used them in place of the others. It was from this custom of the Jews, that the primitive Christians adopted theirs, of reading a lesson every Sabbath out of the Old and New Testaments. The following tables exhibit the paraschioth or section of the law, and the haphtoroth or sections of the prophets (which were substituted for the former), as they have been read together ever since the days of the Asmonæans or Maccabees, and as they continue to be read in the various synagogues belonging to the English, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, and German Jews. A GENERAL VIEW OF ALL THE SECTIONS OF THE LAW, AND SECTIONS OF THE PROPHETS, AS READ IN SECT. i. THE DIFFERENT JEWISH SYNAGOGUES FOR EVERY SABBATH OF THE YEAR. .,Toledoth noach תלדות נה .ii . ,Lec leca לך לך .iii ,Chaiyeh Sarah חיים שרה . iv. Vaiyera,. vi. nn Toledoth,. Vaiyetse,. Vaiyishlach,.. vii. viii. .xxiii. 1. to xxv. 18. ...xxv. 19. to xxviii. 9. ....xxviii. 10. to xxxii. 3. .....xxxii. 4. to xxxvi. 43. EXODUS. ..xxxvii. 1. to xl. 23. .xli. 1. to xliv. 17. ..xliv. 18. to xlvii. 27. ..xlvii. 28. to 1. 26. Shemoth,..............i. 1. to vi. 1. .vi. 2. to ix. 35. ....X. 1. to xiii. 16. .xiii. 17. to xvii. 16. .xviii. 1. to xx. 26. xxi. 1. to xxiv. 18. .xxv. 1. to xxvii. 19. .xxvii. 20. to xxx. 10. .xxx. 11. to xxxiv. 35. .....xxxv. 1. to xxxviii. 20. .xxxviii. 21. to xl. 38. LEVITICUS. ,Tetsaveh תצוה .xx ,Kei tissa כי תשא .xxi ..,Vayakhel ויקהל .xxii ..,Pekudey פקודי .xxiii Isa. xliii. 21-28. xliv. 1—25........Ditto. Jer. vii. 21-34. viii. 1-3. ix. 23, 24.. Ditto. .i. 1. to iv. 20. .iv. 21. to vii. 89. XXXV. ] Naso,.. ,Bemidbar במרבר .xxxvi ,Behaalotica בהעלתך .xxxvi Xxxvii. Shelach,. xxxviii. mp Korach,.. xxxix. npn Chukkath,. .,Balak בלק .xl .... .viii. 1. to xii. 16. .xiii. 1. to xv. 41. ..xvi. 1. to xviii. 32. .xix. 1. to xxii. 1. .xxii. 2. to xxv. 9. ....xxv. 10. to xxx. 1. .....xxx. 2. to xxxii. 42. .xxxiii. 1. to xxxvi. 13. DEUTERONOMY. ,Masey מסעי .xliii Zech. ii. 10-13. iii. 1-13. iv. 1–7. Ditto. Isa. i. 1-27........... .Ditto. xl. 1-26..... ...Ditto. xlix. 14-26. 1. 1-3.. ...Ditto. liv. 11-17. lv. 1—5.. ...Ditto. li. 12-23. lii. 1-12. ..Ditto. liv. 1-10. ..Ditto. .Ditto. lx. 1-22. lxi. 10, 11. lxii. 1–12. lxiii. 1-9... Ditto. Hos. xiv. 1-9. Mic. vii. 18-20.....Isa. lv. 6-13. lvi. 1-8. 2 Sam. xxii. 1-51. Some say Ezek. xvii. 22-24. xviii. 1-32... ..Hos. xiv. 1-9. Joel ii. 1-27.1 Josh. i. 1-18. Eccl. i.-xii. inclusive,... Ditto.2 their primitive institutions, that the same coincidence took place in the apostolic age?" Dr. Henderson's Biblical Researches, &c. p. 326. 2 The above tables are copied from Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary on Deut. xxxiv., who states that he has in general followed the divisions in the best Masoretic Bibles, from which our common English Bibles in some cases In the synagogues of the Hellenists or Greek Jews, the ing from right to left, they roll off with the left, while they law was always read in the Alexandrian or Greek version: roll on with the right hand. The vignette, at the head of this but in those of the native Jews, the law was always read in section, will convey some idea of the manner in which the Hebrew; whence it became necessary, as soon as that lan- Synagogue Rolis are unrolled. It is taken from the original guage ceased to be vernacular among the Jews, to establish and very valuable manuscript in the British Museum, which an interpreter, by whom the Jewish Scriptures were ex- is described in Vol. I. Part I. chap. iii. sect. i. § ii. pounded in the Chaldee dialect, which was spoken by them "It should seem also, at least in foreign countries where after the return from the Babylonian captivity. The doctor places of worship were established, that when strangers, or reader, therefore, having the interpreter always by him, who were Jews, arrived at such towns, and went to offer softly whispered in his ears what he said, and this interpre- their devotions, it was usual for the presidents of the synater repeated aloud to the people what had thus been commu-gogue, after the appointed portion out of the law and the pronicated to him. To this custom our Saviour is supposed to phets was read, to send a servant to them, and in a very have alluded when he said to his disciples, What ye hear in respectful manner to request that if they could impart any the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. (Matt. x. 27.)3 thing that might contribute to the religious instruction and 3. The third and last part of the synagogue service is, edification of the audience, they would deliver it. This token Exposition of the Scriptures, and Preaching to the people from of respect and politeness shown to strangers, appears from them. The first was performed at the time of reading them, the following passage in the Acts of the Apostles. (Acts xiii. and the other after the reading of the law and the prophets. 14, 15.) When Paul and his companions, on their arrival In Luke iv. 15-22. we have an account of the service of at Antioch in Pisidia, went into the Jewish synagogue on the synagogue in the time of Christ; from which it appears the Sabbath-day, and sat down after the reading of the law that he taught the Jews in both these ways: And he taught and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to saying, Men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and as his custom for the people, say on. Upon which Paul stood up, and beckwas, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood oning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of give audience."9 the prophet Esaias; and when he had unrolled the volume he found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord!" And he folded the volume, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them: This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. From this passage we learn, that when Jesus Christ came to Nazareth, his own city, he was called out, as a member of that synagogue, to read the haphtorah, that is, the section or lesson out of the prophets for that day; which appears to have been the fifty-first haphtorah, and to have commenced with the first verse of Isa. lxi. and not with the tenth, as in the table above given. "Have the Jews," asks an eminent commentator, "altered this haphtorah, knowing the use which our blessed Lord made of it among their ancestors?" Further he stood up (as it was customary, at least for the officiating minister to do out of reverence for the word of God) to read the Scriptures; and unrolled the manuscript until he came to the lesson appointed for that day; which having read he rolled it up again, and gave it to the proper officer; and then he sat down and expounded it, agreeably to the usage of the Jews. But when Christ entered any synagogue of which he was not a member (as it appears from Luke iv. 16. he always did on every Sabbath-day, wherever he was), he taught the people in sermons after the law and the prophets had been read. The Sacred Writings, used to this day in all the Jewish synagogues, are written on skins of parchment or vellum, and (like the ancient copies) rolled on two rollers, beginning at each end: so that, in readwill be found to vary a little. On the above tables, Dr. Clarke remarks, that though the Jews are agreed in the sections of the law that are read every Sabbath; yet they are not agreed in the haphtoroth, or sections from the prophets; as it appears above, that the Dutch and German Jews differ in several cases from the Italian and Portuguese; and there are some slighter variations besides those above, which he has not noticed. Tertulliani Apologia, c. 18. From this practice originated the Chaldee Paraphrases, of which an account has been given in the first volume of this work. Dr. Lightfoot's Horæ Hebraice, on Matt. x. 27. "AVAITUERS TO 6.SLOV. This word signifies to unfold, unroll. The books of the ancients were written on parchment and rolled up. Hence the word volume. Αλλ' ουκ αναπτύξαντες αυτούς και το χειρό περιβάλοντες | Aλ; Why do we not unfold our arms, and clasp each other in them? Dion. Halicarn. lib. vi. p. 392. Hudson. THE STICTORM ANAITYEA2, unfolding the letter. Josephus, de vita sua, p. 21. Havercamp. pas ος βιβλίον τα εβούλετο, άλλην των Περσών εποίησατο, μετα δε, ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΑΣ, TO BIBAION," [the very expression of the evangelist.] Herodotus, lib. i. c. 125. tom. i. p. 158. edit. Oxon. 1809. Dr. Harwood's Introduction, vol. ii. p. 181. • Πτυξης το βιβλίον, Dr. A. Clarke, on Deut. xxxiv. In like manner, according to the custom of their public instructers, we find our Saviour sitting down (Matt. v. 1.) before he began to deliver his sermon on the mount to the assembled multitudes; and upon another occasion sitting down, and out of the ship teaching the people who were collected on the shore. (Matt. xiii. 1.) So also it is said of the scribes, who were the Jewish clergy, that they sat (Matt. xxiii. 2.) in Moses' chair: whatever therefore they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not after their works, for they say and do not. The synagogues, however, were not only places set apart for prayer; they were also schools where youth were instructed. The sages (for so were the teachers called) sat upon elevated benches, while the pupils stood at their feet or before them;10 which circumstance explains St. Paul's meaning (Acts xxii. 3.) when he says that he was brought up AT THE FEET of Gamaliel. V. Those who had been guilty of any notorious crime, or were otherwise thought unworthy, were cast out of these synagogues, that is, excommunicated, and excluded from partaking with the rest in the public prayers and religious offices there performed; so that they were looked upon as mere heathens, and shut out from all benefit of the Jewish religion, which exclusion was esteemed scandalous. We are told that the Jews came to a resolution, that whoever confessed that Jesus was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. (John ix. 22.) And, therefore, when the blind man, who had been restored to sight, persisted in confessing that he believed the person who had been able to work such a miracle could not have done it, if he were not of God, they cast him out. (ver. 33, 34.)!! VI. The following are the Shemonch Esreh, or nineteen prayers of the Jews, referred to in page 104. as translated by Dr. Prideaux. That which was formerly the nineteenth is now the twelfth in the order in which they stand in the Jewish liturgies. The first or precatory part of each article was pronounced by the priest, and the last or eucharistical part was the response of the people. "1. Blessed be thou, O LORD our GoD, the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the Gop of Jacob, the great God, powerful and tremendous, the high GoD, bountifully dispensing benefits, the creator and possessor of the universe, who rememberest the good deeds of our fathers, and in thy love sendest a Redeemer to those who are descended from them, for thy name's sake, O King our LORD and helper, our Saviour and our shield.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who art the shield of Abraham! "2. Thou, O LORD, art powerful for ever; thou raisest the dead to life, and art mighty to save; thou sendest down the dew, stillest the winds, and makest the rain to come down upon the earth, and sustainest with thy beneficence all that Dr. A. Clarke, on Luke vi. 17. Dr. Harwood's Introd. vol. ii. p. 182. 10 Fleury, Lamy, and other eminent critics, have supposed that the Jewish youth sat on low seats or on the ground, at the feet of their preceptors, who occupied a lofty chair ; but Vitringa has shown, from Jewish authority, that the disciples of the rabbins stood before them in the manner above represented. See his treatise de Synag. Vet. lib. i. p. 1. c. 7. Kypke (Observ. Sacræ, in Nov. Fœd. Libros, vol. ii. pp. 114, 115.) has collected a variety of passages from Greek writers, to show that the expression παρα τους πόλης at the feet, is equivalent to πλησιον, near or before. 11 The preceding account of the Jewish Synagogues has been compiled from Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. ii. pp. 219–221. Prideaux's Connec tions (book vi. sub anno 444), vol. i. pp. 374-391. Fleury's Manners of the Israelites by Dr. Clarke, pp. 336-338 Pictet, Antiq. Judaiques, pp. 12-14. (Theol. Chret. tom. iii.) Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 225, 226. Reland's Antiq. Hebr. part i. c. 10. pp. 126-140. Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. parti. c. 9. pp. 100-105. Schachtii Animadversiones ad Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. pp. 452-470. Lardner's Credibility, book i. c. 9. § 6. Pritii Introd. ad Nov. Test. pp. 447. 595-608.; and Dr. Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book ii. c. 2. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. pp. 204-208. Beausobre's and L'Enfant's Introd. Bp. Watson's Theol. Tracts, pp. 158-169. On the synagogue-worship of the modern Jews, see Mr. Allen's Modern Judaism, pp. 319-354. "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 | "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, Ỏ LORD, who buildest Jerusalem! "15. Make the offspring of David thy servant speedily to 4. Thou of thy mercy givest knowledge unto men, and grow up, and flourish; and let our horn be exalted in thy salteachest them understanding: give graciously unto us know-vation. For we hope for thy salvation every day.-Blessed ledge, wisdom, and understanding.-Blessed art thou, O art thou, O LORD, who makest the horn of our salvation to LORD, who graciously givest knowledge unto men! flourish! 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! 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. "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 wick all 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. i. 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. 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; 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 This section is principally derived from Schulzii Archæologia He 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. 343-347. 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. 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. 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. 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. 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 T It has been remarked that Greek words ending in simply inferiority. Thus the 'Exλnves (Hellenes) were distinguished from the E(HellenisT); 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 He brew idiom. These were the 'Exxvira, 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 Пubayopsios, PythagoREANS; those, who were of a different cast, he termed Iyopia, 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 ATTIXIσTas or AtticISTS,-the pure and less pure Greeks, as between those called 'Exas and Exaλuviotas, 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 loudatos. 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 to them. Hence they admitted PROSELYTES, who renounced who is set at liberty, are both as it were new-born babes ; 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.3 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.1 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 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 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 abborrence; 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 insuthcient 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." 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. 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 (u Tu Dere) 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-prozorov. (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 s 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. 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. Cainpbell 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 Ile. brews 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. |