I. The whole Nation accounted holy.—II. Members of the Jewish Church; Hebrews of the Hebrews.-III. Proselytes.IV. Jews of the Dispersion.-V. Hellenists.-VI. The Libertines.-VII. Devout Men.-VIII. Circumcision. I. JEHOVAH, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, having II. The first MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH CHURCH were the been pleased to prefer the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and immediate descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob, Jacob before every other nation, and to select them from whom God, having delivered from their oppressive bondage every other people, for the purposes of imparting to them the in Egypt, chose for himself to be his peculiar people, and revelation of his will, and of preserving the knowledge and their direct issue, without any intermixture of Gentile blood worship of the true God; He is thence said to have chosen or language. These are termed by St. Paul Hebrews of the them, and they are in many passages of Scripture represent- Hebrews (Phil. iii. 5.), as opposed to the Hellenistic Jews, or ed as his chosen and elect people. And because they were those who lived among the Greeks, whose language they by the will of God set apart, and appropriated in a special spoke, and who were called Hellenists. (Acts vi. 1. ix. 29. manner to his honour and obedience, and furnished with ex- xi. 20.) Many of the latter were descended from parents, traordinary motives to holiness, God is therefore said to have one of whom only was a Jew. Of this description was sanctified them. (Lev. xx. 8. xxi. 8. xxii. 9. 16. 32.) For Timothy. (Acts xvi. 1.) Those who were born in Judæa, these reasons they are termed a HOLY NATION, a kingdom of parents rightly descended from Abraham, and who reof priests, and also saints; and their covenant relation to ceived their education in Judæa, spoke the language of their God is urged upon them as a motive to holiness of heart and forefathers, and were thoroughly instructed in the learning practice. Lev. xix. 2. xx. 7, 8. 26. xi. 45. Exod. xxii. 31.) and literature of the Jews, were reckoned more honourable But the Jews of later times, becoming proud of these titles, than the Hellenists; and, to mark the excellence of their and of their ecclesiastical privileges, extended their charity lineage and language, they were called Hebrews;-a name only to those of their own faith; while towards the rest of the most ancient, and therefore the most honourable of all mankind they cherished a sullen and inveterate hatred, ac- the names borne by Abraham's descendants; for it was the counting them to be profane persons and sinners. This name given to Abraham himself, by the Canaanites, to sigrelative or imputed holiness of the Jews as a covenant peo- nify that he had come from the other side of the Euphrates. ple, separated and consecrated to the worship of the true A Hebrew, therefore, possessing the character and qualificaGod, was perpetual (in other words it was to subsist until tions above described, was more honourable than an Israelite; the institution of the Gospel dispensation); although the as that name indicated only that a person was a member of Jews were often extremely corrupt in their manners, as the the commonwealth of Israel, which a Jew might be, though numerous denunciations of the prophets sufficiently indicate. born and educated in a foreign country. St. Paul, indeed, Hence some of the rabbinical writers call the most wicked was born at Tarsus, in Cilicia; yet being a Hebrew of the kings of Israel and Judah holy, holy, or righteous, and Hebrews, who received his education at Jerusalem, spoke Israelite, being with them convertible terms (compare Wisd. the language used there, and understood the Hebrew in which x. 15. 17. 20. xviii. 1. 7. 9. 20.); and in the time of our the ancient oracles of God were written, he was a Jew of the Lord the Jews held the preposterous notion, that though they most honourable class; and, therefore, when cautioning the should continue in their sins, yet, because they were the Philippians against Judaizing teachers and unbelieving Jews, offspring of Abraham, God would not impute their sins to he enumerates this privilege among those of which (if salvation were to be obtained by them) he might have confidence in the flesh. (Phil. iii. 4, 5.) The privileges of the Israelites, which were very highly esteemed by all Jews, are enumerated by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, in a very animated manner. them.5 The apostles being Jews by birth, though they wrote in Greek, have retained their national idiom, and have borrowed the Old Testament phraseology, which they have applied to Christians, in order to convey to them accurate ideas of the magnitude of God's love to them in Christ. Thus the apostles not only call them disciples and brethren, that is, friends united in the same profession of faith by bonds equally close as those of brothers, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, but, because all true Christians are by the will of God set apart and appropriated in an especial manner to his honour, service, and obedience, and are furnished with extraordinary helps and motives to holiness, they are, therefore, said to be sanctified (1 Cor. i. 2. vi. 11. Heb. ii. 11. x. 29. Jude 1.); and are further styled holy, holy brethren, a holy nation and saints. 1 This section is principally derived from Schulzii Archæologia Ile. braica, lib. ii. c. 1. de Ecclesia Judaica ejusque Membris; together with Beausobre and L'Enfant's Introd. to the New Test. (Bishop Watson's Coll. of Tracts, vol. iii. pp. 205, 206.) Ikenii Antiq. pp. 343-317. Stosch. Compend. Archæol. Economicæ Nov. Test. §§ 32-36. Edwards on the Authority, &c. of Scripture, vol. ii. pp. 313-330. Alber, Inst. Herm. Vet. Test. tom. i. pp. 181-186.; Carpzovii Antiq. Hebr. Gentis, pp. 39-50.; Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book i. ch. 3. Mr. Allen has given an interesting account of the mode of circumcision that obtains among the Jews of the present time in his "Modern Judaism," pp. 283-296. 2 Compare Deut. iv. 37. vii. 6. x. 15. 1 Kings viii. 22. et seq. 1 Chron. xvi. 13. Psal. cv. 6. xxxiii. 12. cv. 43. cvi. 5. cxxxv. 4. Isa. xli. 8, 9. xliii. 20. xliv. 1, 2. xlv. 4. and Ezek. xx. 5. 3 Compare Exod. xix. 6. Lev. xi. 44, 45. xix. 2. xx. 26. Deut. vii. 6. xiv. 2. 21. xxvi. 19. xxviii. 9. xxxiii. 3. 2 Chron. vi. 41. Psal. xxxiv. 9. 1. 5. 7. lxxix. 2. cxxxii. 9. cxlviii. 14. Apud Ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, sed adversus omnes alios hostile odium. Such is the character of the Jews given by the Roman historian, as they were in the time of our Saviour (Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. 5. tom. iii. p. 267. edit. Bipont.); which is abundantly confirmed by the sacred writers. See Matt. ix. 10, 11. xxvi. 45. Gal. ii. 15. 17. 1Thess. ii. 15, 16. See Whitby on Matt. iii. 9. See Col. iii. 12. 1 Thess. v. 27. Heb. iii. 1. 1 Pet. ii. 9. Acts ix. 32. 41. xxvi. 10. Rom. i. 7. xii. 13. xv. 25, 26. xvi. 15. 1 Cor. i. 2. 2 Cor. i. 1. xiii. 13. Phil. iv. 22. Eph. i. 1. Phil. i. I. and Col. i. 2. All the posterity of Jacob were anciently called Israel, or Children of Israel, from the surname of that patriarch, until the time of king Rehoboam: when ten tribes, revolting from this prince and adhering to Jeroboam, were thenceforth denominated the House of Israel: while the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who remained faithful to the family of David, were styled the House of Judah. After the captivity, most of those who returned and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, and restored the rites of the Mosaic worship, having sprung from the kingdom of Judah, the term Jews became a general appellation for all the inhabitants of Palestine, and afterwards for those who were descended from them. (Dan. iii. 8. Esth. iii. 3. 2 Macc. ix. 17.) And in this extensive sense the word is employed in the New Testament.9 III. Although the constitution of the Jewish polity and the laws of Moses allowed no other nations to participate in It has been remarked that Greek words ending in res imply inferiority. Thus the 'EXAves (Hellenes) were distinguished from the EAA. Ta (HelleniSTE); the former imply pure or native Greeks, who spoke the Greek tongue in its purity; and the latter, Jews or others sojourning among the Greeks, who spoke the Greek language according to the Hebrew idiom. These were the 'EXAVITI, Hellenists or Grecians who murmured against the Hebrews. (Acts vi. 1.) "Pythagoras divided his disciples into two classes. Those, who were capable of entering into the spirit and mystery of his doctrine, he called Issyopsis, PythagoREANS; those, who were of a different cast, he termed us op, or Pythago RISTS. The former were eminent and worthy of their master; the latter, but indifferent. The same distinction is made between those who were called ATTIXOUS, or Attics, and ATTIxiora; or AtticISTS,-the pure and less pure Greeks, as between those called 'Exas and Exas, Hel lenes and Hellenists, pure Greeks, and Græcising Jews." Iamblichus de vita Pythag. c. 18. and Schoettgen, cited by Dr. A. Clarke on Acts vi. 1. See Drs. Whitby, Doddridge, Macknight, A. Clarke, or Messrs. Scott, Henry, &c. on Rom. ix. 4. and Phil. iii. 5. Robinson's and Parkhurst's Lexicons, voce loudios. their sacred rites, yet they did not exclude from them such | dered as a new-born infant. Thus Maimonides expressly persons as were willing to qualify themselves for conforming says: "A Gentile who is become a proselyte, and a servant them. Hence they admitted PROSELYTES, who renounced who is set at liberty, are both as it were new-born babes ;6 the worship of idols and joined in the religious services of and all those relations which he had while either Gentile or the Jews; although they were not held in the same estimation servant, now cease from being so." as Jews by birth, descent, and language, who, we have just seen, were termed Hebrews of the Hebrews. During the time of Jesus Christ, the Jews, especially the Pharisees, greatly exerted themselves in making proselytes to their religion and sect.1 Calmet, and some other learned men after him, have distinguished two kinds of proselytes, namely, 1. Proselytes of the gate, who dwelt either in or out of the land of Israel, and worshipped the true God, observing the seven precepts of Noah, but without obliging themselves to circumcision or any other legal ceremony; and, 2. Proselytes of justice or of righteousness, who were converts to Judaism, and engaged themselves to receive circumcision, as well as to observe the whole of the Mosaic law. There does not, however, appear to be any foundation in the Scriptures for such a distinction: nor can any with propriety be termed proselytes, except those who fully embraced the Jewish religion." The Scriptures mention only two classes of persons, viz. the Israelites or Hebrews of the Hebrews above mentioned, and the Gentile converts to Judaism, which last are called by the names of strangers and sojourners, or proselytes." In the initiation of proselytes to the Jewish religion, according to the rabbinical writers, the three following observances were appointed, namely, circumcision, baptism, and the offering of sacrifices; all of which, except circumcision, were performed by the women, as well as by the men, who became proselytes. 1. Circumcision (the import of which is more fully explained in pp. 110, 111.) was the seal of the covenant into which the proselyte entered with God, and of the solemn profession which he made to observe the entire law of Moses: and if the proselyte were a Samaritan, or of any other nation that used that rite, blood was to be drawn afresh from the part circumcised. 2. The second ceremony was Washing or Baptism; which must be performed in the presence of at least three Jews of distinction, and in the day-time that nothing might be done in secret. At the time of its performance the proselyte declared his abhorrence of his past life, and that no secular motives, but a sincere love for the law of Moses, induced him to be baptized; and he was then instructed in the most essential parts of the law. He promised, at the same time, to lead a holy life, to worship the true God, and to keep his commandments. Baptism was also administered to the children of proselytes who were born before their parents became proselytes, and generally at the same time with their parents: but it was not administered to children born after that event, because the parents and their offspring were considered as Israelites, clean from their birth, and therefore were brought into covenant by circumcision alone.4 3. The third ceremony to be performed was that of offering Sacrifice. And it was a common notion among the Jews, that every person who had duly performed them all was to be consí1 Compare Acts vi. 5. xiii. 43. and Matt. xxiii. 15. with Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xiii. c. 9. § 1. and lib. xx. c. 3. § 4. These precepts are by the Jewish doctors terined the seven precepts of Noah and (they pretend) were given by God to the sons of Noah. They are as follows:-1. That man should abstain from idolatry ;-2. That they should worship the true God alone ;-3. That they should hold incest in abhorrence: 4. That they should not commit murder;-5. Nor rob or steal:-6. That they should punish a murderer with death;-7. That they should not eat blood, nor any thing in which blood is, consequently, nothing strangled. "Every one," says a living Jewish writer, that observes these seven commandments, is entitled to happiness. But to observe them merely from a sense of their propriety, is deemed by Maimonides insufficient to constitute a pious Gentile, or to confer a title to happiness in the world to come; it is requisite that they be observed, because they are divine commands." See Allen's Modern Judaisin, p. 107. These two classes are very frequently mentioned in the books of Moses; thus in Lev. xxv. we have "the children of Israel" (ver. 2.) and "the strangers that sojourn" among them. (ver. 45.) See also Ezek. xiv. 7.Every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and setteth up idols in his heart." is evident that, by the "stranger," in this passage, is meant a proselyte who had been converted to the worship of Jehovah, otherwise he could not have been separated from him. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. ut supra Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book i. ch. iii. pp. 63-80. Dr. Lardner has remarked that the notion of two sorts of proselytes is not to be found in any Christian writer before the fourteenth century; see his arguments at large, Works, vol. vi. pp. 522-533. 8vo. or vol. iii. pp. 397-400. 4to. and vol. pp. 313-324. 8vo. or vol. v. pp. 485-493. 4to. This observation renders probable that the twelfth prayer of the Jews in p. 107. supra, is not of so early a date as is commonly supposed. Lightfoot's Hor. Hebr. on Matt. iii. 6. τις On the proselytism of the Jews, Jesus Christ appears to have formed the principal qualities which he required in the proselytes of his covenant. "The first condition of proselytism among the Jews was, that he, who came to embrace their religion, should come voluntarily, and that neither force nor influence should be employed in this business. This, also, is the first condition required by Jesus Christ, and which he considers as the foundation of all the rest. If any man be willing (Ts ) to come after me. (Matt. xvi. 24.) The second condition required in the Jewish proselyte was, that he should perfectly renounce all his prejudices, his errors, his idolatry, and every thing that concerned his false religion, and that he should entirely separate himself from his most intimate friends and acquaintances. It was on this ground that the Jews called proselytism a new birth, and proselytes new born and new men; and our Lord requires men to be born again, not only of water but by the Holy Ghost. (John iii. 5.) All this our Lord includes in this word, let him renounce himself-rαpoate sauтov. (Mark viii. 34.) To this the following scriptures refer; Matt. x. 33. John iii. 3. 5. 2 Cor. v. 17.-The third condition, on which a person was admitted into the Jewish church as a proselyte, was, that he should submit to the yoke of the Jewish law; and patiently bear the inconveniences and sufferings, with which a profession of the Mosaic religion might be accompanied. Christ requires the same condition, but, instead of the yoke of the law, he brings in his own doctrine, which he calls his yoke (Matt. xi. 29.) and his cross (Matt. xvi. 24. Mark viii. 34.), the taking up of which implies not only a bold profession of Christ crucified, but also a cheerful submitting to all the sufferings and persecutions to which he might be exposed, and even to death itself.-The fourth condition was, that they should solemnly engage to continue in the Jewish religion, faithful even unto death. This condition Christ also requires, and it is comprised in this word let him follow me." (Matt. xvi. 24-26. Mark viii. 34-37.) IV. In consequence of the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were dispersed among the various provinces of the great Babylonian empire; and though a large portion of them returned under Zerubbabel, it appears that a considerable part remained behind. From this circumstance, as well as from various other causes, it happened, in the time of our Lord, that great numbers of Jews were to be found in Greece, and all the other parts of the Roman empire, which at that time had no other limits but those of the then known world. It was of the JEWS DISPERSED AMONG THE GENTILES OR GREEKS, that mention is made in John vii. 35. and to them Jesus Christ is also supposed to have alluded when he said that he had other sheep (John x. 16.), but without excluding the Gentiles, who also were to enter into his sheepfold, or be admitted into his church. To these dispersed Jews it was, that Peter and James inscribed their respective epistles; the former to those who were scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor, and Bithynia (1 Pet. i. 1.); and the latter to the twelve tribes who were dispersed throughout the then known world. (James i. 1.) The Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, were of the dispersion. (Acts ii. 5-11.) V. There were also Jews who lived in those countries where Greek was the living language, and perhaps spoke Lightfoot's Hebr. on Matt. iii. 6. ; Wetstein on John iii. 2. ; and Whitby on John iii. 4, 5, 6. Some learned men have supposed that our Lord alluded to this rabbinical tradition when he reproached Nicodemus with being a master in Israel (John ini. 10.), and yet being at the same time ignorant how a man could be born a second time. But it is most probable that Jesus Christ referred to that spiritual meaning of circumcision which is noticed in p. 110. note, infra. The arguments on the much disputed question, Whether baptism was in use, or not, before the time of our Saviour, are reviewed by Carpzov in his Apparatus Antiquitatum Sacrarum, p. 49. and by Dr. Jennings in his Jewish Antiquities, book i. c. 3. It may not be irrelevant to remark that the learned Dr. Campbell refers our Lord's censure of Nicodemus, not to the rabbinical notion above mentioned, but rather to his entire ignorance of that effusion of the Spirit which would take place under the Messiah, and which had been so clearly foretold by the prophets. Translation of the Four Gospels, vol. ii. p. 515. 3d edit. In allusion most probably to this custom, St. Peter addresses the Hebrews who had recently embraced Christianity, as new-born babes (1 Ep. ii. 2.), because they had been born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. (i. 23) Dr. A. Clarke, on Mark viii. 34. Philo, de Legatione ad Caium, p. 1031. et in Flaccum, p. 971. Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xvi. c. 6. lib. xii. c. 3. lib. xiv. c. 10. Cicero Orat. pro Flacco, c. 23. no other. These are distinguished in the New Testament | and no longer as the slaves of Egypt. VI. During the time of our Saviour there was a considerable number of Jews resident at Rome: Josephus estimates them at eight thousand; and Philo, who relates that they occupied a large quarter of the city, says, that they were chiefly such as had been taken captive at different times, and had been carried into Italy, where they had subsequently acquired their freedom, and were called LIBERTINES. The synagogue of the Libertines, mentioned in Acts vi. 9. is, by some critics, supposed to have belonged to this class of Jews, 2 The knowledge of this circumstance beautifully illustrates Eph. ii. 11–13.; where St. Paul, describing the wretched state of the Gentiles before their conversion, represents them as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and, consequently, excluded from all its privileges and blessings. Thirdly, circumcision was an open profession of the worship of the true God, and, consequently, an abjuration of idolatry; on this account we are told that during the persecution of Antiochus the heathen put to death those Jewish women who had caused their children to be circumcised; and such Jews as apostatized to hea thenism took away as much as possible every vestige of circumcision. As this rite was an open profession of the Jewish religion, some zealous converts from that faith to Christianity strenuously urged its continuance, especially among those who were of Jewish origin; but this was expressly prohibited by St. Paul. (1 Cor. vii. 18.) Be Lastly, circumcision was appointed for mystical and moral VII. In consequence of this dispersion of the Jews through-reasons: it was, as baptism is with us, an external sign of out the Roman empire, and the extensive commerce which inward purity and holiness: hence these expressions of they carried on with other nations, their religion became" circumcising the foreskin of the heart," the "circumcision known, and the result was the prevalence of a somewhat of the heart," the "circumcision made without hands," the purer knowledge of the true God among the Gentiles. Hence" uncircumcised in heart," &c. so often occurring in the Scripwe find, that there were many who, though they did not tures. adopt the rite of circumcision, yet had acquired a better know- The sacrament of circumcision was enjoined to be observed ledge of the Most High than the pagan theology furnished, on the eighth day (Gen. xvii. 12.), including the day when and who in some respects conformed to the Jewish religion. the child was born, and that on which it was performed; and Of this description appear to be the "DEVOUT MEN who feared so scrupulous were the Jews in obeying the letter of the law, God," who are frequently mentioned in the New Testament, that they never neglected it, even though it happened on the and particularly the pious centurion Cornelius, of whom the Sabbath-day. (John vii. 22, 23.) This they termed "driving sacred writer has given us so pleasing an account. (Acts x.) away the Sabbath." If they were obliged to perform circumVIII. All these persons, with the exception of the last cision, either sooner or later, it was considered as a misforclass, were members of the Jewish church, participated in tune, and the circumcision so administered, though valid, its worship, and regulated themselves by the law of Moses was not deemed equally good with that done on the eighth (or at least professed to do so), and by the other inspired day and when this ceremony was deferred, it was never Hebrew books, whence their sacred rites and religious in-used to drive away the Sabbath. It was for this reason that struction were derived. No person, however, was allowed St. Paul accounted it no small privilege to have been circumto partake of the sacred ordinances, until he had undergone cised on the eighth day. Accordingly John the Baptist (Luke the rite of CIRCUMCISION. This rite is first mentioned in i. 59.) and Jesus Christ (Luke ii. 21.) were circumcised Gen. xvii. 10-12., where we read that it was a seal of the exactly on that day. There was a peculiar fitness in the covenant which God made with Abraham and his posterity. circumcision of Jesus Christ: for, as the Jews reckoned it Afterwards, when God delivered his law to the children of dishonourable to associate with uncircumcised persons (Acts Israel, he renewed the ordinance of circumcision, which from xi. 3.), it was necessary that he should be circumcised in that time became a sacrament of the Jewish religion. Hence order to qualify him for conversing familiarly with them, and the protomartyr Stephen calls it the "covenant of circumci- also for discharging the other duties of his ministry. sion" (Acts vii. 8.); and Jesus Christ also ascribes its insti- sides, as the Messiah was to be descended from Abraham, tution to Moses, though it was derived from the patriarchs. whose posterity were distinguished from the rest of mankind (John vii. 22.) Besides the design which God proposed to by this rite, he received the seal of circumcision to show that himself in establishing this ceremony, he appointed it for he was rightly descended from that patriarch: and as every some other ends, suited to the circumstances of the Israelites; person that was circumcised was "a debtor to the whole law" a brief consideration of which will illustrate many important (Gal. v. 3.), it was further necessary, that Jesus Christ the passages of Scripture. In the first place, it included in it so true Messiah should be circumcised; because, being thus solemn and indispensable an obligation to observe the whole subjected to the law of Moses, he was put into a condition to law, that circumcision did not profit those who transgressed. fulfil all righteousness, and redeem those who were under the (Rom. ii. 25.) Hence the Jews are in the Scriptures fre- law. (Gal. iv. 4, 5.) quently termed the circumcision, that is, persons circumcised, as opposed to the uncircumcised Gentiles, who are styled the uncircumcision (Rom. iii. 1.30. iv. 12. Gal. ii. 7-9. Eph. ii. 41. Phil. iii. 5.); the abstract being put for the concrete. 25-29. Col. ii. 11. Acts vii. 51. Circumcision was that rite of the law by Thus, our Saviour is called the minister of circumcision: and which the Israelites were taken into God's covenant; and (in the spirit of therefore St. Paul says, that whoever is circumcised, is bound it was the same as baptism among Christians. For, as the form of baptism to keep the whole law. (Gal. v. 3.) For the same reason expresses the putting away of sin, circumcision was another form to the same effect. The Scripture speaks of a "circumcision made without Jesus Christ was circumcised, that he might be made under hands," of which that made with hands was no more than an outward sign, the law, to fulfil the promise of the Messiah, and redeem which denoted “the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh," (Col. ii. those who were under the law. (Gal. iv. 4.) Secondly, as this inward and spiritual grace of circumcision the apostle speaks expressly 11.), and becoming a new creature; which is the sense of our baptism. Of only circumcised persons were deemed to be visible members in another place; He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that of the Jewish church, so none but these were permitted to inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one celebrate the great festivals, particularly the passover. On letter." (Rom. ii. 28.) Some may suppose that this spiritual application of this account it was that Joshua commanded all the Israelites, circumcision, as a sacrament, was invented after the preaching of the Gos who having been born in the wilderness remained uncir-pel, when the veil was taken from the law; but this doctrine was only encumcised, to undergo the rite of circumcision, previously to forced to those who had it before, and had reparted from the sense of their own law; for thus did Moses instruct the Jews, that there is a "foreskin of their entering the land of Canaan (Josh. v. 4. 6. 9.); on the heart" which was to be "circumcised" in a moral or spiritual way, which occasion God told them that he had removed or rolled before they could be accepted as the servants of God; and again, that the Lord would "circumcise their heart, to love him with all their heart, and away the reproach of Egypt from them; in other words, that with all their soul." (Deut. x. 16. and xxx. 6.); which was the same as to they should thenceforth be regarded as his peculiar people, say, that he would give them what circumcision signified, making them Jews inwardly, and giving them the inward grace with the outward sign, without which the letter of baptism avails no more now than the letter of circumcision did then: and we may say of the one as is said of the other, "He is not a Christian which is one outwardly, and baptism is not the putting away the filth of the flesh by washing with water, but the answer of a good conscience towards God." (1 Pet. iii. 21.) Rev. W. Jones on the Figurative Language of Scripture. (Works, vol. iii. pp. 77, 78.) On this subject Dr. Graves has some excellent remarks, in his Lectures on the Pentateuch, vol. i. pp. 241--250. See also an excellent discourse of Bishop Beveridge, entitled "The New Creature in Christianity." Works, vol. ii. Macknight and Whitby on Luke ii. 21. John xii. 20. See also Acts vi. 1. ix. 29. and xi. 20. and the commentators on those passages. Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xvii. c. 11. (al. 13.) lib. xviii. c. 3. (al. 4.) $5 4, 5. Philo de Legat. ad Caium, p. 1014. Tacitus, Annal. lib. ii. c. 85. Suetonius in Tiberio, c. 36, Wolfius on Acts vi. 1. has detailed the various opinions of learned men respecting the Libertines.-See pp. 251, 252. supra. At the same time that the child was circumcised, we learn 1 Macc. i. 63. Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xii. c. 7. • See Lev. xxvi. 41, 42. Deut. x. 16. xxx. 6. Jer. iv. 4. ix. 25, 26. Rom. See Acts xiii. 43. 50. xvi. 14. xvii. 4. 17. and xviii. 7. Calmet has an elaborate disquisition on the origin and design of cir- Serm. xix. p. 417. et seq. 8vo edit. cumcision. Dissertations, tom. I. pp. 411-422. removed, to take care of all the instruments and sacred vessels belonging to it, and when the army pitched their tents to set them up again. from the Gospel, that it was usual for the father, or some near relation, to give him a name. Thus John the Baptist and Jesus Christ both received their names on that day. (Luke i. 59. ii. 21.) It appears, however, that the Jews For the more regular performance of the several duties had several names during the period comprised in the evan- belonging to the tabernacle, the whole business was divided gelical history. Thus it was customary with them, when between the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites. travelling into foreign countries, or familiarly conversing with The first were principally concerned in carrying the ark and the Greeks and Romans, to assume a Greek or Latin name sacred vessels belonging to the tabernacle under the conduct of great affinity, and sometimes of the very same significa- of Eleazar the priest (Num. iv. 16.), which being the most tion with that of their own country, by which name they honourable employment, was given to them most probably were usually called among the Gentiles. So Thomas was out of respect to Moses, who was descended from this family. called Didymus (John xi. 16.); the one a Syriac and the The Gershonites and Merarites, under the direction of Ithaother a Greek word, but both signifying a twin. (See Acts mar, had the burden and charge of every thing else belongi. 23. xii. 12. 2 Pet. i. 1. Col. iv. 11. &c.) Sometimes the ing to the tabernacle, as the coverings, hangings, woodwork, name was added from their country, as Símon the Canaan-cords, pins, &c. (ver. 24-31.) When the Israelites were ite, and Judas Iscariot (Matt. x. 4.); but more frequently encamped, these three families of Levites were to pitch their from their assuming a new and different name upon particu- tents round three sides of the tabernacle, and Moses and lar occurrences in life. (See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. 2 Kings Aaron with their sons round the fourth quarter; by which xxiv. 17. John i. 42.) The same practice obtains in the means they were so disposed, as to be each of them as near East to this day.' as conveniently they could to their respective charges. Such was the office of the Levites in the time of Moses. Afterwards, when the Israelites were settled in the promised land, this employment of the Levites, in carrying the tabernacle and its utensils, ceased; and therefore David and Solomon appointed them to new offices. They were chiefly indeed employed about the service of the temple: but during their recess, while they were not in attendance there, they were dispersed through the whole country, and employed in the service of the state as well as of the church. David made six thousand of them officers and judges (1 Chron, xxiii. 4.); they also took care to instruct the people where they resided in the Mosaic law, by expounding the several parts of it; and, according to the Jews, they kept the public records and genealogies of the several tribes. However necessary circumcision was while the ceremonial law remained in force, it became equally indifferent and unnecessary on the abrogation of that law by the destruction of the temple. Until that time the apostles allowed it to be performed on the Jewish converts to Christianity; but they expressly prohibited the imposition of such a yoke on the necks of the Gentile converts: and therefore St. Paul, who has fully proved how unprofitable and unnecessary it is (1 Cor. vii. 19.), thought it proper to have Timothy circumcised, because his mother was of Jewish extraction (Acts xvi. 1-3.); though he would not, on the other hand, allow this ceremony to be performed on Titus, because he was a Greek (Gal. ii. 3.):—thus giving to the church in all ages a most excellent pattern, either of condescension or resolution, in insisting upon or omitting things indifferent according to the difference of times and circumstances. SECTION II. In the business about the temple some of the chief amongst them had the charge of the sacred treasures. (1 Chron. xxiii. 20.) Others of a lower rank were to prepare the shew-bread and unleavened cakes, with the proper quantity of flour for the morning and evening service. (1 Chron. xxiii. 29.) From which text it appears also that they had in their custody within the sanctuary the original standard for weights and ON THE MINISTERS OF THE TEMPLE AND OTHER ECCLESIASTICAL measures, liquid and dry, according to which every thing of OR SACRED PERSONS. this kind was to be regulated. Hence it is we often read in Scripture of the shekel of the sanctuary, not that there were I. Of the Levites.-II. The priests, their functions, mainte- two sorts of shekels, one sacred and another civil, but benance, and privileges.-III. The high-priest.-His functions, cause weights and measures, being reckoned among the dress, and privileges.-Succession to the pontifical dignity. sacred things, were kept in the sanctuary, as they were in -IV. Officers of the Synagogue.-V. The Nazarites; na- the temples of the Pagans, and afterwards in Christian ture of their vows.—VI. The Rechabites.—VII. The pro-as porters, to guard the gates and passages into the temple. churches. Many of the Levites were likewise employed phets. THE Jews, on the establishment of their republic, had no King but Jehovah himself; and the place appointed for their sacrifices and prayers was at the same time both the temple of their God and the palace of their sovereign. This circumstance will account for the pomp and splendour of their worship, as well as the number, variety, and gradations in rank of their ministers; which were first established by Moses, and afterwards renewed by David, with increased splendour, for the service of the temple. To this service the tribe of Levi was especially devoted, instead of the first-born of the tribes of Israel, and was disengaged from all secular labours. The honour of the priesthood, however, was reserved to the family of Aaron alone, the rest of the tribe being employed in the inferior offices of the temple: so that all the priests were Levites, but all the Levites were not priests. I. Originally, the tribe of Levi was divided into the three families and orders of Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites (1 Chron. vi. 16, &c.), but afterwards the LEVITES were divided by David (1 Chron. xxiii.) into four clases. Their principal office was to wait upon the priests, and be assisting to them in the service of the tabernacle and temple; so that they were properly the ministers and servants of the priests, and obliged to obey their orders. (Num. iii. 9. 1 Chron. xxiii. 28. But the particular duties incumbent upon them were different in the time of Moses, while the Israelites were in the wilderness, from those which they had to discharge afterwards, in the days of David and Solomon. In the wilderness the tabernacle was always in a moveable condition as well as the Israelites: and at that time the chief business of the Levites was, when the Israelites journeyed, to take down the tabernacle, to carry it about as the host 1 See Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. pp. 431-433. (1 Chron. ix. 17.) Others were more honourably employed as singers, and were to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise in the evening (1 Chron. xxiii. 30.); and this we find they did in a very solemn manner at the dedication of the temple. (2 Chron. v. 12, 13.) The whole body of the Levites in David's time amounted to thirty-eight thousand, from thirty years old and upwards (1 Chron. xxii. 3.), of which number he appointed four-andtwenty thousand to attend the constant duty and work of the temple; and these being divided as the priests were into fourand-twenty courses (as appears from 1'Chron. xxiii. 24. and 2 Chron. xxxi. 17.), there were one thousand for each week. Six thousand again were to be officers and judges, as already mentioned, four thousand for porters, and four thousand for singers. (1 Chron. xxiii. 4,5.) The four-and-twenty courses of singers are mentioned in 1 Chron. xxv. 8-31. This disposition of them was afterwards confirmed by Solomon when the temple was finished (2 Chron. viii. 14.); and all these had their chiefs or overseers as well as the priests. (Ezra viii. 29.) The duty of the porters was not only to be a military guard upon the temple, but also to take care that no person who was unclean or uncircumcised might enter the court of the Israelites. (2 Chron. xxiii. 19.) And however mean their employment was, yet it was the pious desire of David, rather to be a door-keeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psal. lxxxiv. 10.) The order of singers was instituted by David, and it appears that the whole book of psalms was composed for this kind of devotion. David (by whom the greatest number was composed) directed many of them to the chief musician, for this very purpose, that they might be used in the service of the house of God. And we have one particular instance in which 2 Novels of Justinian, nov. 123. cap. 15. it is said, that David delivered this psalm to thank the Lord As the Levites were subordinate to the priests, so they (the Levites) had others under them, called NETHINIMS, whose business it was to carry the water and wood that was wanted in the temple for the use of the sacrifices, and to perform other laborious services there. They were not originally of Hebrew descent, but are supposed to have been chiefly the posterity of the Gibeonites, who for their fraudulent stratagem in imposing upon Joshua and the Hebrew princes (Josh. ix. 3-27.) were condemned to this employment, which was a sort of honourable servitude. We read in Ezra, that the Nethinims were devoted by David and the other princes to the service of the temple (Ezra viii. 20.), and they are called the children of Solomon's servants (Ezra ii. 58.), being probably a mixture of the race of the Gibeonites, and some of the remains of the Canaanites, whom Solomon constrained to various servitudes. (1 Kings ix. 20, 21.) They had a particular place in Jerusalem where they dwelt, called Ophel, for the conveniency of being near the service of the temple. (Neh. iii. 26.) In order to enable the Levites to devote themselves to that service, forty-eight cities were assigned to them for their residence, on the division of the land of Canaan; thirteen of these were appropriated to the priests, to which were added the tithes of corn, fruit, and cattle. The Levites, however, paid to the priests a tenth part of all their tithes; and as they were possessed of no landed property, the tithes which the priests received from them were considered as the firstfruits which they were to offer to God. (Num. xviii. 21-24.)2 II. Next to the Levites, but superior to them in dignity, were the ordinary PRIESTS, who were chosen from the family of Aaron exclusively. They served immediately at the altar, prepared the victims, and offered the sacrifices. They kept up a perpetual fire on the altar of the burnt sacrifices, and See p. 16. suprà. Home's Script. Hist. of Jews, vol. ii. pp. 214-221. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 227-231. also in the lamps of the golden candlestick in the sanctuary; they kneaded the loaves of shew-bread, which they baked, and offered on the golden altar in the sanctuary: and changed them every Sabbath-day. Every day, morning and evening, a priest (who was appointed at the beginning of the week by lot) brought into the sanctuary a smoking censer of incense, which he set upon the golden table, and which on no account was to be kindled with strange fire, that is, with any fire but that which was taken from the altar of burnt sacrifice. (Lev. x. 1,2.) And as the number and variety of their functions required them to be well read in their law, in order that they might be able to judge of the various legal uncleannesses, &c. this circumstance caused them to be consulted as interpreters of the law (Hos. iv. 6. Mal. ii. 7, &c. Lev. xiii. 2. Num. v. 14, 15.), as well as judges of controversies. (Deut. xxi. 5. xvii. 8-13.) In the time of war, their business was to carry the ark of the covenant, to sound the holy trumpets, and animate the army to the performance of its duties. To them also it belonged publicly to bless the people in the name of the Lord. Τα The priests were divided by David into twenty-four classes (1 Chron. xxiv. 7-18.); which order was retained by Solomon (2 Chron. viii. 14.); and at the revivals of the Jewish religion by the kings Hezekiah and Josiah. (2 Chron. xxxi. 2. Xxxv. 4, 5.) As, however, only four classes returned from the Babylonish captivity (Ezra ii. 36-39. Neh. vii. 39-42. xii. 1.), these were again divided into twenty-four classes, each of which was distinguished by its original appellation. This accounts for the introduction of the class or order of Abiah, mentioned in Luke i. 5., which we do not find noticed among those who returned from the captivity. One of these classes went up to Jerusalem every week to discharge the sacerdotal office, and succeeded one another on the Sabbath-day, till they had all attended in their turn. each order was assigned a president (1 Chron. xxiv. 6. 31. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 14.), whom some critics suppose to be the same as the chief priests so often mentioned in the New Testament, and in the writings of Josephus. The prince or prefect of each class appointed an entire family to offer the daily sacrifices and at the close of the week they all joined together in sacrificing. And as each family consisted of a great number of priests, they drew lots for the different offices which they were to perform. It was by virtue of such lot that the office of burning incense was assigned to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, when he went into the temple of the Lord. (Luke i. 9.) According to some Jewish writers, there were three priests employed in the offering of the incense; one, who carried away the ashes left on the altar at the preceding service; another, who brought a pan of burning coals from the altar of sacrifice, and, having placed it on the golden altar, departed; a third, who went in with the incense, sprinkled it on the burning coals, and, while the smoke ascended, made intercession for the people. This was the particular office which fell by lot to Zacharias; and it was accounted the most honourable in the whole service. This office could be held but once by the same person.4 The sacerdotal dignity being confined to certain families, every one who aspired to it was required to establish his descent from those families: on this account the genealogies of the priests were inscribed in the public registers, and were preserved in the archives of the temple. Hence, in order to preserve the purity of the sacerdotal blood, no priest was permitted to marry a harlot or profane woman, or one who had been divorced; and if any one laboured under any bodily defect, this excluded him from serving at the altar. Purity of body and sanctity of life were alike indispensable; nor could any one undertake the priestly office, in the early period of the Jewish polity, before he had attained thirty years, or, in later times, the age of twenty years. According to Maimonides, the priest whose genealogy was defective in any respect was clothed in black, and veiled in black, and sent without the verge of the court of the priests; but every one that was found perfect and right was clothed in white, and went in and ministered with his brethren the priests. It is not improbable that St. John refers to this custom of the • See Matt. xxvii. 1. Acts iv. 23. v. 24. ix. 14. 21. xxii. 30. xxiii. 14. xIV. 15. xxvi. 10.; and also Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xx. c. 8. §8. De Bell. Jud. lib. iv. c. 3. §7. c. 4. § 3. et de vita sua, $$ 2. 5. • Macknight, and Wetstein, on Luke i. 9. Ezra ii. 62. Neh. vii. 64. Josephus contra Apion, lib. i. §7. et in vita sua, § 1. Lev. xxi. 7. 17-23. Num. iv. 3. 2 Chron. xxxi. 17. Maimonides has enumerated not fewer than 140 bodily defects which disqualified persons for the priesthood. See Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. iii. c. 12. § 2. and compare Carpzov's Apparatus Antiquitatum Sacrarum, p. 89. et seq. |