew us the probable manner in which the Jews would lodge and support themselves during the festivals. Josephus indeed speaks of tents without the Temple in his Antiquities.'' 3. With regard to the seeming impolicy of leaving the land defenceless during these times, it is indeed sur- prising (speaking after the manner of men) that the neighbouring nations did not take advantage of it. For the matter was no secret ; it was publicly known that at three set times every year they were commanded to be at Jerusalem, and that at three set times every year they actually attended. Why then were not inroads made at these seasons, to slay the old men, women, and children, to burn their cities, and carry off the spoil ? How shall we account for the enmity of their foes being asleep at these particular times, when the land was defenceless ; and perfectly awake at everyother season, when they were at home and ready to oppose them? Unless the Scriptures * P, 103. '■> Chap. xvii. 9. 470 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. had given a solution, the matter would have been deemed inexplicable ; but these tell us that the same Being who appointed those feasts, guaranteed the security of the land while they were attending them. For thus runs the promise in Exodus xxxiv. 23, 24 : " Thrice in the year shall all your men-children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders : neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God, thrice in the year." Can any thing afford us a more striking instance of a particular provi- dence ? He is a wall of fire about his people as well as the glory in the midst of them. The hearts of all men are in his hands. He maketh the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of that wrath, which will not praise him, he restraineth. During the whole period be- tween Moses and Christ, we never read of an enemy in- vading the land at the time of the three festivals ; the first that occurs, was thirty- three years after they had withdrawn from themselves the divine protection, by embruing their hands in the Saviour's blood, when Ces- tius the Roman general slew fifty of the people of Lydda, while all the rest were gone up to the Feast of Taber- nacles. A. D. 66.* I shall only add farther, that the three great festivals were honoured with three remarkable events in the Scripture history. The Feast of Taberna- cles being the time when our Saviour was born, and when in the beginning of his* thirtieth year he was bap- tized ; the Passover, the time when he was crucified ; and Pentecost, the time when the Holy Ghost descended in a visible manner on the apostles.^ * Joseph, War, ii. 19. i" Lightf, Harm, of the Four Evan,^elists, part i. Luke ill. 21. Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book iii. chap. 5. PART VI. ON THE OTHER FEASTS AND FASTS OF THE JEWS. Oesides the three great festivals which have been de- scribed in the preceding pages, there are several others that were celebrated with great solemnity, though they did not require all the males to present themselves, at Jerusalem, before the Lord. These festivals are, the New Moons — the Feast of Trumpets — the Feast of An- nual Expiation — the Sabbath — the Sabbatical Year — the Year of Jubilee — the Feast of Purim, or of Lots — the Feast of Dedication, and certain lesser feasts and fasts. SECT. L JVew-Moons. — Feast of Trumpets. The appointed offerings at the Feast of New-Moons ; reason of its institution ; way in which the modern Jews observe it. Feast of trumpets ; time of its ob- servance; peculiar sacrifices; additions made under the second Temple; way the modern Jews observe the new year. The three Books of Fate that are then supposed to be opened. The JVew Moons, or first days of every month, were accounted as sabbaths," and the divine ordinance con- cerning them was as follows. In the first place, a burnt- offering was offered up at the Tabernacle, or Temple, of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs.'' Secondly, the meat-offerings to each of these consisted of three tenth deals of fine flour, mingled with oil, for each bul- » Amos ?iii. 5, b Numb, xr^jii. 11, 472 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. lock ; two tenth deals of flour, mingled with oil, for the ram ; and one tenth deal of fine flour, mingled with oil, for each lamb." Thirdly, the drink-offerings that were attached to each. Thus half a hin (or thirty-six egg-shells full) of wine was appointed to each bullock ; the third of a hin (or twenty-four egg-shells full) for the ram ; and the fourth of a hin (or eighteen egg-shells full) for each lamb.^ But besides this burnt- off'ering, with its meat and drink-offerings, there was. Fourthly, a kid of the goats to be offered for a sin- offering."" And these were the peculiar offerings for the day, as appointed by the peo- ple, exclusive of the bullock, six lambs, and a ram, which were offered by the prince ; with their several meat-of ferings.'' As these various offerings were performed in the manner already described, when treating of the burnt, sin, meat, and drink-offerings, it will be sufii- cient here to remark, that they were enjoined to be of- fered every new moon, besides the continual burnt-offer- ing and its drink-offering,^ or the morning and evening sacrifice, which were never allowed to be dispensed with. And while they were offering up to Jehovah, we are in- formed in Num. x. 10. that they were attended with the blowing of trumpets ; and in 2 Kings iv. 23. Is. Ixvi. 23. Ezek. xlvi. 1, and Amos viii. 5, that it was customary for the pious Israelites, at the new moons, to repair to the prophets, and public teachers, to hear the word of God. Nay, it would appear that some kind of entertain- ment was held by the king at least on that day ; for Da- vid, when conversing with Jonathan about Saul's hatred of him, says, that " the next day was the new moon, when he ought to sit with the king at meat," and Jona- than speaks of David's being missed at that time.^ Thus » Numb, xxviii. 12, 13. •» lb. xxviii. 14. •= lb. xxviii. 15, d Ezek. xlvi. 6, 7. ' Numb, xxviii. 15. * 1 Sam. xx. 5. IS. NEW MOONS. FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 473 were the montlis, as they began, sanctified to the Lord, and he was acknowledged as the length of their days, and the giver of every good and perfect gift. With re- gard to the modern method of observing this festival, Dr. Jennings tells us,'' that the Jews on that day repeat certain prayers in their synagogues, and have a feast in their own houses ; and that some devotees fast on the eve of it, many of them adding another ceremony about three days after, when they meet in companies in the night, in some open place, to bless God in a prayer of considerable length, for having created the moon, and for having renewed her, to teach the Israelites that they ought to become new creatures. Then they leap up thrice and say to the moon, " As we leap up towards thee, with- out being able to reach thee, so may it be impossible for our enemies to rise up against us to hurt us." A prayer which marks their feeling of injury, and for which, un- fortunately, they have too much reason to complain. Next to the new moons the feast of trumpets presents itself to our notice : it is so called from the blowing of trumpets on that occasion.'' It was appointed to be held on the first day of the moon in the seventh month (Tizri,) or about the autumnal equinox; consequently on the first day of their civil year — for their ecclesias- tical year began at the new moon in Abibor, about the vernal equinox. All servile work was prohibited upon it, and a holy convocation of the people for religious purposes was enjoined.'' In Num. xxix. 2 — 5, we have a distinct account of the peculiar sacrifices that were or- dered to be offered on the first day of the year. They were, 1. A burnt- offering, consisting of one young bul- lock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without " Jewish Antiq. book vi. ch. 7. ^ Levit. xxiii, 24, Numb.. \\\x X, ^- Levit. xxiii. 24, 25. Numb. xxix. 1. Vol. T. 3 0 474 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, blemish. 2. The meat-ofFerings for each of these, viz^ three tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil for the bullock ; two tenth deals for the ram ; and one tenth deal for each of the lambs. 3. A kid of the goats was to be offered for a sin-offering, to make an atonement. And, lest these sacrifices might be thought to supei'sede the sacrifices of the same kind that were appointed to be of- fered on the morning of each day, and at the new moons, it is expressly added in verse 6th, that these are to be offered up, '^ beside the burnt- offering of the month and his meat offering ; and the daily burnt-offering and his meat-offering, and their drink-offerings, according unto their manner." Consequently, on the first day of the civil year, there were three kinds of sacrifices offered up ; first, the daily morning and evening sacrifice ; se- condly, the sacrifices appointed for the new moons, which we were lately considering ; and, thirdly, the sa crifices mentioned above as peculiar to that day, besides the occasional sacrifices which any individual might have to offer. Such was the divine injunction with respect to the feast of trumpets ; and I do not find that the traditions of the fathers made any great addition to it. The only further injunction issued by them was, that whereas, in the other places throughout the land, the beginning of the year was announced with trumpets made of rams' or sheep's bonis ; it was announced at the Temple both with these and with two silver trumpets, and the Levites or sacred band, at the temple, on that day sang the 81st Psalm. But if the first day of the year fell upon the fifth day of the week, on which day (as we formerly saw in part iii. section 4.) this psalm was appointed always to be sung during the offering of the morning sacrifice ; they then sang it twice over, viz. once at the daily sa- crifice, and once at the additional sacrifice, beginning 1 NEW MOONS. FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 475 one of the times at the 6th verse, but whether the first or last time is not said. And if the new year fell upon the sabbath, the psalms for the first day of the year were sung, and took place of the psalms which in that section were said to be appointed for the sabbath. Thus, as the feast of new moons was the sanctifying of each month, so the feast of trumpets was the sanctify- ing of each year, and a reminding of the Israelites that all their times were in God's hand. How rational and dignified was this conduct throughout the land of Judea, when compared with the general practice of other na- tions ! For, instead of making the new year a day of devotion, it is commonly a day of idleness and dissipa- tion. At the present day, as we are told by Calmet, Leo of Modena,* Buxtorff',^ and Basnage,*" the Jews are accustomed on this evening to wish one another a good year, to make better cheer than ordinary, and to sound the trumpet thirty times successively. During this feast, which lasts, it seems, the two first days of the year, bu- siness is suspended, and they hold, by tradition, that on this day God particularly judges the actions of the fore- going year, and disposes the events of the year follow- ing. Wherefore, on the first days of the foregoing month, or eight days at least before the feast of trum- pets, they generally apply themselves to works of peni- tence, and the evening before the feast many of them receive 39 lashes by way of discipline. On the first evening of the year, and which precedes the first day of Tizri (for their evening precedes their morning,) as they return from the synagogue they say to one another, *' May you be written in a good year ;" to which the other answers, " And you also." On their return home, » Ceremonies of the Jews, part ui. ch. 5. •> De Synag. Jud. cap. 23, ' History and Religion of the Jews, book v. cb. 11. 476 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. they serve up at table honey and unleavened bread, and whatever may signify a plentiful and happy year. Some of them, on the morning of these two feasts, go to the synagogue clothed in white, in token of purity and pe- nitence. Among the German Jews, some wear the habit which they have appointed for their burial, and this is done as a mortification. On this day they repeat in the synagogue several ap- propriate prayers and benedictions. They take the Pentateuch very solemnly from its chest, and call upon five persons to read the portion which describes the sacrifice that was appointed for that day ; then they twenty times sound a horn, sometimes very slowly, and at other times quickly, to remind them, as they explain it, of the judgments of God, to intimidate sinnei^, and induce them to repent. After prayers they return to their houses, to take som€ refreshment, and spend the rest of the day in hearing sermons, and in other exer- cises of devotion. The two days of the feast being ob- served exactly in the same manner, a more particular description of the latter would be unnecessary. It may, however, be remarked, with respect to their prepara- tion for the feast, that many of the Jews plunge them- selves in cold water, confessing, as they descend into it, their numerous sins, and beating their breasts ; and they plunge themselves over the head, that they may appear entirely clean before God, for they think that, on this day, God assembles his council, or his angels, and that he opens his book to judge all men. Three sorts of books, they imagine, are opened ; viz. the bock of life for the just; the book of death for the wicked; and the book of a middle state, for such as are neither very good nor very bad. In the two books of life and death they conceive there are two kinds of pages, one for this life, and the other for the next; for it often hap FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 477 pens that the wicked are not punished in this life ac- cording to their demerits, whereas the just suffer se- verely, as if they had incurred the displeasure of God. This conduct of the Almighty is the reason why no one can he sure of his state, but is uncertain whether he be worthy to be loved or hated. With respect to the middle class, they think that they are not written down any where, for God delays it till the day of annual expiation, which is the tenth day after, to see if they will reform ; and then their sentence is fixed either for life or death. Such are the ceremonies with which the modern Jews are said to observe the feast of trumpets ; but it should ever be recollected, that these ceremonies are far from being universal; for in countries where superstition pre- vails, they insensibly become tinctured with it, and in countries where a more rational mode of thinking is general, they as naturally adopt a more rational ritual. SECTION II. Fast of Annual Expiation. Reason of its appointment ; day when observed ; the previous training of the high priest for seven days ; care of the Pharisees to prevent innovation, and to keep him awake the night before. The ten washings and five bathings of the high priest ; the preparatory sacrifices ; those for himself and the priests ; the casting of the lots for the scape goat ; the sacrifices for the people ; his four entrances into the holy of holies ; his sanctifying the holy place ; the court of the priests and the altar. The scape goat sent into the wilderness j sections of the law that were i-ead by the high priest in the court of the wo- men ; burnt offerings appointed for the Israelites ; way in which the modern Jews observe this fast. Practical reflections. After the Feast of Trumpets naturally comes the feast or rather Fast of annual Expiation or Atonement. It is called *-|53 Caper, or Expiation, by the Jews, be- cause it was instituted for the expiation of all the sins, irreverences, and pollutions of all the Israelites, from 478 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the high priest to the lowest of the people, committed by them throughout the year. Upon this day they fasted strictly, accounted it a sabbath, kept on it a holy convocation,* and the persons who performed any labour were liable to death.'' But let us attend to it more particularly, and instead of describing the original institution, and the subsequent additions separately, let us advance at once to the days of our Saviour, and see how the service was made up of them both. In the first place, then, although the day of atonement was fixed annually to the tenth day of the seventh month,'' or the third of our October, supposing the new moon in Abib to have appeared that year oh the 21st of March, yet they began their preparation for it seven days before, by I'emoving the high priest from his own house to the chamber which we formerly no- ticed, on the south side of the court of Israel called Peredriii, lest he might contract such a pollution from any of his family as might incur a seven days unclean- ness, and thereby unfit him for performing his ponti- fical duties. "^ This was the case also with the later Egyp- tian priests, who learned it, probably, from the Jews, of whom Chseremon the stoic says, that when the time was at hand that they were to perform some very sacred and solemn service, they spent several days in preparing for it ; sometimes 42, but never under seven, when they abstained from all animal food, most kinds of herbs and pulse, and especially from intercourse with women.*" To which Juvenal refers in the following lines :^ lUe petit veniam quoties non abstinet uxor Concubitu, sacris observandisque diebus. » Levit. xvi. 31. xxiii. 27, 28. Num. xxix. 7. ■> Levit. xxiii. ZO. ^ Levit. xvi. 29. xxiii. 27. Num. xxix. 7- "^ Levit. xv. 24. •^ Apud Porphyr. de Abstmentii, Lib. iv. sect, 7. * Sat. vi. 536, 537. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION, 479 But the Jews were not only anxious to prepare the high priest for the day of annual expiation, by keeping him for seven days from every ceremonial pollution, they also appointed another priest as his substitute, to prevent the work from being stopped by any accident (which once happened in the case of Matthias, the 31st high priest, when Joseph his kinsmen was chosen to assist him.)' And on the 3d and 7th of these days he was besprinkled with the ashes of the red heifer, lest he might inadvertently have been defiled by a dead body. On the morning of the day before that of the atonement, they brought him to the east gate of the court of the Gentiles, where they made bullocks and rams and lambs to pass before him, to make him the better acquainted with their several natures, and on every day of the seven, they caused him to sprinkle the blood of the daily sacrifice, to burn the parts of it upon the altar, to offer the incense, and to trim the lamps, that when he was publicly called he might not be deficient. Add to all this, as the service of the day was much diversified, and the high priest should certainly know his duty, they committed him, for a part of each of the days, to some ciders of the sanhedrin, who read to him the Rubric, prefacing it with an observation, which shows us clearly how the high priesthood was filled in later times, *' Thou who art high priest, read thou thyself; but it may be thou hast forgotten, or it may be thou hast not learned," therefore, no doubt, they would add, we will do it for you. Let us in the next place notice the care of the Phari- sees to prevent any one from making innovations in the service but themselves ; for after the high priest had been instructed by the elders of the sanhedrin as to the Joseph. Antiq. xvii. 6. 480 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. routine of duty, lie was brought by the priests into the chamber called Jibtines, or the Incense chamber, which was in the neighbourhood of Peredrin, to learn to handle the incense/ and to take an oath as to the way of burn- ing it, when he entered into the holiest of all. Their words on that occasion were as follow : '^ High priest, we are the messengers of the sanhedrin, and thou art our messenger, and that of the sanhedrin ; we adjure thee, by Him that caused his name to dwell in this house, that thou alter not any thing of what we have spoken unto thee:" after which they parted from him weeping. The reason of which solemn adjuration was, because a Sadducee, in contempt of the written word,^' and of their traditions, at one time had dared to kindle the incense without the veil, and to carry it smoking within; where- as he ought not to have kindled it till within the veil. — There is only one thing farther concerning the prepa- ration of the high priest, viz. his conduct during the night that preceded the solemnity; for he might not eat plentifully, although he had to fast the whole of next day, for fear of falling asleep, and thereby having a chance of unfitting himself for the solemn work :* but all the night he had either to read and expound the Scriptures to others, if he was able, or to hear them read and expounded by others. The portions that were commonly selected by the readers were such parts of Chroni(;les, Ezra, Job, or Daniel, as they judged to be best suited for calling into -exercise the devout affec- tions. Thus have we arrived at the morning of the day of atonement, and our duty is to follow him through all its parts. In the first place, then, leaving the chamber called » Levit. xvj. 12. ^ lb. xvi. 12, 13. ' lb. xv. ICv FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 481 Peredririf where he had spent the night in the manner we have just now seen, he went to the bath which was above Abthies, or the Incense Chamber ; for the tradi- tions had enjoined, " that he should wash his hands and feet ten times, and bathe his whole body five times in the course of the day." It is not said where the wash- ings should be, because these were always at the lavcr, which stood in the court of the priests : but the places of bathing are distinctly marked ; for the first bathing is enjoined to be in the chamber above the Incense Chamber (whither, we have seen, the high priest went,) and the other four in the opposite side of the court in the chamber called Eperue. Here, then, in this apart- ment above the Incense Chamber, he laid aside his or- dinary dress, bathed himself for the first time, and put on the rich garments peculiar to his ofilce. Habited with these, he instantly descended into the court of the priests ; went to the laver, as the custom was of the priest who officiated, to wash his hands and feet for the first time ; proceeded thence to the north side of the altar to kill the morning sacrifice; ascended the altar with the several pieces, and laid them on the fire; went into the holy place to trim the lamps and offer the in- cense; blessed the people on the top of the steps of the porch ; and, in short, did all that belonged to the ordi- nary morning service. Having finished this part of his duty, the next thing was to solemnize his own mind and the people's by some previous sacrifices. These, in Numbers xxix. 8 — 11, are said to be as follow : a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, with their proper meat offer- ings ; and a kid of the goats for a sin offering : and when he had finished these, he washed his hands and feet at the laver the second time. Vol. I-. 3 P 482 AMTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. On Other extraordinary days the people, after such sacrifices, would have been allowed to go home to break- fast ; but as this was literally a fast day, the public ser- vice proceeded as follows : the high priest having re- tired to the chamber Eperiie, formerly mentioned, pro- ceeded to strip himself of his rich habiliments, to bathe himself in water for the second time, and to dress him- self in a plain white linen suit, like the other priests.^ The reason of which evidently was, to show the people, that when he appeared as a sinner to expiate their sins and his own, he ought to be clothed in the garments of humility ; that the highest and lowest were then on a level, and that there is no distinction of persons with God. This change being made, he went from Eperue to the court of the priests, to attend the more solemn part of that day's service ; but as it was an established rule among the priesthood that, when those who were offi- ciating left the court of the priests for any reason, they had to wash their hands and feet at the laver when they returned, let us suppose that he did this, and it will sup- ply one of those washings which Lightfoot has omitted ; for he only mentions nine in his account of the day, al- though he elsewhere tells us that ten were enjoined.*" This third washing being performed, he went, in his plain dress, to the north side of the altar, where the more holy sacrifices were always killed, and there he found the bullock and the ram that were enjoined by the law to be brought for himself and the other priests,*" standing at the place of rings ; as also the two kids- of the goats, and the ram that were for the congregation of Israel, which stood a little farther back in the north-east Levit. xvi. 4. '' Prospect of tlie Temple, ch. 24. I.evit. xvj. 3.6. 11. 33. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 483 corner.* The bullock and the goats were for sin offer- ings, and the rams for burnt offerings. At present we have only to do with the sin offerings, but the burnt of- ferings will fall to be considered afterwards. Let us begin, then, with that which was destined for the high priest, and his brethren.^ Sin offerings, as we have already seen, had the sins of the offerer judicially transferred to them by the laying on of hands ; accord- ingly the high priest went up to the bullock, stood with his face to the temple, laid both his hands on the head of the animal, and solemnly pronounced the following words : " O Lord, I have sinned, done perversely, and transgressed before thee, I and my house. I beseech thee, O Lord, expiate the sins, perversities, and trans- gressions whereby I have sinned, done perversely, and transgregsed, I and my house, as it is written in the law of Moses, thy servant, saying, For on this day he will expiate for you, to purge you from all your sins before the Lord, that ye may be clean -P evidently referring to Levit. xvi. 30, where these words are to be found. Having made this confession, he left his own sin of- fering for a time, and, turning round to the right hand;, went to the north-east corner of the court, where the two kids of the goats, intended for the congregation, were ordained to stand. There he cast lots, in the fol- lowing manner, which should be the scape goat, and which should be killed. Two pieces of gold, exactly similar, the one with the words " For the Lord," and the other with the words ''• For Azazel,'^ or the scape goat, written upon them, being put into a box called ♦57p Kelpi, and the two goats being set before him, the one on his right hand and the other on his left, the high priest, attended by his sagan or deputy, and the chief » Levit. xvi. 5. '' Levit. xvi, 6, 11. 484 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. of the house of his father^ proceeded to put his two hands into the box, and to take out a lot in either hand. If the lot for the scape goat chanced to be in his right hand, the sagan who stood on that side said, " Sir, lift up your right hand,'' and the goat on the right hand became the scape goat; but if the lot for the scape goat happened to be in his left hand, the chief of the house of his father, who stood on that side, said to him, " Sir, lift up your left hand," and the goat on the left hand was then the scape goat. The consequence of all this was, that the one for the Lord was ordered to the place of rings, to be killed when the proper time came, and the other, for Azazel, having a scarlet list tied on its forehead by the high priest, was allowed to remain where it was till the time of its being taken by a person to the wilderness. This stripe of scarlet cloth is called by the rabbins (nniMV piJ'?) Leshun zeurith, or the scarlet tongue. We are informed, in the Jewish writ- ings, that they expected the cloth to turn white, when tied on the head of the goat, according to Is. i. 18 ; that it actually did so in the days of Simon the Just, but that for forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem it never changed. It does not become me to question the fact, or to say whether the change might not easily have been accomplished by chemical means ; but it may be observed, that their own confession should prove a ground of serious thought to every pious Israelite ; for if it has never changed since the death of Christ, which happened about forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, the deed of their fathers in imbruing their hands in hjs blood, and praying that it might remain on themselves and their children, may still be hanging over their guilty nation, which an immediate application to him, as the true scape goat, can only remove. But let us return to the high priest. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 485 Having thus fixed the destiny of the goats, he returned to his own sin offering, and laying his hands a second time on its forehead, repeated the former confession, with this short addition after the w^ords, "I and my father's house, the sons of Aai'on and thy holy people, as it is written,'' &c. which being done, he killed the bullock, according to the manner described under the article '^ Sin Offer- ings ;" took its blood in a proper vessel, and giving it to a priest to take to the top of the steps of the porch that led into the temple, and to stir it lest it should con- geal, he himself went up the ascent of the altar, to the little fire on the south-west corner, whence he took a censer of coals,"* descended with them to the court of the priests, and set them on a bench, till, from a vessel of incense that was brought him by a priest, he had taken two handfuls of it to put into a dish. Thus prepared, he took up the censer of coals in his riglit hand, and the plate with incense in his left ; ascended the steps of the temple amidst the anxious wishes and prayers of the multitude ; crossed the porch and holy place ; opened the outer veil that led into the holy of holies, on the south side, and the inner veil on the north side,"* where, standing before the ark, he placed the censer of coals on the floor, emptied the plate of incense into his hand ; laid it on the coals, and staid till the place was filled with the smoke,' when, retiring backwards till he came without the veil, he utterec^the following short prayer: ^^ O Lord God, let it be thy good pleasure that this year may have favourable rains ; and let not thy sceptre de- part from Judah, nor thy people Israel want sustenance, nor the prayer of wicked transgressors come before thee." This being finished, he returned to the door of " Levit. xvi. 12. "> Lightf. Heb. atid Talm. Eser, on Matt, xxvii, 51. ' Levit. xvi. 12, 13. 486 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the porch, took the blood of the bullock, which had been stirred all the while, lest it should congeal ; brought it into the holy of holies; sprinkled it with his finger, once upon the mercy seat eastward, or on that side of it which was next to himself : and seven times before the mercy seat,'' or on the foreside of the ark (as the Jews explain it,) between the staves that carried the ark, for the two staves still remained in the rings, but drawn out so as to allow the ark to stand close to the wall, and to have their ends pointing towards the veil that divided the most holy from the holy place.** — These things being done, he left the censer with the coals and incense burn- ing before the ark, but retired backwards through the veil, with the blood of the bullock into the holy place ; set it down before the veil, and returned into the court of the priests. The intention of his return at this time was to fetch the blood of the goat, which was appointed for a sin of- fering for all the congregation, and to do with it, in the holy of holies, as he had done with the blood of the bul- lock,' removing it into the holy place when he had done, and setting it also before the veil beside the blood of the hullock. But the censer with the live coals and in- cense was allowed to continue burning before the Lord till a much later hour. The next duty of the high priest was (agreeably to the statute contained in Lewt. xvi. 20. 33,) to make an atonement for the holy sanctu.ary or holy place, for the tabernacle of the congregation, or the court of the priests, which under the temple corresponded with it, and for the altar. With respect, then, to the holy place, the manner of sanctifying it in our Saviour's days was, first, by sprink- » Levlt. xvi. 14. f' 1 Kings viii. 8. = Levit. xvi. 7—9. 15, 16. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 487 ling the blood of the bullock, and the blood of the goat, each eight times before the veil, and then by mingling thera together, and sprinkling the golden altar of in- cense, beginning at the horn on the north-east corner, and proceeding in succession to those on the north-west, south-west, and south-east ;=» after which he sprinkled the body of the altar seven times.^ It is added, in Lev. xvi. 17, that while the high priest went into the most holy place, none should remain in the tabernacle of the congregation; and accordingly, under that order of things, every ordinary priest retired. But in the tem- ple service, the injunction was thought to be observed, when every person removed from the space that ex- tended between the porch and the altar. The holy place, therefore, being sanctified, his last duty with the blood was to make an atonement for the court of the priests and the altar; and this he did by simply leaving the temple, crossing the court of the priests with the blood in his hand, advancing towards the altar, and pouring it out at the bottom of the altaf, on the south-west corner, where the two holes were, which conveyed it under ground to the brook Kidron. Perhaps it may be inquired by the reflecting reader, why there was no sprinkling of blood on the great altar, as there had been on the altar of incense? I know no other reason than this,— that as the altar was understood to sanctify every gift that Was laid upon it,^ so it was understood to be incapable of contracting defilement, and, consequently, needed no purification. We are now come, in the order of time, to the scape goat, which was to be sent away into the wilderness; the manner of doing which was as follows. He went to the north-east corner of the court of the priests, where » Exod. ^xx. 10. " Levit. xvi. 18, 19. ^ Exod. xxlx- 37- 488 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it Still Stood, with the piece of scarlet cloth that had been tied on its forehead, and having reached it, he, together with the stationary men who represented Is- rael,** laid both his hands upon its head, and confessed over it all the Iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat^ in the following words : " O Lord, thy people the house of Israel have sinned and done perversely, and transgressed against thee. I be- seech thee now, O Lord, expiate their sins, perversi- ties, and transgressions, which the house of Israel thy people have sinned, done perversely, and transgressed before thee, as it is written in the law of Moses thy ser- vant, For this day he will expiate for you, to purge you from all your sins, that ye may be clean before the Lord ;" evidently referring, as before, to Lev. xvi. 30. And no sooner did the priests and people that were in the court hear him utter the name of the Lord, than they bowed their heads and worshipped, saying, "Bless- ed, be the name of his glorious kingdom for ever and ever." After which the goat was given to the person appointed to lead him away.' — In the early ages of the Jewish nation, it is probable, that the goat, after being carried into the wilderness, was allowed to escape with the life ; but in the days of our Saviour it was not so, for the traditions had settled it in the following way. About twelve miles from Jerusalem was a very high and steep rock called Tskky p"1V,. between which and Jeru- salem ten booths were erected, at equal distances from each other, and in each of these booths a certain num- ber of persons were previously placed. Now it was along this road that the person having the charge of the goat was appointed to go ; and he went not alone, for » Maimonides Corban. per. 3. '' Levit. xvi. 20, 21. ' Vn. xvi. 22 FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 489 he was accompanied by several from Jerusalem to the first booth. These delivered him over to the persons in that booth, who, in their turn, went to the second ; the second to the third ; the third to the fourth, and so on (the company at each booth always asking him if he would eat or drink) till he came to the tenth booth. But those of the tenth booth did not accompany him close to the rock, but stopped at some distance to see how he acted ; when he, having reached the place, unbound the scarlet cloth from between the horns of the goat, tore it in two, fixed one of the pieces to the rock, replaced the other between the horns, and then pushing him back- ward, (I suppose to prevent his leaping, and thereby escaping with the life) tumbled him over the rock, so as to be dashed to pieces by the time he got to the foot. Thus did the person appointed discharge his duty ; but he did not return to Jerusalem immediately, for we are told that he staid at the booth nearest the rock till the evening, washed his clothes, bathed his flesh in water, and afterwards went into the city.^ We are not, however, to suppose that while all this was going on in the wilderness, those at the temple were unemployed: for, no sooner had the high priest dis- missed the person with the scape goat, than he proceeded to dispose of the carcasses of his own sin-offering, and the sin-offering of the people. And on this subject the commandment was, to burn the fat upon the altar,'' to cut the rest of the carcasses in pieces, and to give them to some of the priests to burn without the city :" accord- ing to the general law for the sin-offering :'' after which, the persons who burnt them washed their clothes, bathed their flesh in water, like the conductor of the scape goat, and then returned to the city.^ » Levit. xvi. 26. >» lb. xvi. 25. - lb. xvi. 27. <* lb, iv. 8—12. viii. 14—17- « lb. xvi. 28. Vol. I. 3Q 490 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. By the time that this was done, the person with the scape-goat had nearly reached the border of the wilder- ness ; for Rabbi Judah tells us, that from Jerusalem to ITnn DO Bith-hediidii, on the borders of the wilder- ness, was three miles : yet, to be certain of it, they are said to have used one or other of the following methods : Rabbi Ishmael says that they tied a scarlet cloth to the door of the temple, which then became red. Rabbi Judah asserts, that they measured off a mile from Jeru- salem, and walked it thrice ; and the Talmud declares, that the common method was by men standing on high pillars, and waving handkerchiefs to each other. It is easy to see from this variety of opinion, that none of these persons knew for certain the method that was used ; but it is generally acknowledged that, when the goat was thought to have entered the wilderness, the priests said to the high priest — ^^ Sir, by this time the goat is got into the wilderness :" and that then he went into the court of the women, and there, in a pulpit erected for the occasion, read a section or two out of the law : which section (it is generally agreed,) were the 16th chapter of Leviticus, and the 23d chapter of the same book, from the 27th to the 32d verse ; or the por- tions which treat of the solemnity in which they were engaged. We may readily conceive what attention would be given by the people, who at that time filled the court, and what an effect it would have, especially on the young, in rivetting the impression of duty on their minds. i.-v Lightfoot tells us that, when the high priest had thus read the portions out of the law, and prayed eight seve- ral prayers, which are, however, not recorded by him,, he descended from the pulpit, returned from the court of the women into the court of the priests ; washed his hands and feet at the laver for the fourth time, because FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 49l he had been without the precincts of the court ; went to the chamber on the north side of the court of Israel, called Eperue, where he put off his plain linen clothes ; bathed himself in water for the third time ; put on his rich garments, which had been lying there since the time of his preparing to enter the most holy place ; and, thus nobly clothed, returned to the court of the priests, washed his hands and feet at the laver, for the fifth time, as having been again out of the court, and pro- ceeded to offer the burnt- offerings which were enjoined for himself and the children of Israel,^* consisting of a ram each, which were brought together with the sin- offerings, but had stood at the place of rings till this time. Not to repeat the particulars already stated con- cerning burnt-offerings,^ we may observe that Lightfoot adds, that the high priest sacrificed seven lambs in addi- tion to these two rams, although we do not see on what authority : for there was only one set of seven lambs ;" and these he acknowledges were offered after the morn- ing sacrifice, and before he entered into the most holy place. It is therefore more likely that, after the offering of the two rams, he proceeded to the next duty which Lightfoot mentions, namely, the evening sacrifice ; for we have seen in a former page,** that the common time for killing it (except at the passover,) was at the eighth hour and a half, or half past two in the afternoon ; and it is probable that the duties we have been describing would occupy the high priest till that time. Supposing him then to be thus employed, it would be about four o'clock before it was over : for, although killed at half past two, it was not offered till half past three, and we must allow half an hour more at least to finish the ser- a Levit, xvi. 3. 5, 23, 24. '' See Part iv. sect. 2. <= Num. ssix. 8. ^ See part v. sect, 1, 4^2 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. vice : then it was that the sixth washing of his hands and feet at the laver took place, in order to free them from the pollution which they had contracted during the service; and, after that, he retired again to the chamber Eperue, put off his rich garments, bathed him- self for the fourth time, habited himself in the plain garments he formerly wore, returned to the court of the priests, washed his hands and feet a seventh time at the laver, and then went into the most holy place for the last time, to fetch thence the censer of coals and plate of incense, which had remained till that time. Thus he was four times in the holy of holies on the day of atonement: 1, with the censer of coals and plate of incense; 2, with the blood of the bullock for himself and the priests ; 3, with the blood of the goat for the children of Israel ; and 4, for the censer of coals and plate of incense.— We are not told what he did with the coals and incense ; whether he poured them out upon the incense altar in the holy place, or brought them to the great altar in the court of the priests; but, in whatever way they were disposed of, he proceeded afterwards to wash his hands and feet at the laver for the eighth time ; to go to the chamber Eperue, that he might lay aside his linen suit, bathe himself for the fifth and last time that day, and resume his rich official dress ; and to return, so habited, into the court of the priests, wash his hands and feet at the laver for the ninth time, and go into the holy place to offer the evening incense, .and trim the lamps on the golden candlestick. All whicli being done, he washed his hands and feet at the laver for the tenth and last time ; went to the chamber Eperue ; laid aside his rich attire ; resumed his ordinary wearing apparel ; and re- tired to his own house accompanied by the multitude, rejoicing that God had not mingled his blood with his .sacrifice. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 493 After the destruction of the temple, it is evident that all these ceremonies could not be observed : and there- fore Calmet* gives us the manner in which the Jews con- tinued to observe it in succeeding ages. The earlier Jews prepared themselves during all the nine preceding days of the month by fasting, prayer, and acts of penance; confessing themselves thrice every day. On the ninth day they took a cock, which ought to be white, but might be any colour but red, repeated some prayers, and striking their heads three times with the cock's head, said at each blow, " This cock shall be for my redemption, shall suffer the death which I merited, shall be my reconciliation, shall die for me, and I shall go into a life of bliss and immortality with all Israel." After this, they cut its throat, embowelled, dressed, and ate it. Leo of Modena, however, says'* that this ludi- crous custom is suppressed in Italy and the Levant, as being an unfounded superstition. Accordingly, the modern way of observing it among the Jews is, after pre- paring themselves by prayer on the day before, to go to the place where they bury their dead, and beg of God to forgive sinners in regard to the memory of the saints there interred, and to plunge themselves in water, that the ablution of their sins might be entire. They pre- pare also wax candles for the next day : every one car- rying one to the synagogue, and the most devout having two, the one for their body and the other for the soul, by which names they call them. In the evening, when the fast of annual expiation begins, they go to the syna- gogue, where each lights his wax candle, and sings aloud. The women also light up candles in their houses at home, from the briglitness of which, and the con- * In his Diet. art. Expiation ; also Buxtorff, l)e Synag. Judaica, cap. 26, 27. * In his Ceremon-es of the Jews, part. iii. ch. 6. 494 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. sistency of the tallow or wax, they form presages. If the light be clear and bright, they conclude that their sins are forgiven ; if it be dim, they are disturbed at it ; and if the wax or tallow run, they dread the effects of God's anger. The next day, early in the morning, they go to the synagogue again ; the whole day is spent in strict fasting, without regard to age or sex, excepting children under twelve years of age. They read a long prayer, in which they declare, that all the oaths and promises which have been unperformed throughout the whole year, are made void, because the atonement is made for sin ; continuing their prayers all day, and sometimes all the following night. At the conclusion of the fast, the Rabbi gives the blessing to the people with uplifted hands ; and the people, out of respect to the priest's hands, or rather to the majesty of God, whom he represents, put their hands before their eyes, and cover their faces. Lastly, they sound the horn in me- mory of the Jubilee, and believe that God causes his voice to be heard, declaring his forgiveness of sins, and that every one may return home in this confidence, put on clean white clothes, and break their fast.* Thus ended the solemn fast of the annual atonement : but there are certain reflections arising from it which deserve the serious attention of Christians. For, in the first place, by the appointment of a yearly fast for na- tional humiliation among the Jews, it appears the duty of other nations to copy their . example, and at certain intervals to humble themselves in the presence of God. Secondly, The circumstance of the scape goat carrying- away, in typical representation, the sin of the people, naturally reminds us of the gracious Saviour who bare » The above account is also given in Basnage's History and Religion of the Jews, book V. ch. 14. FAST OF ANNUAL EXPIATION. 495 Gur griefs and carried our sorrows ; on whom was laid the iniquity of us all ; and who kindly appeared as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of an elect world. Lastly. The entrance of the high priest into the holiest of all, reminds us of Jesus the great High Priest of our profession ; but, as may naturally be expected, the in- tercession of the one is infinitely superior to the inter- cession of the other: For, 1, The one entered the pre- sence with the blood of bulls and of goats only ; but the other ^^ neither by the blood of bulls nor of goats, but by his own blood, entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."^ 2, The high priest was permitted this near access but one day in the year ; remained there but for a short time ; and stood while he remained : but " this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, is for ever sat down on the right hand of God."^ ^^ For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us : nor yet that he should offer him- self often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others (for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world ;) but now, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."'' 3, When the Jewish high priest entered the most holy place, he carried an expiation for himself as well as for the people, because he himself also was compassed with infirmity :^ but Christ had no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Lastly, The sacrifice of the one was only intended to remove ceremonial pollution, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take « Heb. ix. 12. f- lb. x. 12. ' lb. ix. 24—26. 'i lb. v. 2, 3. ix. 7. 496 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. away sins '/ but the sacrifice of the other was intended to remove moral guilt: and hence the apostle argues that, " if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh : how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit off*ered himself without spot unto God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?'"* SECTION III. The Sabbath. Its orig'inal observance. The manner of doing it in the days of our Saviour. The length of a Sabbath day's jeurney. The Sabbatical calender for the Jews at Amsterdam. The original institution of the sabbath, or rest on the seventh day, was simple and salutary. It was intended as a day of rest and devotion : but it was afterwards much loaded with tradition. The following is an abstract of particulars as they existed in the days of our Saviour : From the time of the evening sacrifice of the sixth day, which was killed at the eighth hour and a half, or half past two, and off*ered up at the ninth hour and a half, or half past three, began what was called riDDSJ^H y^"^, Oreb Eshebbeth, the preparation for, or eve of, the sabbath, called by Mark'' napaaxevy;^ the prepara- tioUf when the people ceased from their ordinary la- bour, prepared their victuals for the sabbath, (for no fire was kindled by them on that holy day,)^ trimmed their beards, and washed their faces, hands, and feet, in warm water, and when the doctors of the law used to say, in allusion to these things, ^^ Come, let us meet king ' Heb, X. 1—4. b Heb. ix. 13, 14. • Chap. XV. 42. '' Exod. xxxv. 3 THE SABBATH. 497 sabbath." Josephus" gives us copies of Roman decrees forbidding any to cite the Jews before a magistrate in any cause, either on the sabbath, or the preparation for the sabbath. — A little before sunset, when the sabbath was about to begin, they lighted their sabbath candle, in token of rejoicing, from which none were exempted. The time from sunset till the appearing of three stars of the middle magnitude, was called rn^D£5^H TD? ^^^t^ Eshemeshuth, between the suns ; because they were in doubt to which of the days it belonged : and he that did any work, in that space, inadvertently, was bound to bring a sin-offering. On the beginning of the sabbath, they set provisions of a better kind than ordinary on the table, beside the sabbath candle ; and the master of the house, taking a cup of wine, rehearsed the words concerning the institu- tion of the sabbath in Gen. ii. 1 — 3 ; blessed God over the wine ; pronounced the t^Y^p, Kidush, or hallowing of the sabbath ; raised up the wine in his right hand, and drank it off; after which, the rest of the family did the same, washed their hands, and began supper. These customs will enable us to understand the following lines of Persius, Sat. v. sub fin. -At cum Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra Dispositx pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernie, Portantes violas, rubrumqiie amplexa catinum, Cauda natat thynni, tuniet alba fidelia vino : Labra moves tacitus, rectutitaque sabbata pallas. In Sat. xiv. 96, he speaks of them as a people ^* metuentem sabbata,'' reverencing the sabbath. After they had supped, and returned thanks, they retired to rest. And next morning, if they resided in the country, they went to the synagogue j but if they lived » Antiq. xvi. 6. Vol. I. 3 R 498 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. at Jerusalem, they resorted either to the synagogue or temple, as inclination led, to attend the morning service *. and that being ended, they returned home to breakfeast, which was their second meal. They then went to some school of divinity, to hear the traditions of the elders explained ; or remained at home employed in religious duties. At noon they dined, as Josephus, in his account of his life, informs us ; and with that and other duties they spent the afternoon, till the time of the evening sa- crifice, which was killed at half past two, and offered up at half past three o'clock, when they went either to some synagogue, or to the temple : after which, they returned home, to eat their fourth meal, and continued eating and drinking, and conversing in a manner suited to the day, till the sabbath was ended by the going down of the sun.* But, before the sun had set, a second sabbath candle was lighted; and the master of the family having given thanks over another cup of vvine, then over the candle, and then over some spices which they used for refreshing those who were faint from sorrow at parting with the sabbath (this is their own reason;) he repeated a portion of Scripture, such for instance as Psalm cxvi. 13, or Esther viii. 16, and pronounced the nSlDH? Hebdele, or separation blessing, by way of separating between the sabbath and working day that was just commencing: after which, he and the family drank , a glass of wine ; and, as the sun was supposed to be set, and the sabbath consequently ended, they prolonged the enjoyment by washing their hands, and beginning the supper of the first day of the week in tlie usual way : which beiiig finished, they parted, wishing each other a good week.^ Such was the manner in which the Jews kept the se I.ev. xxlii. 32, ^ Sec more in BuxtorfT, Synag. Jud cap. 15, 16 THE SABBATH. 499 venth day of the week after the introduction of the tra- ditions of the elders. It was strictly a day of rest, except for works of necessity and mercy ; and lest it should be infringed by any person working on any part of it, it was enjoined by special tradition, that if any one wrought inadvertently, between the setting of the sun and the appearance of three stars of middle magnitude, he was liable to a sin offering.* Nay, to prevent all sha- dow of excuse, the minister of the synagogue, both at the coming in and going out of the sabbath, in many places, sounded a trumpet six times from the roof of the synagogue, which was commonly built on an elevated place, to warn them of the consequences.'' And Josephus*^ informs us, that there was a place in the court of the temple called Pastophoria, <^^ where one of the priests of the course stood, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight ; as also at the evening, when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they might begin to work again." — As for the distance to which Jews might walk on that holy day, when they had no evident neces- sity, it was fixed at a sabbath day's journey, or 2,000 cubits, equal to 1216 yards, allowing 21.888 inches to the cubit : because the Israelites, in Josh. iii. 4, were commanded to keep at 2,000 cubits distance from the ark. And as the sun sets at different times in different seasons of the year, the modern Jews commonly place at the end of their rituals an exact calculation of the hours when the sabbath ought to begin. » Lightf. Harm, of the N. T part i. sect. 20. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt, viii. 16. Maimonides on the Sabbath, per. 5. Godwin's Moses and Aaron, Book iii, ch. 3. »» Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. Matt. x. 27. « War, iv. 9. 500 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. The following is that of the Jews at Amsterdam. From 22 January till 10 February at 4 o'clock afternoon. 10 Feb. 1 March 15 March 1 April 15 April 1 May 1 Aug. 22 Aug. 10 Sept. 1 Oct. 15 Oct. 1 Nov. 22 Nov. 1 March 15 March 1 April 15 April 1 May 1 Aug. 22 Aug. 10 Sept. 1 Oct. 15 Oct. 1 Nov. 22 Nov. 22 Jan. 4i 5 6 6| 7 61 6 5 41 SECT. IV. The Sabbatical Year. 1 The six regulations concerning- it ; these both singular and charitable. The king's reading of the law described, with the seven prayers then offered up. The neglect of the sabbatical year ascribed as one cause of the seventy years' captivity : the probable time when it ceased to be observed. Two questions solved ; viz. In what year, after the Israelites entered Canaan, it began to be be observed ? And, at what season of the year they began to count ? — The Sabbatical year again observed after the captivity. With respect to the sabbatical year^ we find no par- ticular sacrifices commanded at the temple ; but the regulations concerning it wei^e singular, and as follow : 1. They were neither to sow their fields nor prune their vines in that year; that the land might enjoy its sabbath every seventh year ; as the Israelites and their cattle had enjoyed theirs every seventh day.'' 2. The pro- duce of that year, which of course was spontaneous, was ^ Exod. xxiii. 11. Lev. xxv. 4, THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 501 common to all without exception,* but especially to the poor ;^ and what they left was the property of the cat- tle ;* thereby reminding proprietors of whom they held their lands ; and that their duty was to feel charity for the poor, and humanity to brutes. — 3. This singular institution was intended to demonstrate a particular pro- vidence : for the produce of every sixth year was pro- mised to be such as would support them till the harvest of the ninth year/ 4. It was intended as a release from any debts in the way of borrowing and lending, which had been contracted between the Israelites f and they were cautioned not to shut their bowels of compassion on that account :*" but this did not prevent them from claiming the debts which were due to them by persons of other nations.^ 5. When they bought any Hebrew servants, it has been the opinion of some that these al- ways went out in the sabbatical year ; but the words seem rather to signify, that they obtained their freedom either after six years from the time of their sale,'* or before the end of the seventh year.' And they were not to be sent away empty, but furnished liberally with cer- tain specified articles ;^ except they refused to avail themselves of their privilege, and chose rather to re- main with their master. In that case they became a party in the transaction, willingly sold themselves to their employer, and therefore continued his servants till death.' Lastly, In the sabbatical year, at the feast of tabernacles, they were enjoined to read the law in the hearing of all the people."" But the traditions made the reader to be the king ; tha place to be the court of a Levit. XXV. 6. i> Exod. xxiii. 11. ■= Levit xxv. 7. d Levit. xxv. 20—22. « Deut xv. 2. ^ Deut, xv. 7—11. B Levit. XV. 3. ^ Exod. xxi. 2, ' Jer. xxxiv. 14. i' Deut. XV. 12, 13, 14, 15. 18, » Exod, xxl. 5, 6, Deul, xv, 16, 17. ^ Deut, xxxu 10—13, 502 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the women ; and the particular day to be the afternoon of the first holiday in the feast of tabernacles. On this occasion a pulpit was erected, into which the king went and sat down ; the minister of the congregation took the book of the law, and gave it to the ruler of the synagogue ; the ruler of the synagogue to the sagan ; the sagan to the high priest; and the high priest to the king, who stood up to receive it ; uttered the prayer that was commonly used in the synagogue before the reading of the law, viz. " Praise be to thee, the Lord of the universe, our own God, and the governor of all, who hast chosen us from among all people that thou mightest give us the law which thou hadst framed. Thanks be unto thee, O Lord, for thy law ;" and then he either sat down to read, or stood and read ; but the last was the most respectful. Yet he did not read the whole law, as the original injunction seems to have de- manded ; but only the following portions in Deuteronomy: First, he began at the beginning and read to ch. vi. 10 ; then he went to ch. xi., and read from the 13th to the 22nd verse ; after which he proceeded to ch. xiv. 22, and read to ch. xxix. 2 ; for they thought it enough if he read those portions that were most proper for stirring them up to observe the commandments.* This being done, he rolled up the volume ; repeated the prayer that was commonly used in the synagogue on the occa- sion, viz. ^^ Thanks be to thee, 0 Lord, who hast given us the true law, and sown among us the seed of eternal life. Thanks be to thee for that law which thou hast ratified ;" and then seven othtr prayers suited to the- occasion. Maimonides, in the treatise above cited, gives us only the beginning or end of these, but Ludovicus de Compeigne de Veil, who translated it into Latin, has * Maimonid. De Sacris Solemn, cap. iii. § S, 4. THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 503 given us three of them in full in the notes, which I shall render into English. 1. ^^ 0 Lord our God, we pray and intreat, that, of thy good pleasure, thou wouldst be propitious to thy people Israel, and hear their prayers. Restore to the courts of thy house its solemn worship, and the sacred rites of the Israelites, and being appeased, accept of their prayers. Let the religion of thy people Israel be always agreeable to thee. May we, with our eyes, per- ceive thee moved with pity, and returning to thy city of Zion. Praise be to thee, O Lord, who art about to re- store thy presence to Zion." 2. " We pray thee, who hast been the Lord and God of our fathers, that thou wouldst be ours also for ever ; a wall, a defence, and a safeguard; a shield against the weapons that are directed against us. We will sing of thee, the giver and preserver of life, the author of our mind and our reason, our instructor and supporter for evermore. Recollecting, with grateful minds, what won- ders thou daily workest on our account, we will celebrate thy praise. Thy unceasing goodness towards us every evening, morning, and noon, we will unite to declare^ Thou art indeed good, whose goodness is infinite. Thou art holy, whose holiness is great and unbounded. Thou alone art He in whom our hopes shall ever be placed.'^ 3. ^^Thou, preferring us to all other people, hast chosen, loved, and raised us ; hast taught us piety by thy precepts and sacred admonitions ; hast appointed a pure and chaste worship for thy august majesty, and called us by thy venerable name. Thou, also. Lord of the universe, and our God, in love to us, hast appointed the rest of the sabbath, holidays for rejoicing, solemn festivals for dancing before the Lord ; and, amongst these, this solemn feast of tabernacles, appointed to be observed in a religious manner most pleasant to us ; and 504 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS* appointed to be celebrated in our most solemn assembly, as reminding us of our deliverance from the land of Egypt. — 0 our God, and the God of our fathers, call to thy remembrance us, our fathers, the city of Jerusalem that is dedicated to thee, the Christ who is to spring fi'om thy servant David, and the residue of thy people Israel. Let this festive and solemn day of tabernacles, this religious assembly, render thee propitious, benevo- lent, merciful, and aifectionate. Look down, we be- seech thee, and help us. 0 God of the universe, and our God, let it enter thy thoughts to render us this day safe and strong, happy and fortunate ; to bestow upon us help worthy of thy great goodness ; to pity, restore, and refresh us, who are wretched and undone. We turn our eyes to thee alone, • thou God -omnipotent and su- preme ruler, who art full of mercy and love. — Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord our God, that we may see the festivals that are consecrated to thee, joyful, pleasant, and illustrious. Thou hast promised that thou wouldst prosper us of thy good will ; perform thy promise for ever. Give us, we pray thee, that holiness which is en- joined in thy precepts ; the perpetual study of thy law, which is broad ; the sincere, full, peculiar, and perfect pleasure that is derived from thy blessings ; the solid joy of thy presence ; and a chaste mind, that we may wor- ship thee in purity. Grant, for thy love and pity's sake, O Lord our God, that we may celebrate the sab- bath, and thy solemn feasts, with cheerful hearts ; and that all Israel, reverencing thy divinity, may delight in thee. Praise be to thee, O Lord, who hast consecrated, thy people Israel, and thy solemn holidays." These are three of the appointed prayers which the king offered up in the court of the women on the feast of tabernacles, in the sabbatical year. Maimonides adds,^ ^ De Sacris Solemnibus, cap. 3, § 4. THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 505 that he then entreated God that his holy temple might continue firm and unmoveable, in a prayer, which ended with the following words : " Praise be to thee, O Lord, who inhabitest Zion ;" that he next besought God for the perpetuity of the kingdom of Israel, in a prayer ending with the following words : " Thanks be unto thee, O Lord, who hast chosen Israel ;" that, in the sixth place, he prayed to God for the priests that their ministrations might be accepted, in a form of prayer, which ended thus : " Thanks be unto thee, O Lord, who hast consecrated the priests ;" and that, lastly, he offered up supplications and prayers in words of his own choosing, which ended with the following set form : ^^ Help, O Lord, thy people Israel, for thy people have need of help. Thanks be unto thee, 0 Lord, who hear- est prayer." The Talmud relates of king Agrippa, that when he was engaged in this service, and came to read that pas- sage in Deut. xvii. 15, ^^ One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee ; thou mayst not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother ;" his eyes filled with tears, because he remembered that he was not of the seed of the Jews ; so that the people were constrained to comfort him by crying out three times, " Fear not, Agrippa, thou art our brother !" This reading of the law at the feast of tabernacles, in the sabbatical year, was called by the Jewish writers, " The reading of the king," and was one of the eight things that needed of necessity to be uttered in the He- brew tongue, namely, the words of him that presented the first fruits, Deut. xxvi. 5 — 1 1 ; the words of the woman that pulled off the shoe, Deut. xxv. 7, 8, 9 ; the blessings and curses in the 27th and 28th chapters of Deuteronomy ; the blessing with which the priests blessed the people in Num. vi. 24 — 26 ; the blessing of Vol. li 3 S S06 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the high priest on the day of expiation ; the reading of the king ; the words of the priests encouraging to battle, Deut. XX. 3 ; and the words of the elders over the be- headed heifer in Deut. xxi. 7, 8. Such was the institution of the sabbatical year, and auch were its effects in creating a sense of dependence on God, charity to man, and humanity to the irrational but useful part of the creation. But it does not appear to have been always observed by the Jewish nation ; for we find the neglect of it presupposed in Levit. xxvi. 35, 43 ; complained of, in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21, as one of the causes of the captivity ; and removed by the covenant- ing of those who returned to act better in time to come.* It is probable, indeed, from the above passage in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21, that the sabbatical years had been omitted for a very great length of time. For it is there said, that the captivity was brought upon the land for this express purpose, that it might enjoy the sabbaths, or sabbatical years, which the Jews, in neglecting this ordinance of God, had deprived it of. If we reckon, therefore, for the captivity, only the 52 years that elapsed between the destruction of the city and temple, and the return of the Jews, (in which the land was wholly desolated) it will prove the observing of the sab- batical years to have been neglected 364 years, namely, between, the year before Christ 585 and 949, which brings us back to the 7th year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah.^ But if we add hereto the other 18 years of that captivity, in which the land was only desolated in part, and take the whole 70 years of it into this reckoning, it will carry up the time of this neglect much higher, even to 490 years before the destruction of the city, or 1075 before Christ, which brings us back to the 20th year of Samuel's rule. »Neh. X. 31. ''Prideaux, A. A, C. 535. THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 507 There are still, however, two questions connected with the sabbatical year which deserve to be considered, and these are, 1 . In what year, after the Israelites went into Canaan, the first sabbatical year was observed? And 2. At what season of the year it commenced? — With respect to the first, or in what year, after the Israelites went into Canaan, the first sabbatical year was observed? Archbishop Usher determines it to be the 7th year after the manna ceased, from which time the Israelites lived upon the fruit of the land ;^ 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 peace- ably enjoyed both the land itself and the fruits of the land. But others, considering that the sabbatical year was enjoined to be observed after six years of agricul- ture,^ and that the agriculture there mentioned could not be enjoined till after the conquest and division of the land, have deferred it till the 14th year after the Israelites entered Canaan.* So much, then, as to the first sabbatical year. — With respect to the particular season of the year when it was supposed to commence, it is generally thought to have begun with the civil year in Tizri, or the autumnal equinox, corresponding with the 21st of our September,** when the crop was cut down and gathered in, and before they began to plough and sow for the crop following. It would appear, that in the later periods of the Jewish state, they began to observe these sabbatical years again,*" and it is probable that this beginning commenced at the first sabbatical year after » Josh. V. 12. >> Levit. xxv. 3, 4. • Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book iii. ch. 9. ^ Supposing the appearance of the moon to have been on that day, for their months were ambulatory and dependent on the appearance of that luminary, • 1 Maccab. vi. 49. 53. Joseph, Antiq. xii. 9. xiii. 8. xiv. 16. xv. 1, 9. War, i. 3. 19o Whiston'a Note,. 508 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. their return from the captivity. They laboured, how- ever, under some inconveniences, from the insecurity of property, and the heavy tribute they were forced to pay to their oppressors. It was, therefore, accounted a singular favour done to the state, when the high priest obtained from Alexander the Great an exemption from taxes in the sabbatical years," and afterwards from Caius CsBsar, in two decrees preserved by Josephus.'' SECT. V. The Yea?- of Jubilee. On what year and day of" the month it was observed ; the divine blessing pro mised on the preceding harvest. The six things for which it was remarkable. Inquiry whether the year of Christ's birth or death was in the year of jubilee. Some I'ecent information concerning some of the jubilee trumpets. After the Sabbatical Year, naturally comes the Year of Jubilee, which was another remarkable epocha in the Jewish history. It was held every 50th year,'' and was ushered in, with trumpets, throughout all the land of Is- rael, on the 10th day of the 7th month, or the day of annual expiation.** The first thing remarkable in it was, that they were to do in it, as they had done in the sabbatical year ; that is, they were neither to sow nor reap; and its spon- taneous productions were to be accounted common pro- perty.*' Thus there were two years at every jubilee, when the Jews neither sowed nor reaped ; namely, the jubilee and the year before, which was always a sab- batical year ; and hence we see the reason why the pro- mise of support, given in Levit. xxv. 20 — 22, was from the 6th till the harvest of the ninth year. We have only ' Josepli. Antiq. xi. 8. ^ Antiq. xiv. 10. ^ Levit. xxv. 10. '' Levit. xxv. 9. « Levit. xxv. 11, 13. THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. 509 two passages of Scripture where this promise is alluded to^ viz. 2 Kings xix. 29, and Is. xxxvii. 30. The second thing remarkable in the year of jubilee was, that all the lands which had been sold by one He- brew to another, had a reference to this, being valued according to its proximity or remoteness, in order to their being restored in that year;" or might be redeemed sooner by giving to the owner a proper compensation.'' Thirdly, All sales of houses in the country, returned likewise at that time, or could have been redeemed sooner ;" but all dwelling-houses in walled cities, unless redeemed within a year, remained for ever with the possessor,** except in the case of houses belonging to the Levites, which might have been redeemed at any time, although in walled cities; and if not redeemed, returned to them again as a matter of course in the year of ju- bilee.® Fourthly, All Israelites who on account of poverty had sold themselves, that is to say their services, to Is- raelites, were not to be reckoned as bond, but as hired servants, and were to return unto their families and fa- thers' possessions in the year of jubilee. *^ Fifthly, All poor Israelites who on account of poverty had sold themselves to proselytes were to be accounted hired servants, and might be redeemed at any time by their relatives or themselves; but, if not redeemed, were to obtain their liberty at the jubilee.^ Lastly, As the Jewish kings had commonly much in their power, they were expressly forbidden, on the one hand, to seize the possession of any Israelite as a pro- vision for their family, or on the other to squander the royal domains on favourites, as that would have lessened a Levit. XXV. 14— ir. 23, 24. ^ lb. xxv. 25—28. <' lb. xxv. 31. d lb. xxv. 29, 30. e lb. XXV. 32, 33. * lb. xxv. 39—43. 8 lb. XXV. 47—55. 510 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the patrimony of the crown; and if any such grants were at any time made, they reverted, of course, to the original proprietors in the year of jubilee.* Such was the nature of the Jewish jubilee, but I do not find that any particular sacrifices were appointed, nor even that reading of the law which was enjoined in the sabbatical year ; neither do I know at what hour of the day of annual expiation the silver trumpets sounded to announce its commencement.^ It is probable, how- ever, that it was in the evening, after the high priest had entered the most holy place, the scape goat had been sent into the wilderness ; and the people, in full concert in the temple, had been praising the Lord for his goodness, and because his mercy endureth for ever. Imagination may conceive, but it is beyond the power of language to describe, the general burst of joy that would pervade the land, when the poor Israelites tasted again the sweets of liberty, and returned to their pos- sessions, their families, and friends. In vain would sleep invite them to repose, their hearts would be too full to feel the lassitude of nature; and the night would be spent in gratitude aud praise. What a lively emblem of the gospel of Christ ! which is peculiarly addressed to the poor, which is fitted to heal the broken hearted, to give deliverance to the captives, the opening of the. prison doors to them that are bound, and to preach unto all the acceptable year of the Lord.*" Throiighout the writings Qf Josephus, we have only one passage where, in the later times of the Mosaic economy, the jubilee is alluded to, and that is in Antiq. XV. 9, when he is describing the dearth which happened in the 13th year of the reign of Herod. His words are, '^ When the fruits of that year were spoiled, and what- » Ezek. xlvi. 16—18. *> Levit. xxv. 9. " Is. Ixi. 1, 2. Luke iv. 18, 19. THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. 511 soever they had previously laid up was spent, there was no foundation of hope for relief remaining ; but the mi- sery, contrary to what they expected, still increased upon them, and this not only on that year, while they had nothing for themselves left at the end of it, but what seed they had sown perished also, by reason of the ground not yielding its fruits on the second year." It only remains to add, that as several divines have asserted that the last jubilee which the Jews ever had, corresponded with the year of our Saviour's death, it may be proper to inquire into its truth. And we may notice, that none of the suppositions that were made, when treating of the sabbatical year, agree with that important event ; for let us, in the first place, suppose that the first sabbatical year was, according to Usher, in the seventh year after the Israelites crossed Jordan, or A. M. 2261, and that the first jubilee was observed fifty years after, or A. M. 2311 ; from thence, till the death of Christ, was an interval of 17181 or 1722| years, according as we suppose Christ to have been born, either A. M. 4000, as he really was, or A. M. 4004, as is commonly supposed, and to have lived 33| years; neither of which sums of 1718^ or 1722^, when divided by 50, coincide with any jubilee. — Or, let us suppose, secondly, with Dr. Jennings, that the 1st sabbatical year began on the 14th year after they crossed Jordan, or A. M. 2268, and that the 1st jubilee was on the 50th year after, or A. M. 2318, this will give 1715| or 1719| years till Christ's death, which corresponds with no jubilee. In no case, then, have we been able to make the year of Christ's death to correspond with a year of jubilee ; but if the sabbatical years had begun, as some other divines have thought, in the year that the Israel- ites crossed Jordan, and the jubilees 50 years after, they would make the year of Christ's birth a jubilee ; for, ac- 512 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. cording to Lightfooot, that event happened A. M. 2254, and before Christ 1750 : if we divide, then, this 1750 by 50, we have exactly the 35th jubilee as the year in which our Saviour was born, supposing them to have been observed till that time. How applicable to this are the words of Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, as quoted by Lightfoot in his Harmony of the Four Evangelists,^ " The divine Majesty will be to Israel in a jubilee, free- dom, redemption, and a finisher of sabbaths ;" and how appropriate to the character and office of Christ ! For those who had lost every right to their fathers inheri- tance, he came to restore ; those who had sold themselves to sin and Satan, he came to release : and those who by their apostacy had become spiritually poor, he came to enrich. In Dr. Buchanan's Christian Researches in Asia, we have some account of the disposal of some of the jubilee trumpets after the destruction of Jerusalem, which was communicated to him by the Jerusalem or White Jews on the coast of Malabar. '^ After the second temple was destroyed," said they, (which may God speedily re- build) ^^ our fathers, dreading the conqueror's wrath, departed from Jerusalem, a numerous body of men. women, priests, and Levites, and came into this land. There were among them men of repute for learning and wisdom, and God gave the people favour in the sight of the king who at that time reigned there, and he granted them a place to dwell in called Cranganor. He allowed them a patriarchal jurisdiction within the district, with certain privileges of nobility ; and the royal grant was engraved, according to the custom of those days, on a plate of brass. This was done from the year of the creation 4250, (A. D. 490,) and this plate of brass we » Part 3. Lukeiv. 18, 19. FEAST OF PURIM OR LOTS. 513 still have in our possession." Our forefathers continued at Cranganor for about a thousand years, and the num- ber of heads who governed were seventy-two. Soon after our settlement, other Jews followed us from Judea, and among these came that man of great wisdom, Rabbi Samuel, a Levite of Jerusalem, with his son Rabbi Je- huda Levita. They brought with them the silver trum- pets made use of at the time of the Jubilee, which were saved when the second temple was destroyed ; and we have heard from our fathers that there were engraven on those trumpets the letters of the ineffable name," meaning Jehovah (niH*-) Thus do we find unexpectedly an account of the disposal of the Jubilee trumpets at the temple ; but it is well known that in every consider- able town in Judea there were Jubilee trumpets to hail its glorious advent. I SECT. VI. The Feast of Purim or Lots. Its origin ; lasted three days ; way it was observed formerly ; way it is observed now. Singular conduct of the Jews while in the synagogue. The Feast oi Purim , or of Lots, took its rise, as is ge- nerally known, from the gratitude of the Jews, on escaping the plot of Haman for exterminating their nation ; and obtained its name from the lots that were cast before him, probably by the astrologers, who knew his hatred against Mordecai, and his wish to destroy his family and nation.'' Esther and Mordecai were the suggesters of the measure, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th days of the 12th month, or the month Adar, were ap- » Dr. Buchanan afterwards gives a translation of it, and lodged a fac simile of the original in the public library at Cambridge. i- Esther iii. 7. ix.2. 5. Vol. I. 3 T 514 ANTIQUITIES 6f the JEWS. pointed for its annual celebration : the 13th as a fast^ being the day on which they were to have been de- stroyed ; and the 14th and 15th as a feast for their glo- rious deliverance. It is impossible, from the Jewish manner of computing time, exactly to ascertain the days in our year which correspond with these, for they varied annually ; but if the beginning of their year was on the 21st of March, or the vernal equinox, and their months were 29 and 30 days alternately, the 13th, 14th, and 15th days of their 12th month would fall on the 21st, 22d, and 23d of our February. The fast, to this day, is called the fast of Esther, and the feast still holds the name of Purim. It is justly styled by Prideaux, the Bacchanalia of the Jews,^ which they celebrate with all manner of rejoicing, and when they indulge themselves in all manner of luxurious excesses, especially in drink- ing wine to drunkenness, which they consider as a part of the solemnity, because it was by means of the wine banquet (they think) that Esther made the king's heart merry, and induced him to grant her request. We are not informed whether any particular sacrifices were offered at the temple ; but it is probable that the Book of Esther was read by some of the priests in the court of the women ; for even now it is solemnly read in all their synagogues from beginning to end, at which they are all enjoined to be present, men, women, children, and servants, because all these had their share in the deliverance which Esther obtained. And as often as the name of Haman occurs in the reading, the usage is for all of them to clap with their hands, and stamp with their feet, and exclaim, " Let his memory perish." Such is the description of the feast according to Pri- deaux ; but Calmet has collected from Basnage, Leo of » Connect, of the Old and New Test. A.A.C. 452. FEAST OF PURIM OR LOTS. 515 Modena, and others, a number of additional particulars, the chief of which are as follow. On the eve of the 13th of Adar, if it be a day on which they may fast, they keep it strictly, in memory of that kept by Esther and Mordecai ; but if the day be a sabbath, or the eve of a sabbath, on which they never fast, they anticipate it, that is, instead of fasting on the 13th of Adar, they fast on the 11th. On the eve of the 14th, (or after the sun had set on the 13th) they give alms liberally to the poor, both as a proper fruit of fasting, and that these may the better enjoy the feast; after which they assemble, in the synagogue, light the lamps, and as soon as the stars be- gin to appear, they begin to read the Book of Esther, not from a printed book, but from a roll of vellum, in the an- cient manner, written with a particular kind of ink. After they have opened the roll they repeat three prayers, to thank God for having enjoined this feast ; for having de- livered their nation, and for having continued their lives till the celebration of that particular festival. At this feast the reader of the roll may sit while he is reading, whereas on other days he is obliged to stand ; and in this way they proceed till they have finished the book ; there being five places in the text where the reader raises his voice with all his might, and makes such a dreadful howling, as to frighten the women and children. When he comes to the place where the names of Haman's ten sons are mentioned, he repeats them very quick, with- out taking breath, to show that these ten persons were destroyed in a moment. Every time the name of Haman is pronounced, the children with great fury strike the benches of the synagogue with mallets or stones, and make lamentable cries. It is said that formerly they used to bring into the synagogue a great stone, with the name of Haman written upon it, and all the while the Book of Esther was reading, they struck it with other stones; till 516 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. they had beat it to pieces. The reading is concluded in much the same way as it was begun, namely, with curses against Haman and Seres his wife, with blessings on Esther and Mordecai, and with praises to God for hav- ing preserved his people. — We are not informed how long a time they are thus employed; but after they have done reading they return home, where they make a meal of milk rather than of meat, and then retire to rest : so much for the eve of the feast. — On the day following, early in the morning, they return to the synagogue, where, after they have read that passage of Exodus in which the war of Amalek is mentioned, they again read the book of Esther with the same ceremonies as before. After which they return home, make as good cheer as they can, send a share of what they have at table to those who have need, and pass the rest of the day in sports and dissolute mirth ; for their doctors have decided that on this day they may drink wine until they cannot dis- tinguish between cursed be Haman and cursed be Mor- decai. Such is their conduct on the 14th of Adar ; but although the feast is continued through the 15th, the 14th only is kept with solemnity. During these two days they may work or do business, yet they refrain the first day, although not obliged to it. The second day they read no new lesson in the synagogue, yet they show on it signs of festivity. It may be added, that on the eve of the fes- tival they collect the half shekel that was formerly paid to the temple, to distribute among such as undertake a * journey to Jerusalem ; whither several repair out of de- votion, and where they covet to be buried, believing that all the Jews are to meet there at the day of judg- ment, and that they shall even pass thither through the bowels of the earth. Nor should it be omitted, that when the year consists of thirteen months, and there are con- sequently two Adars (Adar and Ve-adar,) they cele- FEAST OF DEDICATION. 517 krate the feast of Purim twice, viz. the grand Purim on the 14th of the 1st Adar, and the lesser Purim on the 14th of the 2d Adar ; but this second feast has nothing, properly speaking, but the name.* SECT. VII. The Feast of Dedication. History of its origin ; time of the year when kept ; manner of observing it ; lasted eight days ; nightly illumination ; alterations afterwards arising from necessity. The next feast we have to notice is the Feast of De- dication. This was appointed by Judas Maccabseus, as a new dedication of the temple and altar, after they had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes ; for every one in the least conversant with Jewish history, knows his hatred of the Jewish name ; how he forbade their chil- dren to be circumcised,'' restrained them in the exercise of their religion,*^ killed many who disobeyed his man- dates,** burnt the books of their law,^ set up idolatry,* sacrilegiously carried off the altar of incense, the show bread table, and the golden candlestick from the holy place, with the other vessels and treasures of the tem- ple, ^ sacrificed a sow upon the altar of burnt offerings, built a heathen altar on the top of it,** and made broth of swine's flesh to sprinkle the courts and temple to de- file them.' Thus did it please God long to afflict his people, for their multiplied transgressions ; but his bowels of mercy were at length moved towards them, and he resolved to » vide Calmet's Diet, art. Pur. Buxtorff; De Synag. Judaica, cap, 29. b 1 Maccab. i. 49. 60, 61, =1 Maccab. i. 44, 45, 50. •1 Prideaux, Connect. A.A.C. 168. <= Prideaux, Connect. A-A.C. 167. f Prideaux, A.A.C. 168. g 1 Maccab. i. 21—23. 2 Maccab. v. 16. ^ 1 Macciib. i. 54. ' 1 Maccab. i. 47. Prideatu, Connect. A.A.C. 170. 518 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. defeat the plans of their enemy. Accordingly, Matta- thias the great grandson of Asmonseus took the field, and encouraged his countrymen to fight for their reli- gion, their families, and their lives : but his continued exertions being too great for his age, he sunk under his labours, and left the church militant to unite for ever with the church triumphant. The cause, however, which he had espoused did not die with him ; for no sooner had he breathed his last, than his son Judas became their leader, aroused his followers to revenge, took for the motto of his standard the original of these words in Exodus,* " Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ?" and in several battles discomfited the enemy. It was from an abbreviation formed of the initials of these words, that they formed the word OD/!3^ Mcbi, and hence Judas himself was called Maccabseus, and all those who fought under him Maccabees. — After giving liberty to Judea by these means, the new dedication of the tem- ple took place. Priests were appointed to remove the rubbish, to take down the altar which Antiochus had profaned, to carry the stones of it to one of the chambers of Bith-muked, in the north-west corner of the court of Israel, there to lie for preservation ; to build a new one of unhewn stone, according to the law,^ and to hal- low the courts.*^ Nor was the furniture of the holy place and vessels for the service overlooked ; for Judas sup- plied these out of the spoils, as we may naturally sup- pose;"^ so that all things being .ready, the dedication took place on the 23th day of the 9th month, called Chisleu,* and in the year before Christ 170.^ From the Jewish manner of computation, it is impossible to know exactly on what day of our year the first feast of dedication hap- * Chap. XV. 11. •» Exod. xx. 25, 26. Deut. xxvii. 5, 6. Josh. viii. 20, 31. "" 1 Maccab. iv. 42 — 48. '' 1 Maccab. iv. 49. = 1 Maccab. iv. 52—56. 2 Maccab. x. 5. f Prideaux, Con, A.A.C. 170. FEAST OF DEDICATION. 519 pened : but allowing their year to begin, on the 21st of March; or the vernal equinox, and their month to be 29 and 30 days alternately, the 23 th day of the ninth month will correspond with the 7th of our December. And the reason why that particular day was chosen was, because on that very day, three years before, Antiochus had pol- luted the altar, by offering heathen sacrifices on the heathen altar that he had built on the top of it by way of contempt.^ They began the day, we are told, by killing the morning sacrifice, according to the law, laying it on the new altar, and fetching fire from flints to consume it ;'* while others going into the holy place, with a part of that fire, burnt the incense on the golden altar, lighted the lamps on the golden candlestick ; and laid the cakes on the table of show-bread :" which several things being done, Maccabeeus and his company bowed with their faces to the ground, and besought the Lord that they might come no more into such troubles ; but, that if they sinned against him, he himself would chasten them with mercy, and that they might not be delivered unto blas- phemous and barbarous nations.^ It is easy to conceive the joy which the Israelites would feel, on the re- establishment of the daily service : and we can readily enter into their feelings, when they prolonged the observance of it for eight days." We are therefore prepared to learn how they kept alive that signal event among posterity; namely, by decreeing that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept, in their season, from year to year with mirth and gladness ;*" and accordingly, the eight days, which be- gin with the 25th of Chisleu, are kept by that nation unto « Compare 1 Maccab. i. 54, 59, with ch. iv. 52—54, and 2 Maccab. x. 5. f" I Maccab. iv. 53. 2 Maccab. x. 3. « 2 Maccab. x. 3. ^ 2 Maccab. x. 4. « 2 Maccab. x. 6. ^ 1 Maccab. iy. 59. 2 Maccab. x. 8, 520 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. this day. The greatest religious countenance given to this festival, while the temple stood, was the singing the Hallel in the temple every day as long as the solemnity lasted ; and the general illumination, that annually took place throughout the land, showed the readiness of all ranks to comply with the decree. Indeed, it was from this illumination, for eight nights in succession, that it obtained the name of the Feast of Lights ; for every house had at least one lamp or candle at the door, which burnt during the night ; most had as many lamps or can- dles as they had individuals ; and some even doubled that number, through the whole week ; insomuch, that, if the family consisted of ten persons, they had ten can- dles the first night, twenty the second, thirty the third, forty the fourth, and so" on, till on the last night they had no fewer than eighty. The reason having already been stated why Judas and his followers rejoiced for eight days, and enjoined it on posterity ; it may perhaps gratify the reader to know the Talmudical reason, as given by Maimonides, in or- der to show the love they had for the marvellous. His words are as follow : ''^ When Israel prevailed against their enemies, and destroyed them, it was the 25th day of the month Chisleu, and they went into the temple, and found not there any pure oil, but one bottle, which had no more oil in it than to keep the lamps burning for one night only, yet did they light them with it. And a miracle was there showed withal, for it maintained the lamps during eight nights. So that the wise men of that generation appointed on the next year these eight days, as days of rejoicing and praise, and for lighting up of candles at the doors of their houses.''* ^ Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. John s. 22, and Buxtorff, De Synag. Ju- daica, cap. 28. FEAST OF DEDICATION. 521 Such was the nature of the feast of dedication ; and so it appears to have been kept till the dispersion ; but an illumination of that kind is not to be expected in the present state of the Jewish nation. It is natural, how- ever, for them to mark it among the feasts of their calen- dar, and to pray to Jehovah to restore them to their own land, that they may observe it and their other solemni- ties as a church and a nation. This festival is but once mentioned in the sacred Scriptures, viz. in John x. 22, where Jesus is said to have been present at the feast of dedication at Jerusa- lem;— a circumstance certainly worthy of notice, for this was not a festival of divine authority, nor was it one that enjoined his attendance at the temple, for it might have been equally well observed by him at home : and yet he is present, giving it his sanction. Perhaps it may be said, that the scripture in question does not re- fer to this dedication, but to some former one. But the observation is irrelevant — for, in the first place, there were no annual festivals appointed in commemoration of the dedication of the first or second temple : and se- condly, the evangelist tells us, that '< it was winter," which fixes it to the dedication by Judas. For Solo- mon's temple was dedicated in the 7th month, or har- vest ;^ and Zerubbabel's in the 12th month, or spring;^ but the dedication by Judas Maccabseus took place on the 25th of the 9th month, or about the beginning of our December. » 1 Kings viii. 2. 2 Chron. v. 3. ^ Ezra vi. 15 17, Vol. I. 3 U 522 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. SECTION VIII. Lesser Feasts and Fasts of the Jews. Private and public manner of vowing a private fast : some forbidden to fast privately ; men and women fasted apart. Hitherto we have attended to those fasts and feasts of the Jews which are generally known ; but before we leave the subject, it is proper that we should notice se- veral others, which, though less public, were annually observed. Thus, they had a fast on the 9th day of the 4th month, or Thammuz, corresponding with the 9th day of the moon in June :" because on that day the two tables of the law were understood to have been broken by Moses ; the idol was erected in the temple by Ma- nasseh ; the city of Jerusalem was injured by the siege of Nebuchadnezzar ; the daily oblation ceased ; and the sacred copy of the law was burnt. They had a fast on the 7th day of the 5th month Ab, or of the moon in July,^ because on that day the first temple was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar;" and the modern Jews have an ad- ditional reason for observing it, because on that day also, the second temple was burnt by Titus.'' They had a fast in the seventh month Ethanim, or Tizri,^ of which the Scriptures do not fix the day ; but the modern Jews make it the third, corresponding with the 3d day of the moon in September, because then Gedaliah was slain, and all the Jews that were .with him scattered. *^ And they had a fast on the lOth day of the 10th month The- beth, or of the moon in December,^ because on that day Nebuchadnezzar began to besiege Jerusalem.^ These were their public yearly fasts of less note ; and when » Jer. lii. 6, Zech. viii. 19. ^ Zech. vii. 3. viii. 19. « 2 Kings XXV. 8. ^ Joseph. War, vi. 4. ° Zech. viii. 19. * Jer. xli. 1. e Zech. viii. 19. ^2 Kings xxv. 1. LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS. 523 extraordinary emergencies called for it, they had also their occasional, public, extraordinary fasts ; such as in times of war, persecution, famine, pestilence, &c. But, besides the public fasts of this nature mentioned in Scripture, they had also private ones observed by individuals, and public ones of human appointment, noticed in their synagogues. Thus, some fasted every Monday and Thursday, which were synagogue days, and hence the Pharisee boasted that he fasted twice a week." Others fasted on the Monday and Thursday of the passover week, and on the Monday after it; whilst every month had its fasts for one reason or an- other. Thus, they fasted on the 1st of Abib, or of the moon in March, for the death of Nadab and Abihu ; on the 10th for the death of Miriam ; on the 26th for the death of Joshua ; and on the 29th they prayed for the latter rain. — They fasted on the 10th of Zif, or of the moon in April, because of the death of Eli and his sons, and the taking of the ark by the Philistines ; and on the 28th, because the prophet Samuel died. — They held a feast on the 15th and 16th of S'"" ^ of the moon which appeared in May, to commemorate the victories of the Maccabees over the heathen at Bethshan ; and the 23d was a fast to bewail Jeroboam's preventing the first fruits from being brought to Jerusalem. — ^They fasted on the 17th of Thammuz, or^f the moon which appeared in June, for the sin and punishment of the golden calf. — They fasted on the 1st of Ab, or of the moon which appeared in July, because of the death of Aaron; on the 9th because the murmuring Israelites were sent back into the wilderness to sojourn there until they died ; on the 18th for the extinction of the evening lamp during the reign of Ahaz ; and on the 24th there » Luke xviii. 12. 524 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. was a feast in commemoration of the abolishing that law made by the Sadducees, which gave to sons and daugh- ters an equal portion of their fathere' effects. — They fasted on the 17th of Elul, or of the moon which ap- peared in August, for the disasters that happened after the return of the spies ; the 22d was a feast in comme- moration of the carriage of the wood to the temple for consuming the sacrifices ; and the 25th was a feast in commemoration of Nehemiah's dedicating the walls of Jerusalem.^ — They fasted on the 5th of Tizri, or of the moon which appeared in September, for the death of some eminent doctors of the law ; and the 23d was a festival of joy for the re- delivery of the law of Moses, when they read Moses's blessing the tribes, and the history of his death.— ^They fasted on the 6th day of Bui, or of the moon which appeared in October, for the loss of Zedekiah's eyes, and the murder of his children.* — They fasted on the 6th of Chisleu, or of the moon which appeared in November, for the burning of Jere- miah's roll by Jehoiachim ; on the 7th they had a feast for the death of Herod the Great; on the 15th a fast for Antiochus' profanation of the temple ; and the 21st was a feast for Alexander's delivering up the Samaritans to their power. — They fasted on the 8th of Thebeth, or of the moon which appeared in December, because the law was translated into Greek at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus ; on the 9th because Ezra and Nehemiah died upon it; and on the 28th was a feast of joy for the ejection of the Sadducees from the Sanhedrin, where they had gained the ascendency in the days of Jannseus. — They fasted on the 10th of Shebat, or of the moon which appeared in January, for the death of the elders who outlived Joshua ; and on the 23d for the resolution * Neh, xii. 27. •> 2 Kings xxv. T. LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS. 525 to punish the Benjamites in Judg. xx. — They had a feast on the 3d of Adar, or of the moon which appeared in February, because ZerubbabeFs temple was then finished ;* the 7th was a fast for the death of Moses ; and the 25th a feast for the release of Jehoiachin-'' One would suppose that these feasts and fasts would have been sufficient, and yet several fasted on the day before every new moon, or when a near relation died, or in general, when any calamity befel themselves or their families. They began their fasts always in the evening, and ob- served them till the following evening, on which they might chew some food, if hungry, but might not swallow it. The public fasts were called 11^^ n^Ji^n? Thoniih- tzebur; and the private ones "in* HOpn, Thonith-ihed. The way of vowing a private fast among the modern Jews is — " To-morrow shall be a fast to me :'' and the following prayer is offered up : ^* My God, at the time thy temple stood, if any sinned, he offered an oblation and was forgiven. But now, since the sanctuary is de- stroyed, on account of our sins, we have no other me- thod but fasting and prayer. Let it please thee, there- fore, O Lord my God, and the God of my fathers, that the fat and blood of my body, which shall be consumed by my fasting, be in thy sight as if I had brought an oblation, and be thou gracious to me." He who vowed and paid was called Clip, kedush; and he who vowed and did not pay was called J^DIH^ huta. Doctors of the law, however, and teachers were forbidden to indulge in private fasts, for fear of injuring their health, and impairing their usefulness ; but they were bound to ob- serve public fasts, that the weight of their example might influence others. No private fast was allowed to be held on a sabbath, or new moon, on any public fes- • Ezra vi. 15. >> Jer. lii. 31. 526 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. tival, or on the eve of the day of annual expiation. And no public fast was allowed on the sixth day of the week for that was employed in preparing what was needful for the sabbath ; nor on any of the three great feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles." It appears from Zechariah,^ that, when the Jews fasted, the male part of the family fasted by themselves, and the female part by themselves ; for the houses were usually divided into two parts, the apartments for the men, and the apart- ments for the women ; and none but the lowest class of the Jews lived promiscuously. a Buxtorff, SjTiag. Judaic, cap. 30. *» Chap. xii. 12— U. PART YIL SECT. I. The Synagogue. riie other modes of instruction hinted at ; proseuchas explained ; their atility ; places where situated ; usual form. Synagogues the chief. After examining the tabernacle and temple, their ministers and servicej feasts and fasts, we are naturally led to turn our attention to the Jewish synagogue, as an excellent mean of instruction, especially to those who resided at a great distance from the temple. The Jews were, indeed, highly favoured. They had many advantages for religious instruction above the other nations of the world ; for they had the written word ex- pressly revealed to them from heaven. The Levitical cities were so many centres for diffusing information: The schools of the prophets, to which they resorted on the sabbaths and new moons,* also tended to improve their minds. And the high places, proseuchas, or ora- tories, which were commonly open at top, and in re- tired situations, invited the people to meditation and prayer. These were sometimes on eminences : for in Luke vi. 12, we find our Saviour going up to a mountain, where he continued all night in prayer to God {h rri 7tpo(yEVxn 'tov 0eoi5,) or " in a proseucha dedicated to God." Sometimes they were built by the sides of rivers, » 2 Kings iv. 23. 528 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. for ablution as well as prayer : like that at Philippi, in Acts xvi. 13, where we are told that Paul and his com- panions, "on the sa])bath, went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made," {ov hofit^ero npasv^y^ eivai',) literally, "where he understood that there was a proseucha." And in verse 16, we are informed that, when he and they were going at another time " to prayer," (a$ n^oaevxinv,) literally, "to the proseucha," they were met by a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination. In Josephus's Antiquities* mention is made of a pro- seucha in Egypt, by the sea-side, whither the Seventy Interpreters resorted every morning, to wash their hands, purify themselves, and pray, before they began their daily task of translating the Scriptures. And in his account of his own life, Josephus informs us, that they were some times built even in cities, particular- izing a large one in the city of Tiberias. Indeed, it would appear that they were general among the Jews ; for we find even JuvenaP saying ^^ In qua te qusero pro- seucha?"'' — But the ritual of the temple and the syna- gogue service were the principal means employed by providence to teach them the leading doctrines of reli- gion.— For the first was resorted to by those in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, when they felt inclined, or were positively commanded; and the last, by being scat- tered over the land, gave every one an opportunity of associating frequently for the* purposes of piety. As the temple service hath been described already, the follow- ing notices concerning the synagogues will not be un- interesting. ^ Antiq. xii. 2. xiv. 10. ^ Sat. iii. 296. '- See a good account of the Jewish proseuchas in Prideaux Con. A.A.C. 444. OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 529 SECT. II. Office-bearers of the Synagogue, Places of erection, and form of the building.— Stated office-bearers— their general duties. Synagogues could only be erected in those places where ten men of age, learning, piety, and easy circum- stances, could always he found to attend the service, that was enjoined in them; (hence the difference in Scripture between xidy.o7to7.Eic, and jco|Lfat; the one signi- fying those villages that had synagogues, and the other those which had none ;) for they considered ten as the minimum which constituted a congregation ; but there was no restriction as to the maximum, unless what con- venience suggested.* Large towns had several of them ; and, soon after the captivity, their utility became so evi- dent, that they were scattered over the land, and be- came the parish churches of the Jewish nation. Though it is impossible, at this distance of time, to ascertain their exact number, we may form some idea of it when we consider that there were twelve in Tiberias ;^ and when the erecting of synagogues were marks of piety/ or passports to heaven, we need not be surprised to hear that there were no fewer than 460 or 480 in Jerusalem alone. ^ The/orm of the building of every synagogue was in general the same. They were at first erected in the fields, for the sake of retirement ; but afterwards in ci- ties, from motives of convenience, and generally on the most elevated ground ; for their traditions held, that no other building should, if possible, overtop a synagogue.* » Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. iv. 23. '' Bercketh 8. ' Luke vii. 5. "^ Lightf. Chnrographical Century, chap. 36. - Lightf. Heb. and Tulm. Exer. on Matt, iv, 23. Vol. I. 3 X 530 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. They always consisted of two parts : the one was termed bytlf the icel, or temple, by way of eminence, and formed the most westerly part of the building, like the most holy place in the tabernacle and temple. It was there that they placed the ark or chest which contained the Book of the Law, and the Sections of the Prophets ; and the other was termed the body of the church, where the congregation met to offer up their public prayers, and hear the word read and explained :° hence the synagogue was often called Bith-seper (*)SD n*2?) 01' the House of the Book, to distinguish it from Bith Medresh (tJ^^lD HO?) or, the House of Doctrine, those divinity schools where the traditions were taught, and which were commonly attached to the synagogue.'' The stated office-bearers in every synagogue were ten; and hence, probably, the reason why that number was said to constitute a congregation : their names and duties were as follow : 1. The ruler of the synagogue (nD^DH t^i^^ ^«*^ Eceneseth, Ap;^t(ywa)^a)^o$, Luke viii. 41. 49.) There were three called by that name, who had the chief care of the things pertaining to the synagogue ; who saw that nothing indecent or disorderly was committed, and who told the readers of the portion for the day when to begin, and the people when to say Amen.'' Dr. Lightfoot also thinks that they possessed a civil power, and constituted the lowest civil tribunal among the Jews, commonly known by The Council of Three, whose office it was to decide the differences that arose between any members of the synagogue, and to judge of money matters, thefts, losses, restitutions, violations of chastity, the admission of proselytes, the ordaining of ministers, &c. ; so that •• Lighttbot's Harmony of the Four Evangelists, Luke iv. 15. ^ Lig'hlfoot's Chorographical Century, chap. 36. " Liglitfoot's Harmony of the Four Evangelists, Luke iv. 15. OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 531 with good reason they were called rulers, since they had both the chief care of things, and the chief power/ 2. The second office-bearer in the synagogue was the angel of the church (niDlfn H^StT? shelili hetsebur) or minister of the congregation. He laboured among them in word and doctrine, prayed, preached, and (if there were no other person) he kept the book of the law, and the sections of the prophets, appointed the readers, and stood beside them to see that they read aright. Hence he was also called hezen (nn) ^TUGxoTtoqy or overseer.'' 3. The third office-bearer in the synagogue was the deacon, almoner, or pastor of the poor. There were commonly three of them, that the poor might not be overlooked, '^ and these poor were provided for in the following manner : first, there was an alms dish (♦inOH/ Lethmehui) which was carried round the town by two, or all the three almoners, (but never by one, nor by all of them separately, to prevent the suspicion of embez- zlement) to collect something every day for ^^ the poor of the world," or the poor Gentiles.** Secondly, there was a poor's chest (HDIpS Lekupe) that stood in the synagogue, into which the charitable put what they could spare when they went thither on the sabbath day;*' and from which the poor Jews were supplied by the al- moners every sabbath eve.*" And, thirdly, the alms from the field, as they were called, and which were a consi- derable help to the indigent at certain times of the year; viz. the corners of the fields not reaped ;^ sheaves left in the fields either by accident or intention ;^ the glean- ings of the corn fields ;' the gleanings of the vintage ;'' » Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. iv. 23. '' Lightf. Harm, of the Four Evangel, Luke iv. 15. « Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. iv. 23. '' Ibid, on Matt, vi, 2. ' 1 Cor. xvi. 2. f Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. vi. 2. g Levit. xix. 9. ^ Deut, xxiv. 19. * Levit. xxiii. S'' " Deut. xxiv. 20, 21. 532 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. that which grew of itself in the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee ;^ and the poor's tenth, (Oi^ *)tJ^)^D? Mosher oni) of which the Talmudists treat largely in the tracts entitled Peah, Demai, and Maasaroth, to all which the poor were called to partake, ^^ by three mani- festations in the day, namely in the morning, at noon, and at mincha," or the evening sacrifice ; that is to say, the owners of the fields openly showed themselves three times in the day in their fields, that the poor might en- ter and take their right ; in the morning for the sake of nurses, while their children slept ; at noon for the sake of children, who were then best able ; and at night for the aged, who could neither rise early nor endure the noon day heat.'' 4. The fourth ofiice-bearer in the synagogue was the interpreter, (7)D^*lin) Thurgemin who stood beside the reader of the portion for the day, to translate it from Hebrew into their mother tongue. 5. 6. The fifth and sixth ofiice-bearers in the syna- gogue are not exactly ascertained ; but Dr. Lightfoot conjectures them to be the doctor of the divinity school and his interpreter ; for the doctors in divinity, in order to inspire the people with an opinion of their dignity, did not address their audience in the divinity schools themselves, but delivered their instructions in a low voice to their interpreters, who repeated them aloud to the congregation. *" Such were the ofiice-bearers in the synagogue, as given by Lightfoot out of tlie Jewish writers. They were six as to rank, but ten in number ; for there were three rulers of the synagogue, one angel of the church, or minister of the congregation, three deacons or almo- Levit. XXV, 6. b Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. vi. 2. lb;il. on MiU. iv, 23. OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 533 tiers, the interpreter to the readers for the day, and the doctor in divinity and his interpreter. — But Jarchi gives a different interpretation. It was thought indecent, he says, and even to incur the wrath of God, to have fewer than ten men present; therefore they chose ten who were eminent for piety, and who should have no other business but to attend the synagogue at the stated hours, that the number of petitioners might be always full. They went at sun-rising, when the prayers began, and remained till nine or ten o'clock. They were obliged to return at half past four, the time of the afternoon service, and as the evening prayers immediately followed, they continued in the synagogue till sunset. For this purpose they were disengaged from all civil affairs ; had salaries assigned them ; and had all an equal rank in the church. — Rabbi Nissim and Maimonides agree with Jarchi as to their equality of rank, but differ from him as to their receiving salaries ; asserting that they were solely actuated in their regular attendance by a spirit of devotion.'' This difference in contemporary writers (for Jarchi, Nissim, and Maimonides all flourished in the 14th century,) evidently shows, that considerable uncertainty prevailed on the subject. Perhaps the whole may be reconciled by the following supposition, viz. when the Jerusalem and Babylonish Talmuds were composed, the one about the year 300, and the other 300 of the Christian aira, the ten otiosi, or men at leisure to attend, were such as Lightfoot has described them ; but that in the days of Jarchi, Nissim, and Maimonides, who lived 800 years later, the splendor of the synagogue service had diminished with the splendor of the nation ; and there was no occasion for that multiplicity of offi- cers which had formerly distinguished the national esta- » Basnagp, Hist, and Relig'. of the Jews, Lib. iii.ch. 30. 534 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. blishment. As tradition, however, is commonly purest at its source, the Talmud ought, in this instance, to be preferred, as being the more ancient authority. SECT. III. The Service of the Synagogue. \. Their manner of sitting. 2. The public prayers. A translation of the She- mene Oshre, or eighteen prayers ; the summary ; the great stress laid on them. 3. The repeating their phylacteries. 4. The reading of the law and the prophets ; the portions of both that were read throughout the j'ear ; times when read ; manner of reading and interpreting. 5. Preaching from them to tlie people. The manner in which the Jews sat in their synagogues was as follows: the ten men who held office in the church, sat with their backs to the west end of the church, and their faces looking down the church to the congregation. The congregation sat with their backs to the east, and their faces towards the elders; while between the elders and the people, as they faced each other, was the space for the pulpit where the service was conducted.^ But we are not to suppose that the whole congregation sat promiscuously ; for we are told by Philo the Jew,'' that the portion of the synagogue, devoted to the congre- gation, was divided by a partition or lattice of wire work, of three or four cubits high, extending, it would seem, from near the door to near the pulpit ; on one side of which sat the men, and on the other the women: a division which is said to obtain in the synagogues of the Jews even to this day. — After being thus seated, the next part of the service was the offering up of the public prayers. For this purpose the angel of the church, or minister of the congregation, ascended the a Lightf. Harm, of the Four Evang. Luke iv. 15. ^ De vita conteroplativa, p. 688. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 535 pulpit, and all the people rose from their seats, and stood in a posture of deep devotion." Prideaux'' informs us, that they had liturgies in which were all the pre- scribed forms of synagogue worship, and which at first were very few ; but that they afterwards increased to a very great number, which made the service long and tedious, and the rubric by which they were regulated very perplexed and intricate. The following prayers are translated from Buxtorff i*' '* Lord of the world, who reignedst before any thing was created, who at the time in which thou didst all things, according to thy will, wast called king, and who, when all things shall perish shalt reign alone, dreadful and ter- rible ; who wast, art, and will be in glory ; who alone existest ; and to whom no other can add himself as thy equal, wanting beginning and end, of whom is strength and dominion ; who art my God and living redeemer ; who art my rock in my grief, and time of affliction ; who art my banner and my refuge, the portion of my cup in that day in which I shall call upon thee ; into whose hands I commit my spirit whether sleeping or waking, and who art present with my soul and body ; truly the Lord is on my side, I shall not fear." — Then they added a number of short thanksgivings as follows : ^^ Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the Lord of the whole world, who hast given us understanding, by the crowing of the cock, to distinguish day from night — who hast created me an Israelite or a Jew — who hast not created me a servant — who hast not made me a woman — (or if a wo- man) who according to thy will hast formed me — who raisest the low and them that are cast down — who openest the eyes of the blind — who art wont to clothe » Matt. vi. 5. Mark xi. 25. Luke xviii. 11, 13. *> Connection, A.A.C. 444. '^ Synag. Judaic, cap. 19 536 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. the naked — who sustainest those who are ready to slip — who loosest the chains of the bound — who stretchest the earth on the waters — who directest the steps of man — who hast supplied all my wants — who guidest Israel with strength — who crownest Israel with comeliness — who givest strength to the weary — who takest sleep from my eyes, and slumber from my eyelids :" — and they concluded the whole of these short prayers with wishing to be freed from bad men and daemons. Then they humbled themselves before God, confessed them- selves guilty, and depended on his mercy alone in a prayer which begins, -'^ God of eternity." Then followed a prayer for the giving of the law^ — after which they used to read the decalogue, which is now omitted, as are also the laws respecting ablution and sacrifices. A prayer, however, is silently put up for the rebuilding of the temple, which they firmly believe will happen. It is conceived in the following words : " We pray thee, O Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, that thou wouldest quickly rebuild the sanctuary of thy house in our days, and place our portion in thy law." Then followed the most solemn of all their prayers, or those which were called {D'^W^ IliDC') Shemene OshrK or the eighteen prayers, which they tell us were com- posed and appointed by Ezra and the Great Synagogue. It is certain that they are very ancient, for mention is made of them in the Mishna, as old and settled forms : and there is no doubt but that all, or at least most of them, were used in the synagogue in the days of our Saviour. In the copy of them preserved by Maimonides,. they are now increased to nineteen, by the addition of that which was composed by Rabbi Gamaliel against the heretics or christians, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem ; and the following is a translation as given by Prideaux, (A.A.C. 444.) where the nineteenth by Ga- maliel is the twelfth in order. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 537 1. "Blessed be thou, 0 Lord our God, the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the Great God; powerful and tremendous; the High God, bountifully dispensing benefits ; the crea- tor and possessor of the universe, who rememberest the good deeds of our fathers, and, in thy love, sendest a redeemer to those who are descended from them, for thy names' sake, O king, our helper, our saviour, and our shield : blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who art the shield of Abraham V 2. ^^ Thou, O Lord, art powerful for ever. Thou raisest the dead to life, and art mighty to save ; thou sendest down the dew ; stillest the winds ; and makest the rain to come down upon the earth ; and sustainest with thy beneficence all that live thereon; and, of thy abundant mercy, makest the dead again to live. Thou helpest up those that fall; thou curest the sick; thou loosest them that are bound ; and makest good thy word of truth to those that sleep in the dust. Who is to be com- pared with thee, O thou Lord of might? And who is like unto thee, O our king, who killest and makest alive, and makest salvation to spring up as the herb in the field? Thou art faithful to make the dead arise again to life. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who raisest the dead again to life." 3. ^^ Thou art holy, and thy name is holy, and thy saints do praise thee every day. Selah. For a great king, and an holy art thou, 0 God. Blessed art thou, O Lord God, most holy." 4. " Thou of thy mercy givest knowledge unto men, and teachest them understanding. Give graciously unto us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who graciously givest knowledge unto men." 5. ^» Bring us back, 0 our father, to the observance of thy law, and make us to adhere to thy precepts ; and do Vol. L 3 Y 538 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. thou, 0 our king, draw us near to thy worship, and con- vert us unto thee by perfect repentance in thy presence. Blessed art thou, O our Lord, who vouchsafest to receive us by repentance." 6. " Be thou merciful unto us, 0 our father, for we have sinned ; pardon us, 0 our king, for we have trans- gressed against thee. For thou art a God, good and ready to pardon. Blessed art thou, O Lord, most gra- cious, who multipliest thy mercies in the forgiveness of sins : P? 7. ^"^ Look, we beseech thee, on our afflictions. Be thou on our side in all our contentions, and plead thou our cause in all our litigations ; and make haste to re- deem us with a perfect redemption, for thy name's sake. For thou art our God, our king, and a strong redeemer. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the redeemer of Israel." 8. ^^Heal us, 0 Lord our God, and we shall be healed : save us, and we shall be saved; for thou art our praise. Bring unto us sound health, and a perfect remedy for all our infirmities, and for all our griefs, and for all our wounds. For thou art a God who healest, and art mer- ciful. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, who curest the diseases of thy people Israel !" 9. "^ Bless us, O Lord our God, in every work of our hands, and bless unto us the seasons of the year, and give us the dew and the rain to be a blessing unto us upon the face of all our land; and satisfy the world with thy blessings, and send down moisture upon every part of the earth that is habitable. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who givest thy blessing to the years !" 10. '' Assemble us together by the sound of the great trumpet, to the enjoyment of our liberty; and lift up thy ensign to call together all of the captivity from the four quarters of the earth into our land. Blessed art thou, O SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 539 Lord, who gatherest together the exiles of the people of Israel !" 11. ^^ Restore unto us our judges as at the first, and our counsellors as at the beginning; and remove far from us affliction and trouble ; and do thou only reign over us in love and in mercy, and in righteousness, and in justice. Blessed art thou, O Lord our king, who lovest righteous- ness and justice !" 12. " Let there be no hope to them who apostatize from the true religion j and let heretics," (meaning Christians) " how many soever they be, all perish as in a moment. And let the kingdom of pride'' (or the Ro- man empire) " be speedily rooted out, and broken in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, who destroyest the wicked, and bringest down the proud !" 13. '' Upon the pious and the just, and upon the pro- selytes of righteousness, and upon the remnant of thy people of tlie house of Israel, let thy mercies be moved, O Lord our God, and give a good reward unto all who faithfully put their trust in thy name, and grant us our portion with them ; and let us not be ashamed for ever, for we put our trust in thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who art the support and confidence of the just !'' 14. ^^ Dwell thou in the midst of Jerusalem the city, as thou hast promised ; build it with a building that shall last for ever ; and do this speedily, even in our days. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who buildest Jerusalem !" 15. "Make the offspring of David, thy servant, speedily to grow up and flourish, and let our horn be exalted in thy salvation, for we hope for thy salvation every day. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who makes the horn of our salvation to flourish !" 16. ^^ Hear our voice, O Lord our God. Most merci- ful father, pardon and have mercy upon us, and accept of our prayers with mercy and favonx 5 and send us not 540 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. away empty from thy presence, 0 our king 5 for thou hearest with mercy the prayer of thy people Israel. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hearest prayer!" 17. ^' Be thou well pleased, 0 Lord our God, with thy people Israel, and have regard unto their prayers. Restore thy worship to the inner part of thy house, and make haste with favour and love to accept of the burnt sacrifices of Israel and their prayers ; and let the worship of Israel, thy people, be continually well pleasing unto thee. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who restorest thy di- vine presence to Zion !" 18. " We will give thanks unto thee with praise, for thou art the Lord our God, the God of our fathers for ever and ever. Thou art our rock, and the rock of our life, and the shield of our salvation. To all generations will we give thanks unto thee, and declare thy praise, because of our life, which is always in thy hands ; and because of our souls, which are ever depending upon thee ; and because of thy signs, which are every day with us ; and because of thy wonders, and marvellous loving-kindness, which are morning and evening and night continually before us. Thou art good, for thy mercies are not consumed ; thou art merciful, for thy loving-kindness fail not. For ever we will hope in thee ; and for all these mercies be thy name, 0 king, blessed and exalted, and lifted up on high for ever and ever ; and let all that live give thanks unto thee. Selah. And let them in truth and sincerity praise thy name, O God of our salvation and our help. Selah. Blessed art thou, O Lord, whose name is good, and unto whom it is' fitting always to give thanks !" 19. " Give peace, beneficence and benediction, grace, benignity and mercy unto us, and to Israel thy people. Bless us, O our father, even all of us together as one man, with the light of thy countenance. For in the light SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 541 of thy countenance hast thou given unto us, 0 Lord our God, the law of life and love, and benignity and righteousness, and blessing and mercy, and life and peace. And let it seem good in tliine eyes to bless thy people Israel with thy peace at all times and in every moment. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who blessest thy people Israel with peace ! Amen." Such were the chief public prayers used in the syna- gogue, which w^ere in such repute among the Jews, that they were to be repeated three times every day by all persons who were of age, of what sex or condition soever, either privately or in public. There was, indeed, a provision made for those who had little time or weak memories ; for there was a summary of them called iV^D) Moin, or the fountain, which they might use in such cases.^ But whatever allowances of that kind were given to individuals, the prayers of the synagogue were never contracted. Nay, Maimonides'' says, that they had many other prayers besides the nineteen, some of which preceded, and some followed, which altogether must have made this part of the service very long. In addition to the prayers already given from Bux- torff, the following, derived from the same author, may, perhaps, be acceptable to the reader. After the 18 prayers, the execration followed thus : "Let all hope be cut off from the apostates,'' (meaning Jews who be- came Christians,) " and let all the infidels perish in a moment," (meaning the Christians,) "and let all thy enemies, and those who pursue thee wdth hatred, be suddenly cut off. May that proud and arrogant king- dom" (the kingdom of Christ,) " be quickly eradicated, lessened, torn up, and entirely extirpated ; and quickly a Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. vi. 9. f" In his treatise entitled Tephillah. 542 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. do thou subject them to us in our days. Blessed be thouj O Lord, who breakest the wicked, and castest down the proud !" After all these prayers, they asked peace from God, using particular gestures. And besides these ordinary prayers, they had an extraordinary one, which consisted of 72 verses of Scripture, to which they attached much credit, and said that those who re- peated it daily, were " sons of the future age." Bux- torfF omits it on account of its length, but refers to the Jewish liturgies in Italy. When they retired from the synagogue, they repeated silently the following prayer : ^* It is our duty to praise the Lord of all, to extol him who is the author of creation, because he hath not made us like the rest of the nations of the earth ; nor hath built us like the other families of the earth ; nor hath placed our portion like their portion ; nor our lot like their lot, who fall down and adore vanity and empti- ness; and pray to a god who cannot save. But we bend the knee, fall down, and confess before the King, who is King of kings, God holy and blessed ; who spread the expanse of heaven, and laid the foundation of the earth ; who hath the throne of his glory in the heavens above, and the majesty of his strength in the highest. He is our God, and besides him we have no other. Lord, lead us in thy justice, because of our enemies. Direct our way before thee. Be present with us, O Lord, in our going in and coming out from hence- forth.'-'^ At the end of each of the prayers all the people said amen, whether they were repeated in the synagogue or in the family ; but their response in the temple was dif- ferent, for it consisted of the following words : " Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and Synag. Judaic, cap, 10. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 543 ever."* — Very great stress was laid by the Jews on the public prayerS;, and they were often exhorted to attend them for the following among other reasons, namely, '^^ that the prayer of the congregation was always heard, even though sinners were among them ; that it was therefore necessary for a man to join himself with the congregation, and not to pray alone, since he was not certain of being heard any where but in tlie synagogue/"'' After the prayers of the synagogue followed the repeti- tion of their phylacteries, or the three following por- tions of Scripture, viz. Exodus xiii. 3 — 16. Deut. vi. 5 — 9, and Deut. xi. 13 — 21. We have formerly spoken of their manner of wearing them, when describing the dress of the high priest ; but we have here to notice that they were repeated by them individually, and it is presumed mentally, after joining in public prayer, both as a mark of their regard for the law of God, and also as a guard against evil thoughts and evil spirits, (for so the word "phylacteries" signifies,) as well as a means of solemnizing their minds for the remaining duties. Indeed had not this repetition of the phylacteries come also after public prayer in the daily service of the tem- ple, we should have been inclined to think that they preceded them, and resembled the short prayer used by the devout members of the church of England on enter- ing the church. After prayer and the phylacteries, came the reading of the law and the prophets ; and here we must observe, that the five books of Moses were divided by the Jews into fifty-four sections, because in their intercalated years, (by a month being added) there were fifty-four sabbaths ; but in other years they reduced them to fifty- '' Lightf, Heb. and Talmud. Exercit. on Malt. vi. 13, and vol. ii. Serm. on Liike xi. 2. b Maimonid. Tephillah. per. 8. 544 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. two, by joining two together. For they held themselves obliged, after the captivity, to read the whole law in their synagogue once a year, and began the reading al- ways at the feast of tabernacles, according to Lightfoot;* but, according to Prideaux,^^ not till the first sabbath after that solemnity, that is to say, about the end of September or the beginning of October. In this way was the law read, till the time of the persecution by Antio- chus Epiphanes, when it was forbidden, under severe penalties ; and they were induced from necessity to sub- stitute in its place fifty-four sections from the prophets, which in some measure corresponded with them. Yet this necessity was ultimately for good ; for even when the reading of the law was restored by the Maccabees, the sections from the prbphets were continued with it, the law forming the first lesson, and the prophets the second ; and so it was practised in the time of the apos- tles. For when Paul entered the synagogue, at Antioch, in Pisidia, it is said,'' that he stood up to preach, after the reading of the law and the prophets ; and in Acts XV. 21, and xiii. 27, we are informed that Moses and the prophets were read in the synagogue every sabbath day. — As it cannot but be interesting to many to know- how the pentateuch was divided, and what sections from the prophets corresponded with it, we shall add a table of them, as collected from Dr. Lightfoot.*^ Sections. Law ■. Prophets. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. 1. Genesis I. 1. to 6. 9. Isaiah 42. 5. to 43. 11. 2. 6. 9. 12. 1. Isaiah 54. 55. 5. 3. 12. 1. 18. 1. Isaiah 40. 27. 41. 17. 4. 18. 1. 23. 1. 2 Kings 4. 4. 38. 5. 23. 1. 25. 19. 1 Kings 1. 1. 32. 6. 25. 19. 28. 10. Malaciii 1. 2. 8. ^ Ilarmony of the Four Evangelists, Luke i. 5. •> Connect,. A.A.C. 446. '■ Acts xiii. 15. * Harmony of the Four Evang-elists, Luke i. 5. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 545 Sections. Law. Prophets. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. 7. 28. 10. 32. 3. Hosea 11. 7. 14. 2. 8. 32. 3. 37. 1. Obadiah, all the Book, or Hosea 12. 12. 14. 9. 9, 37. 1. 41. 1. Amos 2. 6. 3. 9. 10. 41. 1. 44. 18. 1 Kings 3. 15. 3. 28. 11. 44. 18. 47. 27. Ezekiel 37. 15. 37. 38. 12. 47. 27. end. 1 Kings 2. 1. 2. 13. 13. Exodus 1. 1. 6. 2. Isaiah .27.- 6. 28. 14. or Jeremiah 1. 1. 2. 4. 14. 6. 2. 10. 1. Ezekiel 28. 1. 29. 21. 15. 10. 1. 13. 17. Jeremiah 46, 13. 46. 28. 16. 13. 17. 18. 1. Judges 4. 4. 6. 1. 17. 18. 1. 21. 1. Isaiah 6. 1. 6. 13. 18. 21. 1. 25. 1. Jeremiah 34. 8. 34. 22, 19. 25. 1. 27. 20. 1 Kings 5. 12. 6. 14. 20. 27. 20. 30. 11. Ezekiel 43. 10. 43. 27. 21. 30. 11. 35. 1. 1 Kings 18. 1, 18. 39. 22. 35. 1. 38. 21. 1 Kings 7. 13. 7. 26. 23. 38. 21. end. 1 Kings 7. 50. 8. 21. 24. Levit. 1. 1. 6. 1. Isaiah 43. 21. 44. 24. 25. 6. 1. 9. 1. Jeremiah 7. 21. 8. 4. 26. 9. 1. 12. 2 Samuel 6. 1. 7. 17. 27. 12. 1. 14. 1. 2 Kings 4. 42. 5. 20. 28. 14. 1. 16. 2 Kings 7. 3. 7. 20. 29. 16. 1. 19. Ezekiel 22. ir. not said. 30. 19. 1. 21. 1- Amos or Ezekiel 9. 7. 20. 2. 9. 20. 15. 21. 31. 21. 1. 25. 1. Ezekiel 44. 15, 44. 31. 32. 25. 1. 26. 3. Jeremiah 32. 6. 32. 28. 33. 26. 3. end. Jeremiah 16. 19. 17. 15. 34. Numb 1. 1. 4. 21. Hosea 1. 10. 2. 21. 35. 4. 21. 8. 1. Judges 13. 2. 13. 21. 36. 8. 1. 13. Zechariah 2. 10. 4. 8. 37. 13. 1. 16. Joshua 2. 1. 2. 24. 38. 16. 1. 19. 1 Samuel 11 14. 12. 23. 39. 19. 1. 22. 2. Judges 11. 1. 11. 34. 40. 22. 2. 25. 10. Micah 5. 7. 6. 9. 41. 25. 10. 30. 2. 1 Kings 18. 46. 19. 21. 42. 30. 2. 33. 1. Zechariah 7. 5. not said. or Jeremiah 1. 1. 2. 4. 43. 33. 1. end. Jeremiah 2. 4. 2. 29. 44. Deut. 1. 1. 3. 23. Isaiah 1. 1. 1. 28, 45. 3. 23. 7. 12. Isaiah 40. 1. 40. 27. 46. 7. 12. 11. 26. Isaiah 49. 14. 51. 4. Vol. I. 3 Z 546 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. t Sections. Law. Prophets. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. ch. V. 47. 11. 26. 16, 18. Isaidh 54. 11. 55. 4. 48. 16. 18. 21. 10. Isaiah 51. 12. 52. 13. 49. 21. 10. 26. 1. Isaiah 54. 1. 54. 11. 50. 26. 1. 29. 10. Isaiah 60. 1. 60. 22. 51. 29. 10. 31. 1. Isaiah 61. 1. 61. 10. 52. 31. 1. 32. 1. Isaiah 61, 10. 62. 6. 53. 33. 1. OJ. 1. Isaiah 62. 6. 62. 12. 54. 33. 1. end. Isaiah 63. 1. 63. 10. Such was the manner in which they divided the law, and selected corresponding portions from the prophets ; but the conclusion of the table is somewhat different from that of Lightfoot ; for, in the first place, we have added Isaiah Ixi. 1 — 10, to the 51st section of the law, because Lightfoot in his Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations on Luke iv. 17, says, that it made a part of the Rubric, and we could not see a better place to insert it ; and, in the second place we have divided from Deut. xxxi. 1, to the end of the Book, into three sections, which he has crowded together to suit the unintercalated years ; and the same of the prophets, from Isaiah Ixi. 10 to Ixiii. 10, which corresponded with them. In other respects the particulars are the same. Hitherto we have attended only to the sections ; it becomes us now to describe the times when, and the manner in which, they were commonly read. With re- gard to the times, Dr. Lightfoot^ tells us, that Moses and the prophets were read in the synagogues every sabbath day ; Moses every synagogue day besides ; and the prophets every holiday, the 9th day of Ab, which was a fast, and every fasting day besides. — And with respect to the manner, the same author states, that the readers of the portions out of the law were different in number on different days; for, on the sabbath, they » Harmony of the Four Evangelists, Luke iv. 16. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 547 were seven ; on the day of expiation, six ; on holidays, five, on the new moons, and the seven days of the three festivals, four ; and on the second and fifth days of the week, only three ; which was the smallest number they ever had ; for it was a rule with them that the law might not be read by less than three in succession.* It would be needless to enter into all the minutise of the reading of every day : it will suffice to exhibit that of the sab- bath.— As the readers for that day were seven, the per- son who began was a priest, the second was a Levite, and the other five were Israelites. If no priest or Le- vite were present, seven Israelites read in succession ; if a priest was present, but no Levite, the priest read twice. But the general rule was, '^^ first a priest, then a Levite, then an Israelite, and then a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh ;" which phraseology may serve to explain the words which are to be met with on the margin of some pentateuchs (as that in Buxtorff's Bible, and that with the triple Targum,) namely, ?n^? Cen^ '>y) Lui^ hi^'^\£^'> Iseral, >^' Ibid, 548 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and so strict were they on this point, that even when one of the rulers, or the minister himself, intended to read, they waited till they were asked by the congre- gation, or some leading person in it. Before the readers began, the first in order put up a short prayer, " bless- ing God that he had chosen them to be his people, and given them his law ;'' which done, they proceeded in their order, standing while they read,^ with the minister at their side to see that they read and pronounced right; from which, as was formerly said, he was called Epis- copus, or overseer : and, if they missed any, he made them repeat it.'' Every one must see what advantage the appointment of so many readers was to encourage a taste for learning among the body of the people. It was exhibiting those who could read well in a very fa- vourable point of view, and was stimulating others to follow their example. If every one in the congregation had understood He- brew, there would have been no occasion for any inter- preter : but as the Syriac, after the captivity, became the mother tongue, that office became absolutely neces- sary : — Hence its existence in every synagogue. The interpreter stood in the desk beside the minister and reader, and translated the section, sentence by sentence, into Syriac ; for, in the lesson from the law, the reader might not read above one verse at a time, before the interpreter explained it; but, in the lesson from the prophets, he might read three verses together. At Travancore a similar practice is still observed, where the Syriac is the learned language, and the language of the church ; whilst the Malayalim or Malabar is the vernacular language of the country. The Scriptures are read by the priests from manuscript copies in the ■' Luke iv. 16. ■> Buxtorff, Synag. Judaic, cap. 14. SERVICE OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 549 former, and are expounded in the latter to the people.* Mr. Pinkerton mentions the same thing as the custom near Sympherpole, in Tartary, among the Caraite Jews, where the Tartar translation was read with the Hebrew text:"' and every one will recollect that Ezra had thir- teen persons when he read the law, to explain it to the people.'' Thus far concerning the readers of the law. The reader of the portion from the prophets was called Meptir (*|^D£30?) and was commonly one of those who read the law, and had been selected by the minister for that purpose. Accordingly, he too went up to the desk; had the section from the prophets given to him ; began with a short prayer similar to that used by the reader of the law ; and had the minister to overlook him, and the interpreter to explain to the people what was read. Dr. Lightfoot tells us'' that every reader in the prophets (I should rather think it was the law, if we might judge from the foregoing table,) ought to read 21 verses, un- less when he expounded and exhorted, at which times he might only read 3, 5, or 7 verses : a circumstance which incidentally serves to explain why Christ, when in the synagogue, only read the two first verses of the 61st chapter of Isaiah before he closed the book and lectured upon them. This leads us to the last particular of the synagogue service, viz. the expounding of the Scriptures, and preaching from them to the people. Now, that was done not standing, as when reading the law, but in a sitting posture,*' either by the minister, interpreter, reader, or some distinguished person who happened to . ^ Owen's Hist, of the Brit, and For. Bible Society, vol. ii. p. 364. ^ Brit, and For. Bible Society, 13th Report, App.p. 74. « Neh. viii. 2—8. See also Prideaux Connect. A.A.C. 444. p. 371. ^ Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations on Luke iv. 16. ' Luke iv. 20. 550 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. be in the synagogue. We have ah'eady seen Jesus lec- turing in the synagogue of his native city : but we do not find him lecturing in any other ; for, when called upon in these, he always preached to the people, or ex- horted them on subjects that concerned their salvation : and it was thus, also, that his apostles acted : for we are told in Acts xiii. 5, that Paul and Barnabas preached the word in the synagogues of the Jews at Salamis ; that, when they went to the synagogue of Antioch, the rulers of that synagogue, after the reading of the law and the prophets, sent a messenger to them, as they sat in their place, saying, " Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on :"^ and that the same thing happened to themselves and others in various places.'' It is scarcely necessary to add that the whole service of the synagogue was concluded with a short prayer or benediction. SECT. IV. Times of Meeting. Duys on which the Synagogue was open. The lesson for the week, how often read : advantage of this to the people ; times of the day when they met ; rules for preserving decorum. The antiquity of Synagogues. The days of the week on which they met (besides their holidays, whether fasts or feasts) were commonly three, viz. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, or the 2d, 5th, and 7th days. The first two were commonly called 'Hhe days of assembling" (HD^^DD '>f2'' I^ni ccnise i) and were also accounted fast days by the stricter part of the Jews : hence the allusion of the Pharisee in Luke xviii. 12, '^ I fast twice in the week." It is probable, » Acts xiii. 15. *• Acts xiii, 44. xiv, 1. xvii, 2—4- 10—12. \7. xviii. 4, 26. xix. 8. TIMES OF MEETING. 551 also, that these synagogue days are referred to in Acts xiii. 42, where it is said that, after Paul had preached in the synagogue at Antioch, ^Hhe Gentiles besought him that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath :'' for the original words are eig ro fiEla^v aa^S^alov, in the middle sabbath, meaning perhaps the first synagogue day. As Saturday was the Jewish sab- bath, that day was set apart among them for religious exercises by divine appointment; but the other two were only by the appointment of the elders ; that three days might not pass without the public reading of the law. The reason of which, as Prideaux informs us,* was taken from their mystical interpretation of the law. For, whereas, we find it said in Exodus xv. 22, that the Israelites were in great distress, on their travelling three days in the wilderness without water : they explained the water mystically of the law, and therefore said, that for this reason they ought not to be three days together without hearing it read publicly in their synagogues. And their manner of doing it was as follows : The whole law being divided into sections, as we have already seen^ they began on Monday, or the first synagogue day, to read the lesson proper for the week, and read it half through at the morning service. On Thursday, the second synagogue day, they read the other half, at the morning service. And on Saturday, which was their sabbath, they read the whole over again twice; namely, once in the morning and once in the evening, for the sake of labourers and artificers who could not leave their work to attend the synagogue on the week days ; so that all might hear the lesson for the week read twice over on their sabbath, and a third time, if they chose it, on the two synagogue days. — When the reading of the •Connection, A. A. C. 444. 552 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. prophets was added to the law, the same order was ob- served as to them. Thus were the people regularly in- structed in a large portion of the word of God. It is farther to be observed concerning their times of meeting, that, as they met three days in tlie week for synagogue service, so they met three times on each of these three days, viz. once for reading and prayer, and twice for prayer ; for it was a constant rule among them (as it in- deed was among the faithful,") that all were to pray to God three times a day ; namely, at the third hour, or nine o'clock, at the time of the morning sacrifice ;^ at the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon, when the evening sacrifice was offering up ;" and at noon, or the sixth hour ;'' to which some added a fourth time, viz. at night, because the evening sacrifice was still burning. The reason for appointing these hours for the synagogue, was to make them correspond with the temple service, and thus give uniformity and solemnity to the public worship. With respect to those who were in other places, or, being at Jerusalem, had not leisure to go up to the tem- ple, they performed their devotions in those places. If it was a synagogue day, they went into one and prayed with the congregation, and if it was not, they then prayed privately by themselves in some retired place, or in some synagogue, if it happened to be within their reach. . But none might insult decorum, or the feelings of others, by passing the door of one of these houses at the hour of prayer, unless he had the appearance of ne- cessity, by passing on to another synagogue, by carry- ing a burden, or visibly wearing his phylacteries, to show that he was mindful of the law. ' Ps. Iv. 17. Dan, vi. 10. ^ Acts ii. 15. Acts iii. 1. X. 3. 30. Ps. cxli. 2. ^ Acts x. 9. TIMES OF MEETING. 553 Thus have we attended to the several particulars con- cerning the synagogue, viz. the cities in which they could be erected — the form of the building — the office- bearers in the church — the nature of the service — and the times of meeting. It is easy to see of what advan- tage they would be to the Jewish nation, as a powerful and regular mean of religious instruction ; but there is much difference of opinion concerning the time of their introduction. Basnage supposes them to have been co- eval with the traditions in the time of the Asmonaean princes, a few centuries before Christ. Prideaux does not admit that there were any synagogues before the Babylonish captivity. Vitringa is of the same opinion, and has said a great deal in support of it ; and Reland, who espouses the same side of the question, endeavours to strengthen it by some quotations from the Rabbies ; but Jennings'' thinks their arguments inconclusive, for the following reasons: 1. Because in Psalm Ixxiv. 8, which seems to have been written on account of the Babylonish captivity, there is mention made of their enemies having burnt all the synagogues of God in the land. 2. Because the apostle James, when addressing the convocation at Jerusalem in Acts xv. 21, speaks of Moses being read in the synagogues of old time. 3. Because it could hardly be imagined that the bulk of a nation, which was the only visible church of God in the world, should, in their purest state, in the days of Joshua, Samuel, and David, seldom or never pay him any public worship, which must have been the case if they had no other places for it besides the tabernacle. And, 4. Because the sabbath could not be kept according to the law without them, which required a holy convo- cation on, or for that day, in, or among all their dwell- ' Jewish Antiquities, book ii, ch. 2. Vol. I. 4 A 554 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ings, or throughout the whole land.* And the word which we render '^ a convocation," seems more natu- rally to import a place of public worship in which the people assembled, than the assembly itself, as in the fol- lowing passage in Isaiah iv. 5 : ^^ And the Lord will cre- ate upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shi- ning of a flaming fire by night," where the prophet evi- dently alludes to the preternatural appearance on the tabernacle in the wilderness. Perhaps the dispute may be compromised, if we sup- pose that, from their first settlement in Canaan, the peo- ple used to meet either in the open air, in high places and proseuchas, or in houses, particularly in the houses of the prophets, to worship God ; but that after the Ba- bylonish captivity, these houses became more general, resembling our present parish churches, and were scat- tered over the land as regular places for prayer, reading the law and the prophets, and for religious exhortation; in confirmation of which, were any required, we might observe that Josephus,'' when speaking of the Sicarii, or bands of robbers who infested Judea, says, that " they fell upon the holy places and the cities," or the syna- gogues and the cities in which they were, as if every city of any consequence had its synagogue.'' » Levit, xxiiJ. 3. '' War, iv. 7. ' See some good observations on the synagogues of Jerusalem, their number, antiquity, form, and service, in BernaMus Lamy, lib. iv. cap. 8, and Prideaux Connect. A. A. C. 444 ; and with regard to their present mode of worship, con- sult Allen's Modern Judaism, or a brief account of the opinions, traditions., rites, and ceremonies of the Jews in modern times, 8vo. London, 1818. PART VIII. JEWISH IDOLATRY, SECTS, AND PROSELYTES- SECT. I. The false Deities known among the Jews. Ahad, Adramtnelech, Ammon, Anamelech, Ashima, Ashtaroth, Baal, Baalim, Baal-berith, Baal-hazop, Baal-peor, Baal tamar, Baal-zebub, Baal-zephon, Bel, Bethshemesh, the Brazen Serpent, Biththepuh, Chemosh, Chiun, Dagon, Gad, the Gammadims, the Golden Calf, the Golden Calves, the Grove, the Heme- nim, the host of Heaven, Light and darkness, Malcham, Meni, Mepletzeth, Merodach, the image of stone or Mesheith, Milcom, Moloch, the Moon, Nebo, Nehushtan, IVergal, Nibhaz, Nisroc, On, Pi-beseth, the Planets, the Queen of heaven, Remphan, Rimmon, Shedim, Semel, Shen, Shoirim, Suc- coth-benoth, the Sun, Tartak, the Teraphim, Thammuz. J-N comparing the religion of the Jews with those of the either ancient nations, we are struck with its manifest superiority. The idea it gives us of the existence, attri- butes, and works of God, is such as the most enlightened reason approves of. Its worship was admirable calculated to their peculiar circumstances; and its morality was well fitted to make them good men and good members of so- ciety. Whence then, it may be asked, came this vast su- periority ? It cannot be ascribed to the superior wisdom of Moses. For, though acquainted with all the learning of the Egyptians, it was not likely that he could have struck out a plan so bold and so greatly superior to that of every other sage. It is both an unique in its kind, and an intermediate link between the patriarchal and Christian dispensation. It formed part of a plan which 556 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. began before Moses had an existence, and was intended to be a prelude to a subsequent and more perfect eco- nomy. Indeed, Moses never assumed an independent character, nor arrogated to himself the merit of the sys- tem he promulgated to his countrymen. He was con- tented with the honour of a delegated authority ; of be- ing the organ of the divine mind ; and of confirming his mission by stupendous miracles. And what would have proved him a true man, had he favoured us with no other evidence, was this, that he sought not his own emolument, nor the aggrandizement of his family ; but endured much vexation and fatigue while living, and al- lowed his children to remain in obscurity after his death. — One would naturally have supposed then, that the Israelites would have felt' grateful to God for those dis- tinguished blessings which Moses was the instrument of communicating to them ; and that they would have been very desirous to observe his laws. But the reverse was the case. The generation that was a spectator of these events was indeed a pious generation ; but in the time of the judges they had wonderfully degenerated. Under Samuel's superintendance they became better. Saul taught them to be warriors. David to be warriors and saints. In the days of Solomon, their glory as a nation was at its height ; but after the revolt of the ten tribes, both Judah and Israel became gradually corrupted, till the time of their being carried away to Babylon. It would be endless to trace all their deviations to idolatry, but it may be proper to give a short description of those ideal divinities which they preferred to Jehovah, that we may see, on the one hand, his long-suffering patience ; and on the other the justice of those judgments which he executed against them. The first of these divinities was Ahad inX^ or Med. It is mentioned in the original of Is. Ixvi. 17, but is not FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 557 discoverable in our translation, by being rendered as a numeral thus ; ^^ Behind one tree in the midst." In Bishop Lowth's Translation of Isaiah, however, it is made evident, and the rites performed to it are appro- priate. " They who sanctify themselves," says that translation, " and purify themselves in the gardens, after the rites of Ahad ; in the midst of those who eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the field-mouse; together shall they perish, saith Jehovah." He observes, in a note, that the Syrians worshipped a god called Adad,* that they held him to be the highest and the greatest of the gods, the same with Jupiter and the sun. Many learned men, therefore, have supposed, and with some probability, that the prophet means, in the above mentioned passage, the Syrian deity. Indeed, Benha- dad, and Hadadezer, names of their kings, were evi- dently taken from this chief object of their worship. Adrmnmelech, or *]70*T1^ Adermelec, from TiJ^ Jlder, illustrious, or a gorgeous robe, and '17^ Melee king, represented the solar fire, and was worshipped under that name by the Sepharvaites, who burnt their children in the fire to him. It occurs in 2 Kings xvii. 31, and was also the name of one of Sennacherib's sons, probably in honour of the same idol.'' The idol seems to have been thus denominated from his glorious ap- pearance, or from the gorgeous robe in which he was arrayed, and which might be designed to represent the solar splendour. Ammon^ or pOi*5 Amun^ an Egyptian idol, was well known to the Greeks and Hebrews by that name. Thus Herodotus'" says, ^^ the Egyptians call Jupiter, Ammun;" and Plutarch'' observes, that ^^ many were of opinion, that among the Egyptians, the proper name of Jupiter i ■ » Plin. Nat. Hist, xxxvii. 11. Macrob. Sat. i. 23. " 2 Kings xix, ST". ' Lib. ii. cap. 42. "^ De Isid. et Osir. 558 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. was Amun, of which we (Greeks, says he) have made Amnion.'' This idol, according to Herodotus, was re- presented with the head or face of a ram, and seems to have denoted the sun as gaining the northern hemi- sphere, and entering into the sign of Aries or the ram, which he does about the 21st of March, or vernal equi- nox, thereby giving new light and heat to that part of the globe. Amun, therefore, considered as of Hebrew origin, though with a dialectical corruption, denotes the cherishing or fostering sun, which was particularly wor- shipped at Thebes, the ancient metropolis of Upper Egypt: and which had there a most magnificent temple dedicated to him.* Of this temple, there are remaining to this day prodigious ruins, which extend near half a mile in length, and serve to confirm the wonderful ac- counts which the ancient writers, and particularly Dio- dorus Siculus, give of its grandeur.'' In Nahum iii. 8, we find the city of Thebes, where this city was, called by its Egyptian name T\0^ Ki J^a crniun, or '^ the ha- bitation of Amun," although our translation renders it '* the populous No." And in Jer. xlvi. 25, when Jeho- vah threatens Egypt, he says, '' I will punish Amun of No." ii^'O pDK *^mun mena or the idol there worshipped, although our translation renders it '' the multitude of No." We have a similar phraseology to the one suggested above, in Jer. li. 44, where God says, ^^ I will punish Bel in Babylon," or the idol that is wor- shipped there. Anammelechj or ^iSdJ^^ Onmelec, from n^ OneUj a eloud, and "iSq Melee, a king, is an image mentioned in company with Adrammelech, in 2 Kings xvii. 31, as » Herodotus, Lib. ii. cap. 42. Diodorus Siculus, Lib. i. and Artaphanus, in Euseb. Prxpar. Evang. Lib. ix. cap. 27. ^ Pococke's and Norden's Travels, Savary's Letters, Let. 9. Captain Light's Travels, part i. ch. 3. 6. PALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 559 one of the gods of Sepharvaim, and was worshipped in the same cruel manner. Perhaps it was represented as sitting on a cloud, and might be intended to teach them an overruling power. Ashima^ NID^C^N? i" the Chaldee form, was the Aleim of the men of Hamath, mentioned 2 Kings xvii. 30. The word, if uncompounded, should mean " the atoner, or expiator." The Rabbins say, that the emblem was a goat, or of a form compounded of a man and a goat, as the Roman poets describe the satyrs and Pan. Ashtaroth, Jlshtoreth, or n^lJltJ^i? Oshthereth, was a female divinity that was worshipped by the Philistines,* by the Zidonians,*' and by the apostate Israelites, so early as Judg. ii. 13. It is generally joined with Baal, which represented the sun ; and being feminine, is thought to have been the same with Astarte, or the moon. Indeed, the Septuagint render Ashtaroth by Aaraplrj, in 1 Kings ii. 5. 3. and 2 Kings xxiii. 13. or in the plural by Aalaglai in Judg. ii. 13. and the Vulgate in the above places hath Astarten. It is probable that this idol was in the form of a woman, with the head and horns of a bull. For Sanchoniathon, as cited from the translation of Philo-Byblius,*' says, that according to the Phoenician theology, Astarte put upon her head the head of a bull, as an ensign of royalty. And we meet with a place in Canaan, called Ashtaroth Carnaim, or Ashtaroth the horned, so early as Abraham's time.** Dr. Clarke^ gives Colonel Capper's description of the worship of Venus or Ashtaroth upon Mount Libanus, as observed by him, A. D. 1812. Baal, or 7^^^ Bol, which signifies the Ruler, was the general name by which they worshipped the solar fire. » 1 Sam. xxxi. 10. b 1 Kings xi. 5. 2 Kings xxiii. 13. « Eusebius's Prspar. Evang. Lib, i, cap. 10. -^ Gen. xiv. 5. ' Travels, vol. ii. Appendix. // 560 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. which is the most active, and as to sense and appear- ance the ruling principle in nature. His priests in Zeph. i. 4. are called Chemarimsj or scorched, in allu- sion to their being much near their altars. Sanchonia- thon, speaking of the sun, says that the Phoenicians thought it to be the Lord of heaven, and called it Beel- samen, which, in their language, signifies the Lord of heaven. Its emblem was a heifer, as expressive of per- severance and power.'* And, in that remarkable contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal,^ the answering by fire, as its visible effect, was the symbol fixed upon, to determine whether Baal or Jehovah was the true God. Baalim, or D*7^D Bolim, which signifies the rulers, probably meant the different kinds of Baals, which were worshipped ; or rather the different insignia, with which he was invested. These Baalim are mentioned in Judg. ii. ] 1 . iii. 7. viii. 33, and may be described as follow : Baal berith, nnD 7^^ Bol berith, which signifies Baal the purifier, alluding to the purifying influence of fire, and of the sun, is mentioned in Judg. viii. 33. ix. 4, and called Al berith or the god Berith, in Judg. ix. 46. The children of Israel are expressly said in Judg. viii. 33, to have made Baalberith their Aleim ; whence we may fairly collect, that though the ox or bull, the representative of the solar fire, was the prevalent or predominant figure in the idol,*' yet they did not mean entirely to exclude the other agents of nature, in the worship of Baalberith ; any more than Aaron, or Jero- boam, in setting up the calf, as an emblem of Jehovah, intended absolutely to reject the second and third per- sons of the uncreated trinity ; for both Aaron and Jero- boam call their respective calves Aleim. ^ Baalhazor, or '^")^?^T 7i^!3 Bolhetzur, which signifies, » Toblt 1. 5. "> 1 Kings xviii. ' Tobit i. 5. <' Exod. xxsii. 4. 1 Kings xii. 28, FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 561 The ruler over vegetables, was another heathen idol. There is a city of this name, mentioned 2 Sam. xiii. 23, which seems to have been so called by the Canaanites, in honour of their god Baal or the sun, for his annual influence on the vegetable creation, after the apparent death of winter. Baal peor, or "llj^fi 7^13 Bol pour, which signifies, The ruler with the open mouth, or simply Peor, The open mouthed, mentioned in Num. xxv. 3. 5. 18. xxxi. 16, and several other places, was worshipped by the Moabites, Midianites, and apostate Israelites : and was probably so called, from its being represented by a bull, (the ordinary symbol of Baal) with a wide gaping mouth, to receive the victims, whether animals or children, which were burnt to death by the fire within. It was originally intended, perhaps, to show the power of the solar fire, as an emblem of the divine justice ; but soon forgotten by idolaters. Baal tamar, or "l^n 7^^ Bol themer, which signifies The ruler with the palm, was the name of a place in Canaan, mentioned Judg. xx. 33, and so called in honour of Baal or the sun, whose image or idol was probably there. Among the Greeks, the palm was sacred to Apollo, or the sun ; as being of quick growth, and an emblem of victory ; the sun rejoicing as a strong man to run his race, and conquering every difficulty that pre- sents itself to him. Baal zebub, or 'y\yi 7^^ Bol zebub, which signifies. The god of the fly, or with the fly, was one of the gods of Ekron, 2 Kings i. 2 ; and was probably represented by a bull, the emblem of the sun, with a fly on his fore- head, or some other part of his body, rousing him up to activity, as expressive of the activity and force of that luminary ; or perhaps, the fly might indicate the gene- rative power of the sun, in producing, or reviving the Vol. I. 4 B 562 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. numberless tribes of insects. The Jews called him by way of contempt, Beelzebul, or the lord of dung^ which is often resorted to by flies, and promotes their generation. Baal zephon, or V\Q^ ?)^'2 ^o^ tsepun, which signi- fies The ruler of the secret place, or of the north, was the name of a place on the confines of Egypt, near the Red Sea, mentioned Exod. xiv. 2. Num. xxxiii. 7; and probably so called from the Baal that was there worshipped, in some adytum, or concealed place ; and who ruled both over the northern and southern hemi- spheres;, areording to the different seasons of the year. But if p5^^ Tsepun be related to Hfi^ Tsepe, to spy out or observe, then Baalzephon will probably signify, the god of the watch tower, or guardian deity. Bel 73, or The mingler, was the god of the Baby- lonians, and is mentioned in Is. xlvi. 1. Jer. 1. 2. li. 44. Herodotus* expressly calls the tower of Babel, " the temple of Jupiter Belus or Bel.^' And Servius, on the first book of the ^neid, says, that ^^ among the Assy- rians, Saturn and the Sun are, upon some sacred ac- count, both called Bel.'' In the apocryphal book of Baruch, we have several particulars mentioned concern- ing the worship of this deity. Its image was made of divers kinds of materials ; Nebuchadnezzar's was of gold ;^ but it was more commonly of wood gilded, or plated with silver," and a crown of gold upon its head.* The tongue appears to have been a conspicuous mem- ber, foi" it is said to have been polished by the work- men.' Perhaps it resembled some of the idols in India, which have open mouths, and large red tongues. It was often clothed with purple, as being the most expen- sive ; and ornamented with gold f and had in its hand » Lib. i. cap. 181. "> Dan. iii. 1. ' Baruch vi. 8. 57. <» Ch. vi. 9. ' Baruch vi. 8. f Ch. vi. 12. 24. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 563 a sceptre, or dagger, or ax :^ with candles continually burning before it, and meat set before it by those who implored its aid.^ In the great temple of Belus at Baby- lon, there were set before the image daily, twelve mea- sures of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine, which were pretended to be eaten by the deity, but nightly feasted on by the priests and their families.^ Sometimes the idol was carried in religious procession on men's shoulders;*^ and the priests, when imploring his protection, sat in the temple, with their clothes rent, their heads and beards shaven, their heads uncovered, and uttering loud cries, like those which were usual at the feast of the dead/ Perhaps the reason of the name may have been, that his heat mixes the different ele- ments so as to form the various productions we observe around us. Bithshemesh ^t2^ n^2? which signifies. The house or tetnple of the Sun, is the name of an Egyptian idol mentioned Jer. xUii. 13, but seems to have been wor- shipped in Canaan also, for we find it the name of a city in Naphtali,*^ and also the name of a city in Judah which was given to the Levites.s That the sun should have had temples in Egypt, is not to be wondered at, considering the general superstition, and its use to the inhabitants ; and the Canaanites may either have im- ported that worship from them, or invented it them- selves from similar motives. The Brazen Serpent which Moses erected on a pole to cure the Israelites, who were bit with fiery serpents in the wilderness,'' appears to have been long an object of worship among that people ; for in 2 Kings xviii. 4, we are told, that Hezekiah " removed the high places, » Ch. vi. 14, 15. *> Ch. vi. 19. 30. ' Apocryphal Bel and the Dragon. •5 Baruch vi. 26. <= Ch. vi. 31, 32. * Josh. xi?. 38. e Josh. xxi. 16. •> Num. xxi. 9. 564 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it : and he called it Nehushtan/' meaning a brasen serpent, and treated it accordingly, when abused to idola- trous superstition : although in its original institution, it was a type of the Messiah, lifted up on the cross, and exhibited to sinners as the sovereign cure for all the evils which were brought on man by the fall. Bith thepnhf hl^H n*3? meaning the temple of the breather or blower, as mentioned in Josh. xv. 53, and seems to have been a name given to the sun, as the cause of breezes and blasts. The distinguishing symbol, at- tached to the general one of the bull, as descriptive of the sun, was a citron or orange, because of their very agreeable smell, which the original word also signifies. Chemoshy or t^'\t2'2 Cemush, the solar light, was ah idol of the Moabites,* and Solomon in his old age built an high place for it on Mount Olivet, before Jerusalem.** As to the form of the idol, scripture is silent : but if, ac- cording to Jerom, it was like Baal peor, it must have been somehow in the form of a bull, as all the Baals were, though accompanied with various insignia. And there can be little doubt but part of the religious ser- vices performed to Chemosh and Baal peor, consisted in revelling and drunkenness,' obscenities, and impuri- ties of the grossest kind. We may add, that from Che- mosh, the Greeks seem to have derived their Ku^og (called by the Latins Comus,) who presided over lasci- vious feasting and revelling. Chiun, or |V5 Ciun, is only mentioned once in Scripture, and has given rise to various interpretations. Parkhurst makes it to signify some luminous appearance » Numb, xxi. 29. ^ i Kings, xi. 7. 38. ' Jer. xlvHi. 11. 26. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 565 attending their images, and made in imitation of the shechinah, either by embellishing them with precious stones, or placing them on some resplendent seat or throne. But Spencer makes it the same as Saturn. The substance of his explanation of Amos v. 26. is as follows, ^^Ye have borne, or carried aloft in religious procession, the tabernacle of Moloch,'' meaning either a model of his temple, or some covered canopy, or bed, on which the image representing Moloch, or the sun, lay ; as shrines of Diana, or of the moon, were carried afterwards by the Ephesians : ^' and ye have carried also, in the same religious procession, Chiun,'" or Saturn, which the Septuagint translate Remphan, the Egyptian name of Saturn, and which Stephen following, uses in Acts vii. 4. These images, according to Spencer, were worshipped by the Israelites before they left Egypt, and it was to wean them from their idolatry that God erected the sacred tabernacle, or tent of the congrega- tion, and instituted the tabernacle worship.** Dagon, or p;i"l Begun, according to Parkhurst, means the corn giver, Aayi^v o$ eati XlIlxv, says San- choniathon in Philo Byblius. It was the god of the Philistines,^ and was represented by a fish in the lower part, with the head, hands, and body of a man. Others derive it, however, from y^, cleg, a fish, which, from the supposed form of the idol, appears the most natural. — The temple of Dagon, at Azotus, in which the ark of God was placed by the Philistines, in the days of Eli, was afterwards burnt by Jonathan, the brother of Judas Maccabseus." Gad, or lj| Ged, means a troop, and is so rendered in Is. Ixv. 11. but it evidently there denotes an idol. De Legib. Heb. Ritual. Lib. iii. cap. S. ^ Judg. xfi. 23. 1 Maccab. x, 83, 84. 566 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. We find a place in Canaan called Migdal-gad, or the tower or temple of Gad, in Josh. xv. 37 : and another in the valley of Lebanon, called Baal-gad, Josh. xi. 17. xii. 7. xiii. 5. But both the meaning of the idol, and the nature of the service performed to him, is best ex- plained in the passage in Isaiah Ixv. 11. which says, ^^ Ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, (Gad) and that furnish the drink-oifering unto that number (Meni, another idol.") The manner in which the idolatrous Jews prepared a table for Gad, or made a feast, or lec- tisternium, as the Romans would have called it, is thus described by Jerom on the place : '^ There is," says he, ^^ in every city in Egypt, and especially in Alexandria, an ancient idolatrous custom, that on the last day of the last month of the year, they cover a table with dishes of various kinds, and with a cup filled with a liquor made of water, wine, and honey, [poculmn mulso mixtum) indicating the fertility of the past or future year. This also the Israelites did." The Gaminadirriy DH^^ Gemedim, or Gammadims, as they are called in Ezekiel xxvii. 11. have been very differently explained by commentators; some having made the word a corruption for tDHdJl Gepedim, or ^^ Cappadocians ;" others On^'DJl Gemedim, signify- ing, " also the Medes ;" and others from l^ji Gemed, '' a cubit." But if they have differed much about the meaning of the word, they have shown as much difference as to the conjectures they have built upon it. Thus Grotius thinks the Gammadims were the inhabitants of- Ancon, who were Phoenicians ; because "iq;i Gemed in Hebrew is Ayxov, '^ a cubit or the shape of the arm" in Greek, which resemblance gave name to the city. The Vulgate makes them pygmies, who, in the fable, having fought with the cranes, were looked upon as the tutelary FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 567 deities of the Tyrian towers. BuxtorfF makes them a people inhabiting a region of Phoenicia, which jutted out into the sea in the form of an arm, and was after- wards swallowed up ; but this is merely conjecture, for there are no traces of it in history. Others have sup- posed them to be men of strong arm, or great warriors. And others that they came from the neghbourhood of Gam ad, a corruption for Gamal, mentioned by Pliny :" the head of the Hebrew letter 7 having been blotted out, and thus changed into a 1. But the most likely meaning is that which is given by Spencer,^ viz. that they were small images about a cubit long, in the houses and towers of the heathen, as their tutelar deities. His arguments for this opinion are the following. 1st. The heathens were wont to have certain small images in their houses and towers, of which Horace speaks in the fol- lowing lines : Parvos coronantem mai'ino Rore deos, fragilique myrto. These were the Roman lares, penates, the Egyptian scrapes, and probably the teraphim of Laban. They never considered their houses safe without them. 2dly. They were about a cubit long, and like pygmies in their size and shape. Thus Herodotus tells us, that when Cambyses was at Memphis, he entered the temple of Vulcan, and smiled to see the statue of the god only the image of a pygmy-man {nvy^aiii avSpog (.ufiyiaiv. Lib. iii. cap. 37 ;) and immediately after, the same author adds, that " the images of the Cabiri were like the statue of Vulcan," pygmies also. In like manner, Curtius, ac- cording to Scaliger," when speaking of the chariot of Darius, has these words, " from which arose conspicuous two golden images of a cubit long, the one having the » Lib. ii. cap. 91. '' De Legibus Heb. Ritual, Lib. ii. cap. 24, '• De Emendat, tempor. Lib. vi, p, 579. 568 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. resemblance of Ninus, and the other of Belus."* 3dly. These images were set in towers and other places for their defence. Stant qiioque pro nobis, et prsesunt maenibus urbis, Et sunt pisesentes, auxiiiumque ferunt. Ovid. Faster. Lib. v. verse 135. Lastly. The scriptures seem to consider them in this light. For their being in the Tyrian towers, Ezek. xxvii. 11. showed they were for defence ; their being of the size of pygmies was a proof that they did not defend these towers by fighting : and, therefore, the only sup- position left is, that they were the lares of that people, on whom they depended when attacked by the enemy. Accordingly the Septuagint translate them ^vTuaxag or guards*.. Such are the arguments of Spencer on this in- tricate subject : and it is probable that the images which the Philistines left when defeated by David, and which are said to have been burnt by him in 2 Sam. v. 21, were such kind of lares as we are now speaking of. The golden calf, mentioned in Exod. xxxii. 4. was the first image that was made by the Israelites after they came out of Egypt : and as it was made by Aaron, who was not ignorant of the true God, the question na- turally occurs, what could be his reason for making the form of that animal and none other. Two reasons natu- rally present themselves, 1st. That he meant it for a representation of Apis, the god of the Egyptians, which the Israelites had been accustomed to see worshipped, and to which idolatry, from long observance, they might have been addicted. Or, 2dly, That it was intended as a symbolical representation of the first person in the Trinity, who, according to the Hutchinsonian system, was represented by that animal. Perhaps the fear or * Ex quo eminebant duo aurea simulacra cubitalia, quorum alterum Nini, alterum Beli gerebat effigiem. (Lib, iii. sect. 7.) FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 569 policy of Aaron might have had an eye to both, as satisfying the mixed character of the people with whom he had to do. The crime, however, was strongly marked, and severely punished, as derogatory to God, the great author of worship, and an express violation of the second commandment. The golden calves which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. set up at Bethel and Dan, to prevent his subjects from returning to Jerusalem, at the three great festivals,* made a woeful schism in the Jewish church, and is se- verely reprobated in scripture. They may have been intended as representations of the first person in the Trinity, but they were derogatory to the other two. They violated also the second moral precept in the de- calogue ; withdrew the hearts of the ten tribes from the true worship of God ; established a religion of human invention, to serve political purposes, in the place of that divine model which was communicated to Moses ; and was the cause, in the end, of their removal from Judea, and their present dispersion among the eastern nations. These calves, Prideaux informs us, were car- ried away by Tiglathpileser, and Salmaneser his son, into Assyria.^ The Grove (n*l5J^>5 Ashere) mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 4. 6. and other places of scripture, appears to have been an idol rather than a grove, although it is properly rendered grove in several places. But, as we have already noticed it, when treating of the Brasen altar, near which no grove was to be erected, it is need- less to say any thing more of it here, unless it be to add, that Prideaux'' gives us an account of two groves that were consecrated to idolatrous purposes, which may throw some light on those which are condemned in scrip- » 1 Kings xii. 29. ^ Vol. i. p. 14- * Connect, A. A. C. 304. and 300. Vol. I, 4 C 570 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ture. The first was that which the Rhodians consecrated to Ptolemy Soter, for his assisting them against Anti- gonus. It was a furlong square, surrounded by a most stately portico on every side, and called from his name the Ptolemeum, where, according to the infamous flat- tery of those times, they paid him divine honours, and gave him the name of Soter or Saviour, by which he has since been distinguished. — The second was at Daphne, four or five miles from Antioch, on the Orontes. '^ It was planted by Seleucus, was ten miles in compass, had in the middle of it a temple consecrated to Apollo and Diana, and was made an asylum. To it the inhabitants of Antioch resorted for their pleasures, for which it was excellently fitted; for it had most delicious fountains, and rivulets of the best' water, most pleasant walks of cypress trees, the purest air, and every thing else that nature could afford for pleasure and delight, which being farther improved by all the arts of luxury, what- ever could administer to voluptuous enjoyment, was there, to be had in the utmost excess ; so that though the place had been originally consecrated to Apollo and Diana, it was in reality wholly devoted to Bacchus and Venus." Which made it so infamous, that ^' Daphnicis moribus vivere — to live after the manners of Daphne,*' grew into a proverb to express the most luxurious and dis- solute way of living ; and all that had any regard to their reputation for virtue and modesty, avoided to go thither. There is reason to fear that the groves resorted to by the idolatrous Israelites, were but too much of the above description, and therefore justly condemned by a pure and holy God. The Hemenim, tD^^DH? or images mentioned in Lev. xxvi. 30. have been variously explained by commenta- tors, some making them of Egyptian origin, and the same as Jupiter Hammon, but Hammon is not an Egyp- FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 571 tian word : others the same as Ham, whom they after- wards deified ; and others derive the word from nOtl? Heme, '' the sun," and thus makes Hemenim '* idols in honour of the sun." But as to the nature and form of these idols, there has been much difference of opinion. For some have imagined them temples to the sun ; some images on the roofs of houses, dedicated to the sun ; some images of a round figure like the sun ; and others, historical monuments hid in the temples, or inscribed on the altars or statues of that luminary- But Spencer's opinion appears to be the most probable, which makes them certain symbols or figures made like a cone or pyra- mid, which the ancient idolaters used when worshipping the sun. In other words, they were of wood or stone, in the shape of obelisks or pyramids, which agrees with the idea of them contained in 2 Chron. xiv. 3. They were sometimes very high,^ in order to meet the sun, or enable them the better to observe it, and were made of wood by the Hebrews, hence said to be cut down, in 2 Chron. xxxiv. 7 ; but of pyrites by the Egyptians.^ Thus were they symbols of the sun's rays, which diverge, like them, from a point, and of fire, which converges to a point. They differed thus from the altars consecrated to the other deities, and were forbidden to the Israelites as leading them into idolatry. *" The host of heaven, D^Oi^'H NDV Tseba eshemim, was a very general object of worship among the heathen, and the idolatrous Israelites. The words sometimes de- note the sun, moon, and stars, as in Deut. iv. 19. ; some- times the stars, as distinguished from the sun and moon, Deut. xvii. 3. but most frequently the sun, moon, and planets, as in 2 Kings xxiii. 5. where it is said that Jo- •• 2 Chron. xxxix. 4. ^ Kircher, Obelisk. I'ampli. p. 50, ""- Spencer dr Leg-. Heb. Riltial. l/ib. ii. cap. 25. 573 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. siah put down all that burnt incense to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, even to all the host of hea- ven. These, it is well known, were the primary ob- jects of worship. The sun was worshipped as the most striking representation of the Divine Being. The moon came next to receive divine homage, as the second in im- portance of the heavenly bodies; and after them the planets, as having attracted their notice by their appear- ance and motions. Accordingly, names were assigned to each, and they were either supposed to be divine be- ings, or the habitations of those whose names they bore."* Thus did they neglect the Great first Cause, and wor- ship the creatures of their own fancy rather than Jeho- vah the great Creator. It was from this worship which very generally prevailed among the Gentiles, that a great part of the heathen world was denominated Za- bians, or Sabians. We have an excellent account of this sect in Prideaux.'' Spencer'' thinks that they appeared in Chaldea before Abraham's time ; for the religion of the Chaldeans corresponds with that of the Zabians, who worshipped the sun, moon, and planets, and believed the world to be eternal, and the planets to be gods. But they are not described by ancient authors as a distinct sect, till towards the end of the Jewish economy, when their doctrines became a compound of many other sects. Thus they had astrology, magic, and the worship of the stars, from the Chaldeans ; some of the patriarch's names, the rites of purifying, and some scripture histories mixed with fable, from the writings of the Jews; something about demons and angels from the Gnostics and Cabbalists ; and some allegories and fanatical dogmas from the Platonists and Pythagorians. As to the books of the Zabians, they are fictitious, and » Piideaux, Connect. A.A.C. 522. '' Connection, A, A. C. 522 "- De Leg. Heb. IJitual. Lib, ii. cap. 1, 2, 3. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 573 their pretended antiquity is entitled to no credit. None of them were translated into Arabic before the seventh or eighth century, and it is from the Arabic translations that Maimonides, Hottinger, and Pococke give their ac- counts. Of those mentioned by Maimonides, the titles of the two principal are '^ Concerning the agriculture of the Nabathseans," and ^^ The Book of Isaac Zabius con- cerning the nation and manners of the Zabians." It was evidently against the Zabians who existed in Moses's days, that many of the most singular of the ceremonial laws were enjoined.* We need not wonder then at the jealousy of God (jn the adoption of these luminaries as objects of worship ; and his frequent appropriation of the term to himself. Thus he is called Jehovah tsebauth, or the Lord of hosts, and Aleim tsebauth, or God of hosts, in 2 Sam. v. 10. Hosea xii. 5. Amos iii. 13. v. 14, 15, 16. 27. vi. 8. Micah iv. 4. He claims the forma- tion of this host of heaven in Deut. iv. 19. Neh. ix. 6. Ps. xxxiii. 6. Is. xl. 26. xlv. 12. They are called his hosts in Ps. ciii. 21. And in James v. 4. the word tsebauth or Sabaoth is to be found in our English trans- lation. ^» The cries of them which have reaped but have not received their wages are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth," or the Lord of hosts. Light and darkness were the great principles of the Magian religion. For they held that there were two su- preme, co-eternal, and independent causes, always act- ing in opposition to each other ; one the author of all good, whom they called Ormuzd ; the other the author of all evil, whom they named Ahriman. The good being they also called Light ; the evil being Darkness : and believed that when Light had the ascendant, then good * This the wliole of Spencer's second Book is employed in proving; and soBie of his most valuable observations will be found in Part X. Sect, 2d., where we treat of the ceremonial law as a defence against idolatry. 574 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. and happiness prevailed among men ; but when Dark- ness had the superiority, then evil and misery abounded. An opinion this, that contradicts the clearest evidence of our reason, which plainly leads us to the acknowledg- ment of one Supreme Being, infinitely good as well as powerful : and to oppose which, the Jehovah of Israel in a prophecy concerning Cyrus, who, being a Persian, was naturally educated in the Magian or Persian reli- gion, and was destined to take Babylon and free the Jews from their seventy years captivity, has these re- markable words, Is. xlv. 5 — 7. " I am the Lord, and there is none else. There is no God beside me — I form the' light, and create darkness ; I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things" — evidently in- forming this commissioned servant that the gods of Per- sia were nothing, and that the God of Israel was the Creator of the universe.^ It would appear from Ezek. viii. 16, 17. that the Israelites sometimes practised the religion of the Magi : for the prophet says that ^^ he was brought into the inner court of the Lord's house, and saw at the door of the temple of the Lord between the porch and the altar, about five and twenty men with their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the east, who worshipped the sun towards the east. And that then the Lord said unto him. Hast thou* seen this, O son of Man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they conimit here ? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger : and io, they put the branch to their nose."' It is this last circumstance which, though apparently trifling, fixes the words down to the Magian religion. For Strabo tells us,^ that when the Magian fire worshippers ' r,owlh on Isaiah, ch. xlv. 1 . Note. Prid. Con. A.A.C. 522. ^ Lib. -w i I'ALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 67ii prayed before the sacred fire, they held a little bunch ol' twigs in their hand. And Dr. Hyde'' gives a more par- ticular account of this Magian rite : and presents us*' with a print of a priest, standing before the fire altai-. and holding the twigs in his hand." Malcham is Si heathen deity, mentioned in Zeph. i. .5., but as it is in the original the same with Milcom or OdSo Melcem, it will fall to be considered under that article. Meni, ♦JtS or the distribute}', is the name of a deit\ referred to in Is. Ixv. 11,12.: but translated •• number* in our common version. The following translation, however, by Bishop Lowth, makes it much more visi- ble. '^ But ye, who have deserted Jehovah, and have forgotten my holy mountain, who set in order a table for Gad, and fill out a libation for Meni, you will I number out for the sword." In a former article we considered the worship offered by them to Gad, we may now ob- serve that the same was offered to Meni, as is evident from the above mentioned passage in Isaiah. Parkhurst makes Meni a name, or attribute, under which the idolatrous Jews worshipped the material heavens, as the dispensers of food, provisions, Sec. for the service of men and animals, and considers it to have been very an- cient, known even by the Israelites while they resided in Egvpt. At any rate it appears from the extract given by Jerom, under the article Gad, that it was of Egvptian origin, and must have been imported by the idolatrous Israelites, along with Egyptian commerce. Mepletfseth, HV^DO which signifies The trembler, is onlv mentioned in 1 Kings xv. 13. and 2 Chron. xv. 16. » Hiit. Reiig. Vet. Peri. Lib. L cap. 27. ^ Page 369. first edition. ' See Prldeaux Connectloa, .\. A. C 486, for a full account of Zoroaster, the Zendavesta, the Magian religion, and its present appearance among the Gaurs in Persia. 576 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. In our translation it is modestly rendered " the idol in the grove," which Maachah the mother of Asa king of Judah set up, and which was destroyed by her son, and burnt beside the brook Kidron. But it is evident that there was something particularly shocking about it, for it is only mentioned in her history, and she was removed from being queen for her shameful attachment to it. The Vulgate renders the passage in 1 Kings xv. 13. by simulachrum turpissimum, or the most filthy image ; and it is still more plain in 2 Chron. xv. 16. for it renders it simulachrum priapi, or the image of Priapus. It ap- pears then, both from the derivation of the word and the authority of the Vulgate, to have been an obscene figure, too well known in the heathen mythology. Merodach, or *1"1*10 Meredec, which signifies To descend and break in pieces, is a Babylonish idol men- tioned in Jer. 1. 2. " Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is con- founded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are confounded (meaning those of Bel,) her images are broken in pieces (meaning those of Merodach.") It is worthy of remark, that the Septuagint by adding the epithet 'yjrpv^spa or <^ the delicate," to MaipoSa;^, make this idol a goddess : and from it we find several of their kings named, as Merodach-baladan (Is. xxxix. 1.) Evil Me- rodach (2 Kings XXV. 27. Jer. lii. 31.) &c. The itnage of stone, as it is called in our translation of Levit. xxvi. 1. is literally the stone Meshcith (DOt^^O) and has given room to much conjecture. Thus Arias Montanus makes it the stone of observation, from whence they could see an enemy, or study the stars ; with which the LXX. agree, who render it CKOTtiac, or towers of ob- servation. Others make it a stone of indication or an- nunciation, as the Samaritan pentateuch, meaning that hieroglyphics either mystical or religious were inscribed npon it. Our translation makes it a stone of adoration, FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 577 SO engraved as to excite worship. And others a stone for divination. The word, indeed, has various mean- ings in Scripture. For sometimes it signifies seeing with the outward eye, and sometimes with the eye of the mind : sometimes a carved image, sometimes pictures of silver,* and sometimes an imagination of the heart, which is as it were engraved on it. In the law under consideration we have Meshcith in the singular, and in Num. xxxiii. 32. we have DHV^t^'D Meshduthem in the plural : the first of which, according to Spencer, means the principal one among the Egyptians, and the last the less important ones of the Syrians. The Aben Meshcith in the singular, or the principal one of the Egyptians, was an obelisk, cut with mysterious, hiero- glyphical, superstitious characters, and erected under such a figure of the heavens, as was reckoned the most propitious. It was composed of stone to resist the weather, and was placed in the fields or boundary of a district, to avert evil, and counteract the force of any evil genius. It was also believed to have something in it magical, which was perhaps the reason why the LXX. have rendered it dxoTtcjv, a keeper. Kircher confirms this by many arguments.^ He thinks that the Egyp- tians had one of these obelisks to Baal-zephon, or the Lord of the South, between the Red sea and the mount Pihahiroth, in the strait, to guard the entrance, another to Jupiter Ammon, in the deserts of Lybia, and a third to the Sminthian Apollo, in the lakes that formed the entrance from Phoenicia to Egypt, as the guardians of Egypt. They were forbidden in Canaan, because God allowed no tutelary deities, he himself being the protec- tor of Canaan. The Meshduthem of the Syrians were less magnificent than the Meshdth of Egypt. They * Prov XXV. il. ^ Obelisk. Pamph, Vol. I. 4 D 578 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. are described by Herodian as being consecrated to the sun^ under the title of ^')iaiaya^a.'kog Elaiagabalos, and to be seen in his magnificent temple at Emesa in Syria, in which, says he, ^^ there stands not any image made with hands, as among the Greeks and Romans, to re- present the god ; but there is a very large stone, round at the bottom, and terminating in a point, of a conical form, and of a black colour, which they pretend fell down from Jupiter." The rude stones called ^aClvkoiy jSailvXiaj BsetuUj probably from the stone that Jacob erected at Bethel, and the stones that were dedicated to the god Terminus, were something resembling them. Arnobius, Lib. i. gives us the following account of his own practice with respect to the Bsetuli, before he be- came a Christian. ^* If at any time I saw a stone slip- pery, and bedaubed with olive oil, I bowed, addressed myself to it, and asked favours, as if a present deity re- sided in it, without ever reflecting that it was a stone."* And as they were accounted sacred by the original inhabitants of Canaan, they were enjoined to be destroyed by the Israelites when they should enter it. For there was no need for stones of observation, since the eyes of the Lord were in every place, nor of stones for defence against daemons, since the Lord kept them night and day. Besides, these stones took their origin from a be- lief in Osiris and Typhon, the good and bad principles of Egypt, with their genii, and were intended to de- fend them against Typhon .and his genii. They con- tained the sacred mysteries and abominations of Egypt, whether political, philosophical, magical, historical, -or theological, in hieroglyphical characters. And they were erected in the form of a cone or pencil of rays to serve * " Si quando conspexeram lubricatum laiiidem, et ex olivi ungiiine sordi- datum; tanquam inesset vis prxseiis, adulabar, affabar, etbeneficia poscebain, nihil sentiente de trunco." FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 579 as altars. It was necessary therefore to destroy them as incentives to idolatry: for the superstition of the ancients comprehended three things ; their visible gods, the sun, moon, and stars, their images or pretended likenesses, and their symbols or mysterious characters and doctrines." Milcom, or D37D Melcem, from 'Tlt2 Melee a king, and HDD Ceme, to be hot, was the al3omination of the Ammonites ; and it is plain from comparing 1 Kings vi. 5. with verse 7. that this was another name for Molech. See also 1 Kings xi. 33. 2 Kings xxiii. 13. Zeph. i. 5. Compare 2 Sam. xii. 30. 1 Chron. xx. 2. in both which last texts the LXX. (Vatic.) have tov ^s^avov Mo/l;^o/t •ry ^aaiT^idc, avlidv, '^ the crown of Molcom their king." And indeed, as Parkhurst justly remarks, considering that the weight of the crown there spoken of was a ta- lent, or 32| lbs. avoirdupois at least, without the pre- cious stones, it seems more suited to the head of an idol than of a king. Molech, Moloch, or *\>1^ Melech, which signifies the king or ruler, was the name of an idol representing Baal or the sun,'' worshipped by the Ammonites,*" and by the apostate Israelites.** When treating of the objects to be seen from the outside of the Temple wall," we at' tended to the worship of this bloody divinity in the val- ley of Hinnom. We shall only, therefore, at present add a passage from Diodorus Siculus,*^ to show how he was worshipped by the heathen nations. The passage relates to the Carthaginians, when beseiged by Agathocles, ty- rant of Sicily. " They imputed this calamnity,'' says Diodorus, " to Saturn's fighting against them : for whereas they used, in former times, to sacrifice the best of their own children to this god, they had lately offered » Spencer De Leglb, Heb, Ritual, Lib. ii. cap. 22. '' Jer. xxxii. 35. " 2 Kings xi. 7. ^ Lev. xviii. 21. xx. 3. ' Part ii. sect 1. ^ Lib. xx 580 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. such children as they had privately purchased, and brought up ; and on inquiry, some of those who had been sacrificed were found to have been supposititious. Reflecting, therefore, on these things, and seeing the enemy encamped at their very walls, they were seized with a religious dread, as having profaned those honours which their ancestors paid to the gods. In haste, then, to rectify their errors, they chose out two hundred of the noblest children, and sacrificed them quickly. Other persons who were accused of irreligion, gave up them- selves willingly to the number of no less than three hun- dred. For they had a brasen statue of Saturn, stretching out his hands towards the ground, in such a manner, that the child placed within them tumbled down into a pit full of fire." It appears from Amos v. 26. that at their religious festivals of Molech, they carried his ta- bernacle or shrine in solemn procession; a custom which \<^as indeed practised at the festivals of several of their gods. Thus, Herodotus,^ speaking of the idol worshipped at Papremis, says, '• the image, being in a small temple of wood gilt, they (that is, some of the priests) carry it out the day before to another building." And Diodorus Siculus^ tells us, that " among the Egyptians, the shrine of Jupiter is annually transported over the river (Nile) into Lybia, and after some days returns, as if the god himself were come from Ethiopia." See Homer's Iliad i. 420, and Eustathius on the place ; also Macrobius ;° from whom it appears, that the Romans had their Pom- p3e, or similar customs of carrying their idols. The pre- sent annual procession of the Hindoo Juggernaut is a lively representation of those ancient rites. The Moon is spoken of as an object of idolatrous worship, in 2 Kings xxiii. 5 ; and was worshipped by ' Lib. ii. cap. 63. *> Lib. sub finem, ' Saturnal Lib. i. cap. 23 FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 581 them under various names : as Ashtoreth, Astarte, the queen of heaven, &c. Her utility in the absence of the sun, and her influence on the weather, and the tides too, naturally led them to pay her homage. Mebo, or I^J) JVebu, which signifies the fructijier, was a Babylonish idol, and is mentioned Is. xlvi. 1, 2. Both it and Bel seem to have been of considerable size, for the prophet says, " Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth : their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle : your carriages were heavy loaden ; they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop : they bow down together ; they could not deliver the burden ; but themselves are gone into captivity." It seems also to have been in great repute, for a number of names were composed of it; thus Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, Nebushasban,* Nabonassar, Nabopalassar, Nabonnedus, Samgar nebo,'' &c. The LXX., according to the Alexandrian copy, and the Complutensian edition, render I^J JVebu by ilayisiv Dagon, which was an idolatrous object among the Philistines, and of similar signification. JsTehushtan, ?riJ2^ni? JVeheshthen, which signifies a brasen serpent, was the name given to the brasen ser- pent, which Moses erected in the wilderness, to cure those who were bit by the fiery serpents, "^ and which for many ages had become an object of idolatrous wor- ship, till it was destroyed by Hezekiah.'' JVergal, or 7^11^ JVergel, which signifies The revolv- ing light, was the idol of the Cuthites.^ It represented the light of the sun, both in the daily return of light after darkness ; and the influence of that luminary on the seasons. Hence its appropriate emblem, as the Rab- bins tell us, was the cock. Stephanus Morinus, in his » Jer. xxxix. 13. '' Jer. xxxix. 3. <= Numb. xxi. 8, 9. ^ 2 Kings xviii. 4. * 2 Kings xvii. 30. 582 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Dissertation concerning the Terrestrial Paradise, pre- fixed to Leusden's edition of Bochart's works, p. 24, ob- serves from Josephus," that the Cuthites were of Cutha, which is a country of Persia, and that this may be con- firmed by the idol they worshipped ; namely Nergal, which represented the sun, or fire, as its emblem, which the Persians worshipped. But the learned Dr. Hyde'' strenuously contends, that the Cuth mentioned in 2 Kings xvii. 30, was situated in Babylonia : and so called, by the usual dialectical variation of \^ into H;* from Cush, the son of Ham, who at first settled in that coun- try.*^ It is some confirmation of his opinion, that we find the name of this idol making a part of the appella- tion of two of the king of Babylon's princes both named Nergal-sharezer,*^ and of Nerigillassor, king of Babylon. JVibhaz, or *niJ JVebhez, from two words which sig- nify "to bark," and "to see," was the idol of the Avites, and is mentioned in 2 Kings xvi. 31. The Rab- bins say it had the shape of a dog, much like the Anu- bis of the Egyptians, (Calmet.) In Pierius's Hierogly- phics, p. 53, is the figure of a Cynocephalus, a kind of ape, with a dog's head, standing upon his hinder feet, and looking earnestly at the moon. Pierius there teaches us, that the Cynocephalus was an animal eminently sa- cred among the Egyptians, hieroglyphical of the moon, and kept in their temples to inform them of the moon's conjunction with and opposition to the sun {i. e. new and full moon,) which seasons liave a considerable effect on the weather, and on the feelings both of brutes and of man. Parkhurst conjectures, that as it does not ap- pear that the Cynocephalus was known to the Avites, so their idol Nibhaz might have been the figure of a * Antiq. ix. cap. 14, ^ Relig. Vet. Pers. Cap. ii. p. 39. <^ Gen. :s. 6. 10. "^ Jer xxxix. 5. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 583 man, with the head of a dog ; which would point out the same idea to that people. JVisf^oc, or ^IDJ JV^esrcc, was the name of an Assy- rian idol, mentioned in 2 Kings xix. 37. Is. xxxvii. 38. The Chaldaic noun masculine is used in the plural number several times in Daniel ch. vi., for overseers, or presidents over inferior governors. It seems therefore to have been like Baal, and Molech, a general name in the Assyrian dialect, for the solar fire ; to whose anger Sennacherib probably attributed the destruction that his army met with at Jerusalem ;** and therefore went to his temple to appease him after his return, where he was slain by his sons.** On, pK, or [}< t/lim or ^n, signifying " labour or activity, ^^ was the appellation of an object of worship in Egypt. The LXX. have rendered it as the name of a city, in Gen. xli. 45. 50. xlvi. 20; and given it the name of Heliopolis, or the city of the Sun, because in that city, according to Herodotus, *" and Strabo,'' there was an annual assembly in honour of the sun; and a temple dedicated to him. Cyril, who was patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt, says, in his commentary on Hosea, that On, among the Egyptians, meant the sun: and it is probable, as Parkhurst observes, that it got that name as descriptive of its incessant labour, and unwearied ac- tivity to run its race.^ Pi-beseth (riDi"*t3) is evidently a dialectical variation of ntJ^^'^fi? meaning The shy, or shame-faced goddess, and was the name of a city in Egypt,*" which the LXX. render by a word evidently corrupted from the Hebrew or Egyptian name, viz. Bov^acrov, and the Vulgate has Boubasti; in which city, according to Herodotus,^ was » Isaiah xxxvii. 36. *> 2 Kings xix. 37. ' Lib. ii. cap. 59. 73. •^Lib. xvii. <= Ps. xix, 6, 7, ^ Ezek. xxx. 17. s Lib. ii, cap. 59. 137 o8l AMlQLUriKS OK TUK JEWS. u famous temple to the l\kj;yptiiu\ idol Bor,3a(T"(s. who. savs lie, is in Givek ealled ApTFWu. Now the (ireek Aprt(«s mciuis tl»e moon, whieh has often been denomi- nated »' meek eyed :" aiid her symhol was a eat, as having tlie sins;idar power of seeing in tlie dark ; or a eat*s head added to tl\e body of a fen\ale. The pianets are mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. o, as ob- jeets of woi-ship. They were considered as tlie habita- tions of the deities whose names they bear. The Qu('a) of htavcfu or the Moon^ is mentioned as an object of idoh\trons woi*slup in Jer. vii. IS. xliv. 17, IS, 19 : no doubt on account of their gratitude for her light during the night, and her influence on vegetation and the tides. The idolatrous Israelites, in the above- mentioned passages, are said to have burnt incense, poured out drink -offerings, aud baked sacred cakes to this luminary. JRtmphan, mentioned in Acts vii. -K>, is the Egyp- tian name for Saturn, and is so translated by the LXX. Saturn was the same as Chiun. of wliich we have already spoken, and it was customary for them, at ccrtaii\ stated times, to carry about the tabernacles and symbols of their divinities. Hence Stephen says of the Israelites in the wilderness, that they •• took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of tiieir god Remphan," or Saturn, the name of one d tlie planets. Lightfoot. in his Commentary on the Acts. cli. vii. 4l>, however, gives a diflerent etymology to the woni. For he thinks that Remphan is compounded either of the Hebi*ew word Ql Rrm, and <*>a^)v) to shine, meaning •• the high- shiner" — or of 01 /»Vm, and Q'J2 ptnini, •* the high faces, or I'epi'csentation.** not only of Saturn, but of all the host of heaven : a part being taken for the whole.* • Vol. i. p. rs-i. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 585 Rirnrnon, or po") Rc/rnun, w^lich ^\'^u\\'n:s a pomef^ra- nutej was a Syrian idol, and is rn(:ntionf:fl 2 Kin^s v. 18. It is thoijj^ht by J^a.rkhurst to have represented the fixed stars ; hut from the followinj^ passage, which he fjiiotes from Mr. Bryant/ it would rather ap[>ear to fiave represented Jupiter. " Aehilles Tatiiis mentions an aneicnt temple at Pelusium in Kgypt, in which was a statue of the deity styled Zeus Casius f Jupiter Casius,) holding this mysterious fruit (meaning the pomegranate) in her hand. We may from hence infer," adds Bryant, *Hhat he was upon mount Casius worshipped in the same attitude ; and the god Kimmon, mentioned in the sacred writer-s, was probably represented in the like manner." iSkcdim, Dnji^j or The pourern forthy hit men- tioned as objects of idolatrous worship in Deut. xxxii. 17. Ps. cvi. 37, but they are rendered "devils" in our translation. From the latter of these passages it appears, that the Canaanites wor-shipped these Shedim, and from them the valley of Siddim, or Shedim, of which we read in Gen. xiv. 3, 8, 10, was probably denominated. Park- hurst supposes that they represented the heavens, as the pourer-s forth of blessings, and that to them may be re- ferred the MultimammisFi, or many-breasted idols, which were worshipped among the heathen. Thus, for instance, Macrobius informs us*' that " the whole body of the Egyptian goddess IsLs was clustered over with breasts, because all things are sustained and nourished by the earth, or nature." And of this many-breasted kind was the idol of the Ephesian Diana, mentioned Acts xix. 24, which Octavius*^ thus describes : '• The Ephesian Diana wag formed with many breasts and nipples."*' " New System, voL ii. p. 3Sl. *> Saturrjal. Lib i. cap. 10. " In Minucius Felix, cap. 21. ^ " Diarui — EpiiMu muiti* mainr&i* 'it uberibuB extructa." See more in Park. Lex. rp»r, v Vol. I. 4 E 586 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. SemeL 700? is, in our translation, rendered generally, '■' an idol, or image;" but, from a comparison of 2 Chron. xxxiii. 7, with 2 Kings xxi. 7, it is manifest, that what- ever be the precise idea of the word, as an object of worship, it is equivalent to HICN ^^shre^ or " the blesser :" and consequently was a female deity, perhaps a Venus, as Parkhurst conjectures. It appears from 2 Chron. xxxiii. 7, that Manasseh impiously " placed a carved image of this Seniel (7OD') which he had made, in the house of God," that is, within the precincts of the temple ; and probably near the northern gate of the in- ner court, where we find it set up afterwards in Ezek. viii. 3, 5 ; in the former of which verses it is called Semel, or the image provoking to jealousy. — It appears from Deut. iv. 15, 16, that they had Semels of different sexes, for they are enjoined to take heed to themselves, lest they be corrupted, and make to themselves a graven image, the representation of any Semel, the likeness of male or female." It is conjectured that from this Semel the Greeks had their Semele, the mother of Bacchus, whom she bare to Jupiter. Shen ?j;*, which signifies The changer, or reneiver, was a god of the Philistines, to whom they dedicated a temple in the city of that name ; Beth-shan, or rc* HO Bithshen, meaning " the temple of Shen," and giving name to the city. It seems to have represented the sea- sons, as the changers or renewers of the year. And the reason why the Philistines fastened the body of Saul to the wall of Beth-shan, or the temple of Shen, was to tes- tify their acknowledgments to it, as the conqueror i)f their enemies. It is true, indeed, that although the ori- ginal in 1 Sam. xxxi. 10, expressly says, that the body of the Jewish king was fastened to the ivall (n.tDIHD ^^" humeth) of Bethshan ; it is said in 2 Sam. xxi. 12, to have been taken from the street (^mo Mereheb) Beth- J FALSE DEITIES KNOWK AMOXG THE JEWS. 587 ^ha% by the valour of the men oC Jabesh-gilead; but thk ought not to overturn the idea of Shen being an idcd ; for when the same act of valo^ir by the men of Jabesli- gilead is mentioned in ] :xi. 12, the word wall 15 retained. '<■-'' f; taken down the bodies of Sau: -ti but from the wall 'r*;*'"': - TTic true htcit'; of *' .':■•: - city was r : to the temple was called '. -• h : e tem- ple of Shen : - re- hem in theiacre P.. . xxxi. ' ' ''stines filter ' his -■n oftheter;.^.:^, ,. ---' , ".vhJch thev hac D: :ir io 2 C P -orms- t^ -.he f ' J' xiL^iL 11; 1 jn camps and 1 \.:-:-;'. . i. 1 . ' L/^ l^ri' ;i.:. h.v. w- _ :;«; II 588 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. deserts, that is to say, both in solitude and society. 2d, The goat was deified in Egypt, and was a generic term for Pan, Faunus, and Satyr ; and Diodorus says, ^^ that they not only retained it among the gods, but their priests were initiated to it ])efore they could perform their priestly office."* Maximus Syrius says, " they wor- shipped the cow, the sheep, and the goat."'' Herodotus, speaking of the Mendesii in Egypt, says, " they all wor- ship goats, and the males rather than the females."* Diodorus Siculus, in the above-mentioned place, says, that '^ they deified the goat for the same reason that the Greeks worshipped Priapus." Strabo says the same thing.'' And Lucian tells us in his Elxov, that ^^ if one looked at the Egyptian temples without, they were large and beautiful ; but if you sought for a god within, you would only find an ape, a stork, a goat, or a cat." It ap- pears, then, that the Shorim were idols of the hirci- footed kind, as Pan, Faunus, Sylvanus, Satyri, Silenus, &c. and that their worship was grossly impure, like the na- ture of the animals they worshipped. It was no wonder, then, that God prohibited offering sacrifices to these Shorim in Levit. xvii. 7, after which the Israelites had gone a whoring when they dwelt in Egypt. For Bochart tells us, that " in the Egyptian worship of the goat, some women, from religious motives, basely exposed themselves to these sacred animals:"® of which Pindar, Strabo, Elian, and Herodotus give ample proofs ; and Plutarcli*^ posi- tively tells us that " the Mendesian goat in Egypt is said to have been shut up with many beautiful women, not naturally lascivious, but preferring goats," I suppose-, from religious motives. It was to this abominable prac- tice, and the perverse taste it introduced, that the pure » Biblioth. lib. i. p. 78, 79. '' Dissert. 38. "= Euterp. cap. 46. << Geogr. lib. xvii. ' De Animal. Sacr. p. i. col. 642. ' In Gryllo, p. 989. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 589 and holy God had a particular respect, when he dictated the laws against bestiality in Levit. xviii. 23, 24. Succoth benoth, or niJl HIDD^ Secuth benuth, was a Babylonish idol, and transplanted by them into Judea, when they came to people the land after the captivity of the tribes.* The words may literally be rendered ^^ the tabernacles of the daughters — or of the young women ; or if Benuth be taken as the name of a female idol, from nJD, Bern to build up, or procreate children, then the words will express " the tabernacles sacred to procrea- tion ; and, agreeably to this latter exposition, the Rab- bins say that the emblem was ^^ a hen and chickens." But however this be, there is little reason to doubt, as Parkhurst has justly observed, but these seciiih were ta- bernacles wherein young women exposed themselves to prostitution, in honour of the Babylonish goddess My- litta. Herodotus^ gives the following account of this de- testable service : " Every young woman of the country of Babylon must, once in her life, sit at the temple of Aphrodite, or Venus (whom he afterwards tells us the Assyrians called Mylitta,) and prostitute themselves to some stranger. Those who are rich, and so disdain to mingle with the crowd, present themselves before the temple in covered chariots, attended by a great retinue; but the generality of the women sit near the temple, having crowns of cord upon their heads, some continually coming and others going. Ropes are placed in such a manner as to afford a free passage among the women, that the strangers may choose whom they please. A wo- man, who has seated herself in this place, must not re- turn home till some stranger has cast money into her lap, led her from the temple, and defiled her. The stranger who throws the money must say, ' I invoke the goddess a 2 Kings xvii. 30. •» Lib. i. cap. 199. 590 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Mylitta for thee.' The money, however small a sum it be, must not be refused, because it is appointed to sacred uses. The woman must follow the first man that offers, and not reject him; and after prostitution, having now duly honoured the goddess, she is dismissed to her own house. In Cyprus, adds the historian, they have the same custom." Strabo* mentions the above practice. Baruch, vi. 43, alludes to it ; and, perhaps, it is to this also that Amos refers, ch. ii. 8. when, speaking of the sinful prac- tices of the Israelites, he says that " they lay them- selves down upon the clothes laid in pledge (Dv!3n^ Hebelim, surrounded by cords) by or near every altar ; and they drink the wine of the condemned (D^^W Onushim of the fines) in the house of their god." The sun is spoken of in 2 Kings xxiii. 5. as an object of idolatrous worship, and was worshipped under the different names of Adrammelech, Baal, Beth-shemesh, &c. as may be seen in the foregoing articles. In 2 Kings xxiii. 11, we find that the kings of Judah had so far corrupted themselves, as to dedicate horses and cha- riots to this luminary ; aud we are informed from Ezek. viii. 16, that they commonly worshipped it with their faces to the east. Tartak, or pJllH? Therthek, was the aleim or idol of the Avites, mentioned in 2 Kings xvii. 31. It seems compounded of *iri^ Ther, to go about, and pjl*!? R^- thehj to swathe or gird round as with a chain, alluding to the motion of the planets, who go about the sun, and are girt to it by the invisible power of God, as with a . chain, to which invisible power philosophers have given the name of gravitation. Job uses a similar expression in ch. xxxviii. 9 ; and the Jews have a tradition that a Lib. xvi. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 591 the emblematical idol for this power, to which they gave the name of Tartak, was an ass, which seems not im- probable, as that animal is stupid, like inactive matter, and when confined by a rope to its pasture, might rudely represent the general law of gravitation, which chains the planets to the sun, and preserves them in their or- bits round that luminary. The Teraphim, or D*i3*)n^ Therepim, were repre- sentative images of the great object of religious awe and veneration. So Jehovah is called ^^ the fear of Isaac,"" and the Jews are commanded to have the Lord of hosts for their fear and their dread.'' There is not the least reason to think that either Laban or Micah had any other aleim than Jehovah.'' Their Teraphim, therefore, in Gen. xxxi. 30, 32, and Judg. xviii. 24, could only be intended to represent Jehovah, and, perhaps, had some resemblance to the cherubim, but less as to size,*^ and employed only for private uses. They did wrong, how- ever, in multiplying representations of these cherubic figures, and thereby gave an opening to the practice of idolatry. It was probably from these Teraphim that the Penates, or household gods of the heathens, took their rise, and to whom, likewise, they burnt incense. The carriage of Micah's Teraphim, or car on which the Danites carried it off in solemn procession, is mentioned in Judg. xviii. 21. Thammuz, or tl^n Themuz, is mentioned as the name of an idol Ezek. viii. 14, for which the Jewish wo- men are said to have sat weeping before the north gate of the temple. The general opinion is, that it was the same as Adonis, and is so interpreted by Jerom, who ob- serves, that Adonis is in the Hebrew and Syriac called » Gen. xxxi. 42. SZ. ^ Is. viii. 18. ' Gen. xxxi. 24. 49, 50. 53. Judg. xvii. 3, 4, 5. 13. xviii. 19. 31 •^ Judg. xvii.4. 592 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Thammuz. Now it is well known that Adonis was a Syrian idol, of whose worship, as celebrated in the tem- ple of Venus at Byblus, in Syria, we have an account in Lucian,^ as follows : ^' The Syrians," says he, '^ af- firm that what the boar is reported to have done against Adonis was transacted in their country, in memory of which accident they every year beat themselves and la- ment, and celebrate frantic rites, and great wailings are appointed through the country ; and after they have beaten themselves and lamented, they first perform fune- ral obsequies to Adonis, as to one dead, and afterwards, on the next or a subsequent day, they feign that he is alive, and ascended into the air or heaven, and shave their heads, as the Egyptians do at the death of Apis." The account given by Julius Firmicus is rather diff'erent, but it might be occasioned by a difference of rites in different countries and ages. " Upon a certain night," says he, ^* while the solemnity lasted, an image was laid in a bed, and after a great lamentation made over it, light was brought in, and the priest, anointing the mouths of the assistants, whispered to them that salva- tion was come, that deliverance was brought to pass."** Parkhurst seems inclined from the above, and other evi- dence, to suppose that Thammuz was originally designed to represent the promised Saviour, the desire of all na- tions ; and that it might have been derived from Dn^ Them, " to put an end to," and 112, mez, '" heat, wrath, or punishment," in allusion to Christ, who made an end of sin, and brought in an everlasting righteousness. — Such were the principal heathen deities which the . apostate Israelites foolishly worshipped, and for the ex- planation of which I have been much indebted to Park- hurst and Spencer. » De Dea Syria. •> See more in Spearman's second letter on the Septuagint, FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 593 SECT. II. The Places where they were worshipped, and the Manner of worshipping them. Sehind their doors; on the roofs of their houses ; in the gates of their cities ; ia gardens ; high places ; groves. The houses of their gods ; their altars : of exquisite workmanship; generally high. Reasons why their altars were high ; why they worshipped in high places. Why high places were forbidden by Moses ; and yet tolerated under the first temple. — Idols worshipped by adorning them ; kissing the hand 5 dancing before them ; crying aloud ; cut- ting themselves ; feasting and obscenity. Let us next attend to the places where they were worshipped. These were various, according to the taste of the worshippers ; for sometimes they had their images behind their doors,* to serve as tutelary deities, in direct opposition to the divine law, which forbade aoy image to be made, and enjoined them to write on the door-posts of their houses, and on their gates, the words of God's law.** Sometimes their idolatrous worship was performed on the roofs of their houses,'' which being flat, and either paved with brick or tile, or covered with strong terrace cement, were both near at hand and con- venient. On these, therefore, the idolatrous Jews built altars of brick, "^ in direct contradiction to the divine command,^ and burnt incense to their ideal divinities. Sometimes their worship was performed in the gates of the cities, the places of public concourse,^ as if to set decency, and a respect to public opinion, at defiance ; and at last altars to Baal were in every street of Jerusa- lem.^ Sometimes they worshipped in their gardens,'^ as places of coolness and retreat, to which the easterns frequently resort from the scorching rays of the sun. a Isaiah Ivii. 8. •> Deut vi. 9. xi. 20, = 2 Kings xxiii. J2. Jer. xix. 13. xxxii. 29. Zeph. i. 5. ^ Is. Ixv. 3. « Exod. XX, 25, f 2 Kings xxiii. 8. e Jer. xi. 13. ^ I«- Ixv, S, Vol. L ^ 4 F 594 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. Hence Isaiah says of his corrupted countrymen, in ch. i. 29, that " they should be confounded for the gardens they had chosen." But their idolatrous rites were most commonly observed on some elevated place without their cities. Thus Josiah, with a laudable zeal for the glory of God, and the reformation of religion, demolished the high places that were before Jerusalem," which were on the right hand of the Mount of Olives ; but on account of the idolatry practised on it, emphatically styled the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, in his old age, had built at the solicitation of his strange wives ;^ and we are told in Jer. ii. 20. iii. 2, 6. Ezekiel vi. 13, that the idolatrous Jews had images upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree^ and under every thick oak. Indeed, groves were very early applied to idolatrous worship. For, although in Abraham's time they were planted to Jehovah, to create veneration in the worship- pers, prevent distraction of thought by surrounding ob- jects, and direct the attention upwards to heaven,*^ yet, in the practice of his posterity they were soon employed to worse purposes ; for they were the retreats of idola- try, and the haunts of debauchery.*^ These groves appear to have been often of oak, from the thickness of their foliage. Accordingly, it is said of the idolatrous Israel- ites in Is. i. 29, that '<^ they should be ashamed of the oaks which they had desired :" and Hosea classes seve- ral of these trees together ' in the following passage : '^ They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks, and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is good."^ In- deed, groves of this species of wood, but particularly of » 1 Kings xi. 7. ''2 K'ngs xxiii. 13. ' Gen. xxi. 33. * Judg. ill. 7. 1 Kings xv. 13. 2 Kings xxiii. 7. Is, Ivii. 5—8. Ezek. xvi. 25—34 * Hosea iv. 13. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 595 oak, were common also among the heathen. Every scholar will recollect the oracle of Jupiter in the oaks of Dodonaj and the interesting accounts of Tacitus/ and of Pliny/ of the ancient druids or priests of the oaks. But, although the idols were worshipped in these retreats, it was with very different degrees of pomp. For some- times there was only a single idol, and sometimes more ; sometimes they were in the open air, and sometimes un- der a canopy, or in a temple. In the early times of the Jewish history, however, the Biths, or houses of their gods, were extremely simple, merely a screen from the weather, as a thick oak, and, not unfrequently, only another word for a sacred inclosure, like the Grecian refiEvri ; for it is worthy of remark that Moses, who, in Deut. vii. 5. xii. 3, is very particular in commanding the Israelites to destroy the other appendages of the Canaanites' idolatry, never mentions their sacred build- ings; nor do we ever read of them in the Book of Joshua. But in the subsequent part of their history, these Biths were frequently used as houses for one or more of their ideal divinities, and were sometimes of large size, and exquisite workmanship. Thus, in Ezek. viii. 10, 11, xxiii. 14, we find them full of images pourtrayed upon the wall. Nay, even the groves were ornamented as places of luxury and lust : for we find women em- ployed in making hangings for them in 2 Kings, xxiii. 7, and the women of Israel are accused by the prophet Ezekiel, xvi. 16, of taking their garments to deck the high places with divers colours, where they played the harlot. •= Hitherto we have said nothing of their altai^ on which they sacrificed to these pretended deities. Let us now observe that they were sometimes of beautiful workman- ■» De Morib. Ger. •» Nat. Hist.. Lib. xvii. cap. 44- ' See also Amos ii. 8 596 AIVJTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ship, but, whether they were ornamented or not, they were generally high. Thus Pausanias,* when describing a certain Olympic altar, says, that " the whole height of the altar was twenty-two feet;" and a little after he adds of an altar of Diana, that ^^ it raised its steps by degrees aloft." The reasons assigned for their height were various ; 1st, To supply the defect of hills in low situations. Thus Apollonius Rhodius^ says that '^ the Argonauts erected a high altar on the first shore." 2dly, To remove them beyond the chance of casual pol- lution : and 3dly, To distinguish the altars of the dii superi from those of the dii inferi, which were sunk in a pit, and scarcely level with the ground. — But, if they had reasons for their high altars, they had also reasons for their high places. 1st, Because they thought they would be easier heard on these eminences. Thus Taci- tus says, that "those groves especially (which were situated on mountains) approached heaven, and that the prayers of mortals could nowhere be nearer heard by the gods."" And Lucian** says the same. 2dly, They supposed high mountains to be the thrones of the gods, as Olympus, Ida, Sec, and therefore thought them the fittest temples.*^ And 3dly, As the sun and planets were then objects of worship, it was natural to ascend to elevated situations, where the air was more pure, and where, of course, they could see them the more clearly, and be free from the interruptions attending a crowd. From what we have said of these high places we can easily see the reason why they were forbidden in the law of Moses : for they inclined the people to heathenismj they struck against the unity of God and the unity of " Lib. V. '' Lib. ii. ' Eos maxime lucos (montis nempe) propinquare coslo, prscesque moi-taliuro a Deis nusquam propius audiri. (Annal. Lib. xiii.) ^ DcDea Syria. « Homer, Iliad, xxii. 170. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 597 worship^ by withdrawing them from the common altar of burnt- offering, and they turned their thoughts back to Egypt, where these high altars originated, on account of the level nature of the country, and the annual over- flow of the Nile. Hence the obelisks and pyramids with which that country abounded : and hence the words of Lucan when treating of the rites of Egypt, " vows are paid at the lofty altars of the pyramids.'''' After all, there was hardly any time, as Bishop Lowth justly re- marks, in his note upon Is. ii. 8, when they were quite free from this irregular and unlawful practice, which they seem to have looked upon as very consistent with the true worship of God, and which seems in some mea- sure to have been tolerated while the tabernacle was re- moved from place to place, and before the temple was built. Even after the conversion of Manasseh, when he had removed the strange gods, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel, it is added, "^ never- theless the people did sacrifice still on the high places ; yet, unto the Lord their God only.'"' The worshipping on the high places, therefore, although it originated in a great measure from the heathen practice, and too often led to it, did not necessarily imply idolatry. From what is said of Uzziah and Jotham in 2 Kings xv. 3, 4, 34, 33, that they did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, by adhering to, and maintaining the legal worship of God in opposition to idolatry, and all irregu- lar worship, save that the high places were not removed, where the people still sacrificed and burnt incense ; we may presume that the public exercise of idolatrous wor- ship was not permitted in their time. The idols, there- fore, to which the people sacrificed and burnt incense might have been the teraphim, which were commonly » " Votaque pyramidum celsas sqlvuntur ad aras." *> 2 Chron, xxxiii. 17. 398 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. designed for private use, as household gods, but were also used for idolatrous and superstitious purposes, par- ticularly for divination, and as oracles, which they con- sulted for direction in their affairs. — Yet, as it is gene- rally known that many of the Jews did cast off their re- gard for God, and joined in the idolatrous rites of the heathen, it may be proper to say a few words concerning thei?^ manner of worship, of which we have some hints in Scripture, besides those which have already been given, when describing the different idols. Thus, they painted these idols with vermilion sometimes, and spotted them w other kinds of paint. They made convenient places 1 .hem, where they were either chained to pre- vent tht . Tailing, or set them in niches of a wall." They adorned them with silver, gold, and broidered garments, and set meat before them,'' and sometimes the idolaters joined in their feasts, *" offered sacrifice and incense to them,*^ cut off their hair,^ like Lavinia in Virgil, *^ and kissed their hand to the sun, in token of veneration. Accordingly, Job says^ " If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge ; for I should have denied the God that is above." This custom is confirmed by several later heathen au- thors; for Lucian, Yiegi o^xYiasGy;, mentions the Greeks even in his time, '' worshipping the sun, by kissing their hand, and then thinking their adoration complete." Minutius Felix, cap. 2, remarks that when the heathen Csecilius observed the statue of Serapis, " he, according to the custom of the superstitious vulgar, moving his hand to his mouth, kissed it with his lips." And Apu- a Wisdom xiii. 14, 15. '' Ezek, xvi. 17, 18, Baruch vi. 9—15. 27. 30. <^ Ezek. viii.6, 11. 15. xxii. 9. ^ E^ek. vi. 13. eJer.vii. 29. f jEneid, vii. 391. e Ch. xxxi. 26, 27, 28. FALSE DEITIES KNOWN AMONG THE JEWS. 599 leiiis,* who lived in the second century, speaking of one jEmilian, probably a Christian, says, "■ If he passes by a temple, he thinks it wicked to move his hand to his lips as a sign of adoration.'' We have several other of these practices in Is. Ixvi. 3, where, in speaking of the idolatrous Israelites, God thus describes his detestation of their conduct : /*^ He that killeth an ox (in sacrifice to me,) is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, is as if he cut off a dog's neck ; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood ; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol." But, besides the ordinary rites of idol worship, there were some that might be called extraordinary, because practised at their solemn festivals. Thus, they had their religious pro- cessions of the image of their idol on men's shoulders,^ on the backs of animals, or drawn in a car,'' like the Juggernaut of the Hindoos, and religious dances in honour of these idols,** like David when he danced before the ark.^ They cried aloud, and cut them- selves with knives and lances :^ like the priests of Bel- lona, the Roman goddess of war, who are described by Lactantius as cutting their shoulders, and as running like madmen with drawn swords. ^ They glutted the cruelty of their deities with human victims, and even with their own children : like the king of Moabin 2 Kings iii. 27. And many, to testify their adherence to their favourite idol, marked the hand, or some other part of the body, with its name or ensign. Hence the mark of the beast in Rev. xix. 20. xx. 4, and the determined resolution of the faithful to adhere to the true God in Is. xliv. 5 : *^ One shall say I am the Lord's, and another shall call » Apol. p. 496. <> Baruch vi. 26. " Is. xlvi. 1, 2. d Picart, Cerem. and Relig. Customs of all Nations, vol. iii. p. 87, 88, 120, 160, 177, 234. Eng. edit. fol. « 2 Sam. vi. 14. ^ 1 Kings, xviii. 26. 28, 8 Lib i. cap. 21, See also Lucan Pharsal. Lib. i, verse 565. 600 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand (or rather inscribe his hand) to the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." Amidst such perversion of the worship of the true God, and inclination to the worship of idols, it was not to be wondered at that the divine patience was exhausted, and that he sent them into captivity, that they might experience the difference between his service and that of their despotic conquerors. In 2 Kings, xvii. 6 — 18, we have an affecting vindication of the divine conduct in the punishing of this highly favoured but re- bellious people. SECT. III. The various Kinds of Divination. By the cup ; by magic ; applying to wise men ; sorcery, male and female ; the flight of birds ; motions of serpents; observing the clouds ; consulting Aub ; palmistry ; divination ; charming ; necromancy ; consulting those who peeped and muttered ; conjuration ; star-gazing ; applying to monthly prognostica- tors, and dreanaers ; rhabdomancy ; consulting teraphim ; and soothsayers. The firet intimation we have of this art is in Gen. xliv. 4, 5, where Joseph's steward says to his brethren, <^ wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good ? Is not this it (meaning Joseph's cup,) in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth ? Ye have done evil in so doing :" viz. in stealing it from him. The question, therefore, here is, how Joseph could divine by the cup, which he had caused to be put secretly into the sack's mouth ? I may observe, that some have ascribed it to - the magical figures which were engraved on it, and others to the appearance of the liquor when poured into it, or to its known effect in elevating the spirits ; but the most natural explanation is that which is given by Parkhurst (verb CTli;) aiid which removes every idea THE VARIOUS KINDS OF DIVINATION. 601 of divination. His words are, " Is not this it in which my lord drinketh ? and, for which, searching he would search (tS^n^ ^H^ JVehesh inehesh,) or would surely accurately search? Ye have done evil in so doing." Here every idea of divination disappears, and the natural one occurs, that a cup which was so much used must soon have been missing, and they suspected of the theft. In Gen. XXX. 27, and 1 Kings xx. 33, the word is translated as Parkhurst has done it. The Arabic confirms this sense, by rendering the verse in the same manner, ^^ And he hath tried you by it." And the Chaldee makes it, " searching he has searched," or, " he has made dili- gent search for it." The second intimation we have of divination is in Gen. xli. 8, where it is said, that ^^ Pha- raoh called the magicians of Egypt, and the wise men thereof, to interpret his dreams. Here the magicians or heretmim (Q^^D'^n) were a kind of diviners which the Septuagint have rendered sometimes i^Yiyritai, inter- preters or explainers of something secret ; tTtaoL^oi, en- chanters : ^apjiaxoiy conjurors by drugs. Nor do the Greek Hexaplar versions, or the Vulgate, by their translations, throw any more light upon the strict and proper meaning of the word, which may perhaps be best considered as a compound of D"ld heret, a pen, or in- strument to write or draw with, and QH the?n^ to per- fect or accomplish, and so denote those who were perfect in drawing these sacred, astrological, and hieroglyphical figures or characters, and by means of them pretended to extraordinary feats (as Exod. vii. 11. 22,) among which was the interpretation of dreams. In short, they seem to have been such persons as Josephus'' calls hpoypa^^alELg, sacred scribes, or professors of sacred learning, one of whom, he says, foretold Moses's birth •* Antiq. Lib. ii, cap, 9. Vol. L 4 G 602 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. to the king of Egypt ; for they are eminent, adds he, for truly predicting futurities. It was no wonder then, that Pharaoh applied to them to interpret his dreams " and as for the luise men (HDV^DH? Ecemim) whom he called at the same time, they were men who pretended to wisdom in the magical arts, and are uniformly called Go^oi by the Septuagint. The third intimation we have of divination is in Exod. vii. 11, where it is said that Pharaoh ^'^ called the wise men and the sorcerers ; and that the magicians of Egypt did in like manner as Moses with their enchantments." Here we have three classes of persons. 1st, the wise men, or Ecemim^ mentioned in the former article. 2d, the sorcerers {O^^'2'O ^^- ceshepim^) or those who pretended to discover things hidden, by compositions of drugs, whether vegetable, mineral, or animal, and whom the Septuagint always render by ^apfiaxov, a drug, or some of its derivatives. And, 3dly, the magicians, or heretmim, mentioned in the former article. The 4th intimation we have of divina- tion is in Exod. xxii. 18, where it is said, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live ;" which, from the English translation, would signify those w^omen who pretended to have intercourse with the devil ; but, as the original word for " witch" is HSC^DO Meceshepe, which is the feminine of that which was rendered " sorcerer" under the former article, it naturally refers to those sorceresses who pretended to discover things hidden by pharmaceu- tical compositions."* The 5th' intimation we have of di- vination is in Lev. xix. 26, where it is said that " they should neither use enchantment nor observe times." The word for enchantment is jj^n^ JS/ehesh to augur, to * The learned reader may find some account of these abominable processes, as practised by the heathen, in Potter's Antiquities of Greece, Book ii. ch. 18 in Horace, Epod. v., and the Notes of the Dolphin edition : in Ovid Metam Lib. vii. f:ib. 2 ; and Lucan, Lib. vi. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF DIVINATION. 603 use auguries^ to observe attentively some natural phe- nomenon;, as the flight of birds, the bowels of animals^ and the motions of serpents, which Nehesh also signifies, in order to divine futurities ; and this is well joined with " observing times or the clouds," (p*))? Ounen) for ob- serving the clouds was another species of augury. The 6th intimation we have of divination is in Lev. xix. 31, where it is said, ^^ Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them." The word for familiar spirits is fl^J^ Aheihy and in the singular Ah and Aub. It is very differently used in Scripture. Thus, it sometimes signifies "^ the belly," and hence the Septuagint render it almost al- ways '' belly, or speaking from the belly ;" sometimes a leathern bottle, as in Job xxxii. 19, " My belly is ready to burst like new bottles ;" sometimes it signifies a ventriloquist, pretending that he has connection with a familiar spirit that speaketh out of the ground, as in Is. xxix. 4 ; sometimes an impure spirit, which the hea- then seers consulted about things hidden, lost, or future; things said or done by persons absent ; or about persons seized with any disease. Thus, Lev. xx. 17, ^^a man or woman that hath an Aub or familiar spirit shall be put to death." Deut. xviii. 11, ^^a consulter of Aubs or familiar spirits." And 1 Sam. xxviii. 8, where Saul said to the pythoness at Endor, '^ divine unto me by the Aub or familiar spirit." Lastly, it is sometimes taken for real or pretended possessions. Bochart says the word is Egyptian ; but Spencer makes it Hebrew, and thinks that the Obion and Hoff of Kircher, in his Ono- masticon Copticum, which Bochart adopts, might have been introduced into Egypt by the Jews that travelled into that country. Those who consulted the python or pythoness commonly went at night, who answered, as is thought; either from the belly, like a ventriloquist, or 604 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. from the earth, or by means of some spectre, fictitious or real, like the pythoness of Endor. We read of a pythoness in the New Testament, but when or how she was consulted is not said. We are only told, that there was at Philippi in Macedonia a certain damsel possessed of a spirit of divination [nvsv^a JlvQidvo^, a spirit of Py- thon, or Apollo, the same kind of spirit which actuated the pythoness at Delphi when she delivered responses,) who brought her masters great gain by soothsaying — and who was dispossessed of the demon by Paul.^ Ap- plying to such persons was strictly forbidden ; for it was one of the vanities of Egypt, which they were forbidden to imitate ; it was derogatory to the divine Being ; it was against their covenant engagements to be the Lord's only : and it seems to have been one to which they were much addicted ; for it is no less than thrice prohibited in the compass of a few verses.'' — So much then for the familiar spirits mentioned in Levit. xix. 31 : let us next attend to " the wizards" which are there mentioned. The word in the original (CD^^i^l* idonim) literally means those fortune-tellers who, by palmistry, or other knowledge of the human body, endeavoured to persuade men that they could inform them of their fate. Hence the Septuagint call them yvacitOLf or knowing ones : and to prevent the Israelites from applying to them the law was promulgated. The 7th intimation we have of divi- nation is in Deut. xvii. 10, 11, where it is said, *^ There shall not be found among you one that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wi-- zard, or a necromancer ; for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." The word DDp heseniy => Acts xvi. 16 — 18. •> Levit. xix. 31. xx. 6, 27. See also Spencer, Ue Legib. Hebr. Ritual, Lib. ii. cap. 21. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF DIVINATION. 605 which is rendered divination, gives us nothing very par- ticular, since it merely implies an attempt to dive into futurity. The word 1^)^ ounen, which is rendered ^^ an observer of times/' means literally "^ a cloud-mon- ger/' and was formerly explained under the 5th intima- tion. The word j^dJ nehesh, which is rendered " an enchanter," was already explained of augury, especially by serpents, in the fifth intimation, and more particu- larly in the 8th. The word ilJJ^DO meceshep, which is rendered a witch, is the same as a sorcerer in the third intimation. The word which is rendered ^'^ a charmer'" ("nlDn Heber,) means those who muttered a certain com- bination of words in the form of a spell or charm. The consulter with familiar spirits, means the consulters of Aub, formerly explained. The wizards were^he for- tune-tellers described in the 6th intimation. — And the Necromancers (tD^nOH Sk t^^l deresh al emethim) were the consulters of the dead, who dwelt in the se- pulchres, and lodged in the monuments, as Isaiah ex= presses it,"* for the purpose of obtaining dreams and re- velations.^ We have nothing farther that may be called new con- cerning divination, except its receiving countenance or discouragement, according to the corruption or piety of the age, till, in the 8th place, we come to Eccl. x. 11, where we read of enchantment by serpents, which was probably done as it is to-day in the east, by extracting the tooth or tusk, at the bottom of which the bag of poison lies, so as to make them harmless, and then teach- ing them to dance to the sound of music, to fold them- selves round their bodies, &c. so as to create the admi- ration of, and extract money from the vulgar. A 9th »Ch.lxv. 4. *" We have an instance of this kind of divination in Virgil. iEneid, vii, 86. 606 ANTIQUITIES Of THE JEWS. intimation we have of divination in Is. viii. 19, where God says to his ancient people, " When they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter : should not a people seek unto their God ?" Now, in this passage, we have, 1st, familiar spirits, ^l")12^^ Abuth, or consulters of Aub, already explained under the 6th intimation ; 2d, *^ wizards,'' or idonim D^i^l* meaning fortune-tellers, explained under the 6th intimation ; which in our trans- lation are said to peep and mutter: but the original makes these two other kinds of diviners. Thus the word tZJ^fiVfl^Dn Emetseptsepim, rendered '^^ that peep,*' means literally, " the curious observers" either of the clouds, flight of birds, or viscera of animals : and the word tD^JinOill Uemegim, rendered " and that mutter," literally means, '^ and the dissolvers" of dif- ferent kinds of drugs, thereby to discover magical se- crets. Like the Meceshepe mentioned under the 4th intimation. — The .10th intimation we have of divination, is in Is. xix. 3, where the prophet, when speaking of the Egyptians, says, " they shall seek to the idols and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards." In this passage we have, 1st, the " charmers," CD^t3i< Mim, which coming from a root that signifies "to stoop or incline," means, as Bate thinks, that kind of Egyptian conjurors so called, " from their creeping, stooping, and prying about, as diviners and soothsayers did." 2d, those that are said to " have familiar spirits," or t^'SZ'^ Abuth, were the consulters of Aub already noticed. And 3dly, the wizards, or idotiim- CD^Ji^l* were the fortune- tellers mentioned under the Cth intimation. The 11th intimation we have of divina- tion is in Is. xxix. 4, where the prophet says of Jerusa- lem, " Thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of THE VARIOUS KINDS OF DIVINATION. 60? the dust, and thy voice shall be of one that hath a fami- liar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall vvhis per out cf the dust." Here the original word for " fa miliar spirit" is 21^C *Bubj which gives us a key to the whole passage, for we saw, under the 6th intimation, that the pretenders to intimacy with Auh practised these arts when any consulted them. The 12th intimation we have of divination is in Is. xliv. 25. ^^lam the Lord — that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh di- viners mad." Where the original word DHD Bedimy translated ^Miars," means a sort of conjurors, who ob- tained their name from their affecting retirement and solitude, as many impostors did, to cover and give credit to their lies. And the original word ^i^'Op kesemim, rendered ^"diviners," means those who attempted to prognosticate future events by a sagacity superior to others : or rather, the rewards of divination that were given to such persons, by those who were so foolish as to consult them. The 13th intimation we have of divi- nation is in Is. xlvii. 9, 12, 13, where the prophet says, '' These two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood — for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for tlie great abundance of thine enchantments. Stand now with thine enchant- ments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prog- nosticators stand up and save thee." Here the word for ^^ sorceries" is iW'D ceshep, already explained un- der the 3d intimation, as alluding to the enchantments by the use of drugs. The word for ^^ enchantments" is "l^n Heher, a mutterer of spells, explained under the 7th intimation. The words D^DJ^ HDH Eberi shemim, rendered *^^ astrologers," mean those who divided the heavens into parts, or houses as they called them, for the more distinct contemplation of the situations and 608 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. configurations of the stars and planets, whence they pre- tended to collect the will of heaven, and to foretel future events. The words in the original, Q^^DID^ CD'?nrT Ehezim becuceMm, literally mean, what our translation has it, ^* stargazers," or those who gaze upon the stars, not for the purpose of astronomy, but astrology. And the word CD^^^HID rnurioim, rendered '^ monthly prog- nosticators," means they who prognosticated at every new moon the events that should happen to any person during it. — The 14th intimation that we have of divi- nation is in Jer. xxvii. 9. '' Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers.'* Where the original word for "diviners" is CD^^ODp kesemicem, the same with that mentioned under in- timation 12th. The original word for " dreamers,'' OD^1D7n Helemethicem, was applied, not to ordinary dreamers, but to those supernatural intimations of the divine will, given under the Old Testament dispensation to particular persons, as Joseph,** Pharaoh's butler and baker,^ Pharaoh himself,'' Nebuchadnezzar,'^ Daniel,*" and others. It was often intimated, however, by false prophets, in order to deceive. The original for " en- chanters" is CDDOi)? onenicem, and is the same as the cloudmongers, mentioned in the 5th intimation, who from the appearances of the heavens pretended to fore- tel futurities. And the original for '^ sorcerers" is DD^£3li^D ceshepicem^ explained under intimation 3rd, as referring to those who elicited futurities by certain pharmaceutical preparations. The 15th intimation we have of divination is in Ezek. xxi. 21, where it is said that " the king of Babylon stood in the parting of the » Gen. xxxvii. 5—11. ^ Gen. xl. 5—22. ' Gen. xl. 1—8. * Daniel ii. 31—35. iv. 10—18. < Ch. vii. 1—15 THE VARIOUS KINDS OF DIVINATION. 609 way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination : he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver/*' Here we have three species of divination mentioned. The 1st is rhabdomancy, or the consulting of staves (which Hosea, iv. 12, also notices,) and which was done either by writing, or otherwise marking on several rods or arrows the names of the cities which they intended to attack, and then putting them promiscuously into a quiver, from whence they drew them in the manner of lots, to determine on the city that was first to be attacked.^ This was certainly very unlike a regular campaign, but it marked the self- confidence of the monarch, and the oscitancy of eastern councils. The Afghauns practise this kind of divina- tion at the present day.** The second kind is ^^ the consulting of images," literally of terepim^ tD^fi'^n? which were probably a small kind of cherubim, and used as penates, or household gods. And the 3rd kind is called " looking into the liver,'' which was a very common mode of divination." — The 16th intimation we have of divination is in Daniel i. 20, where it is said^ that ^^ in all matters of wisdom and understanding, Ne- buchadnezzar inquired of Daniel and his companions, and found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm." Now the ori- ginal word for " magicians" is D»DD")rT Heretmim, or those who pretended to predict futurities, by the con- struction of astrological characters, already explained in intimation 2nd. And the word rendered " astrologers" is D^f^ti'K ^^shepim, which rather means conjurors ; for the word seems to be derived from one which signifies '^ to breathe," on account of the divine afiiatus to which a Prideaux, Con. A.A.C. 590. "> Elphlnslone's Cabul, Book ii. ch. 5. * See Potter's Antiq. of Greece, Book ii, ch. 14. Adams's Roman Antiq, art. Sacred Rites. Vol. L • 4 H 010 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. they laid claim. — The 17th intimation that we have of divination is in Dan. ii. 2, where it is said that the king of Babylon collected "^^ the magicians, and astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dream." We saw the meaning already of the heretmim, or magicians, under intimation 2nd, and of the ashepim or astrologers in the immediately preceding one. The '' sorcerers," or meceshni?n tD''^ti^^D were pretenders to divination, by mixing different herbs and extracting their virtues for magical purposes. And the Chaldeans were early renowned for their knowledge in astronomy and astrology. It was no wonder, then, that they were sought for by the king. — The last intimation that we have of divination, in the Old Testament, is in Dan. ii. 27, where it is said that ^^ the secret which the king had demanded could not the wise men, the astro- logers, the magicians, and the soothsayers, show unto the king." Here the original word for '^ wise men," is pD^DH Ecimirif already explained under intimation 2nd. The words for "astrologers" Tfi^K Ashepin, and '^ magicians" p^JO'lH Heretmin, are explained under intimation 16th. And as for the word rendered " sooth- sayers," JntJI gezerin, it imports those who pretended to foretel future events by cutting up animals and in- specting their entrails. They corresponded therefore with those whom the king of Babylon employed to look into the liver, Ezek. xxi. 21, and were explained under the 15th intimation. So much then for the very humiliating state in which the heathens were as to religioft ; and the criminality of the Jews in leaving the worship of the true God, and following after the lying vanities of their heathen neigh- bours. JEWISH SECTS, &C. 611 SECT. IV. Jewish Sects, and lesser Distinctions, in our Sa- viour^s Days. Enmity between Jews and Samaritans accounted for. Sadducees, their origin and tenets : Pharisees, their origin and tenets; this sect the most numerous and popular. — TheEssenes, practical and contemplative. The Herodians. — Chief priests ; Scribes, their office, and how our Lord's teaching differed from theirs. — The elders, lawyers, and publicans. Before the revolt of the ten tribes, the Jews had no other difference in religious matters than what arose from the temporally and spiritually minded ; the one observing the letter of the law, and the other endea- vouring to enter into its spirit. But after that time, the Jews and Samaritans publicly and perpetually differed, from each other. Every one who reads the sacred history will perceive this, and the grounds of the en- mity that subsisted between them were the following : In the first place, they were divided by national hatred, the one belonging to the kingdom of Judah, and the other to the kingdom of Israel ; so that they were fre- quently at war with .each other. 2ndly, Religious pre- judices widened the breach ; for Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did all he could to prevent his subjects from going to the festivals at Jerusalem, by erecting two idols at Bethel and Dan. 3rdly, The mixed multitude that were sent from Babylon, Cutha, Ava, Hamah, and Sepharvaim, to people the kingdom of Israel, after it was led away captive (A. M. 3295,) increased this ha- tred, by their blending their heathen worship with the religion of Moses ; and appearing as the greatest ene- mies of the Jews, in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, when they were engaged in rebuilding the city and temple of Jerusalem. 4thly, The temple on mount Gerizim that was built by Sanballat the Horonite 612 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. (A. M. 3595,) in opposition to the temple at Jerusalem, set altar against altar, and worship against worship. And 5thly, The enmity was rendered complete by the Samaritans rejecting the propliets and hagiographa ; the oral law, and traditions. It was no wonder, then that the woman of Samaria expressed her surprise to our Lord, when he asked her even for a draught of water j since it really was, as she said, that the Jews had no friendly dealings with the Samaritans.* If we advance to the times of our Saviour, we shall find the Jews divided into four different sects ; the Sad- ducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Herodians. The Sadducees derived their origin from Tzadoc, the disciple of Antigonus, who lived 240 years before Christ. This Antigonus had said to his disciples, " Be not as slaves who obey their masters for reward ; but obey, without hoping for any fruits of your labours. Let the fear of God be upon you." This certainly was a noble sentiment, but Tzadoc, the disciple of Antigonus, fa- vouring the sentiments of Epicurus, perverted it to mean, that there were no rewards nor punishments at all.'' The leading tenets of the Sadducees were, that they be- lieved in the Scriptures, but denied the oral law, and traditions of the elders ; denied fate ; deprived God of inspecting evil, and of all influence on what was good : and asserted that God set good and evil before men, and left them at liberty to do as they pleased. They also denied the immortality of the soul, and the existence of angels and spirits,*^ and were thus the freethinkers or infidels among the Jews. The following is the account " which Josephus gives of them. '^ As for the Sadducees, they say there is no such thing as fate, and that the con- » See a furihtr account of this people, and how they differed from the Jews, in Prideuux Connect. \. A.C. 107. 409. •» Fiideaux Connect. A. A. C. 370. ' Acts xxiii. 8. J'EWISH SECTS, &C. 613 sequences of human aifairs are not at its disposal ; but they suppose that all our actions are in our own power ; so that we are ourselves the causes of what is good, and receive what is evil from our own folly."'' In another place he tells us, that ^' the doctrine of the Sadducees is, that the souls die with the bodies. Nor did they regard the observance of any thing besides what the written law enjoined them — but tliis doctrine wa^ re- ceived but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they were able to do almost nothing for themselves (as a sect ;) for when they became magis- trates, as they were unwillingly and by force obliged to be, they conformed themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them.'"* In a third place, Josephus gives a farther account of them, in the following words. ^^ The Sad- ducees take away fate entirely, and suppose that God is not concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil ; and they say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men's own choice : and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please. They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards of Hades.''" A little after he adds, that " the behaviour of the Sad- ducees one to another is in some degree unnatural ; and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous, as if they were strangers to them." — Such is the account which Josephus gives of the Sad- ducees, and every one must see how consonant it is with what the Scriptures have said concerning them."^ The second sect among the Jews was that of the Pha- risees. These derived their name either from Peres, » Antiq. xiii. 5 ^ Anliq. xviil. 1 . ■: War, ii. 8. d See farther, Prideaux Conn. A . A. C. 107. 614 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. " to separate," because they affected to be holier than other men ; or because they believed in Paras, or a re- muneration after death, in opposition to the Sadducees, who denied the doctrine of rewards and punishments. The Scriptures tell us, that they made broad their phy- lacteries, offered up long and ostentatious prayers, even in the streets ; sounded a trumpet when giving alms, disfigured their faces that men might see when they fasted, and were fond of being called Rabbi, and of sit- ting in the uppermost seats at feasts ; that they washed their hands before meat, and frequently also their house- hold utensils ; ornamented the tombs of the prophets ; were anxious to make proselytes ; and to read the law in the Synagogue, but made it void by their traditions ; for they believed not only in the written and oral law, but made the oral the rule of interpreting the written, and taught their disciples, that when they appeared to clash, the oral was to be followed in preference to the written. Josephus several times makes mention of tfiis sect. Thus, in one place he says, '^ Now the Pharisees say, that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but are not caused by it."^ In another, when accounting for the unnatural hatred of Herod to his sons, he speaks thus of the Pharisees : '' We (Es- senes) are persuaded that human actions are thereby de- termined beforehand, by an inevitable necessity, and we call it Fate, because there is .nothing that is not done by it. Wherefore I suppose it will be sufficient to com- pare this notion with that other (of the Pharisees) which attributes somewhat to ourselves, and renders men not unaccountable for the different conduct of their lives ; which notion is no other than the philosophical deter- * Antiq. x'lii. 5. JEWISH SECTS, &C. 615 miiiation of our ancient law."'' In a third place he gives a fuller account still of their sentiments and habits. <^ Now the Pharisees live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet, and they follow the conduct of reason, and what that prescribes to them as good for them, they do. They also pay a respect to such as are in years, nor are they so bold as to contradict them in any thing that they have introduced : (by which I understand him to mean the traditions of the elders.) And when they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of doing as they think fit ; since their notion is, that it hath pleased God to make a rule, whereby what he wills is done : but so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They also believe that souls have an immortal vigour in them, and that, under the earth, there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life ; and the latter are to be detained in an ever- lasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again (hereby believing in the doctrine of transmigration.) On account of which doctrines they are able to persuade the body of the people, and what- soever these do about divine worship, prayers, and sacri- fices, they perform according to their direction: insomuch, that the cities give great attestation to them, on account of their virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives, and their discourses."'' Elsewhere Josephus far- ther says of this sect, that " the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skilful in the exact explication of their laws. They ascribe all to fate, and to God ; and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of man, although fate does co-operate in every action. They say that all souls are » Antiq, xvi. 11. ^ Antiq. xviii. 1, 616 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. incorruptible : but that the souls of good men only are removed into other bodies, and that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment." A little after- wards he adds, that '^ the Pharisees arc friendly to each other, and are for the exercise of concord, and a con- cern for the public."' Such is the account which Jo- sephus has given us of the Pharisees : and it must be more satisfactory to hear himself, than to endeavour an abridgment. In the writings of the Jews, who lived in the days of our Saviour, we find them using a distinction, which has an evident reference to this sect of the Pharisees ; for they divide their nation into three classes, the righ- teous, the good, and the sinners. By the righteous, £3»pn^f Tsedikhn, they understood those who adhered strictly to the letter of the law, doing what it required, but nothing more. The good, tD^Dn? Hesrim, were those who not only attended to the letter of the law, but observed the traditions of the elders : they were liberal to the poor, gave more than the half-shekel that was re- quired for the temple, and contributed largely for the priests and sacrifices. As for the third class, or those denominated sinners, 0)^\^^r Reshoim, they were per- sons of a wicked and profligate cast, who feared not God, nor regarded man ; who despised the written law, neglected the traditions of the elders, were regardless of ordinance^, and violators of moral and religious duties. It is to this distinction that St.* Paul alludes, in Rom. v. 7. 8. when, in magnifying the riches of divine mercy, he says, '^ Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, per- adventure for a good man some would even dare to die ; but God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." » War, ii. 9. JEWISH SECTS, &C. 617 As for the third sect, or that of the Essenes, although largely spoken of by Josephus, they are never men- tioned in the Scriptures, because they came not from their concealment to converse with Christ, being but few in number in Judea in comparison of Egypt, where they chiefly resided. The following is an abstract of what Josephus says concerning them : " they consisted entirely of males, to the number of four thousand, de- nying themselves marriage, discouraging commerce, and employing themselves chiefly in agriculture. By the laws of their society, they might reside where they chose, but in whatever city they dwelt, they had a community of goods which was entrusted to certain per- sons called stewards, in whom they had confidence, and who employed it in procuring the necessary requisites of food, raiment, and the entertainment of those stran- gers of their own sect, which business occasionally brought among them. Their manner of spending their time was as follows ; their first care w^as to offer up cer- tain prayers before sun-rise, which they had received from their fathers. They were then sent by the stewards to exercise themselves in those arts in which they were skilled, till the fifth hour, eleven o'clock, at which time they met, bathed themselves in cold water, put on white raiment, and entered the common hall, where dinner was served up. This consisted of bread, and a single dish of some kind of meat for each individual, a priest asking a blessing, and the deepest silence reigning during the repast. When thanks were returned, they resumed their ordinary dress, and went about their several em- ployments till the evening, when they supped in a simi- lar manner. In all their transactions they paid the strictest regard to truth ; were distinguished for their fidelity ; received from the common stock what was needful for the purposes of charity, but might not give Vol, L 4 1 618 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. it away to their own kindred, as if it were their own ; and were unusually strict in their observance of the sab- bath.— Their doctrinal tenets were, that fate governed all things ; that the soul was immortal ; and that there were rewards and punishments beyond the grave ; but their ideas on this last subject were much corrupted by the opinions of their heathen neighbours. — They had two ways of obtaining proselytes, the one by procuring the children of others, and training them up in their principles and habits ; the other by persons arrived at manhood, who wished to become members : for these last a long noviciate was prescribed. They received a small hatchet, a girdle, and a white garment, and were bound to observe the rules of the order for a year, with- out, however, being allowed to eat at the common table. When that was expired, their tempers were tried for other two years, at the end of which, if they were counted worthy, they were allowed to take the initiatory oath, which consisted in solemnly engaging to exercise piety towards God, and justice towards man ; never to abuse authority when invested with it ; nor practise theft, nor violate truth, nor conceal any thing from their sect, nor reveal the doctrines of it to others, even though their lives should be in hazard, nor alter the esta- blished dress of the society ; and after they had taken the oath, and had partaken of the common feast, they were considered as invested with all the privileges be- longing to the Essenes. Those who observed their en- gagements were highly respected'; but those who vio- lated them were tried by a council composed of a bun- _ dred men, and excommunicated from the society, after which their state was deplorable. For, having sub- sisted at the common table, they considered themselves as precluded from receiving food from strangers, even after they became unable to earn a subsistence ; so that JEWISH SECTS, &C. 619 they went about, often, in the utmost distress, and when at the point of death, were received into the society, that their souls might be saved in the other world.''^ Some have supposed the Essenes to be the descendants of the Rechabites, others the Samaritan heretics, called Jessseans, and others have confounded them with the monks under the gospel ; but it is easy to see that their tenets were a mixture of the doctrines of Moses and Py- thagoras.^ They were however, the favourites of Herod the Great, who distinguished them above all the other sects, because one Menahem saluted him, when at school, with ^^Hail, king of the Jews,"" but the Romans hated and persecuted them, at which times, it is but doing jus- tice to their characters to say, that they acted with the greatest magnanimity and heroism.** On reviewing the three before-mentioned sects, the following reflections present themselves : the Sadducees strained the doctrine of the freedom of the will too far, and made man the master of his actions and his fate. The Essenes ascribed all to fate, and inclined to the opinions of the Stoics, whose austere morals they copied. The Pharisees kept a medium between the two. The Sadducees were pelagians, the Essenes predestinarians, and the Pharisees semi-pelagians. The Sadducees, like the Epicureans, denied the immortality of the soul, and had their disciples chiefly among the rich and unprin- 3 Such is the substance of what Josephus has given us in his Antiq, xiii. 5. xyiii. 1. and War, ii. 8. Philo has also written of the Essenes, in his book en- titled " Every good man is free," p. 600 ; and Pliny treats of them in his Nat. Hist. V. 17. What is said of the Essenes by Josephus has been transcribed by Porphyry in his De Abstin. iv. H, 12, 13 ; and Eusebius, out of Porphyry, in his Praeparat. Evang. ix. 2. Eusebius also produces an elegant passage out of Philo's Apology for the Jews, not now extant, in his Pracparat. viii. 10, and whatever we meet with that is authentic in other authors is derived from these sources. ^ Basnage's Reliq. of the Jews, ch, xii. 13. 'Joseph. Antiq. xv. 10. <* War, ii, 8. 620 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. cipled. The Pharisees had theirs chiefly among the poor, the hypocritical, and ambitious of every class ; and the Essenes found their votaries among the romantic, the melancholy, and the dissatisfied. Every one also will observe a considerable resemblance between the tenets of the Essenes, and the precepts and practice of the first Christians. Whilst the oriental scholar, taking a more comprehensive glance, will institute a compari- son between the whole of the three above-mentioned sects, and the Sheahs, Soonees, and SoofFees of Persia. For the Sheahs maintain the literal and perfect meaning of the Koran ; the Soonees assert the necessity of a sup- plement to it by the Sonna, which is a collection of the actions and sayings of the prophet, as gathered from the mouths of his wives and companions, and afterwards augmented by the commentaries of the Mahomedan doc- tors. Whilst the Sooffees resemble the Essenes in their contemplation of the divine love, and their four stages to the attainment of divine beatitude.* As for the fourth sect, or the Herodians, their tenets consisted either in the legality of paying tribute to Cse- sar, and conforming with the heathen rites, in order to ingratiate themselves with Herod, as the friend of the Romans, both of which were detested by the Jews in general, as striking at the root of their national inde- pendence, and the purity of their worship ; or in the opinion that Herod was the Messiah, or temporal con- queror, who should free the Jews from the Roman yoke, thereby flattering him at the expense of truth. Those who have supposed that it consisted in the last of these have derived its origin from three sources, either, 1st, from Herod the Great, who died a little before Christ's birth, and wished to be accounted the Messiah, but he » Malcolm's Hist, of Persia, vol, ii. ch. 22, JEWISH SECTS, &C. 621 was hated by the Jews, and a feast was appointed on the 7th of Chisleii as the anniversary of his death. — Or, 2dly, from Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, who is called the fox by Christ,'' and whose doctrine whether of the Mes- siah, or of paying tribute to the Romans, is called the leaven of Herod. ^ — Or, 3dly from Herod Agrippa, who killed James with the sword, and was smitten by an an- gel." From whichever of the three we deduce the title, one thing is certain, that the sect disappeared with the splendor and prosperity of the Herodian family. Such were the principal sects among the Jews in the days of our Saviour ; but there were lesser distinctions to which we ought also to attend. Thus we read of the chief priests — the scribes — the elders — the lawyers — and the publicans. The chief priests, which are mentioned in Matt. ii. 4. and ch. xxvii. 1. are evidently different from that in- dividual, who was commonly known by the name of high priest. They have, therefore, been supposed by some to mean the chief priest and his sagan, or the present and former high priest ; but the most natural interpre- tation seems to be the heads of the twenty-four courses, who were the chief priests of these courses. They formed one-third part of the Jewish sanhedrim, and therefore are joined in Matt, xxvii. 1. and Mark xv. 1. with the scribes and the elders, who formed the other two-thirds. The scribes, who are frequently mentioned in the gospels, were not the secretaries of private individuals, as Baruch was of Jeremiah,*^ and Seraiah of David ;^ but tlie public scribes of the people, whose office was two-fold. 1st, They copied the scriptures for those who desired them, and took care that no errors crept into * Luke xiii. 32. *> Mark viii. 15. « Acts xii. 2. 23. '! Ch, xxxvi. 4 « 2 Sam. viii. 17. 622 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS the text. The eight and forty cities, therefore, which were given them from among the tribes, were so many schools or universities, in which they trained up the young for these purposes ; for it should be recollected that these scribes were either from among the priests or Levites. 2dly, They were the public and common teachers of the people, expounding the meaning of the sacred oracles to the people, and the nature of those tra- ditions which were handed down by the elders. They had therefore two places of instruction, for they were often called upon to interpret the section of the law, or the prophets in the synagogues, and they expounded the traditions in the Bithmedresh, or schools of divinity in the neighbourhood of the synagogue.'* It was in re- ference to this last part of their duty, or that of teaching the people, that our Saviour said in Mark xii. 35. '^ How, say the scribes, that Christ is the son of David?" Instancing the scribes only (although the Pharisees, Sadducees, and even all the Jewish nation, held the same opinion,) because the scribes were the persons who sat oftenest in Moses' seat, and taught this doctrine to the people. Ezra was a person who fulfilled both the duties that were required of scribes, for he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses,'' and preached to the people ; and the scribe of which our Saviour speaks, was one who was entrusted to the kingdom of heaven, and brought out of his treasures things new and old. It is worthy of remark, however, that our Saviour's manner of teach- ing is said to have been different from theirs.'' For, in the first place, when they expounded scripture, they only told what this or the other doctor had said on the the subject; explained the law by their traditions, and when the law and traditions were at variance, ^ Lightf. Harm. Four Evang. part 1. s. 7. '' Ezra vii. 6. ' Matt. vii. 29. JEWISH SECTS, &c. 623 they taught that the traditions were to be preferred to the law : but Christ resorted to no such authori- ties, called no man master, rejected their tradi- tions, and restored the precepts to their primitive purity. In the second place, their teaching in their Bithmedresh, or schools of divinity, was commonly about external, carnal, and trivial rites ; but his was about regeneration, repentance, faith, love, charity, self-denial, and the other weighty matters of the law and of the gospel. 3dly, Their teaching was often so va- rious, and even so contradictory, that the people were at a loss what to follow ; but his had a clearness and consistency that carried conviction along with it. 4thly, They were only servants, and with all their desire to do good, could not command success : Christ was a lord in his own house, and taught savingly so as to profit. It was already noticed that the scribes composed a third part of the Jewish sanhedrim. As for the elders, they were diiferent from the scribes, for they were lay-men, deeply versant in the laws and usages of their country, whose judgment had great weight. They were commonly also chief men in the tribes, and composed the remaining third part of the sanhedrim. The Lawyers are commonly classed in the gospels with the Pharisees and Scribes, and derived their name from their having devoted themselves to the study of the law, and teaching it to the people ; but burdened with the load of their numberless traditions. Hence are they severely reproved by our Lord in Luke ii, 45, 52. As for the publicans, although they were rather a civil than religious class of men, yet they deserve to be noticed. Their office was to collect the tribute which the Romans imposed upon Judea, after it became a Ro- 624 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. man province, but it was an unpleasant task for the fol- lowing reasons : in the 1st place, the Jews disliked to be accounted subject to the Romans, and, therefore, those who collected the tax (let them do it as impartially as they might,) were considered as enemies to the inde- pendence and honour of the nation ; and, 2dly, as the Roman revenues were often farmed to the highest bid- der, this gave room for extortion and injustice, which, though bad in a foreigner, was accounted doubly crimi- nal in a descendant of Abraham. SECT. V. Jewish Proselytes. 1st. slaves embracing' Judaism without obtaining their liberty. 2nd. Proselytes of the gate : the seven precepts of Noah ; their confoi-raity to the apostolic rescript in Acts xv. 20, 29. 3d. Proselytes of righteousness ; their privileges ; how initiated ; their instruction, circumcision, and baptism. Children of these proselytes entitled to their privileges. Proselytes of righteousness on their admission offered a sacrifice, and changed their name. The Jews divide lhe history of Froselytism into six periods ; these mentioned. Although the Jewish religion was peculiarly adapted to the Jewish nation, yet it was not confined to it, for leave was given them to make proselytes, and certain privileges were granted to those who became such. — Of the Jewish proselytes there were three classes ; 1st, Those slaves who embraced Judaism without receiving their freedom ; 2dly, The proselytes of the gate ; and, 3dly, The proselytes of righteousness. As for the slaves, who embraced Judaism without re- ceiving their liberty, they were persons who were na- tives of other countries^ but came into the families of the Jews either by conquest, or purchase, or gift. These quitted their heathen practices, and conformed to the religion of their masters, sometimes from necessity, and sometimes from choice. Of this kind was Eliezer, of JEWISH PROSELYTES. 625 Damascus, the steward of Abraham's house,* and to this does God compare Israel, when he says in Jer. ii. 14. "is he a home-born slave, why is he spoiled ?'' The proselytes of the gate were persons who, without undergoing circumcision, or observing the Mosaic ri- tual, engaged to worship the true God, and observe the seven precepts which were said to have been imposed on the children of Noah. The following is a list of these precepts : 1st. Of foreign worship, (n^lt illOi^ 7)^, ol obide zere) in which was forbidden the worship of idols and false gods. 2d. Of blessing the name of Godf (CDSJ^n n^H 7l?,i ol berece eshera) under which were comprehended the opposite sins of blasphemy, swearing, and perjury. 3d. Of the effusions of blood, (C3D"T rs^y^W 7i^j ol shepicuth demim) or the prohibi- tion of murder. 4th. Of chastity, (jllH^ ^iSjl S^, ol gelui oriuth) de revelatione pudendorum, Deut. xxii. 15. 17. under which were forbidden fornication, adultery, incest, and unnatural copulations. 5th. Of theft, (StJUl 7^, ol egezel) under which was comprehended every species of dishonesty. 6th. Of courts of judicature, {\'y*^T\ 7^ ol edinin) prescribing the nature and form of civil government, and the administration of justice. 7th. Of the members of living creatures, [T^T] V!2 l^K S^? ol aber men ethi) de membro e vivo, in which was for- bidden eating flesh with the blood, or things strangled. Such are the celebrated commandments of Noah, which the Jews so often mention, (although their authenticity has been called in question) and which, according to them, composed a summary of religious duty to all man- kind, before the giving of the law from Mount Sinai. But be they true or false, they laid the foundation of that distinction of proselytes of which we are speaking ; » Gen, XV. 2. 3. Vol. h 4 K 626 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. since the proselytes of the gate came bound to observe them, whether they resided in the land of Judea or in heathen lands. Naaman the Syrian, and Cornelius the centurion, are thought to have belonged to this class, and in reviewing the seven precepts of the Noachida, one is struck with their conformity with that singular letter which the church at Jerusalem issued in Acts xv. when the question before them was, whether an obser- vance of the Mosaic law was essential to the salvation of those who had become Christians ? Or, in other words, whether Christianity of itself could not save its adherents without the aid of Judaism ? The question was proposed to them by two classes of persons, viz. those who from heathens had become Christians, and those who had pre- viously been proselytes of the gate ? And the answer was such as to satisfy the doubts of both these classes. With respect to the first, or those who from heathens became Christians, the meaning of the apostolic rescript evidently is, ^' We see no occasion for your being cir- cumcised. It is not indispensable to salvation ; only as you have disclaimed idolatry, you must henceforth ab- stain from meats oifered to idols : to prevent giving of- fence to the Jews, you must keep from blood, and from things strangled ; and to keep you from oiFending God, and returning to your former state, you must be on your guard against fornication and all impurity, as hateful to a pure and holy God, and but too much practised within the precincts of the heathen temples." Thus was it both a quieting of their fears on an important point ; a solemn warning against those vices, to which, from their con- nexion with their heathen neighbours, they were daily exposed ; and an excellent lesson of self-denial in matters indifferent to conciliate the minds of the Jews to the gospel. But if this was the meaning of the apostolic letter, as addressed to those who from being Heathens had be- JEWISH PROSELYTES. 627 cdme Christians; it was equally satisfactory to those who had been proselytes of the gate before they became Christians, for it relieved them from the fear of the Jewish yoke, and evidently contained the precepts of the Noachidae ; or, if any of them were omitted, it was because they were judged by the Apostles to be unne- cessary. Thus, the words in the letter which enjoined them to " abstain from meats offered to idols," compre- hend the 1st and 2nd of Noah's commandments : for he who takes his share in the sacrifices of idols is guilty both of idolatry and profanation of the name of God. The second prohibition, viz. that " of blood," relates to the third commandment of Noah, which forbids the effu- sion of blood or of murder : for it appears to me that these words ought to be interpreted thus, and not in the sense they are commonly taken of refraining from blood ; because the eating of blood is evidently forbidden in the following words, which prohibit the use of things stran- gled ; and it is not very probable that in so short a de- cree as this, the same thing would be expressed in two different clauses. — With respect to abstaining from ^^ things strangled," this is exactly the seventh com- mandment of Noah, which regards the members of liv- ing creatures, signifying that no flesh of any living crea- ture should be eaten ; for a creature strangled with the blood in it, was reputed among the Jews to retain its life, because the blood is expressly said by God himself to be the life. The last thing in the decree is the " abstaining from fornication," and it corresponds with the fourth commandment of Noah against illegal cohabitations. So that there are only two of the commandments of Noah wanting in the decree of the apostles; viz. the fifth against theft, and the sixth concerning right judgment by the courts of judicature ; but these might have been thought unnecessary, because the one was punished by 628 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. existing laws ; and the other was both the professed aim and great end of every existing government.^ From this review, then, of the decree, its intention, with re- spect to the proselytes of the gate is obvious. It was certifying, that, as the converts from heathenism to Christianity were not obliged to keep the law of Moses, neither were they. Only as they had bound themselves, on becoming proselytes of the gate, to keep the seven commandments of Noah, they should continue to observe them.^ As for the Proselytes of righteous7iess, they were more highly favoured than the proselytes of the gate, for they might trade with Jews, marry with Jews, enter within the sacred fence of the temple, and partake of the annual feasts." There were several things, however, which they were bound to submit to before they were entitled to these privileges. In the first place, when they expressed their wish to become proselytes of righ- teousness, they were examined strictly by the wise men, as to their motives ; whether they were actuated by the love of gain, or fear, or affection for some woman of Israel, or a regard for the law ? And if the wise men were satisfied as to these points, they then instructed them in the leading principles of Judaism, mtending to dwell upon them more fully in the course of their novi- ciate.^ When these outlines were understood, the next step was circumcision, which was done in due form : or if the person had been circumcised, as was the case among the Egyptians and Ishmaelites, they took a few drops of blood, which they called the blood of the cove- nant, before three witnesses, who prayed thus : " O God, grant that we may find in the law, good works, and thy ' Sliickhouse, Hist, of the Bible on Genesis, ch. ix. t See further, in Prid. Conn. A.A..C. 129. "^ Prid. Conn. A.A.C. 4i'8. «■ Lightf. Heb, and Talm. Exer. on Matt, iii, 6. JEWISH PROSELYTES. 629 protection, as thou hast introduced this man into thy covenant."* Circumcision in infants is easy and soon healed, and some have thought, that in adults, it was worst the third day, founding their opinion on Gen. xxxiv. 25 ; but Sir John Chardin says, that he had heard from divers renegadoes in the East, who had been circumcised, some at thirty, and some at forty years of age, that the circumcision had occasioned them a great deal of pain, and that they were obliged to keep their bed at least twenty or twenty-two days ; during which time, they could not walk without feeling very severe pain : but that they applied nothing to the wound to make it cicatrize, except burnt paper.'' While the wound was healing, they continued to instruct the prose- lytes more fully in the nature of the law, and when com- pletely healed, they then submitted to the rite of bap- tism. This, however, could neither be done on the Sabbath, nor on a holiday, nor in the night : and three scholars were required to be present to instruct them in the nature of baptism, and to see that it was legally per- formed : for their traditions required that they should be dipped completely either in a confluence of waters, or in a vessel that was a cubit square and three cubits deep, which would hold what was equal to forty seahs." After the rite, the scholars, as witnesses, gave the prose- lytes a certificate, which, when presented to any syna- gogue, constituted them church -members while they resided within the bounds.^ And if the head of a family was, in this way, baptized, the infants and slaves were baptized at the same time, without asking their consent : the former, because they could not give it, and the lat- ^ Basnage, Relig. of Jews, Book x. cli. vi. 7. •> Clarke's Harmer, ch. xi. ob. 92. See also Capt. Light's Travels, p. 46, "= Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matt. iii. 6. ^ Basnage, Relig. of Jews, Book v. Cii. vi. 7. 630 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. ter, as being his property, and having no rights of their own : but sons come of age were not baptized unless they wished it. Hence no mention of children or slaves in the baptisms of the first Christians. It was a matter of course in the baptism of houses.* The next thing the proselytes did, was their attending the temple and of- fering a sacrifice to Jehovah, through the medium of the priesthood, for their admission among the number of his chosen people : but that is now discontinued as im- practicable, since the destruction of Jerusalem. We must add, that the persons initiated changed their names, renounced their heathen kindred, family and wealth, and received as it were new souls.** Accordingly, Taci- tus reproaches them with " despising the gods, and for- saking their country, children, and kindred, whom they looked upon with indignation." So much then with respect to the male proselytes of righteousness. The females were received by baptism and sacrifice, but now only by baptism and instruction. ** In perusing the Jewish writings, we find them distin- guishing proselytism under six periods. The first was when the Jews came out of Egypt ; when Jethro was admitted to Jewish privileges, and a letter added to his name, like Abraham ; for he was formerly, according to them, Jether-reuel, or Raguel ; and when others of the neighbouring nations, struck with the wonders of Jehovah, became proselytes. The second period was in the reigns of David and Solomon, when proselytes were forbidden, lest they might have become so from interested motives, on account of the flourishing state of the Jewish nation. And hence the reason why there was no court » Lightf. Heb. and Talmud. Exercit. on Matt. iii. 6. '' Basnage, Book v. ch. vi. 7. « See some sensible observations on proselytism, in Fleury's Manners of the Ancient Israelites, Part iv, ch. 1. JEWISH PROSELYTES. 631 of the Gentiles in the first temple. The third period was between the captivity and the coming of Christ, when they were admitted to offices, and confounded by degrees with the original stock by their intermarriages. The fourth period was at the beginning of Christianity, when each sect, in place of uniting in the general cause, compassed sea and land to make proselytes to itself. The fifth period was after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the ruin of their temple, and subsequent misfor- tunes, prevented many from joining themselves to them. And the sixth is when the Messias shall appear to re- store the glory to Israel, and when multitudes from hea- then lands shall rejoice in their connexion with the favoured race. How painful the thought, that they seek in futurity for that Messiah, who is come already to purchase the salvation of an elect world ! EN*D OF VOL. I. ■4 3V ,J«fi.^^^<*?TW^ of.fo*:^ Wr