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
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
Gentiles by the Messias as we see in Sepher Chasidim § 961. and to the abode of the Sekinah or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is explained by R. Joseph de Carnisol Saare Isider fol. 3. col 4. fol. 4. col 1. And so St. Peter supposes it to be spoken of the Messias Act. iii. 25. We may reflect in like manner on the promise God made the People Deut. xviii 15. To raise them up a Prophet like unto Moses St. Peter makes use of it as being spoken of the Messias that he should give a new Law Act. iii. 22. But the Modern Jews do all they can to evade this Application Nevertheless it appears to have been the Idea of the ancient Synagogue because we read that they speak of the Law which was to be given by the Messias as of a Law in comparison to which all other Law was to be lookt upon as meer Vanity So Coheleth Rabba in c. ii and in c. xi It is not without some surprize that we read the Application St. Mat. ii 15. has made of these words in Hos xi 1. Out of Egypt have I called my son which seem only to be spoken of the Children of Israel and not of the Messias And yet in the Book Midrash Tehillim Rabba on Ps ii we may see the Jews referred to the Messias what is written of the People of Israel Exod. iv 22. Which is an argument that St. Matthew cited this passage from Hosea according to the sense the Jews gave it with respect to the Messias The Actions of the Messias are related in the Law in the Prophets and in the Books called Hagiographa or in the Psalms In the Law Exod. iv 22. Israel is my first-born In the Prophets Isai lii 13. Behold my servant shall deal prudently In the Psalms as it is written The Lord said to my Lord Psal cx i. St. Matth. viii 17. referrs the words of Isai liii 4. to the miraculous Cures that Christ wrought And he follows herein the ancient Tradition of the Jews which taught that the Messias spoken of in this Chapter of Isaiah should pardon Sins and consequently heal their distempers which were the effects and punishments of their Sins From hence it follows that according to their Tradition the Messias should be God even as Jesus Christ did then suppose when he healed the Paralytick Man by his own power Matth. ix 6. and proves that he did not blaspheme in forgiving Sins which the Jews thought belonged only to God St. Matth. i. 23. applies the words of Isai vii 14. to Christ's being born of a Virgin Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son c. This he did likewise according to the ancient Idea of the Jews which was not quite lost in the time of Adrian the Emperor For R. Akiba who lived and died under his Reign makes the following Reflection on this Prophecy He had considered that Isaiah in the beginning of the following Chapter received Order from God to take to him two Witnesses Uriah the Priest who lived in his time and Zechary the Son of Berachiah who lived not as he thought till under the second Temple Upon which he saith that God commanded the Prophet to do thus to shew that as what he had foretold concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz was true by the Witness of Uriah who saw it accomplish'd so what he had foretold concerning the Conception and Delivery of a Virgin must be accomplished under the second Temple by the Witness of Zechary who lived then See Gemara tit Maccoth c. 3. fol. 24. 3. We see that Jesus Christ Joh. iv 21 c. alludes tacitly to the Prophecy of Mal. i. 11. concerning the Sacrifices of the New Testament This is a matter at present controverted between Christians and Jews But Christ deliver'd the sense of the Synagogue as it is evident from the Targum on those words of Malachy which applies them to the Times of the Messias 4. One would think it were only by way of Similitude that Christ applied to himself the History of the Brazen Serpent in saying Joh. iii. 14. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up But there appears to be more in it than so The ancient Jews lookt upon the Brazen Serpent as a Type of the Messias so we find by their Targum on Numb xxi 8. which expounds this Serpent which Moses lifted up by the Word of the Lord who is also called God Wisd xvi 7. compared with chap. xv 1. Although Philo while he hunts for Allegories gives another Idea of it de Agric. p. 157. 5. It may also seem to be only by way of Allusion that Christ calls himself the Bread that came down from Heaven alluding to the Manna which came down from Heaven as we read Exod. xvi But he that looks into the ancient Jewish Writers shall find that herein also our Saviour followed the common Jewish Idea For Philo who writ in Egypt before Jesus Christ began to preach tells us positively that the Word or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the Manna Lib. quòd Deter pot insid p. 137. St. Paul Heb. 1.5 cites God's Words to David concerning one that should come out of his Loins 2 Sam. vii 14. I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son as if they respected the Messias How could he do thus When on the one hand he calleth Jesus Christ holy undefiled harmless separate from Sinners and on the other hand in that Promise to David God takes it for granted that that Son of his might be a Sinner and thereupon threatens in the very next words 2 Sam. vii 14. If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men which suits well with Solomon but not at all with the Messias The reason is St. Paul followed the sense of this place which was commonly received among the Jews who as they refer to the Messias the Psal lxxii cx and cxxxii where the same Ideas occur so they must have referred to the Messias whatever is great in this Prophecy and to others whatever therein denotes humane infirmities And Indeed it was not very hard to give to that Oracle a further prospect viz. to the Messias 1st Because Solomon was made King in the Life of his Father whereas the Son which God speaks of was to be born after David's Death 2dly Because it is spoken of a Seed not born from David but from David's Children 3dly Because the Mercy of God was to make the Kingdom of David last for ever whereas the Kingdom of Solomon was divided soon after his Death and but two parts of twelve were left to Rehoboam his Son St. Paul Gal. iv 29. alludes to the History in Gen. xxi 9. as a Type of the Persecutions which the Jews should exercise on the Christians Whereon does he build this First having proved it his way that the Christian Church was typified in Isaac
Martyr having been formerly a Platonist and then turning Christian was the first that invented this Doctrine or rather adopted it out of the Platonick into the Christian Divinity and that neither the Jewish nor the Christian Church had ever before conceived any Notion of a Trinity or of any Plurality in the Divine Essence The Doctrine of the Trinity supposes the Divine Essence to be common to three Persons distinguished from one another by incommunicable Properties These Persons are called by St. John 1 Joh. v. 7. the Father the Word and the Spirit There are Three saith he that bear Witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these Three are One. This Personal distinction supposes the Father not to be the Son nor the Holy Ghost and that the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit Revelation teaching that the Son is begotten of the Father and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son or from the Father by the Son And this distinction is the foundation of their Order and of their Operations For although the Unity of the Divine Nature makes it necessary that these three Persons should all co-operate in the Works of God ad extra as we call them nevertheless there being a certain order among the Persons and a distinction founded in their Personal Properties the Holy Scripture mentioneth an Oeconomy in their Operations so that one work ad extra is ascribed to the Father another to the Son and a third to the Holy Spirit But this distinction of Persons all partaking of the same common Nature and Majesty hinders not their being equally the Object of that Worship which Religion commands us to pay to God I touch this matter but very briefly because my business is only to examine whether the Jews had any notion of this Doctrine And our Opinion is this that though the Gospel has proposed that Doctrine more clearly and distinctly yet there were in the Old Testament sufficient notices of it so that the Jews before Christ's time did draw from thence their Notions concerning it On the contrary the Socinians maintain that this Doctrine is not only alike foreign to the Books of the Old and New Testament but that it was altogether unknown to the Jews before and after Christ till Justin Martyr first brought it into the Church In opposition to which I affirm for truth 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 2. That the same Jews following the Scriptures of the Old Testament did acknowledg a Trinity in the Divine Nature I begin the Examination of this Subject by considering the Notions of the Authors of the Apocryphal Books Now one cannot expect that these Authors should have explained their mind with relation to the notions of a Plurality and of a Trinity in the Godhead as if they had been Interpreters of the Books of the Old Testament But they express it sufficiently without that and speak in such a manner that no body can deny that they must have had those very Notions when it appears that their Expressions in speaking of God supposes the Notions of a Plurality in the Godhead and of a Trinity in particular Let us consider some of those Expressions 1. They were so full of the notion of a Plurality which is expressed in Gen. i. 26. that the Author of Tobith hath used it as the Form of Marriage among the Jews of old Let us make unto him an aid So Chap. 8.6 Thou madest Man and gavest him Eve his Wife for an helper and stay of them came Mankind Thou hast said It is not good that Man should be alone Let us make unto him an aid like unto himself whereas in the Hebrew it is only I shall make 2ly We see that they acknowledg the Creation of the World by the Word of God and by the Holy Ghost as David Psal xxxiii 6. So the Book 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 as it is explained in the 2. vers and ver 4. he asketh Wisdom in these words Give me Wisdom that sitteth by thy Throne And v. 17. Thy counsel who hath known except thou give Wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above Where he distinguisheth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wisdom and the Holy Spirit from God to whom he directs his Prayer And so the Book of Judith ch xvi 13 14. I will sing unto the Lord a new Song O Lord thou art great and glorious wonderful in strength and invincible Let all creatures serve thee for thou speakest and they were made thou didst send forth thy Spirit and it created them and there is none that can resist thy voice 3ly They speak of the Emanation of the Word from God Those are the words of the Book of Wisdom ch vii 25. For she is the breath of the power of God and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty therefore can no defiled thing fall into her That description of Wisdom deserves to be considered as we have it in the same place ver 22 23 24 25 26. For Wisdom which is the worker of All things taught me for in her is an understanding spirit holy one only manifold subtil lively clear undefiled plain not subject to hurt loving the thing that is good quick which cannot be letted ready to do good Kind to man stedfast sure free from care having all power over-seeing all things and going through all understanding pure and most subtil Spirits For Wisdom is more moving than any motion she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness For she is the brightness of the everlasting Light the unspotted mirrour of the power of God and the image of his Goodness And indeed St. Paul Heb. i. 3. hath borrowed from thence what we read touching the Son that he is the brightness of God's glory and the express Image of his Person So the Book of Ecclesiasticus saith ch xxv 3. That it is come out of the mouth of the most High 4ly There are several Names in Scripture which serve to express the second Person the Son the Word the Wisdom the Angel of the Lord but who is the Lord indeed Now those Authors use all these Names to express a second Person For they acknowledge a Father and a Son by a natural consequence Thus the Author of Ecclesiasticus ch li. 10. I called upon the Lord the father of my Lord in the same way as David speaks of the Messias Psal ii and Psal cx and as Solomon in his Proverbs ch viii 25. as of a Son in the bosom of his Father and ch xxx 4. What is his Sons name if thou canst tell They speak of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as
in the Old Testament and to shew who they are I need not prove it of the Father since it will not be denied that he is called God by them that will deny it of any other But I shall shew that sometimes the Son is called so whether by that name of the Son or of the Word or some other name without mention of the Spirit Next I shall shew that the Spirit is spoken of as God even he is mentioned without the Son And lastly That the Father the Son and the Spirit are all Three mentioned as God and all Three spoken of together in some Texts of the Old Testament Scriptures To keep to this order I am first to shew that there is some kind of Intimation of a Trinity in places where God is spoken of in these Scriptures I shall name but two or three Texts of many for I call it but an Intimation and it may amount to thus much that we find the Name of God repeated three times over for it was certainly no vain Repetition Thus in the Blessing of Israel Numb vi 24 25 26. 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 So Isa xxxiii 22. The Lord is our judge the Lord is our lawgiver the Lord is our king he will save us So Dan. ix 19. O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thy own sake O God The like Intimation we find in those words of the Prophet Isaiah which do both shew a Plurality in the Divine Nature and restrain it to a Trinity Isa vi 3. The Prophet heard the Seraphims cry one to another Holy Holy Holy Lord God of hosts These are Titles which taken together can belong to no one but God and the Repetition of them shews something in it which cannot but seem Mysterious especially to any one that considers those other words of God speaking in the same Chapter ver 8. Who will go for us words which clearly note a Plurality of Persons as also in Hos xii 4 5. and in some other places To shew who these are we must consider those places of the Old Testament where the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinctly spoken of as several Persons The Son is expresly spoken of by David who himself was a Type of the Messias and is so acknowledged by the Jews Psal ii 7. The Lord said unto me Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who as has been already proved is called Wisdom according to the Jewish Notions is the Son of God by Eternal Generation himself sheweth Prov. viii 23 24. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was when there were no depths I was brought forth So in Prov. xxx 4. Who hath established all the ends of the earth What is his name or what is his Son's name The Son can be understood of no other than of that Eternal Wisdom that assisted in the Creation as was before mentioned Elsewhere the Son or the Word is spoken of according to the Jewish Expositions of such Texts where he is not named and yet he is called God and Lord as Psal xlv 7. O God thy God hath anointed thee And Psal cx 1. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool It was the same Son who appeared oftentimes under the Character of the Angel of the Lord though he was not a Created Angel but the Lord Jehovah himself This I only mention here being to treat of it largely in some of the following Chapters That the Spirit is spoken of as a Person in Scripture none can be ignorant of that reads but the beginning of Genesis where in the 2d Verse he is named the Spirit of God and said to have his part in the Work of the Creation The Jews could not make this Spirit to be an Angel because they all agree the Angels were not yet created when the Spirit moved upon the face of the Waters Nor was the Spirit of God a mighty Wind as some render it in that place for as yet there was no Air much less Exhalations till this Work was past But that Moses meant a Person sufficiently appears by that which followeth Gen. vi 3. Where God saith My Spirit shall not alway strive with man It was the Holy Spirit of God that inspired the holy Patriarchs to give those Admonitions and Warnings to the wicked World of Mankind before the Flood by which he strove to bring them to Repentance It was the same Divine Spirit whose Operations the Israelites were sensible of in his inspiring the Seventy Elders Numb xi 25 26. The Psalmist no doubt thought of those words of Moses in the beginning of Genesis when he said in speaking of the Works of the Creation Psal xxxiii 6. All the hosts of them were made by the Spirit of his mouth and this Spirit he sensibly knew to be a Person for thus he saith of himself 2 Sam. xxiii 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his Word was in my tongue Lastly In some places of the Old Testament there are plainly Three Persons spoken of together and especially in the beginning of Genesis where it ought to be remembred that the word Elohim Gods does naturally import a Plurality R. Bechai in Gen. chap. i. 1. and others quoted in the former Chapter Now there can be no Plural of less than Two in number and therefore at least God the Father and the Word are to be understood in the first Verse the second Verse adds the Spirit of God as it has been just now mentioned And it is very natural to think that God spake to these Two the Word and the Spirit in Verse 26. of that Chapter when he said Let Us make man after Our Image as also afterward Gen. iii. 22. Behold the man is become as one of Us And again speaking of the Builders of Babel Gen. ix 7. Let Us go down and confound their Language This must be to Two at least for had he spoke to One only he would have said in the Singular Number Come thou and let us confound their language The manner of speaking plainly imports a Plurality and they could be no other than those Three which were spoken of in the first Chapter As Moses brings in these Three Persons into his History of the first Creation so does the Evangelical Prophet in speaking of the Mission of Christ Isa xi 1 2 c. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him i. e. upon the Messias according to the received Opinion of the Jews Isa xlviii 16. The Lord hath sent Me and his Spirit Again Isa lix 19 20 21. When the enemy shall
by what the Apostle saith Joh. xii 41. that this was no other than our Lord Jesus Christ For there the Apostle having quoted the words that Isaiah heard from the Lord that spoke to him Isai vi 9 10. tells us These things said Isaiah when he saw his Glory and spoke of him That the Apostle here speaks of the Word made flesh is clear enough from the Text. But besides it has been proved by our Writers beyond all contradiction See Plac. lib. ii Disput 1. In like manner that which the Prophet Ezekiel saw was an Appearance of God represented to him as a Man sitting on a Throne of Glory Ezek. i. 26 27 28. x. 1. Which Throne was then upon Wheels after the manner of a Sella Curulis They were living Wheels animated and supported by Cherubims i. 21. each of which had four Faces i. 6. such as were carved on the Walls of the Temple xli 19. In short that which Ezekiel saw though he was then in Chaldea was nothing else but the Appearance of God as yet dwelling in his Temple at Jerusalem but quite weary of it and now about to remove and to leave his dwelling-place to be destroyed by the Chaldeans To shew that this was the meaning of it he saw this Glorious Appearance of God first in his place iii. 12. i. e. on the Mercy-seat in the Temple ix 3. Next he saw him gone from his place to the Threshold of the House Judges use to give Judgment in the Gate so there over the Threshold of his House God gave Sentence against his rebellious people v. 5 6 7. Afterward from the Threshold of the House x. 4. the Prophet saw the Glory departed yet farther and mounted up from the Earth over the midst of the City x. 18 19. And lastly he saw it go from thence and stand upon the Mountain on the East-side of the City xi 23. That is on Mount Olivet which is before Jerusalem on the East Zech. xiv 4. and so the Targum has it on this place After this departure of the Divine Presence Ezekiel saw his forsaken Temple and City destroyed and his People carried away into Captivity xxxiii 21 c. After this he saw no more Appearance of God till his People's return from Captivity And then the Temple being rebuilt according to the measures given from God xl xli xlii the Prophet could not but expect that God would return to it as of old So he saw it come to pass in his Vision xliii 2. Behold the Glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East where the Prophet saw it last at M. Olivet So again v. 4. The Glory of the Lord came into the House by the way of the Gate whose prospect is toward the East And v. 5. Behold the Glory of the Lord filled the House So again xliv 4. It filled the House now as it had done in Solomon's time 1 King viii 11. All along in this Prophecy of Ezekiel it was but one Person that appeared from the beginning to the end In the beginning of this Prophecy it was God that appeared in his Temple over the Cherubims and there we find him again in the end of this Prophecy But that it was no other but the Word that so appeared in the Temple according to the sense of the ancient Jewish Church has been proved so fully out of their Targums elswhere that we need not trouble our selves about that any farther though we cannot find it in the Targum on this Book In the Books of Chronicles there is nothing remarkable of this kind but what has been considered already in the account that we have given of the Divine Appearances in the Books of Kings And there is no mention of any such Appearance in any of the other Books that were written after the Babylonian Captivity except on the Books of Daniel and Zechariah Of Daniel the Jews have not given us any Targum therefore we have nothing to say of that Book They have given us a Targum such as it is of the Book of Zechariah which is the last we have to consider In this Book of Zechariah we read of three Angels that appeared to the Prophet The first appeared to him as a Man i. 8 -10. But is called an Angel v. 9. In Zechary's words The Angel that talked with me By which Title he is often distinguisht from all others in the same Book i. 13 14 19. ii 3. v. 5 6. vi 4. A second Angel appeared to him also as a Man with a Measuring Line in his hand ii 1. But whosoever compares this Text with Ezek. xl 3 4 5 c. will find that this who appeared as a Man was truly an Angel of God Next the first Angel going forth from the place where he appeared ii 3. Another Angel comes to meet him and bids him Run speak to this young man whether to the Angel Surveyor or whether to Zechary himself and tell him Jerusalem shall be inhabited c. ii 4. He that commands another should be his Superior And yet this Superior owns himself sent from God But he own'd it in such terms as shew'd that he was God himself This the Reader will see more than once in his speech which is continued from v. 4. to the end of the Chapter It appears especially in v. 8 9 11. of this Chapter First in v. 5. having declared what God would do for Jerusalem in these words according to the Targum The Lord hath said my Word shall be a wall of fire about her and my Glory will I place in the midst of her He goes on to v. 8. and there he delivers a Message from God to his People in these words Thus saith the Lord of Hosts After the Glory * After the Glory of his Shekinah being returned into the Temple when that was rebuilt they should soon after see Babylon it self taken and spotled by their ancient Servants the Persians hath he sent me to the Nations that spoiled you c. Here the sense is ambiguous for it seems strange that the Lord of Hosts should say another hath sent me But so it is again and much clearer exprest in v. 9. where he saith Behold I will shake my hand upon them and they shall be a spoil to their Servants This none but God could say But he addeth in the next words And ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me which words plainly shew that though he stiled himself God yet he came as a Messenger from God This is plainer yet v. 11. where he saith Many Nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee Thee Thou Thee are all Feminines in the Hebrew and therefore all three refer to Zion Thee Oh Zion v. 10. This again none but God could say And yet it followeth Thou Oh Zion shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent
described only as the Messenger of God A Salvo as ridiculous as his Answer For most of the Characters and Works of God are ascribed to him that is there spoken of and he is expresly called the Lord of Hosts But this is not all For our Socinians not only follow the Jews but exceed them in the bold ways they take to get over those Authorities which make against them Because that the words of Psal xl 7. Thou hast bored my ears are cited by St. Paul in this manner A Body hast thou prepared me Heb. x. 5. who follows herein the LXX Text which thus paraphrases the Psalmist's words from thence Enjedinus takes occasion to accuse the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews for not having cited the Original and to traduce him as an Apocryphal Writer They go further than the Jews do on Psal xlv 6. Thy throne O God is for ever and ever A Text cited by St. Paul and applied to Jesus Christ Heb. i. 7 8. The LXX translate it as we do But the Jews have tried all ways to deliver themselves of this Authority which proves so evidently that the Messias is God As for Socinus he pretends to reject the Jews Solutions But his Disciples have invented another which is worse than that of the Jews as may be seen in Enjedinus and Ostorodius Psalm xc throughout relates to the Messias Jesus Christ applies it to himself Matth. xxii and from thence proves that he is David's Lord although he is the Son of David But Enjedinus refutes this Argument of Jesus Christ And Schlichtingius treats it as absurd This is a thing that deserves to be reflected on because these Gentlemen pretend that among them only true Christianity is continued The like way they take to answer what the Apostle saith of Christ's creating the Heavens and the Earth Heb. i. 10 11. and his Proof of it from Psal cii 27 28. And with the same Impudence do they elude the Citation from Psal cxviii 22. which is quoted Mat. xxi 42. Altho R. D. Kimchi among other Jews refers it to the Messias It is strange to see how they take the Jews part in explaining as they do Isa vii 14. A Virgin that is say they a Prophetess Crell on Matt. i. The only reason of this Explication is the word Immanuel which there follows to their great perplexity They therefore say that Immanuel is spoken of the Father in Isaiah's Prophecy and of Jesus Christ in St. Matthew's Gospel in a Mystical Sense Isaiah chap. xxxv 5. has distinctly noted the Miracles which the Messias should work and has given us a clear Character of his Person R. Solomon Jarchi endeavours to shift off this Text and to explain it of the deliverance of the People out of Babylon Socinus who could not but know how the Evangelists have referred it to the Miracles of Jesus Christ does nevertheless establish as well as he can the Explication of the Modern Jews And this he does for no other reason but because the Appearance of God himself is spoken of in the 4th Verse of this Chapter How audaciously does Crellius destroy the Proof of the Place where Christ should be born Matth. ii 5. taken out of Micah v. 2. Saith he The Jews cited it only according to the Mystical Sense But we know the Jews took it to be the Literal Sense as appears by their Targum The viiith Chapter of Proverbs was understood by Philo of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed such Attributes are given to Wisdom in that Chapter as belong only to a Person such as being conceived born creating governing exercising of Mercy and the like But Socinus is not content it should go so He will have all this attributed to the Wisdom of God by a Prosopopeia just as our later Jews do interpret it of the Law Jer. xxiii 5 6. relates to the Messias in the Judgment of all the Ancient Jews Our Socinians will not allow this but rather than own that the Messias is named God they refer the Title of The Lord our Righteousness to the People there spoken of We have a remarkable Prophecy for the Proof of the Divinity of the Messias in Zech. xii 10. They shall look on him whom they have pierced The Jews anciently did and still do understand it of the Messias And Jesus Christ does apply it to himself Rev. i. 7. What saith Socinus to this He declares that this Text which is so like Psal xxii has been corrupted by the Jews and thus he trys to render its Authority useless Here you have a Sample of their conduct in rejecting the Literal and setting up a Mystical sense But there are other Quotations cited in the New Testament from which it is manifest that our Lord Jesus Christ is the God spoken of in the Old Testament the Authority of which Texts cannot so easily be eluded And to take away the evidence of these they have invented the way of accommodation David speaking of the God of Israel has these words Psal lxviii 19. Thou art ascended on high c. Hence we conclude that Jesus Christ is the God of Israel because St. Paul saith they had their accomplishment in our Lord's Ascension into Heaven Ephes iv 8. The Jews say those words in the Psalm were spoken of Moses The Socinians cannot deny they were spoken of God but deny they were spoken of the Messias literally But say they these words were applied to Jesus Christ by St. Paul only by way of accommodation Strange Is it not plain that David saith no more in this lxviii Psalm of the Messias than he saith in Psal cx which the Jews do refer to the Messias Is not the calling of the Gentiles here clearly foretold v. 33 34. which is owned on all hands to be the work of the Messias Is it not then visible that St. Paul in citing these words has followed the sense of the Ancient Synagogue who understood Psal cx of the Messias according to the Literal sense Socinus owns that the words Psal xcvii 7. which are applied to Jesus Christ Heb. i. 6. do respect the Supreme God He cannot therefore deny Jesus Christ to be the Supreme God to whom they are applied But he does it as he pleases by this way of accommodation which he saith the Sacred Author used in applying this Text to Jesus Christ And so the Adoration commanded to be given him terminates not in him but is referrable to the Supreme God who commanded this Adoration Isa ch viii 13 14. has these words Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts The Jews interpret them of the Messias Gemar Massech Sanhedr in ch iv and they are cited by St. Paul Rom. ix 32. St. Luke ii 34. St. Peter 1 Pet. ii 7. who apply them to Jesus Christ The Socinians whose Cause will not bear this that Jesus Christ should be called the Lord of Hosts do therefore deny that the Massias is here treated of or that any one else is here meant
and forced sense on them But with what face the Mahometans can object this I know not when they themselves do so grosly pervert the passages in Deut. xxxiii 33. Hab. iii. 3. Deut. xviii and xxxiv in favour of Mahomet and his Law and in favour of Mahomet only many Texts in Isaiah Ezekiel Zephany and other Prophets as you may see them alledged by Hazzadaula in his Fourth Book but especially when they urge all those places in St. John's Gospel where the Paraclete is spoken of as so many Promises of Mahomet's coming I must confess some warm indiscreet Mahometans in dispute with the Christians have given them occasion to believe that the Mahometans generally accused the Christians with falsifying their Scriptures Just as the petty Controvertists of the Church of Rome have impudently averred the Scripture to be corrupt in many places the better to establish their Church's Authority And thus we find Ahmed the Mahometan charging both Jews and Christians with altering of their Bibles Hotting Hist p. 364. But as there are in the Roman Church Men wiser and calmer that see the consequences of so rash an Accusation and have therefore proved unanswerably the Integrity of the Sacred Text so are there among the Mahometans more wary and cautious Disputants who despise and disallow those false Charges advanced by some of their party against the Jews and Christians Such a one was Hazzadaula in the Book before cited who solidly proves that by the care the Masorite Jews took to ascertain the Text of the Old Testament it was impossible they should be willing to corrupt it and that if they had been willing yet they were divided into so many Sects of unreconcileable hatred to one another as rendred it impossible for them to do it He then shews that the difference which is between the several Versions as between the Seventy and Syriack for Example was no prejudice to the Purity of the Text it self but that this arose from the several Views the Interpreters then had from the different Notions and senses they affixed to the Original words He then passes to the Examination of the various Readings which our Unitarians triumph in and shews that neither their number nor variety ought to diminish the Authority of the Originals He gives Reasons for his preference of the Jewish Bible to that of the Samaritans He proves the corruption of the Books of the Old Testament could not be made before Jesus Christ's time since he never reproached them for it which he would certainly have done had they been guilty of it nor could the corruption come in after Christ's time because the Jews and Christians who are such mortal Enemies have had these Books in keeping and daily read them though they interpret them very differently In a word we cannot easily meet with a more perfect Treatise on this Subject nor one more proper to refute the bold insinuations of some who under the name of Christians and Men skilled in Critical knowledg have undertaken to shake the Foundations of the Christian Religion and for this purpose would discredit the Authority of the Holy Scripture under the disguise of making it rest on the Authority of Tradition The Reader will I hope reflect on what I have said concerning the conduct of the Socinians in their Disputes with us relating to the Divinity of Christ To which I may add that some of them less modest though more sincere than Socinus being convinced that no Answer could be given to the Quotations from the Old Testament that were used in Proof of our Lord's Divinity thought fit to reject the Epistle to the Hebrews which contains those Quotations as an Apocryphal Piece This Enjedinus has done and thought it a quick way to deliver himself at once of many difficulties from which otherwise he could not extricate himself For had he believed Socinus's Answers Satisfactory he had never betaken himself to this last and desperate shift Others of whom Mr. N. is one do suppose that whatever makes for the advantage of the Trinitarians Cause is all forged And so they abandon the fanciful Explications Socinus has given of the first Chapter of St. John's Gospel as having no need of them so long as they can make one believe that the Trinitarians have foisted into the New Testament whatever they pleased This is still a shorter answer than the former The first rendred one particular Book only useless to the Trinitarians but this makes all those Books of the New Testament useless from whence any Objection may be drawn against the Unitarians What end the Socinians have in these dangerous attempts whether to facilitate the Conversion of the Jews as they pretend or to do service to the Atheists and Deists as it seems to be their real design is worthy every Christian 's serious enquiry If they intend the Conversion of the Jews we may well demand of them what way they will take to effect it Smalcius one of their chief Writers has affirmed that the Books of the Old Testament are of little use to convert the Jews De Div. Chr. c. x. already quoted His reason is because if we interpret any Text in the Old Testament of Jesus Christ we must interpret it Mystically that is according to quite another sense than that which the words do naturally import And now admitting this to be true what use can a Socinian make of the Old Testament against the Jews Sommerus and Francis David whose Opinions as to the denial of the Worship of Jesus Christ are embraced by Mr. N. being forced to own that the Author of the Book of Proverbs did ascribe a Son to God ch xxx 4. and yet being not willing to acknowledg it as a truth took the readiest way to defeat the Authority of this Book and placed it among the Apocryphal Writings One should wonder how such Socinians are like to be Converters who call the Jews Canon of the Scriptures into question and consequently leave no Books from whence as from a common Principle they may on each side deduce their reasonings As for the Books of the New Testament what use can they make of them Yes very great saith the Socinian If the Books of the New Testament were reformed and those Patches intirely taken from them which were never written by the Apostles though added under their Names such as the Epistle to the Hebrews which was brought in after the year 140. of Christ and stuffed with Doctrines of a Trinity and Christ's Divinity contrary to the Faith of Jesus Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians then we might hope to have success in the Conversion of the Jews But in truth they are not likely to succeed with their reformed Socinian Gospel so well as they would have us believe For 't is reasonable to think that every Jew of common sense would retort the Book on themselves and tell them frankly This is not the Christians Gospel from whence you offer to convince me this
Cat. xii the Concil Sirm. c. 13. Gregor Baet tr de fide Theodor. Q. 5. in Exod. Leo. i. Ep. 13. ad Pulch. and many others In like manner they refer to the Word those Appearances of God which be vouchsafed to Abraham Isaac and Jacob himself as you may see in Just Mart. Apol. for those to Abraham and Isaac and for those to Jacob in Clem. Alex. Paed. i. 7. Novat I. de Trin. c. 26 27. Proc. Gaz. in h. l. The ancient Christians did in this no more than the ancienter Jews did before them who by Elohim in this place did not understand a created Angel but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom the Targumists and the strictest Followers of their Fathers Traditions are wont to express by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo makes all the Appearances which we meet with in the Books of Moses to belong to the Word and the latter Cabalists since Christ's time not only do the same but deny that the Father ever appeared saying it was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only that manifested himself to their Fathers whose proper name is Elohim For this consult R. Menachem de Rekanati from Beres Rabba on the Parasch Breschit f. 14. c. 3. Ed. Ven. and on Par. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 f. 30. c. 1. I have often wondred how it came to pass that most of the Divines of the Church of Rome who would seem to have the greatest veneration for Antiquity should so much despise it in this Question wherein the ancient Jewish and Christian Church do agrees Sanctius in his Notes on the Acts ch 7. says it is a difficult question among Divines whether God's Appearances in Scripture were performed immediately by God himself or by his Angels And then having cited several ancient Fathers who thought it the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that appeared he adds Sed Theologis jam illa sententia placet quae statuit Angelorum ministerio antiquis hominibus oblatam esse divinam speciem quae est sententia Dionys de caelest Hier. c. 4 c. To the same purpose Lorinus another Jesuit speaks in Act. vii 31. But this is not the worst of it that they forsake the judgment of the Ancients they do herein make bold to contradict the plain words of Christ himself Joh. i. 18. Christ saith thus No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him And parallel to this Text is Joh. vi 46. Certainly he must be very blind who does not see that Christ in these words not only denies the Father to have shewn himself in those Appearances that were made to the ancient Patriarchs but also asserts them to himself and not to the Angels Away then with such Divines who setting aside the Authority of Christ do chuse to Theologize in the principal Heads of Religion according to the sense and prejudices of the Moderns We desire to be no wiser in these matters than the Primitive Christians were among whom it passed for an establisht truth that the Elohim in Jacob's Prayer was the very Jehovah of the Jews termed by them sometime Shekinah and sometime Memra SECT III. As to the second Question it would be no Question at all but for the obstinacy of some latter Jews He that reads the Hebrew Text without prejudice cannot but see the Elohim in v. 15. is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the following verse whence it follows that this Redeeming Angel is Jehovah But because this opinion is contradicted by some of the chief Modern Jews as Abarbanel and Alshek on this place and by most of the Popish Divines as well as some few of the Reformed that have not sifted this matter accurately we will offer some proofs for the conviction of them that are not obstinately bent against it And 1. If Jacob had had two Persons then in his mind so different as God and a created Angel are he would have coupled them together by the particle ז which is not only conjunctive but very proper to distinguish the Persons of whom we speak and said God before whom my Fathers walked God who fed me from my youth and the Angel that delivered me bless the Lads But Jacob is so far from doing thus that on the contrary he puts a ה demonstrative as well before the Angel as before God without any Copulative between which sufficiently demonstrates he means the same Person by God and the Angel Munster was well aware of this and therefore being willing to distinguish the Redeeming Angel from God he Translates it with an addition the Angel also 2. It cannot be easily supposed That Jacob would in a Prayer use the Singular Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in common to Persons in Nature so very different the Creator and a Creature He certainly ought to have said God and the Angel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may they bless the Lads if he had spoken of two But his speaking in the the Singular may he bless is an Argument of his having in his Eye one Person alone whose Blessing he prayed for on his Seed Otherwise it would have been a Prayer of a strange Composition For according to Athanasius we do no where find that one prays to God and the Angel or any other created Being at the same time for any thing Nor is there any like instance of such a Form as this God and an Angel give thee this 3. But setting aside those Rules with which the contrary Opinion can never be reconciled consider the thing it self in Jacob's Prayer and you will find it absurd to distinguish between the Offices of God and those of a created Angel toward Jacob. The Office ascribed to God is feeding him from his Youth the Office ascribed to the Angel is delivering him from all Evil which must be very distinct Offices if the Persons be distinguished And so R. Jochanan accounts them Gem. Pesasch f. 118. Tho he believes the Angel to be the same with Elohim yet he contends that feeding the greater Work is attributed to God and delivering the lesser Work to an Angel The same thing is said by the Author of Jalkut on this place and R. Samule on the Book Rabboth abovementioned But in the Phrase of these Jewish Masters this Distinction is very insipid it is harshly formed without considering that Jacob in this Blessing reflected on the Words of the Vow which he made at Luz afterwards called Bethel because of God's appearing to him there Now these were the Words of Jacob's Vow If God will be with me and keep me in the way in which I shall walk if he will give meat to eat and cloathing to put on and bring me home in safety to the house of my Father then shall the Lord be my God Gen. xxvii 20 21. Here you see it is from God that Jacob expects to be kept in his way i. e. to be redeemed from
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