13. Upon the pious and the just, and upon the proselytes of justice, and upon the remnant of thy people of the 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 for ever let us not be ashamed, for we put our trust in thee.Blessed art thou, O LORD, who art the support and confidence of the just! are therein; and of thy abundant mercy makest the dead | 4. Thou of thy mercy givest knowledge unto men, and teachest them understanding: give graciously unto us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who graciously givest knowledge unto men! "5. Bring us back, O our Father, to the observance of thy law, and make us to adhere to thy precepts, and do thou, Ŏ our King, draw us near to thy worship, and convert us to thee by perfect repentance in thy presence.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who vouchsafest to receive us by repentance! "6. Be thou merciful unto us, O our Father: for we have sinned: pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed against thee. For thou art a God, good and ready to pardon.-Blessed art thou, O LORD most gracious, who multipliest thy mercies in the forgiveness of sins! 7. Look, we beseech thee, upon our afflictions. Be thou on our side in all our contentions, and plead thou our cause in all our litigations; and make haste to redeem 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, O 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 merciful.-Blessed art thou, O LORD our GOD, who curest the diseases of thy people Israel! 66 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 satiate 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. Gather us together by the sound of the great trumpet, to the enjoyment of our liberty; and lift up thy ensign to call together all the captivity, from the four quarters of the earth into our own land.-Blessed art thou, O 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 benignity, and in mercy, and in righteousness, and in justice. Blessed art thou, O LORD, our king, who lovest righteousness and justice. "14. Dwell thou in the midst of Jerusalem, thy city, as thou hast promised: build it with a building to last for ever, and do this speedily even in our days.-Blessed art thou, Ó 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 makest the horn of our salvation to flourish! 16. Hear our voice, O LORD our GoD, most merciful Father, pardon and have mercy upon us, and accept of our prayers with thy mercy and favour, and send us not away from thy presence, O our king. For thou hearest with mercy the prayer of thy people Israel.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who hearest prayer! "17. Be thou well pleased, O 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, O LORD, who restorest thy divine 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 thy signs, which are every day with us, and because of thy wonders, and marvellous loving-kindness, which are morning, and evening, and night before us. Thou art good, for thy mercies are not consumed; thou art merciful, for thy lovingkindnesses fail not. For ever we hope in thee. And for all these mercies be thy name, O 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 to whom it is fitting always to give praise! "19. Give peace, beneficence, and benediction, grace, benignity, and mercy unto us, and to Israel thy people. Bless us, our Father, even all of us together as one man, with the light of thy countenance. For in the light of thy countenance hast thou given unto us, O 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 thine eyes, to bless thy people Israel with thy peace at all times, and in every moment.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who blessest thy people Israel with peace! Amen." hilated speedily, and all the tyrants be cut off quickly; humble thou them quickly in our days.-Blessed art thou, O Lord, who destroyest enemies and humblest tyrants!" In the Prayer Book of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, this prayer runs thus :-"Let slanderers have no hope, and and those who hate thee, be suddenly cut off, and all those who act wickall presumptuous apostates perish as in a moment; and may thine enemies, "12. 'Let there be no hope to them, who apostatize from the true religion; and let heretics, how many soever they be, all perish as in a moment. And let the kingdom of pride be speedily rooted out and broken in our days.-Blessed art thou, O LORD our GOD, who destroyest the wicked, and bringestedly be suddenly broken, consumed, and rooted out; and humble thou down the proud!3 them speedily in our days.-Blessed art thou, O Lord, who destroyest the enemies and humblest the proud!" Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 329. Concerning these supposed proselytes of justice, see p. 109. infra. si. e. The Adytum Templi, which in the temple of Jerusalem was the holy of holies, into which none ever entered but the high-priest once a year, on the great day of expiation. From this place, after the Babylonish captivity, were wanting the ark, the mercy-seat, the Shechinah of the divine presence, and the Urim and Thummim, which causing an imperfection in their worship in respect of what it was formerly, a restoration of them seems to be the subject of this petition. CHAPTER II. SACRED PERSONS. SECTION I.1 OF THE JEWISH CHURCH AND ITS MEMBERS. 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 been pleased to prefer the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before every other nation, and to select them from every other people, for the purposes of imparting to them the revelation of his will, and of preserving the knowledge and worship of the true God; He is thence said to have chosen them, and they are in many passages of Scripture represented as his chosen and elect people. And because they were by the will of God set apart, and appropriated in a special manner to his honour and obedience, and furnished with extraordinary motives to holiness, God is therefore said to have sanctified them. (Lev. xx. 8. xxi. 8. xxii. 9. 16. 32.) For these reasons they are termed a HOLY NATION, a kingdom of priests, and also saints ;3 and their covenant relation to God is urged upon them as a motive to holiness of heart and practice. (Lev. xix. 2. xx. 7, 8. 26. xi. 45. Exod. xxii. 31.) But the Jews of later times, becoming proud of these titles, and of their ecclesiastical privileges, extended their charity only to those of their own faith; while towards the rest of mankind they cherished a sullen and inveterate hatred, accounting them to be profane persons and sinners.4 This relative or imputed holiness of the Jews as a covenant people, separated and consecrated to the worship of the true God, was perpetual (in other words it was to subsist until the institution of the Gospel dispensation); although the Jews were often extremely corrupt in their manners, as the numerous denunciations of the prophets sufficiently indicate. Hence some of the rabbinical writers call the most wicked kings of Israel and Judah holy, holy, or righteous, and Israelite, being with them convertible terms (compare Wisd. x. 15. 17. 20. xviii. 1. 7. 9. 20.); and in the time of our Lord the Jews held the preposterous notion, that though they should continue in their sins, yet, because they were the offspring of Abraham, God would not impute their sins to 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.6 1 This section is principally derived from Schulzii Archæologia Hebraica, 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. 343-347. 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. 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, 15. 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. 1. and Col. i. 2. II. The first MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH CHURCH were the immediate descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob, whom God, having delivered from their oppressive bondage in Egypt, chose for himself to be his peculiar people, and their direct issue, without any intermixture of Gentile blood or language. These are termed by St. Paul Hebrews of the Hebrews (Phil. iii. 5.), as opposed to the Hellenistic Jews, or those who lived among the Greeks, whose language they spoke, and who were called Hellenists. (Acts vi. 1. ix. 29. xi. 20.) Many of the latter were descended from parents, one of whom only was a Jew. Of this description was Timothy. (Acts xvi. 1.) Those who were born in Judæa, of parents rightly descended from Abraham, and who received their education in Judæa, spoke the language of their forefathers, and were thoroughly instructed in the learning and literature of the Jews, were reckoned more honourable than the Hellenists; and, to mark the excellence of their lineage and language, they were called Hebrews;-a name the most ancient, and therefore the most honourable of all the names borne by Abraham's descendants; for it was the name given to Abraham himself, by the Canaanites, to signify that he had come from the other side of the Euphrates. A Hebrew, therefore, possessing the character and qualifications above described, was more honourable than an Israelite; as that name indicated only that a person was a member of the commonwealth of Israel, which a Jew might be, though born and educated in a foreign country. St. Paul, indeed, was born at Tarsus, in Cilicia; yet being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, who received his education at Jerusalem, spoke the language used there, and understood the Hebrew in which the ancient oracles of God were written, he was a Jew of the most honourable class; and, therefore, when cautioning the Philippians against Judaizing teachers and unbelieving Jews, 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.8 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 as imply inferi. ority. Thus the 'Exλves (Hellenes) were distinguished from the ExàуvioTai (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 'EXAEVIGT, 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 Tayopeo, PythagoREANS; those, who were of a different cast, he termed Ivy optoTai, 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 ATTIXITAS or AtticISTS,-the pure and less pure Greeks, as between those called 'Exxas and Evoras, Hellenes 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 Iouduros. τις 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:5-"A Gentile who is become a proselyte, and a servant to 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 On the proselytism of the Jews, Jesus Christ appears to seen, were termed Hebrews of the Hebrews. During the have formed the principal qualities which he required in the time of Jesus Christ, the Jews, especially the Pharisees, proselytes of his covenant." "The first condition of prosegreatly exerted themselves in making proselytes to their lytism among the Jews was, that he, who came to embrace religion and sect.1 their religion, should come voluntarily, and that neither force Calmet, and some other learned men after him, have dis-nor influence should be employed in this business. This, tinguished two kinds of proselytes, namely, 1. Proselytes of also, is the first condition required by Jesus Christ, and the gate, who dwelt either in or out of the land of Israel, which he considers as the foundation of all the rest. If any and worshipped the true God, observing the seven precepts man be willing (Ts Jee) to come after me. (Matt. xvi. 24.) of Noah, but without obliging themselves to circumcision The second condition required in the Jewish proselyte was, or any other legal ceremony; and, 2. Proselytes of justice or that he should perfectly renounce all his prejudices, his of righteousness, who were converts to Judaism, and engaged errors, his idolatry, and every thing that concerned his false themselves to receive circumcision, as well as to observe the religion, and that he should entirely separate himself from whole of the Mosaic law. There does not, however, appear his most intimate friends and acquaintances. It was on this to be any foundation in the Scriptures for such a distinction: ground that the Jews called proselytism a new birth, and nor can any with propriety be termed proselytes, except those proselytes new born and new men; and our Lord requires who fully embraced the Jewish religion. The Scriptures men to be born again, not only of water but by the Holy mention only two classes of persons, viz. the Israelites or Ghost. (John iii. 5.) All this our Lord includes in this word, Hebrews of the Hebrews above mentioned, and the Gentile let him renounce himself—aravnoaoIw autov. (Mark viii. 34.) converts to Judaism, which last are called by the names of To this the following scriptures refer; Matt. x. 33. John iií. strangers and sojourners, or proselytes. 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.”7 (Matt. xvi. 24-26. Mark viii. 34-37.) 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 consi 1 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. 2 These precepts are by the Jewish doctors termed 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 Judaism, 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." It 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. xi. pp. 313-324. 8vo. or vol. v. pp. 485-493. 4to. This observation renders it 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. 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 5 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 iii. 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. notes, 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. 6 In allusion most probably to this custom, St. Peter addresses the IIebrews 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. The knowledge of from the Hebrews or native Jews, who spoke what was then called Hebrew (a kind of Chaldaico-Syriac), by the appellation of HELLENISTS, or Grecians as they are termed in our authorized English version. These in all other respects were members of the Jewish church; they are repeatedly mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, and it was a party of the Hellenistic Jews that requested to see Jesus.1 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 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 heathenism 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.) The sacrament of circumcision was enjoined to be observed on the eighth day (Gen. xvii. 12.), including the day when the child was born, and that on which it was performed; and so scrupulous were the Jews in obeying the letter of the law, that they never neglected it, even though it happened on the Sabbath-day. (John vii. 22, 23.) This they termed "driving away the Sabbath." If they were obliged to perform circumcision, either sooner or later, it was considered as a misfortune, and the circumcision so administered, though valid, was not deemed equally good with that done on the eighth day: and when this ceremony was deferred, it was never used to drive away the Sabbath. It was for this reason that St. Paul accounted it no small privilege to have been circumcised on the eighth day. Accordingly John the Baptist (Luke i. 59.) and Jesus Christ (Luke fi. 21.) were circumcised exactly on that day. There was a peculiar fitness in the circumcision of Jesus Christ: for, as the Jews reckoned it dishonourable to associate with uncircumcised persons (Acts xi. 3.), it was necessary that he should be circumcised in order to qualify him for conversing familiarly with them, and also for discharging the other duties of his ministry. Besides, as the Messiah was to be descended from Abraham, whose posterity were distinguished from the rest of mankind by this rite, he received the seal of circumcision to show that he was rightly descended from that patriarch: and as every person that was circumcised was "a debtor to the whole law" (Gal. v. 3.), it was further necessary, that Jesus Christ the true Messiah should be circumcised; because, being thus subjected to the law of Moses, he was put into a condition to fulfil all righteousness, and redeem those who were under the law. (Gal. iv. 4, 5.) 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.6 adopt the rite of circumcision, yet had acquired a better knowledge of the Most High than the pagan theology furnished, and who in some respects conformed to the Jewish religion. Of this description appear to be the "DEVOUT MEN who feared God," who are frequently mentioned in the New Testament, and particularly the pious centurion Cornelius, of whom the sacred writer has given us so pleasing an account. (Acts x.) VIII. All these persons, with the exception of the last class, were members of the Jewish church, participated in its worship, and regulated themselves by the law of Moses (or at least professed to do so), and by the other inspired Hebrew books, whence their sacred rites and religious instruction were derived. No person, however, was allowed to partake of the sacred ordinances, until he had undergone the rite of CIRCUMCISION.4 This rite is first mentioned in Gen. xvii. 10-12., where we read that it was a seal of the covenant which God made with Abraham and his posterity. Afterwards, when God delivered his law to the children of Israel, he renewed the ordinance of circumcision, which from that time became a sacrament of the Jewish religion. Hence the protomartyr Stephen calls it the "covenant of circumeision" (Acts vii. 8.); and Jesus Christ also ascribes its institution to Moses, though it was derived from the patriarchs. (John vii. 22.) Besides the design which God proposed to himself in establishing this ceremony, he appointed it for some other ends, suited to the circumstances of the Israelites; a brief consideration of which will illustrate many important passages of Scripture. In the first place, it included in it so solemn and indispensable an obligation to observe the whole law, that circumcision did not profit those who transgressed. (Rom. ii. 25.) Hence the Jews are in the Scriptures frequently 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. 11. 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 See Lev. xxvi. 41, 42. Deut. x. 16. xxx. 6. Jer. iv. 4. ix. 25, 26. Rom. 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 circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one celebrate the great festivals, particularly the passover. inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the 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 own law; for thus did Moses instruct the Jews, that there is a "foreskin of forced to those who had it before, and had departed from the sense of their 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. On John xii. 20. See also Acts vi. 1. ix. 29. and xi. 20. and the commentators on those passages. 2 Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xvii. c. 11. (al. 13.) lib. xviii. c. 3. (al. 4.) §§ 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. See Acts xiii. 43. 50. xvi. 14. xvii. 4. 17. and xviii. 7. ii. At the same time that the child was circumcised, we learn $ 1 Macc. i. 63. Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xii. c. 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. from the Gospel, that it was usual for the father, or some | removed, to take care of all the instruments and sacred vessels near relation, to give him a name. Thus John the Baptist belonging to it, and when the army pitched their tents to set and Jesus Christ both received their names on that day. them up again. (Luke i. 59. ii. 21.) It appears, however, that the Jews had several names during the period comprised in the evangelical history. Thus it was customary with them, when travelling into foreign countries, or familiarly conversing with the Greeks and Romans, to assume a Greek or Latin name of great affinity, and sometimes of the very same signification with that of their own country, by which name they were usually called among the Gentiles. So Thomas was called Didymus (John xi. 16.); the one a Syriac and the other a Greek word, but both signifying a twin. (See Acts i. 23. xii. 12. 2 Pet. i. 1. Col. iv. 11. &c.) Sometimes the name was added from their country, as Símon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot (Matt. x. 4.); but more frequently from their assuming a new and different name upon particular occurrences in life. (See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. 2 Kings xxiv. 17. John i. 42.) The same practice obtains in the East to this day.1 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. For the more regular performance of the several duties belonging to the tabernacle, the whole business was divided between the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites. The first were principally concerned in carrying the ark and sacred vessels belonging to the tabernacle under the conduct of Eleazar the priest (Num. iv. 16.), which being the most honourable employment, was given to them most probably out of respect to Moses, who was descended from this family. The Gershonites and Merarites, under the direction of Ithamar, had the burden and charge of every thing else belonging to the tabernacle, as the coverings, hangings, woodwork, cords, pins, &c. (ver. 24-34.) When the Israelites were encamped, these three families of Levites were to pitch their tents round three sides of the tabernacle, and Moses and Aaron with their sons round the fourth quarter; by which means they were so disposed, as to be each of them as near 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. 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. I. Of the Levites.-II. The priests, their functions, maintenance, and privileges.-III. The high-priest. His functions, dress, and privileges.-Succession to the pontifical dignity. -IV. Officers of the Synagogue.-V. The Nazarites; nature of their vows.-VI. The Rechabites.-VII. The prophets. 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 : See Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. pp. 431-433. this kind was to be regulated. Hence it is we often read in Scripture of the shekel of the sanctuary, not that there were two sorts of shekels, one sacred and another civil, but because weights and measures, being reckoned among the sacred things, were kept in the sanctuary, as they were in the temples of the Pagans, and afterwards in Christian churches. Many of the Levites were likewise employed as porters, to guard the gates and passages into the temple. (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. 125. cap. 15. |