sacrifices and incense offered for them in Gods name 9. And let the reader be pleased further to observe that the Iewes were accustomed not onely to offer up sacrifices and prayers to God for the Emperours their friends confederates and allyes but also generally for the whole world It is the custome saith Agrippa to Caius according to Philo p. 1035. for the High-priest at the day of attonement to make a prayer unto God for all mankind beseeching him to adde unto them another year with blessing and peace The same Philo Iudaeus in his second book of Monarchy saith The priests of other nations pray unto God onely for the welfare of their own particular nations but our High-priest prayes for the happinesse and prosperity of the whole world And in his book of sacrifices p. 836. he saith Some sacrifices are offered up for our nation and some for all mankind For the daily sacrifices twice a day viz. at morning and evening are for the obtaining of those good things which God the chief good grants unto them at those two times of the day And in like manner Iosephus in his second book against Apion saith We sacrifice and pray unto the Lord in the first place for the whole world for their prosperity and peace and afterwards more particularly for our selves forasmuch as we conceive that prayer which is first extended universally and is afterwards put up more particularly is very much acceptable unto God Which words are also related by Eusebius Caesareensis in his Praeparatio Evangelica lib. 8. cap. 2. 10. 'T is true that no outward materiall glories are perpetuall and so the temple had its period and with the paschall lamb all other sacrifices ceased But in their stead we have at this day prayer and as Hoseah speaks Cap. 14.2 For bullocks we render the calves of our lips And three times every day this is our humble supplication and request to God Fill the whole world O Lord with thy blessings for all creatures are the works of thy hands as it is written the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are ever all his works Psal 145.9 11. Yea further we pray for the conversion of the nations and so we say in these most excellent prayers upon Ros a sana and the day of attonement Our God and the God of our Fathers reign thou over the whole world in thy glory and be thou exalted over all the earth in thine excellency cause thy influence to descend upon all the inhabitants of the world in the glorious majesty of thy strength and let every creature know that thou hast created him and let every thing that is formed understand that thou hast formed it and let all that have breath in their nostrills say the Lord God of Israel reighneth and his kingdome is over all dominions And again Let all the inhabitants of the earth know and see that unto thee every knee shall bow and every tongue swear before thee O Lord our God let them bow and prostrate themselves let them give honour to the honour of thy name and let them aell take upon them the yoak of thy kingdome c. And again Put thy fear O Lord our God upon all thy works and thy dread upon all that thou hast created let all thy works fear thee and let all creatures bow down before thee and let them all make themselves one handfull that is with joynt consent to do thy will with a perfect heart c. A most worthy imitation of the wise King Solomon who after he had finished the building of the Temple in that long prayer King 1.8 was not unmindfull of the Gentiles but v. 41. he saith Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people of Israel but cometh out of a farre country for thy names sake for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched-out arm when he shall come and pray towards this house hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for that all people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee as do the people of Israel and that they may know that thy name is called upon this house which I have builded Where it may be observed that when the Israelite comes to pray he saith 29. and give every man hccsrding to his wayes but upon the prayer of a stranger he saith and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for And this distinction is made to this end that by the evident and apparent return and answer of their prayers all Gentiles might effectually be brought in to the truth and knowledge and fear of God as well as the Israelites 12. Moreover since the holy prophets made prayers and supplications for all men as well for the nations as the Israelites how should not we do the same for the nations among whom we inhabit as ingaged by a more especiall obligation for that we live under their favour and protection In Deuteronomy 23.7 God commands Thou shalt not abhorre an Egyptian notwithstanding the heavy burthens they afflicted us with onely because thou wast a stranger in his land because that at the first they entertained and received us into their country As on the other side Ezek. 23.11 he saith As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live We ought therefore to imitate his actions and not to hate any man upon the mere account of religion but onely to pray to the Lord for his conversion and this also without giving offence or any kind of molestation To detest or abhorre those to whom we owe that prosperity which we enjoy or who endeavour their own salvation is a thing very unworthy and ill becoming but to abhorre their vices and sins is not so It was a very excellent observation of a most wise and vertuous Lady Beruria who as it is recorded in the Talmud Berachot cap. 1. when her husband R. Meir was about to pray to God to destroy some of his perverse and froward neighbours that had no lesse grievously then maliciously vexed and molested him gave him this seasonable admonition that such a thing ought not to be done in Israel but that he should rather make his prayer that they might return and break off their sinnes by repentance ' alledging that text Psal 104.35 Let ssn be consumed out of the earth it is not said sinners but sinnes and then the wicked shall be no more 13. We have now in this Section shewn that it is a mere calumnie to imagine that we Iewes should pray to God so as to give an offence to the Christians or cause scandall by any thing in our prayers unlesse it be that we are not Christians we have declared to the contrary how we daily pray for them As also that during the temple we offered up
any good man believe that against his holy law a Iew in a strange countrey especially should make himself guilty of so execrable a fact 4. Admit that it were lawfull which God forbid why should they eat the bloud And supposing they should eat the bloud why should they eat it on the Passeover Here at this feast every confection ought to be so pure as not to admit of any leaven or any thing that may fermentate which certainly bloud doth 5. If the Iewes did repute and hold this action which is never to be named without an epethite of horrour necessary they would not expose themselves to so eminent a danger to so cruell and more deserved punishment unlesse they were moved to it by some divine precept or at least some constitution of their wise men Now we challenge all those men who entertain this dreadfull opinion of us as obliged in point of justice to cite the place of Scripture or of the Rabbins where any such precept or doctrine is delivered And untill they do so we will assume so much liberty as to conclude it to be no better then a malicious slander 6. If a man to save his life may break the Sabbath and transgresse many of the other commands of the law as hath been determined in the Talmud as also confirmed by R. Moses of Egypt in the fifth Chapter of his treatise of the fundamentalls of the law yet three are excepted which are idolatry murther and adultery life not being to be purchased at so dear a rate as the committing of these heinous sins an innocent death being infinitely to be preserred before it Wherefore if the killing of a Christian as they object were a divine precept and institution which far be it from me to conceive it were certainly to be null'd and rendred void since a man cannot perform it without indangering his own life and not onely so but the life of the whole congregation of an entire people and yet more since it is directly a violation of one of these thtee precepts Thou shalt do no murderâ— which is intended universally of all men as we have said before 7. The Lord blessed forever by his prophet Ieremiah Chap. 29.7 gives it in command to the captive Israelites that were dispersed among the heathens that they should continually pray for and endeavour the peace welfare and prosperity of the city wherein they dwelt and the inhabitants thereof This the Iewes have alwayes done and continue to this day in all their Synagogues with a particular blessing of the Prince or Magistrate under whose protection they live And this the Right Honourable my Lord St. Iohn can testifie who when he was Embassadour to the Lords the States of the united Provinces was pleased to honour our Synagogue at Amsterdam with his presence where our nation entertained him with musick and all expressions of joy and gladnesse and also pronounced a blessing not onely upon his honour then present but upon the whole Common-wealth of England for that they were a people in league and amity and because we conceived some hopes that they would manifest towards us what we ever bare towards them viz. all love and affection But to return again to our argument if we are bound to study endeavour and sollicite the good and flourishing estate of the city where we live and the inhabitants thereof how shall we then murder their children who are the greatest good and the most flourishing blessing that this life doth indulge to them 8. The children of Israel are naturally mercifull and full of compassion This was acknowledged by their enemies Kings 1.20 31. when Benhadad King of Assyria was discomfited in the battel and fled away he became a petitioner for his life to King Ahab who had conquered him for he understood that the Kings of the house of Israel were mercifull Kings and his own experience confirmed it when for a little affection that he pretended in a complement he obtained again his life and fortunes from which â—he event of the warre had disentitled him And when the Gibeonites made that cruell request to David that seven of Sauls sons who were innocent should be delivered unto them the proâ—het saies now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel Sam. â— 21 2. as if he had said in this cruelty the piety of the Israâ—lites is not so much set forth as the tyranny and implacable rage â—f the Gentiles the Gibeonites Which being so and experience withall declares it viz. the fidelity which our nation hath inviolably preserved towards their superiours then most certainly iâ— is wholly incompatible and inconsistent with the murdering oâ— their children 9. There are some Christians that use to insult against the Iewes as Christian homicides that will venter to give a reason of thesâ— pretended murtherous practises As if the accusation were theâ— most infallibly true if they can find any semblance of a reason why it might be so As they say that this is practised by them in hatred and detestation of Jesus of Nazareth And that therefore they steal Christian Children buffeting them in the same manneâ— that he was buffetted thereby to rub up and revive the memory of the aforesaid death And likewise they imagine that the Iewes secretly steal away crosses crucifixes and such like graven images which Papists privately and carefully retein in their houses and every day the Iewes mainly strike and buffet shamefully spitting on them with such like ceremonies of despight and alâ— this in hatred of Jesus But I admire what they really think when they object such things as these laying them to our charge Foâ— surely we cannot believe that a people otherwise of sufficient prudence and judgement can perswade themselves into an opinion that the Iewes should commit such practises unlesse they could conceive they did them in honour and obedience to the God whom they worship And what kind of obedience is this they perform to God blessed for ever when they directly sin against that speciall command Thou shalt not kill Besides this cannot be committed without the imminent and manifest perill oâ— their lives and fortunes and the necessary exposing themselves to a just revenge Moreover it is an Anathema to a Iew to have any graven images in his house or any thing of an idol which any oâ— the nations figuratively worship Deut. 7.26 10. Matthew Paris p. 532. writes how that in the year 1240 the Iewes circumcised a Christian child at Norwich and gave him the name Iurnin and reserved him to be crucified for which cause many of them were most cruelly put to death The truth of thiâ— story will evidently appear upon the consideration of its citcumstances He was first circumcised and this perfectly constituteâ— him a Iew. Now for a Iew to embrace a Christian in his armes and foster him in his bosome is a testimony of great love and affection But if it was intended that shortly after this child should be crucified to
sacrifices for nations confedederate with us and how all Emperours desired this Yea and we offered sacrifices not onely for particular princes but for all mankind in generall How since sacrifices ceased with the temple we at this day do the same in our prayers and how we beseech God for their salvation without giving any scandall or offence in respect of religion and how we think our selves obliged to perform all this by the sacred Scripture By all which layed together I hope I have sufficiently evidenced the truth of that I have asserted THE FOURTH SECTION BY consequence the accusation of Buxtorphius in his Bibliotheca Rabbinorum can have no appearance of truth concerning that which he puts upon us viz. that we are blasphemers I will set down the Prayer it self We are bound to praise the Lord of all things to magnifie him who made the world for that he hath not made us as the Nations of the earth nor hath he placed us as the families of the earth nor hath he made our condition like unto theirs nor our lot according to all their multitude For they humble themselves to things of no worth and vanity and make their prayers to gods that cannot save them but we worship before the King of kings that is holy and blessed that stretched forth the Heavens and framed the Earth the seat of his glory is in heaven above and his divine strength in the highest of the Heavens He is our God and there is no other He is truly our King and besides him there is no other as it is writen in the Law And know this day and return into thine own heart because the Lord is God in Heaven above and upon the Earth beneath there is no other Truly in my opinion it is a very short and most excellent prayer and worthy of commendation The Sultan Selim that famous conquerour and Emperour of the Mahumetans made so much account of it that he commanded his Doctor Moses Amon who translated the Pentateuch into the Arabian and Persian languages that he should translate our prayers And when he had delivered them to him in the Turkish Tongue he said to him what need is there of so long prayers truly this one might suffice he did so highly esteem and value it This is like an other prayer which was made at that time viz. Blessed be our God who created us for his honour and separated us from those that are in errours and gave unto us a Law of truth and planted amongst us eternall life Let him open our hearts in his law and put his love in our hearts and his fear to do his will and to serve him with a perfect heart that we may not labour in vain nor beget children of perdition Let it be thy will O Lord our God and God of our Fathers that we may keep thy statutes and thy laws in this world and may deserve and live and inherit well and that we may attain the blessing of the world to come that so we may sing to thy honour without ceasing O Lord my God I will praise thee for ever But neither the one nor the other is a blasphemy or malediction against any other Gods for these reasons following 1. It is not the manner of the Iewes by their law to curse other gods by name though they be of the Gentiles So in Exod. cap. 22.27 Thou shalt not revile the Gods Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Gods or God as Philo Iudaeus in libro de Monarchiâ doth interpret and not Judges as Onkelus and Ionathan translate in their Chald. Paraphr Where Philo addes this reason which is lest they hearing their own Gods blasphemed should in a revengefull way of retaliation blaspheme the true God of Israel And we have examples enough how the idolatrous heathen used to revile and defame each others Gods both in Cicero and Iuvenal And in that sense Flavius Josephus in his book written against Apion saith these words As it is our practise to observe our own and not to accuse or revile others so neither may we deride or blaspeeme those which others account to be Gods Our Law-giver plainly forbad us that by reason of that compellation Gods According to this by our own religion we dare not do that which Buxtorfius chargeth us with And upon this account the Talmudists tell us that we ought to honour and reverence not onely the Kings of Israel but all kings princes and governours in generall forasmuch as the holy Scripture gives them the stile of gods in respect of the dignity of their office 2. The time wherein these as also the other prayers were composed and ordered was in the dayes of Ezras who with 120 men amongst whom were three Prophets Haggai Zechary Malachy composed them as we have it in the Talmud Wherefore he cannot say that there is any thing intended against honour or reverence of Christ who was not born till many yeares after Moreover the Iewes since that calumny was first raised thouh that was spoken of the Gentiles and their vain gods humbling themselves to things of no worth and vanity because they desire to decline and avoid the least occasion of scandall and offence have left off to print that line and do not in some books print any part thereof As John Hoornbeek also witnesses in his fore-mentioned Prolegomena and William Dorstius in his observations upon R. David Gawz p. 269. and Buxtorf in his book of Abbreviatures And perhaps it will be worthy our observation that all these three witnesses say that it was first made known to them by one Antonius Margarita who was a Iew converted to the Christian saith That this part of the prayer was intended Contra idola Papatus against the Popish idols which they therefore as by a necessary consequence interpret as against Christ but how justly let the unprejudiced and unbiased reader judge 3. If this be so how can it be thought that in their Synagogues they name him with scornfull spitting farre be it from us The Nation of the Iewes is wise and ingenius So said the Lord Deut. cap. 4.6 The Nations shall say surely this is a wise and an understanding people Therefore how can it be supposed that they should be so bruitish in a strange land when their Religion dependeth not upon it Certainly it is much contrary to the precept we spake of to shew any resemblance of scorn There was never any such thing done as it is well known in Italy and Holland where ordinarily the Synagogues are full of Christians which with great attention stand considering and weighing all their actions and motions And truly they should have found great occasion to find fault withall if that were so But never was any man heard thus to calumniate us where ever we dwell and inhabite which is a reason sufficiently valid to clear us Wherefore I suppose that I have sufficiently informed you concerning our prayers in which we purpose
great probability of obtaining what I now request whilst they affirmed that at this time the minds of men stood very well affected towards us and that our entrance into this Island would be very acceptable and well-pleasing unto them And from this beginning sprang up in me a semblable affection and desire of obtaining this purpose For for seven yeares on this behalf I have endeavoured and sollicited it by letters and other means without any intervall For I conceived that our universall dispersion was a necessary circumstance to be fulfilled before all that shall be accomplished which the Lord hath promised to the people of the Iewes concerning their restauration and their returning again into their own land according to those words Dan. 12.7 When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished As also that this our scattering by little and little should be amongst all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other as it is written Deut. 28.64 I conceived that by the end of the earth might be understood this Island And I knew not but that the Lord who often works by naturall meanes might have design'd and made choice of me for the brsnging about this work With these proposalls therefore I applyed my self in all zealous affection to the English Nation congratulating their glorious liberty which at this day they enjoy together with their prosperous peace And I entituled my book named The hope of Israel to the first Parliament and the Council of State And withall declared my intentions In order to which they sent me a very favourable passe-port Afterwards I directed my self to the second and they also sent me another But at that juncture of time my coming was not presently performed for that my kindred and friends considering the checquered and interwoven vicissitudes and turns of things here below embracing me with pressing importunity earnestly requested me not to part from them and would not give over till their love constrained me to promise that I would yet a while stay with them But notwithstanding all this I could not be at quiet in my mind I know not but that it might be through some particular divine providence till I had anew made my humble addresses to his Highnesse the Lord Protector whom God preserve And finding that my coming over would not be altogether unwelcome to him with those great hopes which I conceived I joyfully took my leave of my house my friends my kindred all my advantages there and the country wherein I have lived all my life time under the benign protection and favour of the Lords the States Generall and Magistrates of Amsterdam in fine I say I parted with them all and took my voyage for England Where after my arrivall being very courteously received and treated with much respect I presented to his most Serene Highnesse a petition and some desires which for the most part were written to me by my brethren the Iewes from severall parts of Europe as your worship may better understand by former relations Whereupon it pleased his Highnesse to convene an Assembly at White hall of Divines Lawyers and Merchants of different perswasions and opinions Whereby mens judgements and sentences were different Insomuch that as yet we have had no finall determination from his most Serene Highnesse Wherefore those few Iewes that were here despairing of our expected successe departed hence And others who desired to come hither have quitted their hopes and betaken themselves some to Italy some to Geneva where that Commonwealth hath at this time most freely granted them many and great priviledges Now O most high God to thee I make my prayer even to thee the God of our Fathers Thou who hast been pleased to stile thy self the keeper of Israel Thou who hast graciously promised by thy holy Prophet Ieremiah cap. 31. that thou wilt not cast off all the seed of Israel for all the evill that they have done thou who by so many stupendious miracles didst bring thy people out of Egypt the land of bondage and didst lead them into the holy land graciously cause thy holy influence to descend down into the mind of the Prince who for no private interest or respect at all but onely out of commiseration to our affliction hath inclined himself to protect and shelter us for which extraordinary humanity neither I my self nor my nation can ever expect to be able to render him answerable and sufficient thanks and also into the minds of his most illustrious and prudent Council that they may determine that which according to thine infinite wisdome may be best and most expedient for us For men O Lord see that which is present but thou in thy omnisciencie seest that which is afarre off And to the highly honoured nation of England I make my most humble request that they would read over my arguments impartially without prejudice and devoid of all passion effectually recommending me to their grace and favour and earnestly beseeching God that he would be pleased to hasten the time promised by Zephaniah wherein we shall all serve him with one consent after the same manner and shall be all of the same judgement that as his name is one so his fear may be also one and that we may all see the goodnesse of the Lord blessed forever and the consolations of Zion Amen and Amen From my study in London April the 10. in the year from the creation 5416. and in the year according to the vulgar account 1656. As to give satisfaction to your worship being desirous to know what books have been written and printed by me or else are almost ready for the presse may you please to take the names of them in this Catalogue A Catalogue of such books as have been published by Menasseh Ben Israel in Hebrew NIsmachaim four Books concerning the Immortality of the soul wherein many notable and pleasant Questions are discussed and handled as may be seen by the Arguments of the particular Chapters prefixed to the book in Latine dedidicated to the then Emperour Ferdinand the third Pene Rabba upon Rabot of the Ancient Rabbins in Latine and Spanish Conciliatoris pars prima in Pentateuchum De Resurrectione mortuorum libri tres Problemata de creatione De termino vitae De fragilitate humana ex-lapsu Adami deque divino in bonâ— opere auxilio Spes Israelis This is also in English Orationes panegyricae quarum una ad Illustrissimum principem Aurantium altera ad serenissimam reginam Sueciorum in Spanish onely Conciliator the second part upon the first Prophets the third part upon the later Prophets the fourth part upon the Hagiographa Humas or the Pentateuch with the severall precepts in the margin Thesoro de los dirim five books of the rites and ceremonies of the Iewes in two Volumes Humas the Pentateuch with a commentarie Piedra pretiosa of Nebuchadnezzar's image or the fifth Monarchy Laus or ationes del anno the Iewes prayers for the whole year translated out of the originall Books ready for the Presse De cultu Imaginum contra Pontificios Latine Sermois Sermons in the Portugal tongue Loci communes Omnium Midrasim which contains the divinity of the ancient Rabbins in Hebrew Bibliotheca Rabbinica together with the arguments of their books and my judgement upon their severall editions Phocylides in Spanish verse cum Notis Hippocratis Aphorismi in Hebrew Flavius Iosephus adversus Apionem in Hebrew ejusdem Monarchia rationis in Hebrew Refutatio libri cui titulus Praeadamitae Historia sive continuatio Flavii Josephi ad haec usque tempora De divinitate legis Mosaicae De scientia Talmudistarum in singulis facultatibus Philosophia Rabbinica De disciplinis Rabbinorum Nomenclator Hebraius Arabicus I have also published and printed with my own presse above 60 other books amongst which are many bibles in Hebrew and Spanish with all our Hebrew prayers corrected and disposed in good order FINIS