flesh neither of their owne young nor of men as on the contrarie they worship the Storke for her pietie in nourishing her aged parents that I speake not of their wed-locke chastitie for breach whereof Crollius tells from the relation of an eye-witnesse That in a wood neere to Spire in Germanie the Male complayning to a congregation of Storkes caused them to teare his Mate in pieces The Egyptians also had a conceit That Swines milke would breede the leprosie and that Swine were beasts odious to the Sunne and Moone He citeth out of Endoxus That they spared them for treading their Seede into the ground which was their Harrowing and Tillage when Nilus had newly left the softned Earth to send these Labourers their Kine and Swine to tread in the myrie Earth the Corne which they sowed therein The Egyptians sware by the head of their King which oath whosoeuer violated lost his life for the same without any redemption The Priests in old time renowmed for their learning in Straboes time were ignorant and vnlearned No woman might beare Priestly function These Priests might not eate Egs Milke or Oile except with Sallads they might not salute Mariners nor looke vpon their children or kinsfolks They washed themselues in the day-time thrice and in the night twice they were shauen wore linnen garments alwayes new washed were daily allowed sacred meates Of their ancient Priests thus Du Bartas singeth in Syluesters tune The Memphian Priests were deepe Philosophers And curious gazers on the sacred Starres Searchers of Nature and great Mathematickes Ere any letter knew the ancient'st Attickes Tertullian speakes of the continence of Apis his Priests and addes That certayne women consecrated to the African Ceres voluntarily relinquished marriage and from thenceforth might not touch a Male no not so much as k sse their owne sonnes Their magicke skill appeared in Iannes and Iambres which withstood Moses and in Hermes testimonie of himselfe R. Salomon on Exod. 8. writeth That Pharao said to Moses and Aaron Doe you bring straw into Ophraim a Citie full of straw And doe yee bring inchantments into Egypt which aboundeth therewith Postellus deriueth the Egyptian and Orientall sciences from Abraham to whom he dareth to attribute their diuinations by the Aire Water Fire Earth Birds and alleageth Rambams authoritie That the greatest part of the Alcoran is taken out of the Egyptian learning and saith That Moses and Salomon studied the same and expounded in Scripture what Abraham had taught them to which also hee ascribeth the Iewish Exorcismes in casting out Deuils But some Deuill I thinke hath taught him so to commend these deuillish Arts as he doth no lesse the Alcoran and the Iewes Cabala calling them an excellent Appendix to Moses and both of I know not what magicall facultie first infused into Adam in the puritie of his creation and taught by the Angell Raziel by him deliuered in verball tradition written first by the Henoch the bookes whereof Nimrod stole from Noah which Abraham might learne either in that Chaldean Nation or from Melchisedech But let vs obserue these Priests further When they sacrificed they made choice of their beasts by certaine religious markes a Cow they might not sacrifice as consecrated vnto Isis They kindled a fire and sprinkling water ouer the Sacrifice with inuocation of their God killed it cut off the head which either they sold to the Grecians if they would buy it or cast it into the Riuer with imprecation That whatsoeuer euill was imminent to them or their Countrey might be turned vpon that head This ceremonie seemes to haue come to them from the Iewes And they haue beene as liberall of their Rites since to the Catholikes for so they will be called as appeareth both by this Relation and by the testimonie not onely of Moresinus a Protestant but Maginus Polidorus Boemus and Beroaldus Popish writers although dawbed ouer with new mysticall significations as in Bellarmine and other the purest Catholikes is seene Their Priests were their Iudges the eldest of which was chiefe in pronouncing sentence He wore about his necke a Saphire Iewell with the Image of Truth therein engrauen The Priests of Isis besides their shauings and linnen garments had paper-shooes on their heads Anubis in their hands a Timbrell or a branch of Sea-wormewood or a Pine-apple They had one chiefe Priest or Primate of Egypt as appeareth by Iosephus and Heliodorus who maketh Thyamis to succeede his father Calasyris in this high Priesthood at Memphis Manetho also enioyed this Pontificall Hierarchie as appeareth by his Epistle to Ptolemeus which after shall follow Philostratus speaketh of Gymnosophists which some ascribe to India Heliodorus to Ethiopia he to Ethiopia and Egypt These saith hee dwelt abroad without house on a Hill a little off the bankes of Nilus where grew a Groue in which they held their generall Assemblies to consult of publike affaires hauing otherwise their studies and sacrifices apart each by himselfe Thespesion was the chiefe of this Monkish Colledge when Apollonius after his visitation of the Babylonian Magi and Indian Brachmanes came thither These held the immortalitie of the soule and accounted Nilus for a god If a man at Memphis had by chance-medley killed a man hee was exiled till those Gymnosophists absolued him Hercules Temple at Canopus was priuiledged with Sanctuarie to giue immunitie to Fugitiues and Malefactors Thus elsewhere Osiris Apollo in Syria Diana at Ephesus euery Cardinals house saith a Pope in Rome Saint Peter at Westminster and other Popish Oratories priuiledged Dennes of Theeues §. III. Of their Feasts and Oracles THeir Feasts were many of which Herodotus reckoneth one at Bubastis in honour of Diana To this place the Men and Women at this festiuall solemnitie sayled in great multitudes with minstrelsie and showtings and as they came to any Citie on the waters side they went on shore and the women some danced some played some made a brawle with the women of the place and thus resorting to Bubastis they there offered great Sacrifices spending in this feast more Wine then in all the yeere besides Hither resorted of Men and Women besides Children seuen hundred thousand In Busiris was solemnized the feast of Isis in which after the sacrifice many thousands beat themselues but with what they did beate themselues was not lawfull to relate The Carians that inhabited Egypt did also cut their foreheads with swords signifying thereby that they were forreiners This Citie was in the midst of the Egyptian Delta and in it a very great Temple of Isis A third feast was at Sai in honour of Minerua where assembling by night they lighted candles full of Salt and Oile and therewith went about the walls of the Citie This solemnitie was called Light-burning or if you will Candle-masse This night they which came not hither yet obserued the setting vp of Lights throughout Egypt A fourth
Diarbech The chiefe Cities in it are Orfa of seuen miles compasse famous say some for the death of Crassus Caramit the mother Citie of the Countrey of twelue miles compasse Mosul and Merdin of which in the next Chapter Betweene Orpha and Caramit was the Paradise of Aladeules where hee had a fortresse destroyed by Selim. This his Paradise was like to that which you shall finde in our Persian Historie Men by a potion brought into a sleepe were brought into this supposed Paradise where at their waking they were presented with all sensuall pleasures of musicke damosels dainties c. which hauing had some taste of another sleepie drinke after came againe to themselues And then did Aladeules tell them That he could bring whom hee pleased to Paradise the place where they had beene and if they would commit such murders or haughtie attempts it should bee theirs A dangerous deuice Zelim the Turke destroyed the place CHAP. XIIII Of Niniue and other neighbouring Nations WE haue hitherto spoken of Babylonia but so as in regard of the Empire and some other occurrents necessitie now and then compelled vs to make excursions into some other parts of Assyria Mesopotamia c. And I know not how this Babylon causeth confusion in that Sea of affaires and in regard of the diuision of the pennes as sometimes of tongues of such as haue written thereof Hard it is to distinguish betweene the Assyrian and Babylonian Empire one while vnited another while diuided as each partie could most preuaile and no lesse hard to reconcile the Ethnike and Diuine Historie touching the same Ptolemey straitneth Assyria on the North with part of Armenia neere the hill Niphates on the West with Mesopotamia on the South with Susiana and Media on the East But her large Empire hath enlarged the name of Syria and of Assyria which names the Greekes did not well distinguish to many Countries in that part of Asia The Scripture deriueth Syria from Aram and Assyria from Ashur Both were in their times flourishing and mention is made from Abrahams time both of the warres and kingdomes in those parts yea before from Ashur and Nimrod as alreadie is shewed Mesopotamia is so called and in the Scripture Aram or Syria of the waters because it is situate betweene Euphrates and Tygris the countries Babylonia and Armenia confining the same on the North and South Whereas therefore wee haue in our former Babylonian relation discoursed of Assyria extending the name after a larger reckoning here wee consider it more properly Euphrates is a Riuer very swift for they which goe to Bagdet buy their boats at Birra which serue them but one voyage and sell them at Felugia for seuen or eight which cost fiftie because they cannot returne But Tygris is swifter the Armenians bring victuals downe the same to Bagdet on rafts made of Goats skinnes blowne full of wind and boords laid vpon them on which they lade their goods which being discharged they open the skinnes and carrie them backe on Camels Dionysius and Strabo tell of this Riuer that it passeth through the Lake Thonitis without mixture of waters by reason of this swiftnesse which also giueth it the name for the Medes call an Arrow Tygris Lucan sayth it passeth a great way vnder ground and wearie of that burthensome iourney riseth againe as out of a new fountaine At Tygrim subito tellus absorbet hiatu Occultosque tegit cursus rursusque renatum Fonte nouo flumen pelagi non abnegat vndas The chiefe Citie in these parts was Niniue called in Ionas A great and excellent Citie of three dayes iourney It had I borrow the words of our reuerend Diocesan an ancient testimonie long before in the Booke of Genesis For thus Moses writeth That Ashur came from the land of Shinar and built Niniueh and Rehoboth and Calah and Resin At length he singleth out Niniue from the rest and setteth a speciall marke of preeminence vpon it This is a great Citie which honour by the iudgement of the most learned though standing in the last place belongeth to the first of the foure Cities namely to Niniue Others imagined but their coniecture is without ground that the foure Cities were closed vp within the same walls and made but one of an vsuall bignesse Some ascribe the building of Niniue to Ninus the sonne of Belus of whom it tooke the name to be called either Ninus as wee reade in Plinie or after the manner of the Hebrewes Niniue They conceiue it thus That when Nimrod had built Babylon Ninus disdaining his gouernment went into the fields of Ashur and there erected a Citie after his owne name betweene the riuers Lycus and Tygris Others suppose that the affinitie betwixt these names Ninus and Niniueh deceiued profane Writers touching the Author thereof and that it tooke to name Niniueh because it was beautifull or pleasant Others hold opinion that Ashur and Ninus are but one and the same person And lastly to conclude the iudgement of some learned is that neither Ashur nor Ninus but Nimrod himselfe was the founder of it But by the confession of all both sacred and Gentile Histories the Citie was very spacious hauing foure hundred and fourescore furlongs in circuit when Babylon had fewer almost as some report by an hundred and as afterwards it grew in wealth and magnificence so they write it was much more enlarged Raphael Volaterranus affirmeth That it was eight yeeres in building and not by fewer at once then tenne thousand workemen There was no Citie since by the estimation of Diodorus Siculus that had like compasse of ground or statelinesse of walls the height whereof was not lesse then an hundred foot the breadth sufficiently capable to haue receiued three Carts on a row and they were furnished and adorned besides with fifteene hundred Turrets Thus farre our reuerend and learned Bishop Diodorus telleth out of Ctesias that Ninus after he had subdued the Egyptians Phoenicians Syrians Cilicians Phrygians and others as farre as Tanais and the Hyrcanians Parthians Persians and other their neighbours he built this Citie After that hee led an armie against the Bactrians of seuenteene hundred thousand footmen and two hundred thousand horse in which Expedition he tooke Semiramis from her husband Menon who therefore impatient of loue and griefe hanged himselfe Hee had by her a sonne of his owne name and then died leauing the Empire to his wife His Sepulchre was nine furlongs in height each of which is sixe hundred feete and ten in breadth The credite of this Historie I leaue to the Author scarce seeming to agree with Moses narration of the building of Niniue any more then Semiramis building of Babylon Some write That Semiramis abusing her husbands loue obtained of him the swaying of the Empire for the space of fiue dayes in which shee depriued him of his life and succeeded in his estate But lest the
Messias is come represented that Scepter by the holy Ghost in Iacob promised to Iuda and therefore not only vnder the Kings and Iudges did exercise iudgement but also when there was no King or Iudge in Israel Of their qualitie it is thus written They appointed none said R. Iohanan but men of wisedome stature and of goodly presence and of old age and cunning in exorcismes and vnderstanding the seuenty Tongues that they might not need interpreters Their Stature and comlinesse Rabbi Selomoh saith was required to acquire them reuerence and skill in enchantment to conuince such Wizards There were required the whole number of seuenty and one in determining the going to Warre in adding to a Citie or the reuenues of the Temple or in conuenting the ordinarie Iudges of the Tribes To constitute one of this number they vsed imposition of hands R. Iudas saith of fiue A Wolfe Lyon Beare Leopard and Serpent were to be slaine by the three and twent e. The great Colledge called Sanhedre ghedola consisted of seuenty and one the lesse of three and twenty That odde number aboue seuenty was to supply the roome of Moses which was ouer those first seuenty Hereby Galatinus gathereth that in the Councell that condemned Christ there was the whole number of seuenty and one which is true if Herod had not before disanulled that society The greater Sanhedrin ordained the lesse for those seuenty ordained all the Sessions of Judges which in other Cities and Places ruled the people and to this Court of the seuenty in Ierusalem they were all subiect The place where they sate was called Gazith that is Carued whereof this Court had the name as the Starre-chamber with vs Other Courts or houses of Iudgement they had diuers of the three and twenty One of them sate in the Gate of the Mountaine of the Temple another in the Gate of the Court others in euery Citie And when there was a controuersie it was first brought to that Citie or Towne and so to the rest if occasion required in order to that in the Gate of the Mount after to that in the Court-gate and last to the Gazith Consistory in which they sate from Morning till Night On Sabbaths and solemne dayes they sate on the Wall But when Herod obtained the Scepter he slew Hercanus and his sonne Antigonus which had beene King and Priest and also all of the seede Royall and burnt the Genealogies of their Kings And further to establish his Throne in blood hee killed the Scribes and Doctors of the Law and caused all the Sanhedrin to be done to death Because the Rabbanan they are the words of the Talmud had said according to Deut. 17. From among thy brethren thou shalt set a King ouer thee He slew the Rabbanan or Masters reseruing only Baba the sonne of Bota whose eyes hee after put out And therefore the Sanhedrin perished for as is said fiue or at least after R. Ismal three were necessary to the ordination by the imposition of hands But there were by Herods permission other Iudges instituted to be vnder the King like the former Colledge but had no authority of sentence in waighty and criminall causes and therefore they said to Pilate It is not lawfull for vs to put any man to death as some thinke But others maintaine the contrary Betramus taketh a middle course that the Iewes might examine and condemne but then were to present the condemned party to the Roman Magistrate for execution except in the cause of stoning wherein they tooke more libertie as in the Acts of the Apostles by Stephen and Paules example appeareth After their false sentence pronounced against Christ they were expelled from the Consistory Gazith fortie yeeres before the destruction of the Temple and afterwards by the commaundement of the Romanes were all slaine They being expelled Gazith held their Consistory at Hamith another place in Ierusalem but saith R. Abdimi with the place they lost their power in criminall Iudgements which might not bee giuen but in Gazith So do the Rabbines interpret the words Deut. 17.10 According to the words which they of that place shew thee thou shalt doe They had inferior punishments with the whippe for smaller offences In which the Law had stinted them at forty stripes and they abated one of that number for feare of exceeding as Paul saith Hee had fiue times receiued forty stripes saue one The whippe was of Calues leather as Drusius affirmeth Betramus saith that they had in each City seuen Iudges in money matters whereof three were principall two Leuites and one of the rest from whence the number is said to be but three They had also ten Aediles Taskers or Iudges of the Market one of which was of the Priestly Stocke They had in Ierusalem an vnder-Prouost or Captaine of the Temple In other Cities of their dispersion they had Synagogues and Magistrates as at Alexandria Antiochia Sardis and other Cities where they had obtained priuiledges and immunities That which is spoken of their threefold Consistory consisting eyther of 3. or 23. or 71. Buxtorfius thus relateth that that of 3. was appointed in such habitations which had vnder the number of 120. House-holders and that it behooued alwaies two of the three to agree in their sentence The other of twenty three was in greater Townes or Cities and dealt in greater matters the former in money matters this in criminall and in the Gates of the City and was called the lesse Synedrium The greater was at Ierusalem where the wisest was chosen to bee President of the Councell as successour to Moses Caput Curiae so they called him and Nasi the wisest of the other 70. was adioyned as his Colleague called Ab-beth-din The Father of the Consistory These two sate alone somewhat separate from the rest which made a halfe circle so that these two might see them all The manifold mutations of their State by the Babylonians Persians Macedonians Egyptians Sytians Romans and ciuil wars amongst themselues did both then change the face of Gouernement and haue made it now to vs obscure and vncertaine §. IIII. Of the Iewish Excommunications NOW concerning the Iewish Excommunications Drusius hath obserued that the Iewes had three kinds and degrees of Excommunications Niddui Herem Samatha the first signifieth a Remouing the second Anathema the third the same which the Apostle calleth Maran-atha by the first they are made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which is an example Gen. 4.4 excommunicated from the Ecclesiasticall Assemblies Hee which was thus Excommunicated was called Menudde and the denouncers Menuddim There were foure and twenty causes for the which it was inflicted If any died therein without repentance they iudged him worthy of stoning and therfore stoned his coffin whereof they giue example in one Eleazer the sonne of Henoch They might enter the Temple when they were excommunicated but that they might enter the Synagogue is vnlikely Thus they write
Salomon made two doores in the Temple one for mourners and excommunicates the other for the newly married At this if any entred the Israelites which came on the Sabbaths and sate betwixt those doores said He whose name dwelleth in this house glad thee with children If any entred at the other doore with his vpper lippe couered they knew that he was a mourner and said He which dwelleth in this house reioyce and comfort thee If his lippe were not couered they knew that hee was Menudde Excommunicate and said He which dwelleth in this house put into thy heart to heare the words of thy fellowes c. When the Temple was destroyed they decreed that the Bridegroomes and Mourners should enter the Synagogue and the men which saw them reioyced with the one and sate on the ground with the other If they did not amend they were excommunicated with a greater curse or Anathema And if they persisted obstinate they did Samatize them The word Anathema is sometimes taken generally but heere for a particular kinde Maran-atha signifieth The Lord commeth and so doth Sem-atha For by Sem and more emphatically Hassem they vsed to signifie the name meaning that Tetragrammaton and ineffable name of God now commonly pronounced Iehouah It may also be compounded of Sama after the Chaldee forme or of Sam and mitha which signifieth There is death Some Authors ascribe this to the institution of Henoch which they gather out of Iudg. 14. CHAP. III. Of the Religious places of the Israelites their Tabernacle Temples Synagogues IN the discouery of their antient Religion it seemeth fittest to discourse first of Places secondly of Times Thirdly of Rites Fourthly of Persons consecrated to Religion And first of the first Neither were the first men nor first Hebrews very Religious in this point of dedicating Places to Religion as appeareth in Histories both holy and Prophane And if for some vision made vnto them in some places they did for a time hallow the same with Altars and Sacrifices yet neither were they alway or only thus esteemed But Hee Whose is the Earth and all that therein is did by his Law appoint as it were a place of his residence amongst these whom he had chosen for his owne people And commanded them to erect a Tabernacle in the wildernesse fitting that their peregrination Afterward Salomon built him an house in Ierusalem which therefore is called the holy Citie and the Citie of the great King The TABERNACLE a moueable Temple that might be taken asunder and ioyned together againe was by Gods commandement erected in the wildernesse in the same manner and of the same matter which God had both commanded and shewed to Moses in the Mount the matter and forme whereof with all that thereunto appertained the Arke the Candlesticke the Altar c. In the booke of Exodus are liuely declared It was after as we reade in the booke of Ioshua with great solemnitie carried miraculously thorow Iordan by the Leuites deputed to that seruice And after their conquest of the Countrey placed in Shilo a Citie of Ephraim There did Ioshua diuide the Land to her new Conquerors there were their solemne Assemblies for State and religion In the time of Heli they remoued the Arke from the Tabernacle into the Armie which they had gathered against the Philistims of whom the Arke was taken The Tabernacle in the time of Saul was carried to Nob and in the time of Dauid to Gibeon where Salomon offered a thousand burnt offerings The Philistims forced by Diuine iudgements sent backe the Arke receiued by the Bethsamites curious to their cost It was after placed in Kiriath-Iarim in the house of Aminadab next of Obed-Edom and then by Dauid in the place which hee had fitted for the same in Ierusalem Whence it was remoued into the Temple which Salomon had built where it was till the time of the deportation in which time it was saith the Author of the second booke of the Maccabees hiddne by Ieremia the Prophet But that Author is beholden to the Councell of Trent for his credit the Iewes themselues in that point not beleeuing him who affirme that the second Temple came short of the former by the want of the fire from Heauen of the Arke of the Vrim and Thummim of the succession of Prophets and the glory of God betweene the Cherubims The TEMPLE was built on Mount Moriah by Salomon according to the patterne which he had receiued of Dauid to which worke he had gathered a greater masse of wealth then easily we shall reade of in the Persian Greeke Romane or any other Christian Turkish or Heathen Empire namely one hundred thousand Talents of Gold ten hundred thousand talents of siluer and afterward three thousand Talents of Gold and seuen thousand Talents of Siluer to which was added by the offerings of the Princes ten thousand talents of siluer and more then fiue thousand talents of Gold besides Iewels and brasse and iron without weight with Cedars and stones without number The Gold amounteth after the common computation of the common talent at sixe thousand crownes to six hundred forty eight millions of crownes and vpward the siluer to about the same summe But that which by vs is vnderualued accounting to the talent but six thousand crownes as some doe Master Brerewood in his learned worke de ponderibus precijs c. raiseth to a higher summe estimating the talent at foure thousand fiue hundred pound so that the hundred thousand talents of Gold which Dauid had prouided for that worke amount to foure hundred and fifty millions of our pounds and his million of siluer talents each of which is three hundred seuenty fiue pound to three hundred seuenty fiue millions besides thirteene millions and fiue hundred thousand pounds in gold and two millions sixe hundred twenty fiue thousand pounds in siluer afterwards by Dauid offered to the same purpose and by his Princes twenty two millions fiue hundred thousand seuen thousand and fiue hundred pounds in gold and three millions seuen hundred and fifty thousand pounds in siluer That I speake not all other prouisions of iewels metals and timber and the rest Now all that Cyrus got by the conquest of an Asia is valued but at one hundred twenty fiue millions if wee summe his fiue hundred thousand talents after the Aegyptian account which is a great deale more then Alexander found in the Persian Treasury so much renowned both at Susis and Persopolis which as Strabo hath numbred were but thirty two millions and seuen hundred and fifty thousand pounds That summe of Dauid I confesse had often troubled mee nor could I euer finde satisfaction in that doubt But in my opinion Master Brerewoods coniecture is probable that the Hebrew word in that place doth not signifie a Talent or that the word Talent doth not alway signifie the same summe in Scripture euen as amongst other Nations it also varied and
some to call the name of the Lord that is after Rabbi Salomo to apply the name of God to Images Stars and Men But the more likely opinion is that when Adam had obtained a more holy posteritie which was now multiplyed in diuers families Religion which before had been a priuate In-mate in Adams houshold was now brought into publike exercise whereof Prayer hath alwaies been accounted a principall part and God himselfe in both Testaments calleth his house a house of Prayer the calues of the lips and the ejaculations of the heart being the body and soule of Diuine worship whereof Sacrifices were in a manner but the apparel fashioned to that infancy of the Church Of the names of the posteritie of Adam and his hundred yeeres mourning for Abel of Seth his remoouing after Adams death to a mountaine neere Paradise and such other things more sauouring of fabulous vanity in the false-named Methodius Philo and others that follow them I list not to write And wel might Genebrard haue spared his paines in searching for the antiquitie of Popery in this first Age of the World Easily may we grant a Church then truely Catholike in the Posteritie of Seth instructed partly by Reuelations partly by Traditions concerning the Creation the fall the good and euill Angels the promised Seed the Vnitie and Trinitie punishments and repentance for sinne publike and priuate Deuotions and other like Articles gathered out of Moses but for the Rabble of Rabbinicall Dreames which hee addeth herevnto we had need of the implicite faith of some simple credulous Catholike to receiue them as namely Purgatory resembled in the fiery Sword at the entrance of Paradise Free-will grounded on that which GOD speaketh to CAINE Thou shalt rule ouer him the prerogatiue of the elder Brother ouer the yonger falsly applyed to the rule of the minde ouer sinfull lusts the choice of meates in the first Fathers abstinence from flesh fish and wine as hee saith which had not beene permitted to them as it is to vs Traditions when as yet they had no Scripture Superstitious Obsequies to the dead because the Iewes in their office for the dead call vpon the Fathers which lye buried at Hebron namely Adam Eue and the rest to open the gates of Paradise Deuotion to Saints because the Cherubins were set betweene Paradise and Sinners as if their Saints were honoured to keepe them out of Heauen and not the bloudie Sacrifices onely in Abels offering but that vnbloudie Sacrifice so they stile their Masse in the offering of Caine wee enuie them not their Founder yea he finds their Sacrifice of Orders in Gods executing the Priestly function of Matrimony in Adam and Eue of Baptisme in the Breeches which they ware of Penance because GOD said Thou art dust and to dust thou shalt returne of Confirmation in those words Shee shall breake thy head the Truth will breake their heads for so reading it of Vnction in that Seth went to the Cherub which kept Paradise and receiued of him three graines of the Tree of Life whereof we reade in the Apocalyps the leaues shall heale the Nations with those graines was an Oyle made wherewith Adam was anoyed and the stones put into his mouth whence sprang the Tree whereof the Crosse of our Lord was made hidden by Salomon in the Temple and after in the Poole of Bethesda Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici Did not Genebrard deserue an Archbishopicke or if the obseruation be his did not Petrus Victor Palma which set him forth with such Comments deserue the Palme and Victory for Peters pretended Successors which could find such antiquitie for proofe of their Catholicisme Much good may it doe their Catholike mawes with such Dainties Iust art thou O Lord and iust are thy iudgements which because they will not beleeue thy Truth giuest them ouer to such strong delusions to beleeue so grosse and palpable Lyes CHAP. VII Of the cause and comming of the Floud THus wee haue seene in part the fulfilling of the Prophesie of the Seed of the Woman and of that other of the Serpent in the Posteritie of Caine and Seth. The Family of Caine is first reckoned and their forwardnesse in humane Arts as the children of this World are wiser in their generation in the things of this life which they almost onely attend then the children of light As for the Iewish Dreames that Lamech was blind and by the direction of Tubalcaine his sonne guiding his hand slew Caine supposing it had beene a wilde beast which when he knew so inraged him that he killed his sonne also they that list may follow Moses reckoneth the Generations according to the first-borne in the Posteritie of Seth as enioying the Principalitie and Priest-hood that so the promised Seed of the Woman after such a World of yeares comming into the World might iustifie the stablenesse of GODS promises his Lineall Descent from Adam with a due Chronologie beeing declared After Seth Enosh Kenan Mehalaleel Iared was Henoch the seuenth from ADAM who walked with God whom God tooke away that he should not see death This before the Law and Helias in the Law are Witnesses of the Resurrection being miraculously taken from the Earth into Heauen not by death but by supernaturall changing of their bodies That hee should bee still in an Earthly Paradise and that hee and Elias should come and preach against Antichrist and of him be slaine is a Popish Dreame the Scripture saying that HENOCH was taken away that he should not see death of Elias that he is alreadie come in the person of Iohn Baptist the Spirit and power or spirituall power of walking with GOD reforming Religion and conuerting soules beeing communicated to many of those Ministers which haue lien slaine in the streets of that great Citie This his Assumption is supposed to be visibly done Hee was a Prophet and Iude doth in his Epistle cite a testimonie of his which eyther by Tradition went from hand to hand as it seemeth the whole Word of GOD was deliuered before the dayes of Moses GOD by Visions and Dreames appearing vnto the Patriarkes or else it was written and since is lost Some hold it was penned by some Iew vnder the name of Enoch Augustine thinketh that the Booke entituled Enoch was forged in his name as other Writings vnder the names of Prophets and Apostles and therefore calleth it Apocrypha as Hierome doth also Chrysostome and Theophilact account Moses the first Pen-man of Holy Scripture Although it seemes that Letters were in vse before the floud if Iosephus his testimonie be true who affirmeth that Adam hauing prohpecied two vniuersall destructions one by fire another by water his Posteritie erected two Pillars one of bricke another of stone in both which they writ their inuentions of Astronomie that of stone was reported to remaine in his time Some ascribe this to Seth as
Ptolomaeus placeth Regama the Garamantes also in Libya Sabtheca was Author of the Sachalitae in Arabia Foelix Nimrod the Sonne of Cush some thinke to be Zoroastres some Belus Mizraim begat Ludim the Inhabitants of Maraeotica praefectura in Aegypt Anamim the Cyreneans and Lehabim the Libyans : and Naphtuhim the Aethiopians neere to Egypt whose Towne Napata is mentioned in Ptolomie Pathrusim the Pharusians Casluhim at the entrance of Egypt Cassiotis Montanus interpreteth Ludim the Lydians Ghananim the Troglodites Lebabim the Cyrenaikes Naphthubim Africa the lesse Chasluhim the Saracens Caphthorim the Cappadocians To Shems Posteritie befell the parts of Asia from Iudaea East-ward Shems Sonnes were Elam the Father of the Elamites in the higher part of Persia Ashur of whom came the Assyrians Arphaxad the Cudusians or the Chaldaeans are with little likenesse of sound ascribed to him Lud is holden Father of the Lydians and Aram of the Syrians called also Aramaei others of Aram deriue Armenia Arams sonnes were Vz of whom the Region Ausanitis was named Chul of whom Cholle seemeth to haue his appellation in the Palmyrene Desarts neere to Euphrates Gether Josephus ascribeth ascribeth to him Bactria others that part of Syria where Gnidar stood Atergate and Derceto that notorious Syrian Goddesse happily borrowed the name hence Of Mash is the name Masius part of the Hill Amanus Montanus saith of Mes Misij and Misia whom Iuuenal cals Mesos de grege Mesorum Ioctan begat Elmodad of whom the Hill Emodus may seeme named of Shalah the Selebij and Sariphi of Hatzarmaueth the Sarmatians of Iarach the Arachosians of Hadoram the Orites People of India of Vzal or Auxal Auzakea a Citie in Scythia and the Riuer Oxus of Diklah after Arias Montanus Scythia intra Imaum the reason I see not in the name of Obal or Ghobal the Cabolites people of Paropanisus of Abimael Imaus of Sheba the Sabae which Eustathius placeth in India or according to Montanus the Sacae of Ophir some thinke was so called Aurea Chersonesus where Pegu and Malacca now are Montanus thinketh it to be Peru Chauilah hath not left so plaine impression behind Montanus ascribeth to him India Of Iobab Arias Montanus coniectureth Parias in the West Indies to haue come but with little probabilitie which I can see And of the most before named we haue probable coniectures not certaine proofes as appeareth by the difference of opinions of Authours concerning them Neither may we thinke that Moses intended so much a Geographicall Historie of all the Nations of the World many of which were not long after this time planted or peopled but of the first Fathers who peopled the places by degrees as they increased in multitude which were neerest that Armenian Centre and especially hee relateth and dilateth of them whom it most concerned the Israelites to know as the Cananites whose bounds and Nations are exactly described I could adde much touching the seuerall Nations descending of these three Brethren and the bounds of their Habitations in which Africanus sometime tooke profitable paines and Eusebius out of him although both be in this part lost somewhat hath beene barbarously translated into Latine by an vnknowne Authour for the Soloecismes tedious for the substance of History profitable to the Reader and therefore by Scaliger in his Edition of Eusebius communicated to the World But the vncertaintie maketh me vnwilling to proceed in this Argument further Of this vncertaintie no greater cause can bee alleaged then the diuision and confusion of Tongues the Historie whereof Moses declareth For whereas God had giuen to Man two Priuiledges and principall Prerogatiues whereof other creatures are no way capable his inward Reason and abilitie to vtter the same by Speech this benefit of God in Nature was turned into a Conspiracie against God and Nature They said one to another Come let vs make Bricke for stone and slime had they in stead of morter Also they said Let vs build vs a Citie and Tower whose top may reach vnto the Heauen that we may get vs a name lest we be scattered vpon the whole Earth This was their vaine arrogance and presumption that when their guiltie consciences threatned a dissipation and scattering by diuine Iustice they would thus hearten and harden themselues against GOD and Man in stead of thankefulnesse to GOD and honouring his Name they would winne themselues a name and honour in stead of preuenting punishment by Repentance they would in this Gyant-like fighting against GOD preuent future iudgements But euen that by which they intended to keepe them from scattering was the true and first cause of their scattering So doth GOD scatter the counsels of his Enemies and taketh the wise in their craftinesse Babel or confusion is alway the Attendant of Pride Sibylla alleaged by Iosephus for the Sibyls which wee haue in Greeke Verse translated by Castalion into Latine are but counterfeits if 〈◊〉 Scaliger iudge rightly Pseudo sybyllina oracula quae Christiani gentibus obijciebant quum ramen è Christianorum officina prodijssent c. but that more ancient Sibyll testifieth of this confusion of Tongues in these words When all men before vsed one speech they erected a high Tower as if they would ascend to Heauen but the Gods by Tempests ouerthrew 〈…〉 Tower and gaue to each of them seuerall Languages whereof the Citie was named Babylon According to that of Moses Therefore the name of it was called Babel , because the Lord did there confound the language of all the Earth From thence then did the Lord scatter them vpon all the Earth The Atheists and Naturalists 〈…〉 the World to eternal and conceiue that all all men could not be of one cause of this diuersitie of sinne caused If such had beene at Hierusalem and heard the Apostle not the expertest men in their owne vulgar speake all Languages they 〈…〉 then haue like seen the power in a contrarie effect to this of Babylon Mans 〈…〉 this Gods 〈…〉 that the one came from Babylon the other from Hierusalem that old Hierusalem giuing a taste and earnest of that which the new Ierusalem shall once fully accomplish when all shall be made new and all shall be one and God shall be in all It appeareth that these builders lost the the vnderstanding of their owne speech and were endued with other Languages whereto their Vnderstandings and Tongues were framed in stead of that former What his former Language was hath beene doubted either of ignorance or of câ—riositie and selfe-loue Theodoret esteemeth Syrian the first language and that Hebrew 〈…〉 with Moses Ioseph Scaliger affirmeth that the Syrian Maronites attribute greater Antiqutie to the ancient Syrian then to the Hebrew which is all one saith he as if one should contend that the Italian Idiome were ancienter then the Latine Hee concludeth that the Bible was written in the most ancient Language which at first was pure in Assyria but by Merchandize and Warres corrupted For Assyria sayth he
the depth thirtie fiue foot In the middest of the Citie she erected a Temple to Iupiter Belus saith Herodotus with Brazen gates now in his time remayning foure square each square contayning two furlongs in the middest whereof is a solid Tower of the height and thicknesse of a furlong vpon this another and so one higher then another eight in number In the highest Tower is a Chappell and therein a faire bed couered and a Table of Gold without any Image Neyther as the Chaldaean Priests affirme doth any abide here in the night but one woman whom this God shall appoint They say the God himselfe there lyeth In regard of this exceeding height Diodonus affirmes that the Chaldaeans did thereon make their obseruations of the Starres Hee also addeth that Semiramis placed in the top three golden statues one of Iupiter fortie foot long weighing a thousand Babylonian Talents till his time remayning another of Ops weighing as much sitting in a golden Throne and at her feet two Lions and iust by huge Serpents of siluer each of thirtie Talents the third Image was of Iuno standing in weight eight hundred Talents Her right hand held the head of a Serpent her left a Scepter of stone To all these was common one Table of gold forty foot long in breadth twelue in weight fiftie Talents There were also two standing cups of thirty Talents and two vessels for Perfume of like value three other vessels of gold whereof one dedicated to Iupiter weighed twelue hundred Babylonian Talents euery Babylonian Talent is said to containe seuen thousand Drachmae Atticae sixtie three pounds nine ounces and a halfe and halfe a quarter Troy weight All these the Persian Kings tooke away Without the Temple by Herodotus testimonie was a golden Altar and another huge one besides for their solemne Sacrifices the other beeing not to bee polluted with bloud except of sucking things In that greater Chaldaeans burnt yeerely in their sacrifices a hundred thousand talents of Libanotus One statue of gold twelue cubits high Darius affecting spared but Xerxes both tooke it and slew the Priest that forbad him I might here also tell of those Pensile gardens borne vp on arches foure square each square containing foure hundred foot filled on the roofe with earth wherein grew great trees and other plants The entrance was as it were a hill the arches were builded one vpon another in conuenient height still increasing as they ascended the highest which bare the walls were fiftie cubits high and twelue in breadth There were within these Arches Innes There was also a conueyance of water to the watering thereof This Garden was made long after Semiramis time by a King which herein seemed to lord it ouer the Elements and countermaund Nature being himselfe the seruant of his wiues appetite who in this lowly valley wherein Babylon stood would faine haue some representation of her owne hilly and mountainous countrey of Media This King was Nabuchodonosor as witnesseth Berosus in Iosephus who hauing conquered Egypt Syria Phoenicia Arabia inriched the Temple of Belus with the spoyles and added a new Citie to the old without the same And prouiding that the enemie might not after turne the course of the Riuer and approach to the Citie he compassed the inner Citie with three Wals and the vtter Citie with as many these of bricke those also with bitumen or pitchie slime of that Countrie adding thereunto stately gates And neere his fathers Palace he built another more sumptuous and this hee did in fifteene dayes Therein hee raysed stone-works like vnto mountaines and planted the same with all manner of trees Hee made also a pensile Garden Many more things saith Iosephus doth Berosus adde and blameth the Greeke writers for ascribing the building of Babylon to Semiramis an Assyrian This fragment of Berosus cited by Iosephus doth well serue vs to cleare both the holy and prophane Historie In the one Daniel induceth Nabuchodonosor walking in his royall Palace in Babel with words answerable to his pride Is not this great Babel that I haue builded for the house of the Kingdome by the might of my power and for the honour of my maiestie His words euen in the speaking were written in the Booke of GOD and an enditement thereof framed in the highest Court where he was adiudged presently the losse of Reason which he had thus abused Till hee knew that the most High bare rule ouer the Kingdome of men giuing the same to whomsoeuer hee will Well might he say he had built it in regard of this new Citie and Palace with other miracles thereof with more truth then some Expositors which accuse him herein of a lie for arrogating that which Semiramis did His wife also for whose loue he did this was as Scaliger thinketh Nitocris mentioned by Horodotus who also coniectureth that shee was the Daughter of Aliattes that Daniel intendeth her Dan. 5.10 that shee administred the Kingdome in the time of her husbands madnesse and in the times also of Euilmerodach and Balsasar a woman no whit inferiour to Semiramis that it may be said Semiramis began Babylon and Nitocris finished and perfected it finishing and perfecting those workes which Nabuchodonosor her husband before the time of his madnesse had begunne And for Semiramis profane histories generally make her the founder of this Citie and among others Annius his Berosus who contrary to this fragment of the true Berosus in Iosephus saith that Semiramis made Babylon of a towne a great Citie that shee might be rather esteemed the builder thereof then enlarger Nimrod had before built the Tower but not finished it and did not found the Citie which hee had designed and set out and Belus his sonne had erected those designed foundations rather of the Towne then the Citie Babylon Moses testifieth that at the first building they were by confusion of language forced to cease their worke leauing a name of their shame in stead of that renowne and name which they had promised to themselues It may be that Semiramis did amplifie this and happily so did other Assyrian and Babylonian kings as Augustine and Abidenus affirme Hanc quidem putant condidisse Babylona quam quidem potuit instaurare Likewise Abidenus saith that the wals being by inundation fallen were built againe by Nabuchodonosor and agreeth in other things with Berosus But the Graecians are children in comparison of ancient Historie and little of this matter can we affirme on their testimonie their first Historian Herodotus liuing long after this age in the time of the Persian Monarchie Howsoeuer Nabuchodonosor is hee which by diuine and humane testimonie there established that golden head of the Image the seat of the Babylonian Monarchie raising it to that high top of worldly excellence Yea Daniel speaketh of one more sumptuous Image then any mentioned by Herodotus and Diodorus set vp by this King threescore cubits high and six broad enioyning a
came with Cadmus into Greece taught the Graecians both other Sciences and also Letters which before that time they knew not These letters after changed their sound and forme being by the Ionicks principally learned who called them Phoenician and called their Skinnes or Parchments biblos haply of Biblos in Phoenicia Hee saw the Cadmean letters engrauen in a Temple at Thebes much like the Ionike then the onely Greeke letters out of certaine old inscriptions much resembling the present Latine Letters and the auncienter Phoenician I may say with him the auncientest vsed by the Canaanites and Hebrewes of old and by the Samaritanes at this day For those which the Iewes now vse he affirmeth to be new corrupted from the Syrian and these from the Samaritan His learned discourse thereof were worthy the reading but here would be too prolixe Heurnius I know not by what authoritie saith that the Phoenicians before the Israelites departed out of Aegypt vsed Hieroglyphicall letters which hee thinketh they learned of Abraham the same with Seth and Henoch had vsed before Moses if yee beleeue it receiued the first Alphabetary letters in the table of the Decalogue and from the Hebrews the Phoenicians Out of an old booke he citeth these verses which I thought not vnworthy the transcribing concerning the first Authours in inuenters of letter Moses u primus Hebraicas exarauit literas Mente Phoenices sagaci condiderunt Atticas Quas Latini scriptitamus edidit Nicostrata Abraham Syras idem reperit Chaldaicas Isis arte non minore protulit Aegyptias Gulfila prompsit Getarum quas videmus vltimas He addeth also that the ancient learning which the Phoenicians had receiued from the Hebrewes and Chaldees passed into Europe by Cadmus who founded Thebes and into Affrica by Elissa after her selfe-inflicted death called Dido i. Virago a woman of resolution courage who fleeing Pigmalion first seyzed on the Iland Cothone and nine yeeres after tooke Tharsus which the posteritie of Gomer had there built which she called Karthada that is halfe citie because the one halfe thereof were Phoenicians to which agreeth the testimony of Saluianus that Carthage had in it Schooles of liberall Arts and Philosophie Hee citeth Aristotles testimonie of Hog a Phoenician Philosopher whom hee thinketh to bee that King of Bashan which Moses conquered Dyctis Cretensis if his testimonie be authenticall testifieth that the Graecian Gallants which besieged Troy chose Agamemnon for their Generall writing his name in Punike Letters And this storie was also written in Punike letters as the Interpreter affirmeth But how the posteritie of Letter-inuenters were by letters circumuented it will not bee an vnwelcome stratageme to our Reader When the Christian forces in the time of Ludouicus Crassus besieged Tyrus by sea and land a Doue was seene to come flying and deemed by expert men which had seene experience of the like to carry letters to the besieged wherupon a terrible shout was raised through the armie which rent the aire with such violence or else so amazed the seely Doue that downe shee fell They tooke her letter from her wherein was contained that the Tyrians should be of good courage and shortly reliefe should be sent This tooke away and fastned another of contrarie tenure to this swift carrier which presently conueyed the same to her home at Tyrus and with her counterfait newes caused the Tyrians to yeeld Dionys Alexandrinus called Tyrus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Antiquitie The Greekes because they could not pronounce the letter Tsadi called it Tyrus for Sur or Tsur as it is there called Of the Phoenician Kings here might be inserted a large Historie but I feare tediousnesse Their Catalogue is thus in Scaligers Canons first Abibalus two yeeres Hierom the sonne of Abibalas 38. yeeres Leazaros 7. Abdestarius 9. the Nurces sonne 12. Astartus Dalaeastri F. 12. Aserymus 9. Pheles 8. moneths Ithobaal the Priest of Astarte 32. yeers Badezorus 6. Margenus 9. Pygmalion 47. In his time Dido fled into Libya A long time after this raigned another Itobalus 19 yeeres Baal 10. and then Iudges ruled Ecnibalus 2. moneths Helbes 10. moneths Abbarus the high Priest 11. moneths Balator 1. yeere Mytgonus and Gerestratus 6. Merbal sent from Babylon 4. Hierom his brother 20. Thus much out of the Phoenician Antiquities the rest of their Historie is for substance the same with the Syrian before handled Ioppe saith Mela and Plinie was built before the Floud and Cepheus raigned there witnesse certaine ancient Altars there obserued religiously and bearing titles of him and his brother Phineus They shew monstrous bones the Reliques of the Whale from which Persens freed Andromeda Mount Casius had in it the Temple of Iupiter Casius and Pompeys tombe Albertus Aquensis relating the exploits of the Westerne Christians in that inuasion of Godfrie of Buillon saith that in the parts of Tyre and Sidon they were stung with a kind of Serpent called Tarenta which caused them with intollerable burning swelling and thirst to perish The remedies are strange the touch of some Chieftaines in the armie vpon the wound or this vt vir percussus coiret cum muliere cum viro mulier CHAP. XVIII Of Palestina and the first inhabitants thereof the Sodomites Idumeans Moabites Ammonites and Canaanites with others PHoenicia is stretched by some as you may reade euen to Aegypt all alongst that Sea-coast and in that respect partly and partly because they obserued some neerenesse in Religion I haue adioyned the Philistims to the Phoenicians howbeit others doe confine Phoenicia betwixt the Riuer Valania and Mount Carmel Thus hath Brocard written and after him Maginus who doe reckon vnto Palaestina Galilaea Samaria Iudaea and Idumaea leauing out Phoenicia bounded as aforesaid to make a part of Syria by it selfe Of this Region I purpose to make larger discourse in the next Chapter here intending to take out of their dust the ancient Nations which inhabited this Land before the Israelites were Lords thereof The Sodomites sometimes inhabited a pleasant and fertile valley watered by Iordan which Moses compareth to the garden of the Lord and the Land of Aegypt for pleasure and plenty To the Sodomites I reckon also those other Cities partakers of the same both fertilitie and vengeance Gomorrha Adma Zeboim and little Zoar saued at the request of Lot Their Kings and their Warres are mentioned Gen. 14. Their wickednesse in many places of Scripture which Ezechiel reduceth to these foure heads Pide Gluttonie Idlenesse and Crueltie or hard-heartednesse Their Iudgement both Moses and others and the place it selfe doe record Their Religion was an irreligion and prophane contempt of God and man Europe I would I could not say England can now yeeld the like sauing that in our subtile and more warie age Policie hauing eaten vp Religion hath with the bloud thereof dyed her cheekes and would seeme more shame fac't then those former Sodomites Thus did
that crueltie Some interprete Moloch and Remphan Act. 7. to bee the Sunne and Moone The Talmudists would perswade men that they did not burne their children in this Moloch-sacrifice but onely the father tooke his children and moued them to and fro thorow the fire none otherwise then at this time on Saint Iohn Baptists day when the Sunne passeth thorow Cancer children vse to leape thorow bone-fires But both Scripture and Heathen Authors write otherwise Moloch is also called Baal There was a valley neere Hierusalem sometime possessed by the sonne of Hinnom where the Hebrewes built a notorious high place to Moloch it was on the East and South part of the Citie It was also called Topheth or Tymbrell of that Tymbrell-rite which those Corribantes and bloudie Priests did vse or else for the spaciousnesse of it Ieremie prophecieth That it should be called the Valley of slaughter because of the iudgements for the idolatrous high places in it Vpon the pollution hereof by slaughter and burials it grew so execrable that Hell inherited the same name called Gehenna of this place first of the lownesse being a Valley secondly for the Fire which heere the children there the wicked sustaine thirdly because all the filth was cast out of the Citie hither it seemed they held some resemblance The Ammonites also were as Montanus affirmeth circumcised Canaan was the sonne of Cham Father of many Nations as Moses declareth Sidon and Heth Iebusi Emori Girgashai Hivi Arki Sini Aruadi Zemari Hamathi the most of which were expelled their Countrey slaine or made tributarie by the Israelites Their border was from Sidon to Gaza West and on the East side from Sodome to Lasha or Callyrrhoe Arrias Montanus is of opinion that according to the number of the twelue Tribes of Israel so were the people of Canaan and therefore to those eleuen before rehearsed he addeth their Father Canaan who left his name to them all and where he liued retained a part to himselfe betweene the Philistims and Amorites Of those his sonnes Sidon the eldest inhabited the Sea-coast and Eastward from him Heth vnto the hill Gilboa of him came the Hittites Iebus went further on the right-hand Emor inhabited the midland Countrey Westward from the Iebusites The Girgashite dwelt aboue the Hittite next to Iordan and the lake Chinereth so called because it resembleth the forme of a Harpe after called Gennezareth The Heuite or Hiuite inhabited betweene the Amorite and the Philistim The Arkite possessed the rootes of Libanus The Sinite dwelt beyond the Hittite Eastward neerer to Iordan Aruadi enioyed the Countrey next to the Wildernesse of Cades Zemari obtained the Hills called of him Semaraim The Hamathite possessed the Countrey nigh to the Fountaines of Iordan As For the most notable Mountaines and Cities which each of these Families enioyed they which will may reade further in the same Author Of these and their ancient Religions and Policies wee find little or nothing but in the Scripture where the Lord testifieth that for their sinnes the Land spued them out Some of them as some thinke fled into Africa where Augustine saith that the Countrey people inhabiting neere Hippon called themselues in their Punike Language Chanani Procopius in the fourth booke of the Vandale warre affirmeth That all the Sea-coast in those times from Sidon to Aegypt was called Phoenicia and that when Ioshua inuaded them they left their Countrey and fled into Aegypt there multiplied and pierced further into Africa where they possessed all that Tract vnto the Pillars of Hercules speaking halfe Phoenician They build the Citie Tinge or Tanger in Numidia where were two Pillars of white stone placed neere to a great Fountaine in which in the Phoenician tongue was ingrauen Wee are Canaanites whom IOSHVA the Thiefe chased away Which if it were so the name of Hercules might therefore bee ascribed to those Pillars as accounted the chiefe Phoenician Idoll Philo or the Author of those fabulous Antiquities sayth That the Israelites found among the Amorites seuen golden Images called Nymphes which as Oracles directed them in their affaires and wrought wonders the worke of Canaan Phut Selah Nebroth Elath Desvat of admirable workmanship yeelding light in the night by vertue of certaine stones which could not by mettall be broken or pierced or be consumed by fire but must needs haue an Angell to burie them in the depth of the Sea and there let them lie This people was not vtterly at once destroyed but sometime as in the dayes of Iabin and Sisera conquered their Conquerors and retayned some power and name of a People till the times of Dauid who destroyed the Iebusites and dwelt in the Fort of Sion calling it after his owne name The Citie of Dauid And in the dayes of Salomon Pharao King of Aegypt tooke and burnt Gezer and slue the Cauaanites that dwelt in the Citie and gaue it for a present to his daughter Salomons wife And all the people that were left of the Amorites Hittites Perizzites Hiuites and Iebusites whom the children of Israel were not able to destroy those did Salomon make tributaries vnto this day 1. King 9.16 20 21. The posteritie of these seruants of Salomon are mentioned among the Israelites which returned from the Babylonian Captiuitie and accrued into one People with them OF THE HEBREW NATION AND RELIGION FROM THE BEGINNING THEREOF TO OVR TIMES THE SECOND BOOKE CHAP. I. The Preface of this Booke and à Description of the Region of Palaestina since called Iudaea and now Terra Sancta IN the former Booke we haue traced the foot-steps of Religion following Her in Her wanderings from the Truth and Her selfe through diuers Nations till we came into this Land sometime flowing with Milke and Hony whose first inhabitants we last tooke view of The Hebrewes were by the Soueraign Lord of all made heires of their labours and possessed both their place and wealth Houses and Cities which they builded not Vineyards which they planted not and which is more these were a type vnto them of the true and heauenly Countrey which not by their merits but by the meere mercy of the Promiser they should enioy These did GOD choose of all the Kindreds of the Earth to make vnto himselfe a Kingdome of Priests a holy Nation and his chiefe treasure aboue all people though all the Earth be his He made them the Keepers of his Oracles bestowing on them the Adoption and the Glorie and the Couenants and the giuing of the Law and the Seruice of God and the Promises of whom were the Fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came who is God ouer all blessed for euer Amen These things were not onely communicated but appropriated to them He shewed his Word vnto IACOB his Statutes and his Iudgements vnto ISRAER He dealt not so with any Nation neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Lawes hee was their prerogatiue and
was called the Land of Israel after the diuision of the ten Tribes from the house of Dauid by Ieroboam in the time of Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon the name of Israel was more particularly appropriated to those ten rebellious Tribes and the other two were knowne by the name of the Kingdome of Iuda Yet Israel remayned in a generall sense the name of them all especially in the new Testament Paul of the Tribe of Beniamin calleth himselfe an Israelite and all Israel saith he in that Chapter shall be saued After the Babylonian captiuitie they were called Iewes of the chiefe and royall Tribe and their Countrey Iudaea It was also called Palaestina of the Philistims which inhabited the Sea-coast And after in the times of the Christians it was generally called the Holy Land Phoenicia also being vnder that name comprehended It is situated betweene the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Mountaynes Ptolemey calleth it Palaestina Syriae and Iudaea abutting it on the North with Syria on the East and South with Arabia Petraea on the West with part of Egypt and the Sea Adrichomius who hath bestowed a large Volume on this subiect which he calleth the Theater of the holy Land on the East confineth it with Syria and Arabia on the South the Desart Pharan and Egypt on the North Mount Libanus on the West the Sea Maginus placeth a part of Phoenicia on the North on the North-east Libanus on the South and part of the East Arabia on the West part of the Mediterranean Sea It is extended from the South to the North from the one and thirtieth degree to the three and thirtieth and somewhat more Others set it downe in other words but these and they agree for the most part in substance It is commonly holden to bee an hundred and sixtie Italian miles in length from Dan to Bersebee and sixtie in bredth An exact diuision thereof into twelue shires or shares Ioshua setteth downe at large with their Bounds and Cities from the thirteenth Chapter of that Booke to the one and twentieth as they were by lot and diuine dispensation allotted to the twelue Tribes the posteritie of Iacobs twelue sonnes onely Ephraim and Manasses the sonnes of Ioseph constituted two Tribes and therefore had the double portion descending of Iacobs eldest sonne by Rachel his first intended wife and Leui had no portion but was scattered in Israel to keepe Israel from scattering and to vnite them in one Religion to one GOD who disposed that curse into a blessing Reuben Gad and halfe the Tribe of Manasses had their portion on the East side of Iordan the other halfe of Manasses with Simeon Iuda Beniamin Ephraim Naphthali Aser Dan Izachar Zabulon had their portions assigned betwixt Iordan and the westerne Sea They which would be fully acquainted with their seuerall diuisions may finde in Ioshua himselfe to satisfie them and in the Commentaries which Andraeas Masius and others haue written on that Scripture Laicstaine More Stella Adrichomius and Arias Montanus haue in Maps presented them to the eye HONDIVS his Map of Terra Sancta TABULA CANANAEAE protit tempore Christi et Apostolorum divisa fuit Neither in the whole World beside is there I thinke found any Region hauing more Cities in so small a space then this sometime had except we beleeue that which is told of the thousands of Egypt Some reckon in each Tribe these as royall Cities in Aser Achsaph besides Sidon and Tyrus in Beniamin Bethel Gabaa Ierusalem Iericho in Dan Lachis besides Acaron and Gath in Ephraim Gazer Samaria Saron Taphua in Gad Rabba in Isachar Aphece in Iuda Arad Bezec Eglon Hebron Lebna Maceda Odolla Taphua in Manasse 1. Dor Galgal Iezrael Mageddo Tanac Thersa in Manasse 2. Astaroth Edrai Gessur Machati Soba Theman and Damascus in Nepthalim Asor Cedes Emath in Reuben Heshbon Madian Petra in Simeon Dabir Gerara in Zabulon Ieconan Semeron The like Catalogue hee maketh of Episcopall Cities in this Land while it was Christian My purpose is not to write of all but especially of such as are in some respect eminent And first let me dip my Pen in Iordan This saith Plinie is a pleasant Riuer and as far as the situation of places will permit ambitious prodigally imparting it selfe to the Inhabitants and as it were vnwilling passeth to that cursed Lake Asphaltites of which at last it is drunke vp losing his laudable waters mixed with those pestilent As soone therefore as the Valleyes giue opportunitie it spreadeth it selfe into a Lake called Genesara sixteene miles long and sixe broad enuironed with pleasant Townes Iulias and Hippo on the East on the South Tarichea and Tiberias on the West made wholesome with his hot waters The Fountaynes of this Riuer are two called Ior and Dan which compounding their Streames doe also compound their Names as Tame and Isis with vs bring forth happy Parents our Tames or Thamisis Here was the Citie Dan so called of the Danites before Laish Iud. 18.29 and Leshem Ios. 19.47 But before this time both the Riuer had the same name Iordan and the place it selfe at the foote of Libanus whence the Fountayne springeth was called Dan Gen. 14.14 when Moses wrote except wee beleeue Masius that the Pentateuch and other Scriptures were by Ezra after the captiuitie digested into that forme with those names which we now haue Here was after built Caesarea Paneadis called afterward of Philip the Tetrach Caesarea Philippi and after that by Agrippa Neronia This ioyning of Ior and Dan is the beginning of the apparant streame but the true and first conception of it is in Phiale one hundred and twentie furlongs from Caesarea a Fountayne of vnsearchable depth which yet like some miserable Churle alwayes contayneth the waters in it selfe till sinking and as it were buried in the earth those treasures being by Natures stealth conueyed vnder ground vnto Dan or Paneas who is liberall of that Vsurers wealth for into that Phiale powre as much as you will it neuer increaseth or decreaseth and thence it becommeth a Riuer Philip the Tetrach of Trachonitis by casting chaffe therein which was paid him againe at Dan first found out this vnder-earth passage The Saracens call that Phiale in this respect Medan that is the waters of Dan. Before it maketh the Lake of Genezareth it maketh another called Samachonitis This is especially filled when the snowes on Libanus are melted which causeth Iordan then to swell and ouer-flow his bankes in the first moneth yeerly and made the miracle in Ioshua's passage thorow it the more miraculous but in Summer it is almost dried vp and by reason of that matter which therein groweth is a harbor for wild beasts It is called the waters of Meron halfe way betweene Caesarea Philippi where the marriage betweene Ior and Dan is solemnized and the Lake of Genezareth Elias and after his assumption his cloke diuided these streames Naamans leprosie was here
Anathema vpon Anathema That concerning their becomming Proselytes Drusius doubteth whether it may not bee translated that a stranger Cuthaean should not abide in Israel which is more likely The other had beene more impious their zeale to make Proselytes of all Nations is knowne To returne to Manasses Iosephus saith that the high Priests and the Elders put him from the Altar who therefore went to Sanballat his Father in law and told him that he loued his daughter well but would not for her lose his Priest-hood Sanballat replied that if he would retaine his daughter he would not onely maintayne him in his Priest-hood but procure him a high-Priests place and make him Prince of all his Prouince and would build a Temple like to that of Ierusalem in mount Garizim which looketh ouer Samaria higher then the other Hills and that with the consent of K. Darius Hereupon Manasses abode with him and many Priests and Israelites being intangled with like marriages reuolted to him and were maintayned by Sanballat But now Alexander preuailing against Darius Sanballat whose Religion was Policie rebelled and tooke part with Alexander and in reward thereof obtayned leaue to build his Temple whereof Manasses enioyed to him and his successors the Pontificall dignitie Then was the Circumcision diuided some as said the Samaritan woman worshipping in this Mountaine others at Ierusalem The zeale which the Samatitans had to their Temple appeared in the time of Ptolomaeus Philometor when at Alexandria Sabbaeus and Theodosius with their Samaritans contended with Andronicus and the Iewes these challenging to Ierusalem those to Garizim the lawful honor of a Temple both parties swearing by God and the King to bring proofe of their assertion out of the law and beseeching the King to do him to death that should not make his part good and thereupon the Samaritans failing in proofe were adiudged to punishment The Samaritans in the prosperitie of the Iewes professed themselues their kinsmen and allies in aduersitie disclaymed them and their God also as appeareth in their Epistle to Antiochus that figure of Antichrist and persecuter of the Iewish Religion in which they call themselues Sidonians dwelling in Sichem and say that moued by ancient superstition they had embraced the Feast of the Sabbath and building a Temple of a namelesse Deity had offered therein solemne Sacrifices whereas therefore their originall was Sidonian and not Iewish pleased him to enact that their Temple might beare name of Iupiter Graecanicus and they might liue after the Greekish Rites These things Antiochus easily granted This Sichem is called Sichar Io. 4.5 It was after that called Neapolis and lastly of the Colonie which Vespasian or Domitian placed there Flauia Caesarea Of that Colonie was it is Scaligers testimony Animal Euseb pag. 201. Iustin Martyr omnium Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum qui hodie extant vetustissimus which occasioned Epiphanius his error that of a Samaritan he became a Christian whereas he was neuer a Samaritan in Religion but only of this Samaritan Colonie In this were in the age of Beniamin one hundred Samaritans the words of Beniamin are worthy the inserting I came saith he to Samaria in which the Palace of Ahab is yet to be knowne a place very delectable with Springs Riuers Gardens c. and hath not one Iew inhabiting Two leagues from hence is Nables somtime called Sichem in mount Ephraim where are no Iews The Citie is situate betweene the hils of Garizim and Heball there are about a hundred Cuthaeans which obserue only the law of Moses They are called Samaritans they haue Priests of the posterity of Aaron which resteth in peace who marry not with any other but the men or women of their owne stock and are there commonly called Aaronites they sacrifice and burne their offerings in a Synagogue which they haue on Mount Garizim citing out of the law Thou shalt giue a blessing vpon the Mount Gerizim this say they is the house of the Sanctuarie and on the Paschall and other solemnities they Sacrifice on an Altar in Mount Garizim made of stones taken by the Israelites out of Iordan They boast themselues to be of the Tribe of Ephraim With them is the Sepulchre of Ioseph He addeth which Scaliger saith is a slender that they want three Letters He Cheth Ain whereas they reade the Pentateuch in so many and the same Letters in which Moses wrote them as Postel and Scaliger affirme and those which the Iewes vse are later counterfeits the example whereof Scaliger hath giuen vs in their Computation in the last Edition of his Emendation yea they are now also further from Idolatrie then the Iewes themselues howsoeuer in their Talmud and else where they brand them with false and odious imputations Beniamin also testifieth that they abstaine from pollution by the dead or bones the slaine and the Sepulchres And euery day when they goe into the Synagogue they put off their vsuall clothes and hauing washed their bodies with water put on other clothes sacred only to this purpose Beniamin found of these Cuthaeans two hundred in Caesarea at Benibera or new Ascalon three hundred and at Damascus foure hundred Hircanus by force tooke both Sichem and Garizim Two hundred yeeres after the foundation of this Temple as testifieth Iosephus hapned this desolation thereof The zeale yet continued as appeareth by many testimonies of Scripture The Iewes medled not with the Samaritanes which made the woman wonder that Christ asked drinke of a Samaritan Another time the Samaritans would not receiue him because his behauiour was as though he would goe to Ierusalem for which fact of theirs the sonnes of thunder would haue brought lightning from heauen vpon them And the Iewish despite could not obiect worse in their most venemous slander then Thou art a Samaritan This Ierusalem-iourney through the Samaritans countrey caused bloudie warres and slaughter betwixt the Galilaeans and them in the time of Cumanus to the destruction of many And before that in the daies of Pilate a cosining Prophet abused their zeale bidding them to assemble in mount Garizim with promise there to shew them the sacred vessels which said he Moses had there hidden Whereupon they seditiously assembling and besieging Tirabatha Pilate came vpon them with his forces and cut them in peeces Their opinions besides those aforesaid were that onely the fiue bookes of Moses were Canonicall Scripture the rest they receiued not They acknowledge not the Resurrection nor the Trinitie and in zeale of one GOD abandon all Idolatries which it seemeth was receiued of them after the building of the Temple and mixture with the Apostate Iewes the Scripture testifying otherwise of their former deuotions They wash themselues with Vrine when they come from any stranger being forsooth polluted And if they haue touched one of another Nation they diue themselues garments and all in water Such a prophanation is the touch of one of another faith They haue a dead corps
of seates with marble steps in the highest whereof sate the Head of the Captiuitie with the Iewes of the family of Dauid In Gehiagan sometime Rezen two dayes iourney from thence were fiue thousand Israelites One dayes iourney from hence was Babel now wholly ruinated in which are yet seene the ruines of Nabuchodonosors Palace but inaccessible by reason of diuers kindes of Serpents Twentie miles from these ruines dwell twentie thousand Israelites which there pray in the Synagogues the chiefe whereof is that of Daniel of squared stones There were at Hhilah fiue miles thence ten thousand Iewes in foure Synagogues Foure miles thence it is to the Tower which the Sonnes of Diuisions built with Brickes which the Arabians call Lagzar the length of the foundation is about two miles the breadth of the wals two hundred and forty cubits where it is broadest it is an hundred reedes and betweene euery ten reedes space are waies in manner of spires continued thorow the whole building on the top of which one may see twentie miles about Halfe a dayes iourney from hence is Naphahh where were two hundred Iewes And three leagues thence the Synagogue of Ezechiel neere Euphrates and in the same place sixtie Towers one against another and a Synagogue betweene euery one The monument of Ezechiel was built by Iechonias with fiue and thirtie thousand Iewes And this is a holy place whither they resort from the beginning of the yeere to the day of Expiation to pray and keepe festiuall Thither commeth the Head of the Captiuitie and other chiefe men from Bagdad and two and twentie miles about they pitch their Tents here and there and the Arabians keepe then and there a great Faire At this time they reade on the Expiation day out of a booke which Ezechiel writ and there is a holy house full of bookes since the time of the first and second Temple the custome being that they which die without children should bequeath their bookes hither The Iewes in Persia and Media make vowes to bee performed in this place to which also the Ismaelites resort to pray The Sepulchre of the three Saints companions of Daniel is halfe a dayes iourney from hence with fayre and great Arches Three miles thence is Alkotsonath and in it three hundred Iewes At Kupha the Sepulchre of Ieconia and seuen thousand Iewes One and twentie daies iourney thorow the wildernes is the Region of Seba now called the Land of Aliman where dwell Iewes the children of Rechab This Region extended sixteene daies along the mountaines subiect to no forren Nation hauing therein foure hundred strong Cities two hundred Townes an hundred Castles The Metropolis is Themai In all those Cities are about three hundred thousand Iewes In the Region of Tilmaas an hundred thousand Three dayes iourney hence is Chibar in it fiftie thousand These they say are of the deportation of Ruben Gad and Manasses From hence twentie fiue dayes iourney is Vira which is a Riuer running into Eliman where were three thousand And seuen iourneys from thence Neasar in it seuen thousand Fiue daies iourneyes from thence Bosra vpon Tygris and in it one thousand Two dayes iourneyes from thence the Riuer Samura the beginning of Persia with a Towne of the same name wherein were fifteene hundred The place is famous by the Sepulchre of Esdras who in his returne to Babylon in Embassage here died There was a Synagogue honoured also by the Ismaelites In Susan were seuen thousand Iewes in foureteene Synagogues before one of which was the Sepulchre of Daniel about which rose a controuersie betweene the inhabitants of the one and other side of the Riuer They which dwelt on that side where the Sepulchre was seeming to the other the more fortunate this caused blowes but was after agreed that euery yeere it should be remoued by course which was done with solemne procession till Senigar the Persian King thinking it a prophanation to the holy Coffin caused it to be hanged in a chest of glasse for all men to see and forbad to take fish within two miles of that place in the Riuer From hence was three dayes iourney to Robad-Bar where were twentie thousand Iewes Two iourneyes from hence was the Riuer Vaanath where were foure thousand Iewes Foure iourneyes further Malhhaath here they were not Ismaelites nor vnder the Persian they had two Colledges of Israelites which acknowledged neuerthelesse the Head of the Captiuitie in Bagdad At Ghaarian fiue iourneyes beyond were fiue and twentie thousand Here began the mountaines of Hhaphthon wherein were an hundred Synagogues This is the beginning of Media they speake Chaldee and there were amongst them the Disciples of the wise Ghamaria is vnder the Persian where Dauid Elroi was It was ten dayes iourney thence to Hhamdan chiefe Citie of Media there were fiftie thousand Iewes in that Region and the Sepulchre of Mordecai and Esther Foure iourneyes further was Debarzethaan neere this Riuer Gozen in it foure thousand Iewes Beyond that seuen iourneyes Asbahan the chiefe Citie twelue miles in compasse and therein fifteene thousand Israelites ouer whom and all the Persian Iewes was Salom by authoritie from the Head of the Captiuitie Foure iourneyes hence was Siaphaz called of old Persis whence the whole Region was named Persia therein ten thousand Seuen dayes iourneys thence Ginah vpon Gozen a famous Mart in which were eight thousand Samarcheneth was the furthest Citie of that Kingdome fiue iourneyes from Ginah where were fiftie thousand Foure iourneyes thence Tubot and twentie eight further I passed to the mountaines Nisbon which ouer looke the Riuer Gozen where were many Israelites and they say there dwell the foure Tribes of Dan Zabulon Asser Naphthali Their Countrey extendeth twentie dayes iourney and hath many Cities free from subiection to any Heathen They are gouerned of Ioseph Armacala Leuita they till the ground and hold warres with the children of Chus trauelling through the desart thither They are in league with the Copher Althorech a people that worship the Windes and liuing in the Wildernesse they haue neither bread nor wine but eate raw flesh eyther new or dried they haue no nose but onely two holes Fifteene yeeres since they tooke and sacked Rai a chiefe Citie in Persia whereupon the King warred against them and passing through the wildernesse to them was deceiued by his guide and his people almost starued and after forced to flie with whom passed into Persia Moses one of the Iewes in those parts which told me Beniamin our Author all this Hence I went to Cheuazthaan vpon the Riuer Tigris which runneth thence into Hoduor the Indian Sea hauing in the mouth the Iland Nekrokin a famous Mart where were fiue hundred Iewes I sayled ten dayes thence to Kathiphan where were fiue thousand Israelites Thence to the Kingdome of Haaulem a people of Chus which worship the Sunne Thence after twentie two dayes sayling I came to the I le Chenerag where they worship the
the writing being cancelled should bee neglected and perhaps the Name of God cast with it on the dung-hil the wise-men abolished that order on the third of Tisri which they instituted a holy-day As for the name of Maccabees Iunius saith it came from the inscription of those foure letters M. C. B. I. in the banners of those Princes which deliuered the Iewes from the Macedonian thraldome Scaliger saith that Iudas onely and properly was so called but by abuse of speech was not onely giuen to all of that kindred but to all which suffered in those times persecution for Religion as the seuen brethren and others The name Hasmonaei began with that Hircanus Scaliger thinketh because in the sixty eight Psalme it is by the Iewes interpreted Prince Aristobulus sonne of Hircanus first after the captiuitie called himselfe king and raigned one yeere Ioannes Alexander his brother twentie seuen after him his wife Alexandra nine Hircanus her sonne three moneths Aristobulus his brother three yeeres Ierusalem was taken of Pompey and Hircanus recouered the Priest-hood which he held two and twentie yeeres Antigonus by aide of the Parthians possessed Iudae a fiue yeeres and in his second yeere Herod was proclaimed King by the Romans who tooke the Citie the fift yeere of Antigonus and raigned foure and thirtie Scaliger ascribeth to Herods kingdome the number after Eusebius account reckoning from the birth of Abram 1977. he died 2016. Archelaus his son was made by Augustus Tetrarch of Ierusalem 2016. was banished 2025. Agricola was made king by Caligula 2053. Agrippa his son by Claudius 2060. and died 2116. thirtie yeeres after the destruction of the Temple The Dynastie of the Herodians lasted 139. yeeres Thus Scaliger He attributeth the Natiuitie of Christ to the 3948. yeere of the world Here we must leaue the Chronologers contending of the yeere of the world in which this blessed Natiuitie happened some adding many more yeeres some not allowing so many It is certaine by the Scripture that he was borne in the one and fortieth or two and fortieth of Augustus baptized in the fifteenth of Tiberius then beginning to be about thirtie yeeres of age in the thirtie three yeere he was crucified In the seuentie two as Baronius and seuentie one yeere of Christ as Buntingus and Liuely account Ierusalem was destroyed by Titus in the second of Vespasian Arias Montanus reckoneth this the yeere of the World 3989. and saith that the Hebrewes reckon it the 3841. which must needes be false The fault ariseth from the false computation of the Persian and Graecian Monarchies Iosephus counteth from the time of Herod to the destruction of the Temple twentie eight high Priests and a hundred and seuen yeeres After Scaliger in his Can. Isag. l. 3. this yeere 1612. is the 1614. of Christ of the World 5461. after the Iewish account of Hillel 5372. of the Armenians 1061. of the Iulian Period 6325. of the Hegira 1021. Anno 4. Olymp. 597. The Dionysian account which wee vsually follow was not generally receiued till after the time of Charles the Great CHAP. XII Of the Iewish Talmud and the Composition and estimation thereof also of the Iewish Learned men their succession their Cabbalists Masorites their Rabbines Vniuersities Students Rabbinicall creations their Scriptures and the translations of them §. I. Of the Talmud RAbbi Mosche Mikkotzi in a worke of his set forth Anno 1236. as Buxdorfius citeth him saith that the Written Law which GOD gaue to Moses and Moses to the Israelites is obscure and hard because it speaketh some things contradictorie which hee seeketh to proue by some places mis-interpreted and because it is imperfect and contayneth not all things meete to be knowne For who shall teach vs saith he the notes of Birds and Beasts a Franciscan might answere him out of the Legend of Saint Francis the Patron of his Order who shall teach them the proprietie and nature of points accents of Letters Also what fatte might be eaten what not c. Many such things are defectiue in the Law and therefore there is neede of some other Exposition of the written Law whence these things might be learned This Exposition for-sooth must be their Talmud the generation of which Viper touched before we will here more fully declare They say that Moses on Mount Sinai was not with GOD fortie daies and fortie nights to keepe Geese And GOD could haue written those Tables of the Law in an houre and sent him away with them so to haue preuented that Idolatrie with the Golden Calfe But GOD brought Moses into a Schoole and there gaue him the Law in writing first and then in all that long time expounded the same shewing the cause manner measure foundation and intention thereof in the true sense This vnwritten and Verball Law did Moses teach Ioshua be the Elders from these it was deriued to the Prophets After Zacharie and Malachie the last of these it came to the great Sanhedrib and after them by Tradion from father to sonne And Rabbi Bechai saith That Moses learned the Law written in the day time and this Traditionall Law by night for then he could not see to write Rabbi Mosche Mikkotzi sheweth the cause why God would deliuer the same by mouth onely and not in writing lest I wisse the Gentiles should peruert this as they did the other which was written And in the day of Iudgement when GOD shall demand who are the Israelites the Gentiles shall make challenge because of the Law written but the Iewes onely shall be acceped as hauing this Simani this verball exposition GOD also say they gaue them Chachamim Wise-men authors of diuers ordinances amongst them as to blesse GOD at the Sunne-rising and Sunne-setting And of Schooles where children should be taught the Law of Moses in euery Citie and where the Law of Moses should be read weekely and that the Israelites should not eate or drinke with the Gentiles nor what they had dressed after the example of Daniel c. But when the Temple was destroyed and the Iewes carried away captiues then arose vp Rabbi Iuda Hannasi who is called for his humilitie and godlinesse our Great Master to whom GOD procured such fauour in the eyes of Antoninus the Emperour that hee had authoritie to assemble out of all places of the Empire the most learned Iewes to consult in this their almost desperate Estate what course to take for the preseruation of the Law amongst the people And although this Kabala or Law giuen by word of mouth might not bee committed to writing yet in consideration and commiseration of their miserie whatsoeuer thereof was remayning in memorie hee writ in a booke which hee called Mischna that is a Deutronomie or Law reiterated contayning sixe summes diuided into sixtie lesse parts or tractates and these into fiue hundred thirtie two Chapters Thus farre R. Mikkotzi The contents of the sixe summes and their seuerall Tractates
is King of the whole world hauing in the word Echad many superstitious subtilties that the letter Daleth in regard of his place in the Alphabet signifieth foure and the word Echad contayneth in numerall letters two hundred fortie and fiue whereunto adding three hael elohechem emes God our Lord is true they make vp the number of two hundred fortie and eight and so many members there are in mans bodie for euerie member a prayer secures them all And this verse thrice recited secureth against the ill spirit They esteeme it a holy prayer by which miracles may bee wrought and therefore vse it morning and euening They haue another prayer called Schone esre that is eighteene because it contayneth so many thankesgiuing which they say twice a day and the chiefe chanter of the Synagogue singeth it twice by himselfe They thinke by this prayer to obtaine remission of their sinnes They must pray it standing so that one foot must not stand more on the ground then the other like the Angels And their foote was a right foote When they come to those words in it Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts they leape vp three times aloft And hee say their Chachamim which speaketh a word during this prayer shall haue burning coales giuen him to eate after his death These eighteene thanksgiuings are for the eighteene bones in the chine or back-bone which must in saying hereof be bended After this followeth a prayer against the Iewes reuolted to Christianitie and against all Christians saying These which are blotted out that is reuolters shall haue no more hope and all vnbeleeuers shall perish in the twinkling of an eye and all thine enemies which hate thee O GOD shall be destroyed and the proud and presumptuous Kingdome shall quickly be rooted out broken layd euen with the ground and at last shall vtterly perish and thou shalt make them presently in our dayes obedient to vs Blessed art thou God which breakest and subduest them which are rebellious They call the Turkish Empire the Kingdome of Ismael the Roman Edomiticall proud c. They are themselues indeed exceeding proud impatient and desirous of reuenge The Talmud sayth That the lying spirit in the mouth of Achabs Prophets which perswaded him to goe and fall at Ramoth Gilead was none other but the spirit of Naboth whom hee had before flaine And Victor Carbensis a Christian Iew testifieth That there are not vnder heauen a more quarrelsome people themselues acknowledging the Christians farre meeker then themselues when they haue this Prouerb that the modestie of the Christians the wisedome and industrie of the Heathens and faith of the Iewes are the three pillers which sustaine the world But to returne to their deuotions After those other before mentioned followeth a prayer for the good sort for Proselytes reedifying of the Temple for sending the Messias and restauration of their Kingdome In the end they pray GOD to keepe them in peace and when they come to these words Hee that makes peace aboue shall make peace ouer all Israel Amen they goe backe three paces bow themselues downewards bend their head on the right hand then on the left if some Christian bee there with an Image they must not bow but lift vp their heart This they doe for honours sake not to turne their hinder parts on the Arke and thus they goe like Crabbes out of the Synagogue vsing certaine prayers not running but with a slow pace lest they should seeme glad that their Mattins were done Other their niceties in praying as laying the right hand on the left ouer the heart not spetting nor breaking winde vp or downe not interrupted by a King to cease prayer to shake his bodie this way and that way not to touch his naked bodie and to say Amen with all his heart for they that say Amen are worthie to say it in the world to come And therefore Dauid endeth a Psalme with Amen Amen signifying that one is to bee said heere and the other in the other world also in a plaine eminent place purged from all filth freed from the sight of women his face to the East standing his feet close together fixing his eyes on the ground eleuating the heart to heauen c. I hold it enough thus to mention Their praying to the East must be vnderstood from our Westerne parts because Ierusalem standeth that way for otherwise Rambam sheweth that Abraham prayed in Mount Moriah toward the West and the Sanctum Sanctorum was in the West which place also Abraham set forth and determined And because the Gentiles worshipped the Sunne toward the rising therefore Abraham worshipped Westward and appointed the Sanctuarie so to stand The Talmud saith Praying to the South bringeth wisdome toward the North riches I might heere also adde their Letanie and Commemoration of their Saints almost after the Popish fashion As thus for a taste Wee haue sinned before thee haue mercie on vs O Lord doe it for thy names sake and spare Israel thy people Lord doe it for Abraham thy perfect one and spare Israel thy people Lord doe it for him which was bound in thy porches to wit in Mount Moriah where the Temple was afterward builded and spare Israel thy people Lord doe it for him which was heard in the ladder Iacob from thy high place and spare Israel thy people Lord doe it for the merit of Ioseph thy holy one c. Lord doe it for him which was drawne out of the waters Moses and spare c. Lord doe it for Aaron the Priest with Vrim and Thummim Lord grant it for him that was zealous for thy name Phineas Lord doe it for the sweet Singer Dauid Lord doe it for him which built thine house They name not any but expresse him after this sort And then proceed in like manner with the titles attributes and workes of GOD. Doe it for thy Name Doe it for thy Goodnesse for thy Couenant thy Law thy Glorie c. in seuerall versicles And then to their Saints in a new passage Doe it for Abraham Isaac and Iacob Doe it for Moses and Aaron for Dauid and Salomon as if their combined forces should effect more then single Doe it for Ierusalem the holy Citie for Sion for the destruction of thy house for the poore Israelites for the bare Israelites for the miserable Israelites for the Widdowes and Orphans for the sucking and wained and if not for our sake yet for thine owne sake Then in another forme Thou which hearest the poore heare vs thou which hearest the oppressed heare vs Thou which heardest Abraham c. With renuing a commemoration of their Saints larger then before and after some repeating the diuine titles in another tune they oppose their Saint and wicked ones together as Remember not the lye of Achan but remember Iosua forgiuing him and remember Heli and Samuel and so on in a tedious length CHAP. XVI Of their Ceremonies at home after
goe vnto Armillus with three hundred thousand Ephraimites carrying with him the booke of the Law and when he comes at him hee shall reade out of the same this sentence I am the Lord thy God thou shalt haue none other Gods in my sight Armillus shall reply that there is no such sentence in their Law and therefore they should acknowledge him for God as well as the Gentiles Then shall Nehemias ouerthrow two hundred thousand of Armillus his Armie whereat Armillus shall bee so wrathfull that hee shall assemble all his forces into a deepe valley and there shall destroy with many other Israelites this Nehemias But the Angels shall take and hide him that Armillus may not know of his death lest hee should not leaue one of Israel liuing All Nations shall then expell the Israelites and such affliction shall befall them as neuer since the beginning of the world At this time shall the Angell Michael come foorth and seperate the wicked from Israel as writeth Daniel They which remaine shall flye into the desart and for fiue and fortie dayes space liue with grasse and leaues and hearbes but all the wicked Israelites shall dye Armillus shall after subdue Aegypt and shall turne thence against Ierusalem and seeke againe to waste it These things after their manner they fable out of the eleuenth and twelfth of Daniel The eighth Miracle is the arising of Michael who three times shall winde his great horne Es 27.23 and Zach. 9.14 At the first sound the true Messias Ben Dauid and Elias the Prophet shall shew themselues to those deuout Israelites in the desarts of Iuda who shall then gather courage and all the Iewes in the world shall heare this sound and shall confesse GODS deliuerance and all that haue beene led captiue into Assyria shall assemble together The same horne shall strike feare and diseases into the Christians and other people Now shall the Iewes make great iourneyes towards Ierusalem and together with Elias and Messias shall come thither with ioy Armillus hearing this in his proud furie shall re-assemble his Christians against the Messias and Ierusalem But GOD not suffering his people to fall out of one trouble into another shall say to the Messias Come place thy selfe at my right hand and to the Israelites Bee still and wait for the great succour of the Lord this day And then shall GOD rayne fire and brimstone from Heauen as Ezekiel reporteth wherewith Armillus and his Armie shall dye and The house of Iacob shall bee as fire and the house of Ioseph as a flame and the house of Esau the Idumaean Atheists which destroyed GODS house as stubble At the second sound or blast of this horne of Michael the graues at Ierusalem shall open and the dead arise and Messias Ben Dauid with Elias shall reuoke into life that Messias Ben Ioseph and the Israelites shall send Messias Ben Dauid into all Countries of the Iewes dispersion to cause them to come to Ierusalem and the Nations with whom they are shall bring them in their Chariots and on their shoulders The last Miracle is the third time of Michaels winding his horne when GOD shall bring foorth all the Iewes which are by the Riuers Gosan Lachbach Chabor and in the Cities of Iuda and they without number or measure shall with their Infants enter into the Paradise of Moses and the ground before them and behind them shall be meere fire which shall leaue no sustenance to the Christians And when the ten Tribes shall depart out of the Nations then the piller of the cloud of Diuine glory shall compasse them and GOD shall goe before them and shall open to them the fountaines flowing from the tree of Life Esa 49.10 I might adde to these miracles that of the Asse which Abraham rode on when hee went to sacrifice his sonne which Moses also vsed when he returned into Aegypt and some say Balaams Asse was the same this shall the Messias ride on according to Zacharies Prophesie Zach. 9.5 Against these ten miraculous signes fore-shewing Messias his comming the most being full of troubles they haue ten consolations first The certaintie of Messias comming secondly That hee shall gather them from all places of the dispersion Ierem. 31.8 but the Lame there mentioned shall bee so cured that They shall leape as Harts c. thirdly GOD will raise vp the dead fourthly GOD will erect a third Temple according to the figure of that in Ezekiel 41. fiftly That the Israelites shall then raigne ouer all the earth Esa 60.12 yea all the world shall bee subiect to the Law Soph. 3.9 sixtly GOD will destroy all their enemies Ezek. 25.14 seuenthly GOD will take from them all diseases Esa 33.24 eightly GOD will prolong their liues that they shall liue as long as an Oake Esa 65.22 and as in the times from Adam to Noe ninthly They shall see God face to face Esa 40.5 and They all shall Prophesie Ioel. 2.28 tenthly GOD shall take away from them all euill concupiscence and inclination to euill Ezek. 36.26 Thus farre out of the booke Abhkas Rochel §. II. Iewish tales of monstrous Birds Beasts Fishes and Men. THeir cheere in these dayes shall bee the greatest Beasts Birds and Fishes which GOD ouer created and no other wine then that which grew in Paradise and was kept in Adams Celler till that time the great Oxe Behemoth mentioned in Iob and Psal. 50.10 All the Beasts of the wood are mine and the beasts feeding on a thousand hills that is Behemoth which euery day feedeth on a thousand hills But lest this deuouring beast should consume all the hills in the world they tell you that hee is a stalled Oxe still abiding in the same place and what hee eateth in the day groweth againe in the night The huge Whale Leuiathan or as they pronounce it Lipiasan must honour also this Feast of this they write in the Talmud that to preuent filling the world with these huge monsters GOD gelded the male Leuiathan and the female is slaine and preserued in pickle for the iust to be eaten in the times of the Messias Esay 27. The male Behemoth was gelded also and the female was stored vp for this feast Elias Leuita reporteth of a huge huge Bird also called Bariuchne to bee rosted at this feast of which the Talmud saith that an egge sometime falling out of her nest did ouerthrow and breake downe three hundred tall Cedars with which fall the egge being broken ouerflowed and carryed away sixtie Villages Wee will haue the Whetstone before we part R. Barchannah saw a Frogge as big as Akra a village of sixtie housholds then came a huger Serpent and swallowed that huge Frogge Lastly the hugest hugest Crow that euer the Rabbine saw flew and deuoured these both and flying away sate on a tree which tree sure could not be lesse then the three hundred Cedars before mentioned if this Crow were but as bigge as