made the Word of the Lord King over you this day that he may be your Glory And v. 18. The VVord of the Lord is become King over you in his own Name as over his beloved and peculiar people In consequence hereof as being their King he ordered them by his chief Minister Moses to make him a Royal Pavilion or Tabernacle and to set it up in the midst of their Camp Both that and all the furniture of it he ordered Moses to make according to the Pattern show'd him in the Mount Exod. xxv 40. Especially for the Presence of the great King there must be an Apartment in the inner part of the Tabernacle separated from the rest with a Veil Embroidered with Cherubims Exod. xxvii 31. which part was called the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies Exod. xxvi 33. There was to be placed the Ark overlay'd with pure Gold and having a Crown of Gold round about it In the Ark were contain'd the Tables of the Law Upon it was placed the Mercy-seat overshadowed with the Wings of two Cherubims that stood on the two Ends of the Mercy-seat Exod. xxxvii 9. looking each of them toward the other and both of them toward the Mercy-seat This Provision being made for the place of his Shekinah the Word which shewed it self before in a Pillar of Cloud by day and fire by night that stood over the Camp now from thence came to take possession of his Royal Seat in the Tabernacle over the Ark from whence out of the void space between these Cherubims it was that the Word used to speak to Moses and to give him Orders from time to time for the Government of his People according to the Paraphrasts on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. Numb xvii 4. and especially Numb vii 8 9. as has been above mentioned Henceforward throughout their whole Journey through the Wilderness the Pillar was constantly over the Tabernacle and the People attended his motion But whensoever he gave the Commandment then the Pillar removed and shewed which way the Camp was to go Upon notice of that then Moses first gave the word in a set form of Prayer which we have in the first six verses of the lxviii Psalm The first verse of it is Numb x. 35. in these words according to the Jerusalem Targum Arise now Oh Word of the Lord in the might of thy strength According to Jonathan's Paraphrase Appear now Oh Word of the Lord in the strength of thy wrath In both the Targums it followeth as in the Hebrew Text and the enemies of thy people shall be scattered and they that hate thee shall flee before thee When they had performed their Journey according to the will of their King which they knew by seeing the Pillar stand still then Moses used the Form for the resting of the Ark Numb x. 36. according to the forementioned Targums Return now Oh Word of the Lord to thy people Israel make the Glory of thy Shekinah dwell among them and have mercy on the Thousands of Israel This being said the Priests who carried the several â—ins of the Tabernacle took down their Burdens and set up all things as before and the Pillar returned to its place over the midst of the Tabernacle In this State of Theocracy their keeping of God's Laws is called by their Targums The believing and obeying of the Word their breaches of his Laws are called their despising and rebelling against the Word Of the use of both these manners of speaking there might be given more instances than can be easily numbred The Targums likewise ascribe to the Word both the rewarding of their Obedience and the punishing of their Transgressions On their Obedience according to the Targums it was the usual promise that the Word should be their help or support Numb xxiii 8 21. that he should bless them and multiply them Deut. xxiv 19. that he should rejoice over them to do them good Deut. xxviii 63. xxx 9. They were told that he would be a consuming fire to their enemies Deut. iv 24. particularly that he was so to the Anakims Deut. ix 3. That it was he that delivered Og into their hands Deut. iii. 2. That it was he that would cast out all the Nations before them Deut. xi 22. On the other hand according to the sense of the ancient Church it was the Word that punished them for their disobedience and also it was he that forgave them upon their Repentance Of both these kinds there are many remarkable instances as particularly of the punishing of their disobedience according to Jonathan on Exod. xxxii 35. It was the Word that destroyed the people for worshipping the Calf that Aaron made For their lusting at Kibroth-hattaava Moses told them whom they provoked by it Numb xi 20. according to Onkelos and Jonathan You have despised the Word of the Lord whose Shekinah dwelleth among you Their refusing to go forward toward the promised Land upon the Spies evil report of it Moses tells them according to those Targums Deut. i. 26. It was rebelling against the Word of the Lord. Afterward when they would go up contrary to order Numb xiv 41. Moses asks them Why do you transgress the decree of the Word of the Lord In their murmuring at Zalmona Polyglot Vol. IV. Numb xxi 5. according to Onkelos in one of Clerk's various Readings They spoke against the Word of the Lord and against Moses Wherefore v. 6. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord sent fiery Serpents among the People Upon their Whoring with Baal-Peor Numb xxv 4. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord said to Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord. In short according to the Targums on Deut. xxviii 20 21 22 c. It was the Word of the Lord that would send all his Judgments and Curses that are there denounced against impenitent Sinners But on the other hand according to those Targums the Word had the dispencing of pardon to them that were Qualified for it So when Moses beg'd pardon for his People that had sinned beyond mercy if it had not been infinite Numb xiv 20. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord answered him and said behold I have forgiven and pardoned according to thy word And in case upon the inflicting of God's Judgments above mentioned God's People should be thereby brought to repentance It was promised Deut. xxx 3. according to Jonathan's Targum that then the Word should accept their repentance according to his good pleasure and should have mercy on them and gather them out of all Naons c. So likewise c. xxxii 36. according to the same Targum it is promised that the Word of the Lord by his mercy should judge the judgment of his people and should repent him of the evil that he had decreed against his Servants It were easie to add many more such Instances out of
all this while even the same that appeared to him in the Bush Moses being thus employ'd by the Word of God as his Messenger to the Children of Israel for the discharge of his Ministry had both his Instructions and Credentials from the Word according to the Targums For the first of these God appeared to him oftener than to any before him R. Akiba who lived since Christ's time saith that Moses acted as Mediator between the Gevura that is the Word of God and the People of Israel and observeth that God spake to him 175 times They were times without number that God spake to him from off the Mercy-seat upon the Ark of Testimony from between the two Cherubims Numb vii 89. But those which R. Akiba reckons were Appearances upon extraordinary occasions In both these Appearances ordinary and extraordinary it was the Word of God that spake to Moses according to the Targums Thus of God's speaking to him from the Mercy-seat to appoint my Word for thee as God promised there according to Onkelos and Jonathan on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. So Numb vii 89. Jonathan saith it was the Word that spake to him And thus likewise in those Occasional Appearances both Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targums tell us once for all Deut. xxxiv 10. The Word of the Lord knew Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking to Moses as oft as Moses spake to him on any occasion For his Credentials were as we see Deut. xxxiv 11. All the Signs and Wonders which the Lord sent him to do or according to the Targums which the Word of the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and his Servants and all his Land and in all that mighty Land and that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel For the Acts of his Ministry they were chiefly these three 1. His bringing the People out of Egypt 2. His giving them Laws and Statutes and Judgments from God 3. His Leading them through the Wilderness to the Confines of Canaan In each of these was the Word that appeared to him according to the Targums His bringing the People out of Egypt is wholly ascribed to the Word by Onkelos and Jonathan on Deut. xx 1. and by Jonathan on Deut. xxiv 18. The People were commanded to teach this to their Children that it was the Word of the Lord that did all those Signs and Wonders in Egypt saith Jonathan on Exod. xiii 8. It was the Word that sent all those Plagues on Pharaoh and his Servants and all the Land of Egypt saith Jonathan on Deut. xxviii 6. and xxix 2. Especially it was the Word that gave that stroke which finisht the work according to the Jerusalem Targum Exod. xii 29. namely It was the Word of the Lord that appeared against the Egyptians at midnight and his right hand kill'd the first-born of the Egyptians and delivered his own first-born the Children of Israel After this the Word of the Lord led the People through the Desert to the Red-Sea saith the same Targum on Exod. xiii 18. The Word of the Lord being their Leader in a Pillar of Fire by night and of a Cloud by day saith Onkelos on Deut. i. 32 33. And when the People being come to the Red-Sea and seeing Pharaoh with his Army behind them were in a rage against Moses and he cried to God Exod. xiv 15. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord said to Moses How long dost thou stand and pray before me Bid the Children of Israel come forward and do thou reach out thy Rod and divide the Red Sea He did so and according to the Jerusalem Targum on Deut. i. 1. The Word divided the Sea before them So that the Children of Israel went into the midst of the Sea on dry ground Exod. xiv 22. the Egyptians following them And at morning v. 24. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord lookt upon the Army of the Egyptians and threw upon them Bitumen and Fire and Hail out of Heaven and v. 25. The Egyptians said Let us fly from before the People of Israel for this is the Word of the Lord that gets them victory But their flight was in vain for by the Word of the Lord the waters were made heaps according to Onkelos on Exod. xv 8. And according to him also when God spoke by his Word the Sea covered them v. 10. Thus as the whole work of the People of Israel's Deliverance out of Egypt so every part of it has been ascribed to the Word of the Lord by the Targums For the giving of the Laws by which they were to be formed into a Church and Kingdom First immediately after their coming out of the Red-Sea Exod. xv 25. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord gave them Precepts and Orders of Judgments particularly as Jonathan has it the Word of the Lord gave them there the Law of the Sabbath and that of Honouring Father and Mother and Judgments concerning Bruises and Wounds and for the Punishment of Transgressours Afterwards when they were come into the Wilderness of Sinai Exod. xix 3. the Text saith Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him out of the Mount saying Thus shalt thou say to the House of Israel c. there Onkelos saith according to one of Clark's various Readings Moses went up to meet the Word of the Lord Exod. xix 8. Moses returns with the People's Answer to the Lord then v. 9. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord said to Moses Go to the People and sanctifie them to day and to morrow and let them wash their Clothes and be ready against the third day for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the People upon Mount Sinai Accordingly the People having prepared themselves on the third day according to Onkelos Exod. xix 17. Moses brought the People out of the Camp to meet the word of God Yet the People only saw Thunder and Lightning and the Mountain smoking and felt the Earth quake under them They also heard the noise of the Trumpet which so affrighted them that they removed and stood at a distance and said to Moses Speak thou to us and we will hear but let not the Word from before the Lord speak with us lest we die Exod. xx 19. according to Onkelos in one of Clark's various Readings Moses therefore according to Jonathan on Deut. v. 5. Stood between them and the Word of the Lord to shew them the Pithgama the matter and words that were spoken to him from the Lord. What they were we read Exod. xx 1 c. where according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord spoke the tenor of all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage then follow the Ten Commandments commonly called the Decalogue That it was
God the Word that spoke this to the People the ancient Church could not doubt as we see in the Book of Deuteronomy where Jonathan tells us that thus Moses minded his People of what they had heard and seen at the giving of the Law Deut. iv 33. Is it possible that a People should have heard the voice of the Word of the Lord the Living God speak out of the middle of the fire as you have heard and yet live Again v. 36. Out of Heaven he hath made you hear the voice of his Word and ye have heard his words out of the midst of the fire Again he puts them in mind of the fright they were in Deut. v. 23. After ye had heard the voice of the Word out of the midst of the Darkness on the Mount burning with fire all the Chiefs of you came to me and said Behold the Word of the Lord our God has shewed us the Divine Majesty of his Glory and the Excellence of his Magnificence and we have heard the voice of his Word out of the midst of the fire why should we die as we must if we hear any more of the voice of the Word of the Lord our God for who is there living in flesh that hears the voice of the Word of the Living God speaking out of the middle of the fire as we do and yet live Again Deut. xviii 16. he minds them of the same thing in some of the same Words Many more such Quotations might be added but these are sufficient to prove that it was the undoubted Tradition of the ancient Jewish Church That their Law was given by the Word of God and that it was he that appeared to Moses for this purpose As the Word gave the Law it was he that made those many Appearances to Moses throughout his whole Conduct of the People of Israel through the Wilderness To begin with that Divine Appearance which was continually in sight of all the People of Israel for forty years together throughout their whole Travel in the Wilderness namely the Pillar which they saw in the Air day and night Where this Pillar is first spoken of namely at the coming of the People of Israel up out of Egypt there it is expresly said That the Lord went before them in the Pillar of Cloud by day and fire by night Exod. xiii 21. Afterward indeed he is called the Angel of God Exod. xiv 19. where we read that the People being come to the Red-Sea and being there in imminent danger of being overtaken by the Egyptians by whom they were closely pursued the Angel which had gone before the Camp of Israel all day removed at night and went behind them That this Angel was God it is certain not only because he is called God Exod. xiii 21. xiv 24. Numb xii 5. But also because he was Worshipped Exod. xxxiii 10. which was a sure Proof of his Divinity Being therefore God himself and yet the Messenger of God it must be that this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word and that this was the Tradition of the ancient Church we are taught not only by Philo in the place above mentioned Quis rer Div. haeres p. 397. F.G. but also by the Jerusalem Targum on Exod. xiv 24. and Jonathan on Exod. xxxiii 9. and by Onkelos on Deut. i. 32 33. as has been mentioned When the Children of Israel after the first three days march found no other Waters but what were too bitter for them to drink at which they murmured Moses cried unto the Lord who thereupon shewed him a Tree which they threw into the Waters and thereby made them sweet Exod. xv 25. Here was a Divine Appearance and it was of the Word of the Lord according to the Jerusalem Targum A Month after their coming out of Egypt for want of Bread they murmured against Moses and Aaron at which God shewed himself so much concerned that he made his Glory appear to them in the Pillar of Cloud Exod. xvi 7 10 That according to the sense of the ancient Church this was the Shekinah of the Word has been newly shown both from Philo and from all the Targums and the same we find here in this place v. 8. where Moses tells them your murmurings are not against us but against the Word of the Lord according to Onkelos and Jonathan When Exod. xvii 8 c. the Amalekites came against this poor people that had never seen War and smote the hindmost of them God not only gave his people a Victory over them but also said unto Moses write this for a Memorial in a Book That I will utterly put out the Remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven Exod. xvii 14. See how Moses performs this v. 15. In the place where they had fought he set up an Altar inscribed Jehovah Nissi The Lord is my Standard meaning that it was the will of God they should be in perpetual War against Amalek and this reason for it he entreth in his Book v. 16. according to Jonathan for the Word of the Lord has sworn by his Glory that he will have war against Amalek for all Generations The next Divine Appearance we read of was at the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai whereof enough has been already said and we must avoid being too long For which reason we omit much more that might be said of the following Appearances in the Wilderness which are all ascribed to the Word in one or other of the Targums But I ought not to omit to take notice of some special things So for their places of Worship God promised according to the Jerusalem Targum Exod. xx 24. Wheresoever you shall mention my Holy Name my Word shall appear to you and shall bless you and the Temple is called the place which the Word of the Lord your God will chuse to place his Shekinah there according to Jonathan's and the Jerusalem Targums on Deut. xii 4. Especially at the Altar for Sacrifice which was before the Door of the Tabernacle God promised Moses both for himself and the People according to Onkelos and Jonathan on Exod. xxix 42. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there and I will appoint my Word there for the Children of Israel Above all at the Mercy-seat where the Ark stood God promised to Moses according to those Targums on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. Numb xxvii 4. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there And in sum of all the Precepts in Leviticus it is said at the end of that Book according to those Targums on Levit. xxvi 46. These are the Statutes and Judgments and Laws which the Lord made between his Word and the Children of Israel When they entred into Covenant with God obliging themselves to live according to his Laws Hereby they made the Word to be their King and themselves his Subjects So Moses tells them Deut. xxvi 17. according to the Jerusalem Targum You have
is mentioned This is he of whom it is said and God called Moses out of the Bush He is called an Angel because he Governs the World for it is written in one place And Jehovah that is the Lord God brought us out of Egypt and in another place He sent his Angel and brought us out of Egypt And again The Angel of his Presence saved them viz. that Angel who is the face of God of whom it is said My face shall go before you Lastly that Angel of whom the Prophet Malachi mentions And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the Angel of the Covenant whom you desire At length he adds The face of God is God himself as all Interpreters do acknowledge but no one can rightly understand this without being instructed in the Mysteries of the Law R. Menachem of Rekan on Gen. xlviii 16. the same that afterwards commented on the whole Pentateuch was no stranger to this Notion Saith he He means the Shekinah when he speaks of the Redeeming Angel f. 52. See also f. 55. The like has R. Bechai the famous Jewish Writer whose Comments are constantly in the hands of the Jewish Doctors He proves that this Blessing is not different from that which is afterwards repeated Gen. xlix where no Angel is mentioned Whence it follows that the three terms in Gen. xlviii God God that fed me the Angel that redeemed me are Synonimous to the mighty one of Jacob Ch. xlix which Title the Jews in their Prayers do frequently ascribe to God Bech f. 71. c. 4. Ed. Rivae di Trento He also there teaches that this Angel was the Shekinah As does R. Joseph Gekatilia in his Book called Saare Ora according to Menasseh Ben Israel q. 64. in Gen. p. 118. Aben Sueb on this place a Man of Name among his Party writes much to the same purpose on this place These are followed by two Eminent Authors of the Cabalists The one in his Notes on Zohar f. 122. toward the end saith the Angel that delivered me from all evil is the Shekinah of whom Exod. xiv 19. And the Angel of the Lord which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them and may God bless us in the age to come The other is he who contracted the Zohar on Genesis and is called R. David the less He in that Book Ed. Thessalonic f. 174. professes to follow the opinion of R. Gekatalia in his Saare Ora. Nor does Menasseh Ben Israel himself much dissent from these in the above-mentioned place For though he attempts to reconcile Gen. xxviii 16. with the first Commandment Exod. xx Thou shalt have no other Gods before me by saying it was the opinion of several of their Masters that there was no contradiction between them yet at length he produces the opinion of the Cabalists for the satisfaction of his Readers who possibly would not acquiesce in his former reason drawn only from Modern Authorities I mention not R. Levi ben Gersom's opinion who denies the Angel here spoken of to be a Creature but calls him the Intellectus Agens because he seems to have borrowed the Notion from the Arabian Philosophers nor is it commonly received by those of his Religion Many others might be added to these Jewish Testimonies but what I have already produced is I think very sufficient SECT V. Having thus shewed the Opinions of the ancient Jews concerning Jacob's Angel and that to this day the Tradition is not quite worn out that exalts him above a created Angel I now proceed to the third Question the clearing of which will fully justifie that Opinion of the Ancients concerning this Text. And that is Whether this form of Blessing be not an express Prayer The soundest and most part as well of Jews as Christians do agree That we can't worship Angels without Idolatry This Maimonides affirms as I quoted him above and the Protestants as all Men know do abhor this Idolatry in the Roman Church I do therefore positively assert That these words contain a Prayer to the Angel as well as to God for a Blessing on his Children This the Jews can't gain-say since Jonathan their Paraphrast and other Writers after him do commonly term this Blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Prayer And for this reason R. Menasseh thought it necessary to endeavour to reconcile this Prayer of Jacob with the first Commandment which forbids Angel-Worship according to the Jews Interpretation R. Menach de Rek in Pent. f. 97. c. 4. It is true Jacob's form of Blessing does seem to proceed from him either as a Wish or a Prophecy A Wish as if he had said Would to the Lord God and his Angel would bless the Lads A Prophecy as if he had foretold that God and his Angel should in after-times fulfill what he now wished But it might be both Wish and Prophecy and notwithstanding be a direct Prayer to God and the Redeeming Angel 'T is well known how the Jews commonly delivered their Petitions to God in this form And yet I can't forbear giving one instance to confirm it You may read it in Deut. vi 22 c. And the Lord said to Moses saying Speak to Aaron and his Sons thus shall you bless the children of Israel and say The Lord bless thee and keep thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace And they shall invoke my name for the children of Israel so our Translation is to be mended and I will bless them So that in plain terms the form of Blessing here prescribed by God is called Invocation I cannot therefore see what should hinder but that we after Jacob's example may offer up our Prayers to a created Angel supposing as some do that Jacob prayed for a Blessing to such a kind of Angel De Sanct. Beat. l. 1. c. 29. Corn. A Lap. on Gen. xlviii It is a necessary consequence that Bellarmine and others of his Communion draw from this instance Holy Jacob invoked an Angel therefore it is not unlawful for the pretended reformed to do the like therefore one may worship others besides God these things saith he cannot be denied unless you reckon Prayer to be no act of Worship not peculiar to God alone But let them of his Church get out of these difficulties as they can who believe Jacob's Angel to have been a meer Creature Let them try how they can convince a Socinian from Ephes i. 2. and other places of Scripture where Worship is ascribed to Christ The Socinian has his answer ready he may wish and pray to Christ for Grace though he be not God since he does no more than Jacob did when he prayed for a Blessing on his Children to a meer Angel I am more concerned for these Divines of the Reformed Church who have given the same Interpretation of Jacob's Angel
Critic than Eusebius has very well corrected his mistake and shewn That the Book de Therapeutis describes the Life of a Sect of the Jews and not of the Christians It is a surprizing thing that Eusebius should commit such a mistake because he himself in his Books de Praep. Evang. do's cite a long passage from Porphyry taken out of Josephus in the transcribing whereof Eusebius could not but see many thing related of the Essens such as Philo brought into his account of the Therapeutae But to this it may be Objected do's not Photius report that Philo being at Rome in Claudius his time met with St. Peter there and contracted a friendship with him which occasioned his writing that Book de Therapeutis as of the Disciples of St. Mark who was himself the Disciple of St. Peter Doth not Eusebius fix this meeting of Philo with St. Peter to the reign of Claudius when he saith he read in full Senate his Book Intituled The Virtues of Caius Caligula Tho it was the scope of that Book to shew the impiety of that Monster that would be worshipped as a God for which Philo was so much admired that not only this but his other pieces were ordered to be put into the publick Library as pieces of such great value that they were worthy to be preserved for ever I know all this and do believe that Eusebius did not invent all this History But if there be any truth in it they might be those Books of Philo which he writ against Flaccus who died A. D. 38. and the account of his Embassy to Caius with three other Treatises containing the Sufferings of the Jews under Caius now lost that were put in the Publick Library For I cannot imagine that the Roman Senate should lay up in their publick Archives his other pieces which regarded only the Laws of the Jews But as for that which he tells us that Philo saw St. Peter at Rome and there made an acquaintance with him it is a meer dream of Eusebius who fancying that his Book de Therapeutis was written in praise of the first Christians of Alexandria and that they were Disciples of St. Mark did go on to imagine that he might possibly have some conversation with St. Peter and St. Mark and so came to write in commendation of these first Christians This meeting of St. Peter and Philo at Rome in Claudius his time howsoever Eusebius fancied it as a thing that would give some colour to his Opinion concerning the Therapeutae could not be true because as it appears by the Writings of the New Testament St. Peter was as far from being at Rome in the 42d year of our Lord that is in the second year of Claudius who succeeded caligula that he did not leave Judaea or Syria till after the Death of Agrippa the same that imprisoned St. Peter and who died in the fourth of Claudius All the Learned now a days know that St. Peter came not to Rome before the first year of Nero if he came thither so early i. e. A. D. 55. at which time it is necessary that Philo who was all Grey A. D. 40. and consequently was then about seventy years of age should be full eighty five years old which is an age very unfit for travel or business or even for living so far from ones own home as Rome was from Alexandria This shews what credit may be given to this report in Photius that Philo was a Christian but afterward turned Apostate So it is all Errors are fruitful and from one Fable there uses to arise many more As for Eusebius he is the less to be excused for writing what he doth of St. Mark 's Gospel which he saith was first approved by St. Peter at this time of his being at Rome and then made use of by St. Mark at Alexandria for the converting of those Jews whom Philo describes under the name of Therapeutae When as Eusebius sheweth us himself elswhere in his History he had so great an Authority as that of Irenaeus to assure him that St. Mark 's Gospel was not written till after St. Peter's Death Euseb Hist v. 8. All that can be said for him is only this that when he was writing this passage of Philo he did not think of what he had writ before Indeed if he had thought of it he had not been that man we take him for if he had suffered it to pass as it stands now in his History I thought it was proper to enter into this disquisition concerning the Writings of Philo and the time when they were written that I might leave no doubt in the minds of my Readers concerning the Authority of Philo whom I intend to produce as an authentick Testimony of the Opinions of the Synagogue before our Lord in the matters disputed between us and the Unitarians Proceed we to the Chaldee Paraphrases CHAP. VII Of the Authority and Antiquity of the Chaldee Paraphrases I Shall have occasion in many points to cite the Paraphrases of the Jews upon the Books of the Old Testament and perhaps it may appear strange to some that I oftentimes cite them without distinguishing between those which pass for ancient and those which are reputed by Criticks altogether modern Therefore I think my self obliged once for all to give the reasons of my doing thus and to satisfie my Reader thereupon I shall not spend time to discover the Original of these Paraphrases It is enough to mind the Reader that the Jews having almost forgot their Hebrew in the Babylonian Captivity 't was needful for the People's understanding the Holy Scriptures which were read in the Synagogue every Sabbath-day that some persons skilful both in the Hebrew and Chaldee should explain to the People every Verse in Chaldee after that they had read it to them in Hebrew The Jews make this Practice as ancient as the times of their return from the Babylonian Captivity Neh. viii 8. as one may see in the Talmud Title Nedarim ch 4. The Jews all agree that this way of Translating the Scriptures was made by word of mouth only for a long time But it is hard to conceive that they which interpreted in that manner did write nothing for the use of Posterity It seems much more probable to believe that from time to time these Interpreters writ something especially on the most difficult places and those which were least understood The first according to the Jewish Writers Magill c. 3. who attempted to put into Writing his Chaldee Version of the Prophets first and last according to the Jewish distinction except Daniel or rather who interpreted the whole Text in order was Jonathan the Son of Uzziel who also not contenting himself always to render the Hebrew word for word into Chaldee does often mix the Traditional explication of the difficultest Prophecies with his simple Translation The Jews seem to agree that this Jonathan lived a 100. years before the destruction of Jerusalem
the Creator of all things so the Author of Wisdom ch ix 1. O God of my Fathers and Lord of mercy who hath made all things with thy word Or more properly by thy Word And so they call that Wisdom the Worker of all things Wisd ch vli 22. They speak of the Wisdom in the same words as Solomon doth Prov. iii. and ch viii 22. where he expresseth the true notion of Eternity And indeed they attribute to her to have been eternal Ecclus ch iv 18. They refer constantly to God himself that is to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God as we shall hereafter shew at large what is attributed to the Angel of the Lord in many places of the Books of Moses as to have delivered the Israelites from the Red Sea so Wisd ch xix 9. They went at large like horses and leaped like lambs praising thee O Lord who hadst delivered them Again to have had his Throne in a cloudy Pillar Ecclus xxiv 4. To have been caused by the Creator of all things to rest and to have his dwelling in Jacob and to have his inheritance in Israel Ibid. v. 8. and so to have given his memorial to his Children which is the Law commanded for an heritage into the Congregation of Jews Ib. 23. So they attribute to him to have spoken with Moses Ecclus ch xlv 5. He made him to hear his voice and brought him into the dark cloud and gave him commandments before his face even the Law of life and knowledg that he might teach Jacob his Covenants and Israel his Judgments Again to come down from Heaven to fight against the Egyptians Wisd ch xviii 15 16 17. Thine Almighty Word leapt down from Heaven out of thy Royal Throne as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction And brought thine unfeigned Commandment as a sharp sword and standing up filled all things with death and it touched the Heaven but it stood upon the Earth So they maintain that the Angel who appeared to Joshuah ch 5. was the Lord himself so the Author of Ecclesiasticus ch xlvi 5 6. He call'd upon the most high Lord when the enemies pressed upon him on every side and the great Lord heard him And with hailstones of mighty power he made the battle to fall violently upon the Nations and in the descent of Bethoron he destroyed them that resisted that the Nations might know all their strength because he fought in the sight of the Lord and he followed the mighty one They refer the Miracles wrought by Elias to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as you see in Ecclesiasticus ch xlviii 3 4 5. By the Word of the Lord he shut up the Heaven and also three times brought down fire O Elias how wast thou honoured in thy wondrous deeds and who may glory like unto thee Who didst raise up a dead man from death and his soul from the place of the dead by the Word of the most High As there is nothing more common in the Old Testament than to call the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Angel of the Lord because the Father sent him to do all things under the Old Dispensation so one can see that there is nothing more ordinary in the Apocryphal Books than to speak of an Angel in particular to whom is attributed all things which could not be performed but by God Three things prove clearly that they did not conceive a created Angel but an Angel who is God 1. Because they have this Maxim according to the constant Divinity of the Jews built upon Scripture Deut. xxxii 9. that God did take Israel for his Portion among all the Nations of the World as if he had left other Nations to the conduct of Angels so Esth ch xiii 15. 2ly Because they refer to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some Histories of the Old Testament which the Jews till this day refer to an Uncreated Angel or to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Shekina or Memra da Jehova as I shall prove afterwards We see that Wisd ch xvi 12. For it was neither herb nor mollifying Plaister that restored them to health but thy Word O Lord which healeth all things So Wisd ch xviii 15 16 17. Thine Almighty Word leapt down from Heaven out of thy Royal Throne as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword and standing up filled all things with death and it touched the Heaven but it stood upon the earth I thought fit to repeat this place here to make Mr. N. ashamed who hath exposed those Ideas and laught at them which I believe he would not have done if he had reflected upon two things one is That this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is spoken of is that very man of war mentioned in Moses his Canticle Exod. xii 3. and in Juâ—lith ch ix 7. The other is that St. Paul hath followed the Notions of the Book of Wisdom speaking of a sharp sword which is to be understood not of the Gospel but of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. x. 12. But Mr. N. was in the right to laugh at such an authority which destroys to the ground the Unitarians Principles for nothing can be more clear than that this Author acknowledges a Plurality in God that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be a Person and a Person equal to the Father being set upon the Royal Throne 3ly Because they bring such appearances of that Angel which shew they conceived him as the God who ruled Israel and who had taken their Temple for the place of his abode And on the contrary they speak of God whom they considered as dwelling in the Temple in the same words which are used in Scripture when it is spoken of the name of God Exod. xxiii 21. and 1 Sam. viii 16. of the Angel of the Covenant Malach. iii. 1. and such expressions So you see in the 1. Book of Esdras ch ii 5 7. If therefore there be any of you that are of his people let the Lord even his Lord be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem that is in Judea and build the House of the Lord of Israel for he is the Lord that dwelleth in Jerusalem And ch iv v. 58. Now when this young man was gone forth he lifted up his face to Heaven toward Jerusalem and praised the King of Heaven And Judith ch v. 18. and ch ix 8. and 2 Macch. i. 25. The only giver of all things the only just Almighty and Everlasting thou that deliveredst Israel from all trouble and didst chuse the fathers and sanctifie them And ch ii 17. We hope also that the God that delivered all his people and gave them all on heritage and the Kingdom and the Priesthood and the Sanctuary And ch xiv 35. Thou O Lord of all things who hast need of nothing was pleased that the Temple of thine habitation should be
And 47. And he did evil also in the sight of the Lord and cared not for the words that were spoken unto him by the Prophet Jeremy from the mouth of the Lord. 3ly They speak of the Bina or Understanding by which is to be understood the Holy Spirit from Prov. iii. and viii So in Eccles c. i. 4. Wisdom hath been created before all things and the understanding of prudence from everlasting So the Book of Wisdom chap. i. 4 5 6 7. For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit and remove from thoughts that are without understanding and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in For Wisdom is a loving spirit and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words for God is witness of his reins and a true beholder of his heart and a hearer of his tongue For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice 4ly They acknowledg him as the Counsellor of God which knew all his Counsels So you read in the Book of Wisdom ch ix 17. And thy counsel who hath known except thou give wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above 5ly They speak of him as of he that discovers the secrets of God so Ecclus ch 39.8 He shall shew forth that which he hath learned and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. And ch 48.24 25. He saith of Isaiah He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last and he comforted them that mourned in Sion He shewed what should come to pass for ever and secret things or ever they came 6ly They acknowledg him to be sent from God Wisdom ch ix 17. And thy counsel who hath known except thou give wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above After all if we consider what Notions they had of the Messias which was promised to them we shall find that they had much nobler Ideas than those which are now entertained by the last Jews and more like to them which we find among the Prophets 1. It is clear that they lookt upon him as the Person which was to sit upon the Throne of God the Title of my Lord which is given by the Author of Ecclus ch li. 10. shews that beyond exception by so clear an allusion to the Psal cx and ii which both speak of the Messias 2ly They did not look upon it as an absurd thing to suppose that God is to appear in the earth as you see in Baruch ch iii. 37. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth and conversed with men For they refer that either to his appearance upon Sinai or to the Incarnation of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3ly They suppose another coming of the Messias and then the Saints are to judge the Nations and have dominion over the people and their Lord shall reign for ever Wisd ch iii. 8. which words have been borrowed by St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 2. 4ly They acknowledg such Appearances of God as we have an example in 2 Macc. ch xi 6. and ch xxi 22 23. Now when they that were with Maccabeus heard that he besieged the holds they and all the people with lamentation and tears besought the Lord that he would send a good Angel to deliver Israel 5ly They speak of the Appearances of God as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very word used by St. Paul for the first and second Appearance of Jesus Christ So the 2. of Macc. ch xv 27. and 34. So every man praised toward the even that glorious Lord saying Blessed be he that hath kept his own place undefiled So that fighting with their hands and praying unto God with their hearts they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men for through the appearance of God they were greatly cheared 6ly They expected at the second coming of the Messias such a manifestation of his Glory as in the Consecration of the Temple So 2 Macc. ch ii 8. Then shall the Lord shew them these things and the glory of the Lord shall appear and the cloud also as it was shewed under Moses and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified I believe these Proofs are sufficient to demonstrate 1. That there was before Jesus Christ's time a Notion of Plurality in the Godhead 2ly That they believed that such a Plurality was a Trinity 3ly That they look'd upon the Son or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Holy Ghost as not created Beings but as Beings of the same Divine Nature with the Father by an Eternal Emanation from him as having the same Power and the same Majesty But these Ideas of the Apocryphal Books will appear more clear when we take them in conjunction with the explication of the like Notions among other Hebrew Writers which I shall now consider more particularly And withal those places of Scripture on which they ground their Explications CHAP. IX That the Jews had good Grounds to acknowledg some kind of Plurality in the Divine Nature AFter what I have quoted from the Authors of the Apocryphal Books which are in the hand of all people to prove 1. That the Jews before Jesus Christ had a Notion of a Plurality in God following herein certain Traces of this Doctrine that are to be found in the Books of Moses and the Prophets And 2ly that the same Jews did acknowledg a Trinity in the Divine Nature I will proceed to consider in particular the Grounds which they build upon to admit such Notions I begin with the first of those two Articles which is That the Stile of God in the Jewish Scriptures gave them a Notion of a Plurality in God To establish this Proposition I do not intend to gather all the Texts of the Old Testament which might be brought to prove a Plurality in the Divine Nature nor will I answer the several Solutions which the Unitarians have invented to darken this truth which they oppose It shall suffice me to do two things 1. To shew that the Stile of God in Scripture and of the Sacred Authors leads one naturally to the Notion of a Plurality of Persons in the Divine Essence 2. That this Stile made the like Impression on the Jews before Jesus Christ as was made by it anciently and is still made on it by the generality of Christians So that the Jews generally have acknowledged that the Divine Nature which is otherwise perfectly one is distinguishable into certain Properties which we call Persons For the proof of the first Point to wit that the Scriptures of the Old Testament suppose a Plurality in God I make these following Reflections 1. Moses the chief End of whose Writings was to root out of the minds of Men the conceit of Polytheism does yet describe the Creation of the World in words that insinuate a Plurality
p. 169. 3. He maintains that God spake this to his Powers as may be collected from his Exposition of this Text. De Confus Ling. p. 270. A. C. and as he saith expresly Lib. de Profug p. 357. G. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is he shews that Man only was formed by God with fellow-workers for Moses tells us that God said Let us make Man after our Image implying a Plurality in the expression Let Us make God therefore speaks here to his Powers 4. He expresses himself in so particular a manner on this head as to leave no doubt concerning his opinion of this place It is in his first Book of Questions and Solutions which is now lost all but a fragment preserv'd by Euseb Praep. Evang. vii 13. p. 322 323. His words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why does God say in the Image of God made I Man and not in his own Image as if he had spoken of another God This Scripture-expression is for wise and good reasons for nothing mortal can be fashioned after the Image of the Supreme God and Father of all things but of his Word or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is the second God For the rational part of Man's soul ought to receive its impression from the Word or Reason of God because God himself who is Superior to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is vastly beyond the nature of all Rational Beings and consequently it was not fit that any created Being should be made after his likeness whose Nature doth subsist in the highest degree of Excellence To speak next of the ancient Targums they are not unacquainted with this Notion which they shew as far as the nature of their Versions would permit God made Man by his Word saith the Jerusalem Targum Gen. i. 26. and the same thing Jonathan teaches Es xlv 12. The Jerusalem Targum Gen. i. 1. does indeed say God made all things by his Wisdom but then he shews that this is but another name for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by saying elswhere ver 27. the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Word of the Lord created Man after his Image I know that in Jonathan's Targum on Gen. i. 26. God is brought in as speaking to the Angels when he said Let Us make Man But he who reads this and the following verse in the Targum of Jonathan and compares them with the Jerusalem Targum will soon see that these are not the words of the ancient Paraphrast but an Addition made to them by the Jews since Christ's time What I have said above is a convincing proof of it The Socinians cannot avoid being shockt a little with the expression Gen. xix 24. The Lord rained from the Lord out of Heaven Menasseh ben Israel confesses the place too hard for him unless by the Lord who is on Earth you understand the Angel Gabriel who as God's Ambassador bears the name of God q. 44. in Genesis But the ancient Jews found no such difficulty in it as he and the Socinians do at present find For Philo the Jew holds De Abr p◠290. B. that it was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that rained fire from Heaven de Somn. p. 449. F. As he otherwhere saith it was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that confounded the Language at Babel Again Philo saith in his History of Sodom God and his two Powers are spoken of The Targum of Onkelos though it speaks of Angels in this 19th Chap. yet it treats one as Jehova who rains fire from Heaven v. 24. and thus it Paraphrases the Text The Jehova rained from before the face of the Jehova from Heaven 3. This Notion of Plurality must have sunk deep into the minds of the Jews seeing they have constantly read the word Jehova which is singular with the Vowels of the word Adonai which is Plural instead of Adoni which is Singular And this notwithstanding their dispute with the Christians whom they accuse of Tritheism I am not ignorant that this manner of reading Jehova was long in use before the Birth of Jesus Christ But this it is that renders my Remark the more considerable For all the other names of God which represent him by some one of his Attributes are Singular as well as the name Jehova is Singular which is the proper name of God And yet the Jews all agree to forbear rendring the name Jehova by any of his many Names that are Singular but interpret it by that of Adonai whose Plural Vowels make Jehova to signifie Plurally as much as to say my Lords and that for this reason as it seems because there is more than one in the Godhead to whom the name Jehova is given in Scripture It is clear how sensible the Jews have been that there is a Notion of Plurality plainly imported in the Hebrew Text since they have forbidden their common people the reading of the History of the Creation lest understanding it literally it should lead them into Heresie Malmon Mor. Neboch p. 11. c. 29. The Talmudists as I before noted have invented this excuse for the Seventy as to their changing the Hebrew Plural into a Greek Singular they say it was for fear Ptolomy Phil. should take the Jews for Polytheists And to this they have added another Story that Moses himself was startled at God's speaking these words Let Us make Man in which he thought a Plurality was expressed and that he remonstrated to God the danger which might arise thereby and at length resolved not to write them till he had God's express order for it which God did give him notwithstanding the danger that Moses represented might follow Beresh Rab. § 8. Another thing relating to this Head which deserves our consideration is this That the Samaritans who were originally of the same Religion with the Jews but receive only the five Books of Moses have shewn that they had in the Apostles times the same Notions that are met with in Philo of a Plurality in God We have a proof of it Act. viii 9. where we read that Simon Magus had bewitched that people giving out that himself was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some great one he did not say what but gave them leave to understand it their own way And how did they take it This follows v. 10. They said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this person is the great power of God This they would not have said if they had not believed that besides the great God there was also a person called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I say a Person for I suppose Mr. N. can 't think they took Simon Magus to be only an Attribute But looking yet nearer into this Text I conceive it is plain that they understood there was more than one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for as it is in the Text they said this is the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which seems to imply that they believed there was another power less than this It seems yet plainer
in another reading of the Text which I take to be the true reading for we find it not only in the now vulgar Latin but also in Irenaeus i. 20. which sheweth it was the current reading in his time and we find it also in several Manuscripts some of which are of the highest esteem with Learned Men as namely the Alexandrian in the King's Library and the ancient Manuscript of Lions in the Cambridge Library In all these the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This person is the power of God which is called the great power For their calling him the power of God what that means we cannot better learn than from Origen who speaking of Simon and such others as would make themselves like our Lord Jesus Christ saith they called themselves Sons of God or the Power of God which he makes to be two Titles of one and the same signification Orig. cont Celsum lib. 1. p. 44. And both these Titles are given to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Philo in more places than we can number For their calling him the Great Power of God which implies that there was another power besides this also perfectly agrees with the Notions of Philo who so often speaks of the two Powers of God describing them as true and proper Persons We have a farther proof of the Samaritans having these Notions in the account which their Country-man Justin Martyr hath given us of the honour they had for Simon Magus in his time which was about eighty years after the writing of the Acts of the Apostles It may seem very strange that when the charms of that Magus wherewith he had bewitched that poor people were so intirely dissolved by Philip's Preaching and Miracles that not only they but the Impostor himself had embraced the Christian Religion yet after this he could so far bewitch them a second time as to raise himself in their opinion from being the great power of God as they called him before to be in their new style the God above all power whatsoever Yet that was the Title they gave him in Justin's time as he sheweth in his Dialogue with Tryphon Justin Dial. cum Tryph. p. 349. G. elswhere Justin saith Apol. 11. p. 69. E. of Simon they confess him as the first God and as such they worship him This Notion of a first God is manifestly the same with that of Philo who called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second God Euseb Prep Evang. vii 13. p. 323. But if the Samaritans in the Apostles time took Simon to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or second God as I have shewn it more than probable that they meant it by calling him the Great power of God Who should be the second God now since Simon was so advanced in their opinion that now they accounted him to be the First Justin sheweth in the place before mentioned p. 69. E. that in his time as they called Simon the first God so they called his Companion Helen the second God His words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is that one may easily guess for certainly the first emanation from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so according to Justin himself the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies For in the same Book he interprets it of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apol. 11. p. 97. b. So that as the second God was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Philo's account so was Simon 's Companion the same in the opinion of the Samaritans This poor bewitched people were almost Singular in this opinion in Justin's time for he saith then there were but few of their way in other Nations And Origen who wrote within sixty years after saith That when he wrote there were of Simon 's Sect scarce thirty at Samaria and none any where else in the World Orig. cont Cels 1. p. 44. Possibly there might remain some of them till those times when other Writers give other accounts of their Opinions and possibly their Opinions might vary so that those later accounts are not to be much heeded we can't be certain of any thing concerning them but what we have from Justin Martyr who lived when they were at the highest and writing as he did to the Emperour an Apology for the Christians and acquainting him with the Errors of his Country-men at Samaria which as he more than intimates was not without some hazard of his being torn in pieces by the Mobb Just Dial. cum Tryphon p. 340. we may be very sure he would write nothing of them but what was so evidently true that it could not be denied by any that lived in those days But from the account that Justin Martyr gives of them together with what we read in the Acts of the Apostles I think it is sufficiently proved that the Samaritans held a Plurality in the Divine Nature which not a little confirms that which I undertook to prove of the Jews having these Notions in the times of Christ and his Apostles I shall not insist longer on the Arguments which confirm a Plurality in the Divine Nature because I shall touch on some of them again in the Sequel of this Discourse where I shall shew that those places of the Old Testament that speak of the Angel of the Lord are to be understood not of a created Angel but of a person that is truly Jehova and that this has been acknowledged by the ancient Jews which alone is proof enough of this Notion's being sufficiently known by that Nation to which God committed his Sacred Oracles Rom. ix 6. Pass we now to the second Article that the Jews did so acknowledg a Plurality in God as that at the same time they held that this Plurality was a Trinity CHAP. X. That the Jews did acknowledge the Foundations of the Belief of a Trinity in the Divine Nature and that they had the Notion of it IN pursuance of the Method laid down in the foregoing Chapter I am now to shew these two things 1. That there are in the Scriptures of the Old Testament so many and so plain Intimations of a Trinity in the Divine Nature as might very well move the Jews to take them for a sufficient ground for the Belief of this Doctrine 2. That these Intimations had that real effect on the Jews that as they found in their Scriptures a Plurality in the One Infinite Being of God so they found these Scriptures to restrain this Plurality to a Trinity of which they had though much more darkly and confusedly the same Notions that are now among Christians 1. To shew that there is ground for this Doctrine in the Scriptures of the Old Testament I might shew this oftentimes in these Scriptures where God is spoken of there is some kind of intimation given of Three in the Divine Nature But of this I shall only touch upon it my intention being chiefly to shew That there are Three that are called God
come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him and the Redeemer shall come unto Sion Again Isa lxi 1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me because the Lord hath anointed me They are the words which Christ applied to himself Luke iv 18. It may not be amiss here to answer an Objection against the use that we have made of those Texts wherein God saith WE and US in the Plural which manner of speaking the Jews cannot but see does denote a Plurality R. Kimchi on Isa vi 8. makes that Observation But then he fancies it is spoken with relation to Angels whom God is pleased to call in by way of Consultation In the Text Isa vi those whom God consults with are to send as well as he and those in Gen. i. 26. are to make Man as well as he And surely God would not join the Angels with himself in the sending of his Prophets much less would he give Angels a share in the Glory of making Man the Master-piece of the Creation Angels are Creatures as well as Man and were but a Day elder than he according to some of the Jews a Week older than he they could not be And at the making of Man it is believed with very good reason that those Angels were not yet fallen whom we now call Devils It seems not very likely that as soon as they were made God should call them into Council for making of another of his Creatures much less that he should make them Creators together with himself especially when this gives them a Title to the Worship of Intelligent Beings such as Man who if this had been true ought to have worshipp'd not only Angels but Devils as being his Creators together with God But the Truth is so far on the contrary that as at first Man was made but a little lower than the Angels so there is a Man since made Lord both of Angels and Devils whom they are to worship This I know our Unitarians will now deny But to come to an end of this matter It is certainly below the Infinite Majesty of God in any of his works whatever to say to any of his Creatures Let us make or Let us do this or that And for that idle Fancy of a Consultation it is not only absurd in it self but it is contrary to the holy Scripture that asks Isa xl 13. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Which in effect is a flat denial that there is any Creature to be call'd into Consultation with God And therefore whoever they were to whom God said this Let us make or Let us do this or that they could be no Creatures they must be uncreated Beings like himself if there were any such then in being But that then at the Creation such there were even the Word and the Spirit has been shewn from the beginning of that History I think beyond contradiction Thus we have collected a number of Places from the Old Testament which speak of a Trinity and consequently do reduce the Plurality which we proved before to a Trinity in the Unity of the Divine Nature We see there Three distinct Characters of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit We see the Generation of the Son express'd and the Mission of the Holy Spirit upon the Son when he came to live in our Nature We see the number Three still observed in begging Pardon of Sins of Blessings and in returning Praises to God intimating there were Three from whom all good things come and who are therefore the Objects of Prayer It remains that we enquire whether the like Inferences which we draw from these Texts were made by the Jews before Jesus Christ which is the second Particular of our proposed Method I shall not repeat here what in the preceding Chapters I proved That both Philo and the Chaldee Paraphrasts had such Notions of the Unity of God as were not repugnant to his Plurality The Reader can't have forgotten already a thing of such importance My business now is to shew that the Ancient Jews plainly own Two Powers in God which they distinguish from God and yet call each of them God the one being the Son of God the other the Holy Spirit who is called the Spirit of God Notwithstanding that I take the Chaldee Paraphrasts to be ancienter than Philo yet I chuse to begin with Philo's Testimonies rather than theirs for three Reasons First Because he writ in the way of Treatises and therefore much larger and clearer than they did that writ only in the way of Translation or Paraphrase adding nothing of their own but only sometimes a very short Note on the Text And therefore their Writings are much likelier to be explained by his than his by theirs 2dly Because the Passages in Philo for the Existence of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Person coeternal with the Father are so evident as to leave the Socinians no other way of answering them but to deny with Mr. N. that the Books that contain them were written by Philo the Jew 3dly A third Reason is because these Passages of Philo being written at Alexandria and abounding with Expressions used by the Apostles when they speak of Jesus Christ as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will contribute to explain some of the Quotations we shall take out of the Paraphrases in use at Babylon and Jerusalem These three great Cities Babylon Jerusalem and Alexandria were the three great Academies of the Jews till the destruction of the Temple under Vespasian So that whatever was received among the Jews in these three Cities before our Saviour's time may well pass for the Opinion of the Jewish Church at that time Let us proceed then to some of those Passages in Philo the Jew wherein he declares that there are Two such Powers in God as we call Two Persons and no one shall make sense of those Passages that calls them otherwise 1. In general he acknowledges that God hath Two Chief Supreme Powers one of which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord. De Abrah p. 286 287. F. De vit Mos iii. p. 517. F. 2. That these Two Powers are Uncreated Quod Deus sit immut p. 238. A. Eternal De Plant. Noae 176. D. and Infinite or Immense and Incomprehensible De Sacr. Ab. p. 168. B. 3. On many occasions he speaks of these Two Powers as De Cherub p. 86. F. G. 87. A. De Sacr. Ab. p. 108. A. B. De Plant. Noae p. 176. D. E. Quod Deus est immut p. 229. B. De Confus Ling. p. 270. E. 271. Lib. de Prof. p. 359. G. and especially p. 362 and p. 363. B. C. D. Quis rerum divin Haer. p. 393. G. p. 394. A. C. De Somn. p. 457. F. De Monar p. 631. A. B. C. De Vict. Offeren p. 661. B. De Mund. p. 888. B. 4.
say they ought to be understood as if they were written in the Singular Others confess that truly they do denote a Plurality But that Plurality consists of God and his Angels whom he joyns with himself as his Counsellors Ask but what instance they have in Scripture of such a strange way of speaking which makes God and his Angels as it were Fellows and Companions they presently alledg that one passage of Dan. iv 17. This matter is by the decree of the Watchers and the Demand of the Holy Ones Now these Watchers and these Holy Ones say they are the Holy Angels But admit they are Angels all that is said of them in this Text will not prove what they infer from it For 1. the thing that they would prove is false and contrary to Scripture Es xl 13. which expresly denies that God has any Companions or Counsellors as hath been already shewn 2. The nature of the Works consulted on in those Texts to which they would apply this is such as is infinitely above the power of any Creature such as the Creation of Man and the confounding of Languages c. 3. In this very Text their most Learned Commentators R. Saadia Gaon and Aben Ezra do not find any such Consultation of God with his Angels as these Jews imagin they do indeed find that these Watchers and Holy Ones are the Holy Angels but they say for the Decree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they pronounce it from the mouth of God and it is called their Decree because they are the Ministers of God to do whatever he commands them Thus Jer. i. 10. that Prophet is said to be set over Nations and Kingdoms to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant not that God shared that power with his Prophet or took him into Councel for such things but only that he by the appointment of God as his Minister was to declare the Sentence and Judgment of God for the doing of such things 4. This appears in the very Decree here spoken of which concerns a revolution in a great Empire But the disposal of Kingdoms is that which properly belongs to the Eternal Wisdom of God as Solomon declares Prov. viii 15 16. and not to Angels any farther than they are employed by God for the publishing or for the executing of his Sentence But after all this though I have admitted it that the Angels are here called Watchers and Holy Ones yet I am rather of opinion that these words do not signifie Angels but the three Persons in the Trinity My reason is because however that Notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being Angels has obtained among the Jews I do not find them called so any where in the Old Testament Scriptures But God is often said to watch over his People Gen. xxxi 49. Psal vii 6. cxxvii 1. Jer. xxxi 28. xliv 27. and even by this Prophet Dan. ix 14. And for the other word that is here joyn'd with the Watchers viz. the Holy Ones however this may be used of Angels elswhere yet here it is certainly used of God in this Chapter v. 8 9 18. and that in the Plural as it is in Josh xxiv 19. and yet as there in Joshua the Holy Gods in the Plural are the same with the Jehovah in the Singular Number so here the Watchers and the Holy Ones in the Plural are the same with the Watcher and Holy One in the Singular v. 13. and the Decree of the Watchers and Holy Ones in this verse is called the Decree of the Most High v. 24. and it is he whom Nebuchadnezzar glorifies as the sole Author of his abasement and also of his restauration I hope the Reader will easily pardon this digression if he thinks it is one It seemed necessary that I should consider this Text at large because it is as far as I know the only place in Scripture which is brought by the Jews to colour that Interpretation with which they think to elude the force of our Arguments After all that I have alledged from Philo and the Paraphrases I do not pretend to affirm that they had as distinct Notions of the Trinity as we have nor do I deny but that sometimes they put a different construction on the Texts which we have cited in proof of this Mystery Nay I own that their Ideas are often confused when they speak of these things and particularly they refer sometimes that to the second Person which should be ascribed to the third and that to the third which properly belongs to the second Nay more I acknowledg that Philo by the Spirit Gen. i. 2. understands the Wind de Gig. p. 223. which is something strange seeing the Greek Interpreters whom he followed read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the Spirit of God and not simply the Spirit which might have stood for Wind here as it does in some places of the Old Testament But Philo's Error is easily accounted for He fell into it by endeavouring to accommodate Moses his Notions to the Notions of the Philosophy that makes four Elements of all things And probably for such a reason some of the Targums might come into the same Interpretation But for the other ancient Jews they expounded this Spirit not by Wind but by that Spirit which was to rest on the Messiah in Isaiah's Language Isa xi 1. See Bresh Rabba in Gen. i. 2. And truly Rashi on these words affirms that the Throne of Glory was in the Air and that it warmed the Heavens by the Spirit of the Goodness of God blessed for ever Where by the way the Spirit of Goodness is the same with the latter of Philo's two Powers above mentioned De Sacr. Ab. 108. Those among the Jews who take the Spirit of God for the Will of God as R. Abr. doth in Tzeror hammor and some mentioned in the Book Cozri p. 5. p. 329. are not far from this Opinion And this is the sense Maimonides gives to those words The Spirit of the Lord in explaining of Isa xl 13. Mor. Neb. i. 40. It appears from Psal xxxiii 6. That the Hosts of Heaven were made by the Spirit of his mouth words which no Jew has yet interpreted of the Wind. I know Philo expresses his thoughts obscurely speaking of the two Powers of God de Cherub p. 86. he saith that the Word joyns these two Powers which he afterwards calls his Principality and his Goodness But this can raise no prejudice against our Position It shews indeed that our Author who had gathered his Notions as other Jews did from reading the Books of the Old Testament together with their Traditional Interpretations was not so much a Master of them as to make them always consist with one another Others perhaps will say he was not always constant to himself nor am I concern'd to have it granted that he was so We look not on him nor any of these Writers to be inspired but esteem them only as
Eminent Divines of the old Jewish Church and consequently as subject to several weaknesses and oversights which are common to the greatest as well as to the meanest men Even the most Learned Men in all Ages though they agree in the truth of certain Doctrines are yet often divided in their ways of expressing them and also in their grounding them on this or that place of Scripture For the Jews since Christ's time we are less concern'd what they say because when they had once rejected their Messias the Lord Jesus Christ they soon found that if they stood to their Traditional Expositions of Scripture it could not be denied but he whom they had rejected was the Word the Son of God whom their Fathers expected to come in our Flesh but rather than yield to that they would alter their Creed and either wholly throw out the Word the Son of God or bring him down to the state of a created Angel as we see some of them do now in their ordinary Comments on Scripture And so they deal with the Shekinah likewise confounding the Master with the Servant as we see that some few perhaps one or two Cabalists have done in their Books In consequence of this alteration they are forc'd to acknowledg the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob worshipped a created Angel and have left themselves no way to excuse them from Idolatry therein but by corrupting their Doctrine concerning Religious Worship and teaching that it is lawful to pray to these Ministring Spirits which is effectually the setting up of other Gods plainly contrary to the first Commandment of their Law Some of themselves are so sensible of this that they cannot deny it to be Idolatry Which is certainly the more inexcusable in the Jews because on other occasions they constantly affirm that when God charged the Angels with the care of other Nations he reserved to himself the sole Government of his people Israel Deut. xxxii 8 9. And therefore it must be a grievous sin in them to worship Angels howsoever they should imagin it might be permitted to other Nations After all this they have not been able so totally to suppress the ancient Tradition but that in their Writers since Christ's time there appear some footsteps of it still And that it is so I am next to shew that notwithstanding their aversness to the Christian Doctrine they yet have a Notion distinct enough both of a Plurality and Trinity in the Divine Nature which will be the whole business of my next Chapter CHAP. XI That this Notion of a Trinity in the Divine Nature has continued among the Jews since the time of our Lord Jesus Christ TO begin with the Jewish Authors who have writ Medrashim that is a sort of Allegorical Commentaries upon Scripture and the Cabalistical Jews whom their people look upon as the wisest Men of their Nation viz. those that know the truth more than all others among them this truth passes for undoubted I know very well that the method of those Cabalistical Men who seek for Mysteries almost in every Letter of the words of Scripture hath made them justly ridiculous And indeed one cannot imagin an occupation more vain or useless than the prodigious labour which they undergo in their way of Gematria Notarikon and Tsirouph But besides that Vice is not so general among the Jews I am fully resolved to lay aside in this Controversie all such remarks my design being only to shew that the ancient Tradition hath been kept among those Authors who have their Name from their firm adherence to the Tradition of their Forefathers So I am not willing to deny that some of the Books of those Cabalistical Authors which the Jews who are not great Criticks look upon as very ancient are not as to all their parts of such an antiquity as the Jews suppose them to be But I take notice that those who attack the antiquity of those Books are not aware that notwithstanding some additions which are in those Books as for example in the Zohar and in the Rabboth the very Doctrine of the Synagogue is to be found there and the same as it is represented to us by the Apocryphal Authors by Philo or those who had occasion to mention the Doctrine of the Jews After all let us suppose that almost all those Books have been written since the Talmud and that the Talmud was written since the beginning of the seventh Century that could not be a prejudice against the Doctrine which the Jews propose as the ancient Doctrine of the Synagogue But to the contrary it would be a strong proof of the constancy of those Authors in keeping the Tradition of their Ancestors in so strange a dispersion and among so many Nations chiefly since in the Articles upon which I shall quote their Authorities they so exactly follow the steps of the Authors of the Apocryphal Books of Philo the Jew and of their ancient Paraphrast who had more penetrated into the sense of Scripture I say then that both the Authors of the Midrashim and the Cabalistical Authors agree exactly in this that they acknowledg a Plurality in the Divine Essence and that they reduce such a Plurality to three Persons as we do To prove such an assertion I take notice first That the Jews do judg as we do that the word Elohim which is Plural expresses a Plurality Their ordinary remark upon that word is this that Elohim is as if one did read El hem that is They are God Bachajè a famous Commentator of the Pentateuch who brings in his work all the senses of the four sorts of Interpreters among the Jews speaks to this purpose upon the Parascha Breschit fol. 2. col 3. 2ly It is certain that they make use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express those Persons as they use to express the two first human Persons viz. Adam and Eve Thus speaks of them the same Bachaje Ibid. fol. 13. col 2. 3ly They fix the number of three Persons in the Divine Essence distinguishing their Personal Characters and Actions which serve to make them known 4ly They speak of the emanation of the two last from the first and that the last proceeds by the second 5ly They declare that this Doctrine contains a Mystery that is incomprehensible and above human reason and that in such an unsearchable secret we must acquiesce with the Authority of the Divine Revelation 6ly They ground this Doctrine upon the very same Texts of Scripture which we alledg to prove the several Positions of ours which deserves a great deal of consideration And indeed those things being so we must necessarily conclude either that they mock their Readers or that they do not understand what they say or one must acknowledg that the consequences and conclusions which Christians draw from the Scriptures to this subject of Trinity are not so easie to be avoided as the Socinians believe Let the Reader reflect upon each of those Articles while I
he may be the meaning of this It seems that Moses should have said Who have God so near them But saith he there is a Superior God and there is the God who was the Fear of Isaac and there is an Inferior God and therefore Moses saith The Gods so near For there are many Virtues that come from the only One and all they are one See how the same Author supposes that there are Three Degrees in the Godhead in Levit. col 116. Come and see the Mystery in the word Elohim viz. There are Three degrees and every degree is distinct by himself and notwithstanding they are all One and tied in One and one is not separated from the other And again in Exod. col 75. Upon the words of Deut vi 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord they must know that those Three viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are One unum and that is a Secret which we learn in the Mystery of the Voice which is heard The Voice is One unum but it contains Three Modes viz. the Fire the Air and the Water Now these Three are One in the Mystery of the Voice and they are but One unum So in this place Jehovah our Lord Jehovah are one unum You have this Remark of the same Author in Gen. fol. 54. col 2. de Litera ש That the Three Branches of that Letter denote the Heavenly Fathers who are there named Jehovah our Lord Jehovah R. Hay Hagahon who lived Seven hundred Years ago said there are Three Lights in God the Ancient Light or Kadmon the Pure Light or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Purified Light or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that these make but One God And that there is neither Plurality nor Polytheism in this The same Idea is followed by R. Shem Tov in his Book Emunoth part 4. cap. 8. p. 32. col 2. See again R. Hamay Hagaon in his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Speculation cited by Reuchlin p. 651. Hi tres qui sunt unum inter se proportionem habent ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unum uniens unitum He said before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt principium medium finis haec sunt unus punctus est dominus universi R. Joseph ben Gekatilia and the other Cabalists are in effect for three Elohims when they treat of the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or three first Sephiroth For they agree that the three first Sephiroth were never seen by any body and that there is no discord no imperfection among them The Note of this R. Joseph Gekatilia is very remarkable The Jews saith he have been under the severity of judgment and shall continue so till the coming of the Messias who shall be united saith he with the second Sephirah which is Wisdom according as it is written Isa xi 2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom c. And he shall cause the Spirit of Grace and Clemency to descend from the first Sephirah who is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Infinite and he follows in that Rabbi Salomon Jarchi who saith upon Isa xi that the Cochma which is the second Sephira shall be in the middle of the Messias In a word this Notion of Plurality and Trinity expressed in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets hath not only been observed by the Jews but they have found and acknowledged it as well as the Christians to be a great and profound mystery And for the explaining of it the Jews have employed very near the same Ideas that the Christians use in speaking of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity For they conceive in God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faces and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subsistences which we call Persons as one may see in Sepher Jetzirah Moreover we may observe 1. That when they speak of the three first Sephiroth they understand the same thing by them as we do by three Personalities three Modes of Existence active or passive Emanations or Processions which are the foundation of the Personalities 2ly That though they hold ten Sephiroth in all yet they make a great difference between the three first Sephiroth and the seven last For they regard the first as Persons but the last as Attributes according to which God acts in the ordinary course of his Providence or according to his several dispensations towards his Creatures Hence they call the seven last Middoth or Measures that is to say the Attributes and Characters which are visible in the Works of God namely his Justice and Mercy c. And this is confessed in plain words by the great Cabalist R. Menachem de Rekanati Tres primariae numerationes quae sunt intellectuales non vocantur mensurae i.e. they are not Attributes as are the seven last which he explains under that Notion Rittangel hath already quoted that place in his Notes upon Sepher Jetzira p. 193. It may be objected that the ancient Jews were ignorant of the Names of Father Son and Holy Spirit which Names the Christians give to the three Persons in the Deity But this if it were true would not weigh much with a reasonable mind For who can doubt but a new Revelation may distinguish those Notions clearly by proper and suitable Names which the Jews by what Revelation they had knew but more confusedly And yet to remove the Objection wholly it is certain the ancient Cabalists were acquainted with the Names of Father Son and Holy Ghost They gave the Name of Father to the first of their Sephiroth whom they called En Soph i. e. Infinite to express his Incomprehensibility This we have in Zohar from whence it is easie to conclude that they must own the Son also the Name of Father being relative to the Son But further they knew that second Person by the name Coema Wisdom even that Wisdom by which the Word was created c. according to Prov. 3.19 The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the Earth This Notion was so ancient among the Jews that the Jerusalem Targum hath rendred the first verse of Genesis thus The Lord created by his Wisdom The Christians call'd him the Word and Wisdom alluding to divers places especially Psal xxxiii 6. and Prov. viii 14. The Jews commonly call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second Glory and the Crown of the Creation Rittanget brings their Authorities for this in Seph Jetzira p. 4 5. They knew the third Person by the name of Binah or Intelligence because they thought it was he that gave Men the knowledg of what God was pleased to reveal to them In particular they called him the Sanctifier and the Father of Faith nor is any thing more common among them than to give him the name of the Spirit of Holiness or the Holy Spirit The same Doctrine is to be found in several other Books of the Cabalists which are known to most Christians because they are Printed
and the same thing is to be found in their Manuscripts which are more rare because the Jews have not yet Printed them Of this sort is Iggereth Hassodoth cited by Galatinus whose Authority is vindicated by Plantavitius Bibl. Rabb p. 549. Of this sort also is the Manuscript called Sod Mercava Eliona quoted by Ritt p. 35. where are mentioned the three Modes of Existence in God Notwithstanding which they are all unanimous that the Lord is one and his Name is one If you would know on what foundations it was that the Cabalists built this Doctrine you need but look over the Texts on which they have reflected and you 'l find them almost all the same with those that were quoted to the same purpose by the Apostles and Apostolical Men in their Writings Particularly if you would know their opinion to whom it was that God did speak at the Creation Gen. i. 26. R. Juda will tell you God spoke to his Word If you would know of them who is the Spirit of whom we read Gen. i. 2. that he moved on the face of the Waters Moses Botril will inform you it is the Holy Spirit If you would learn of them to whom it was that God spoke Gen. i. 26. saying Let Us make Man Moses Botril tells us that these words are directed to the Wisdom of God If you would know what Spirit it was that is spoken of Job xxviii 12. Again Moses Botril will tell you it is the Holy Spirit If you would know of whom they understand those words in Psal xxxvi 6. They say plainly that they are spoken of that very Trinity If you would know what they think of that Wisdom Psal civ 24. R. Moses Botril describes it to you as a Person and not an Attribute If you would know to whom that is to be referr'd which we read of Isa xl 14. R. Abraham ben David will tell you to the Three Sephiroth All this is to be found in their several Comments on the Book Jetzira which were printed at Mantua in the last Century A. D. 1562. 1592. and have been quoted in Latin by Rittangelius But it may be said That the Jews have adopted this Doctrine inconsiderately without reflecting upon the Absurdity of it For how is it possible to conceive such Emanations in God who is Immutable and Eternal and such an Idea of Plurality and of Trinity in God who is over and above all Ideas of Composition But I answer 1. All these they have considered and yet have owned this Distinction in the Divine Essence as a Truth not to be contested But assert these Three Sephiroth which they call sometimes Spirits to be Eternal and Essential in God which they say we ought not to deny because we can't easily conceive it For the Divine Nature is Incomprehensible far exceeding the Limits of our narrow Understandings And the Revelation God hath given us does no more put us in a capacity to judge of the nature of the things revealed than the borrowed Light of the Moon which is all that the Owls can behold does render them able to judge of the Sun 's far more glorious Light Such are the Thoughts of R. Sabtay in Rit on Jetz p. 78 79 80. Such are the Reflections of R. Menach who cites Job xxviii 7. to this purpose and the Caution of the Jewish Doctors who forbid to undertake the Examination of things that are incomprehensible 2. They have expressed their Notions of this matter much after the same manner as the Thomists have done theirs The Book Jetzira chap. 1. distinguishes in God Sopher Sepher and Sippour which R. Abraham explaining says they answer to Him that understands to the Act of Understanding and to the Thing understood All this is still the more remarkable 1. Because the common Jews have well nigh quite lost the Notion of the Messias being God and they generally expect no other than a mere common Man for their Redeemer 2. Because the main Body of the Jews are such zealous Asserters of the Unity of God that they repeat every day the words of Deut. vi 4. The Lord our God is One Lord. It is a Practice which though now they have turn'd against the Christians yet doubtless was taken up first in opposition to the Gentiles whose Polytheism was renounced in this short Confession of the Jewish Faith And hence it is that they do so much celebrate R. Akiba's Faith who died in Torments with the last Syllables of the word Echad in his Mouth which signifies the Unity of God 3. Because the Jews at the same time dispute against the Christians Doctrine of the Trinity as doth R. Saadia for instance in his Book entituled Sepher Emunah chap. 2. 4. Because from the beginning of Christianity some Rabbins have applied themselves to find out other Senses of those Passages which the Christians urge against them This we see in Gem. of Sanhedr chap. 4. sect 2. And yet notwithstanding all this opposition the Cabalists have past and do still pass for Divines among the Jews and the Targumists for Inspired Men. Nor is it to be imagined that these Notions of the Cabalistical Jews are new things which they pick'd up since their more frequent Converse with the Christians For we find them in the Book Zohar the Author of which is reputed one of the chief Jewish Martyrs Jebhamoth tr 1. fol. 5. col 2. and to have lived in the Second Century I know some have suspected that this Book is a counterfeit and falsly fathered on R. Simeon whose Name it bears The Zohar was not known say they till about the time of R. Moses Bar Nachman So saith the Book Juchazin p. 42. R. D. Ganz in Tzemach David p. 106. But we find these Notions in the beginning of the Rabboth which Books they will have to be more Ancient than the Talmud Furthermore we see in the Gemara of Sabbath that R. Simeon was dispensed with the necessity of his being present at Prayers in the Synagogue because he and his Scholars were at work upon the Study of the Laws which supposes that he was writing some such Comments as we have now although 't is probable that they have been increased in following Ages Besides who can imagine that in all places the Jews should have adopted Opinions unknown to their Religion and in effect destructive of those Points for which they then zealously contended if they had not been convinced of the Truth of such a Doctrine And now give me leave to propose one Argument to the Unitarians which I believe they will not be able to answer and adhere to their new-advanced Position That the Nazarenes were the true Primitive Christians and the only Depositaries of the Apostolick Doctrine It is a Passage taken from the Gospel of the Nazarenes as cited by St. Jerome on Ezek. xvi Where after noting that the word Ruach Spirit in the Hebrew Tongue is Feminine he adds In Evangelio quoque Hebraeorum quod
Righteousness Therefore it was the Word of the Lord that came to him in a Vision ver 1. and that made him that Promise ver 5. It followeth ver 7. that he said to Abraham I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees Who said this to Abraham Even the Word of the Lord according to Jonathan's Targum for there is no other Nominative Case of the Verb in his Paraphrase You see the same upon Abraham's dividing the Beasts in order to his making a Covenant with God it was done at God's Command who thereupon did appear between the Pieces to Abraham and did solemnly enter into a Covenant with Abraham Gen. xv 9 c. Now saith the Jerusalem Paraphrase on Exod. xii 42. It was the Word of the Lord that appeared to Abraham between the Pieces And according to Onkelos and Jonathan Exod. vi 8. It was by his Word that God made this Covenant with Abraham We must take notice that he that appeared then to Abraham saith I am El Shaddai which is here translated The Almighty God For according to Onkelos on Gen. xlix 25. in the Blessing of Jacob to his Son Joseph these Names The Word of God and El Shaddai are of the same Extent Thus it runs according to Onkelos The Word of the God of thy Father shall help thee and El Shaddai shall bless thee Where plainly El Shaddai is the same that is called The Word of the God of thy Father As Philo taught us that the Appearance of God to Abraham mentioned Gen. xviii 1. was an Appearance of the Word Alleg. 11. p. 77. E. where he calls one of the Three Angels that appeared to Abraham the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word of God and Josephus L. 1. Ant. c. 12. calls him God So the Jerusalem Paraphrase has it in the end of the next Verse The Word of the Lord appeared to Abraham in the Valley of Vision as he sat warming himself in the Sun because of his Circumcision Elsewhere the same Paraphrase quotes these Words as being the Words of Scripture saying on Gen. xxxv 9. The Scripture hath declared and said And the Word of the Lord appeared to him in the Valley of Vision Jonathan also in his Paraphrase on Deut. xxxiv 6. hath these words The Lord hath taught us to visit the Sick in that he revealed himself by the Vision of his Word to Abraham when he was sick of the cutting of Circumcision When God gave him a Command for the sacrificing of his Son Gen. 22.2 then as Abraham was doing it the Angel of the Lord called to him out of Heaven and told him Now I know thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son from ME. This last word plainly sheweth that this Angel was God himself even the same that spake to Abraham and gave him that Command ver 1 2. And that Command was given by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word according to Philo as it has been already shewn The Jerusalem Paraphrase hath the same on ver 8. where upon Isaac's enquiring for the Lamb that was to be sacrificed Abraham answereth him My Son the Word of the Lord will prepare me a sheep And so when Abraham found that the Word did provide him a Sheep and accepted of that for a Sacrifice instead of his Son Abraham worshipped and pray'd to the Word of the Lord saying among many other things Thou O Lord didst speak to me that I should offer up Isaac my Son In the other Targums ver 16 17. where the Angel of the Lord calls to Abraham out of Heaven the second time which last word sheweth that this Angel was God himself for it was God that called to him out of Heaven the first time as it has been already shewn and saith to Abraham By my self I have sworn saith the Lord because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thine only son from me From me is in the Samaritan and LXX therefore in blessing I will bless thee c. There both Onkelos and Jonathan have it By my Word I have sworn saith the Lord. What should be their meaning in this For the manner of speaking Thus saith the Lord it was properly used by the Word appearing here as an Angel and not according to his own Natural Being But for the Form of the Oath where according to the Hebrew Text chap. xx God swore by Himself the Paraphrasts render it that God swore by his Word and well they might who understood that the Word was God And indeed these Targums shew elsewhere That where this Form of Swearing was used it was the Word of the Lord that swore and held himself obliged to perform what was sworn Compare Exod. vi 8. with Deut. xxvi 3. And Numb xiv 30. with Deut. xxxi 7. We read of an Angel appearing to Hagar in the Wilderness Gen. xvi 7. He bid her return and submit to Sarah her Mistress ver 9. telling her withal what a numerous Issue she should have by the Child she now went with and what sort of man he should be But as this Angel spoke in the Stile of God saying I will multiply thy seed exceedingly ver 10. So she owned it was the Lord that spake to her and she said to him Thou God seest me ver 13. 'T is clear that it was God himself that appeared tho he is called an Angel in the Text. And therefore not only Philo calleth him the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in those places above-mentioned but the Targums likewise shew that he was the Word of the Lord according to the Sense of the Jewish Church for so Jonathan renders ver 13. She confessed before the Lord Jehovah whose Word had spoken to her And the Jerusalem Targum She confessed and prayed to the Word of the Lord who had appeared to her Again an Angel called to Hagar out of Heaven Gen. xxi 16. But he also said to her that which no created Angel could say speaking of her Son Ishmael I will make him a great Nation ver 18. Philo saith that it was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who perform'd it 'T was God the Word according to the Targums For whereas the Text saith ver 20. God was with the Lad it is thus rendred both by Onkelos and Jonathan The Word of the Lord was his Support or Assistance We read also of Two Divine Appearances to Isaac one in Gerar Gen. xxvi 2. and the other at Beersheba ver 24. In the former of these places Isaac being ready to have gone down into Egypt God bid him continue in Canaan and gave him a Promise in these words Gen. xxvi 3. I will be with thee and will bless thee for unto thee and thy Seed I will give all these Countries and I will perform the Oath which I sware unto Abraham thy Father So then he that appeared now to Isaac is the same that swore this to Abraham so much we learn from
worship'd in it and since the Jews understand this place of the Messias it must follow that the Messias is Jehovah It is evident that the Lord and the Messenger or the Angel of the Covenant are the same Person whose coming is promised to the Jews as a thing very near But it is no less evident that this Angel of the Covenant is the same which is spoken by Jacob Genes xlviii 15 16. as the Redeemer and is named by Isaiah ch lxiii the Angel of the face Now all the Ancient Jews agree that that Angel or Messenger is the Shekinah or Jehovah himself as we see in R. Menachem de Rekanati fol. 54. col 2. fol. 66. col 2. fol. 72. col 4. fol. 73. col And they agree all that the Shekinah and Jehovah is the same It is a Point agreed by the Talmudist and by the Cabalist as it is explained by R. Menach fol. 73. col 3. fol. 77. col 4. fol. 79. col 3. This being so who can deny that the Text of Malachi is an undeniable proof that the Messias was to be Jehovah himself according to the Ideas of the most Ancient Jews If we had not such Confessions of the Jews 't will be easy to supply the want of them by the help of the general Tradition that reigns among them and proves clearly that the Messias was to be Jehovah himself They hold that the Messias shall be greater than all the Patriarchs and even the Angels themselves Neve shalom l. 9. c. 5. How can this be unless he be truly Jehovah And whence could they take this Notion except from Psalm xcvii 7. where the Angels are commanded to worship him It is very easy to reconcile that Idea with the Notions of the old Jews touching the Messias supposing him to be the Shekinah and Jehovah and that this Shekinah or Jehovah was to be the same Person with the Messiah as they confess R. Menach fol. 73. col 3. and fol. 77. col 4. and fol. 79. col 3. They teach constantly that Angels receive their virtue from the Shekinah R. Menach fol. 8. col 1. and fol. 12. col 1. They teach that the Shekinah is the God of Jacob R. Men. fol. 38. col 3. that he appeared to him at Bethel and promised him to govern him without the Ministry of Angels R. Menach fol. 41 42. They said the Shekinah is the Jehovah who appeared to the Patriarchs R. Menach fol. 56. col 1. They maintain that the Temple was built to worship the Shekinah R. Menach fol. 63. col 1. fol. 70. col 2. fol. 73. col 4. fol. 74. col 2. They maintain on the other side that 't is not lawful to pay any religious worship to Angels although sent by God as Messengers of him or as Mediators R. Menach fol. 68. col 2. They deny that the Ancient Patriarchs have paid other worship than a civil one to an Angel when he appeared to them R. Menach Ibidem col 3. But it is impossible to reconcile those Ideas with the Opinion of the Messias being only a meer Man Indeed he that will reflect on all these Prophecies will very hardly think that then when the High-Priest demanded of Jesus whether he was the Son of God and Jesus answered that he was so the Jews did understand only that he made himself a great Prophet Both the Jews and Socinians own that in this Answer he made himself the Messias which according to both of them is more than a great Prophet and the High-Priest was so sensible of it that he called it Blasphemy In short the Angels who are God's Ministers could not serve nor obey one that was only as well as themselves a Creature He must be God to have the Angels Subjects to him He must be God to govern the World and to discern the thoughts of the heart without which he could not be a competent Judge And they that imagine a Creature could be made capable to know hearts and to exercise those other Acts which are the Characters of the Divinity do form to themselves the greatest Chimera in the World It is therefore necessary that the Ancient Jews having these Notions of the Messias should have conceived an intimate and close habitation of the Word in his Person by which all these Prophecies should receive their accomplishment and all the Promises of God concerning the Messias should be perfectly fulfilled The Unitarians conceive they have done a great service to the Christian Religion when to court the Jews favour they deny the Divinity of the Messias and condemn as Idolatry the Worship which Christians pay to Jesus Christ In this they argue more consistently than Socinus himself as I have said in my Preface to this Book But after all I can say that besides they cannot answer Socinus his Argument for the Worship of Jesus Christ they shall not get from the Jews what they pretend by their opinion Indeed the Jews would be in the right to condemn us as Idolaters if we did worship Jesus Christ as a meer Creature But they cannot do that justly if they reflect seriously upon the Grounds which we lay for the Adoration of the Messias As it is a thing which I hope shall be of some use to undeceive the Unitarians I am willing to add to the foregoing observations upon the Trinity and Divinity of the World the sense of the Synagogue to this Article And indeed it would be unconceivable that the Jews should have believed the Messias to be true God and should not be ready to worship him It is a thing which Christians and Jews are agreed upon that there is but one God who is to be Worshipped The Jews and the ancient Christians did agree that Angels must not be Worshipped From which it follows that if the Jews acknowledged that the Messias is to be Worshipped they must have acknowledged him to be God and vice versa Now there are positive Orders of God to Worship the Messias as Psal ii 12. Kiss the Son Who is that Son spoken in this place it is the Messias as it is granted by the ancient Synagogue as we see in Ecclesiasticus I called upon the Lord the Father of my Lord. And Tehillim Rabba with many others use this place of Psal ii to the Messias So the Breshit Rabba in Gen. xlix so the Talmud in Succa c. 5. Saadias in Dan. vii 13. with the ancient witness R. Salom Jarchi in his Comment I know well that the Greek Interpreters have Translated those words of the second Psalm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But that Version is rejected by the Jews who read now in their Spanish Translation Printed at Ferrara Besad hiio pro que non se insanne which is the sense of Lombroso in his short Notes upon that place So it is understood by R. Abensueb in h. l. We read in Psal viii 3. From the mouth of babes c. It was so well known