Author likewise concerned For I have seen many Letters of Mr. Pools to him full of thanks and acknowledgment and one bearing date Jan. 7. 1673. in which he does acknowledge to have received his second Papers and expresses his great desire of receiving the Remaining How far our Author was concerned in that very useful design of that Diligent and Worthy Man hath not come to my knowledge and therefore I cannot give a particular account of it This only is not to be omitted that a Friend of mine hath seen many short Annotations in Latine written by his own hand upon many Chapters of Exodus Numbers Josua which he communicated to Mr. Pool whether for the use of his Synopsis or somewhat else it is uncertain This Reverend Man was divers years before his Death preferred by the favour of Sir Orlando Bridgeman then Lord Keeper to a Prebend in the Church of Ely But in what year this was hath not come to my knowledge And I must confess there are many other things in which I wanted information I did never think it would be my lot to give any account to the World of this excellent Person had I foreseen that I could some years since have been more plentifully furnished with materials to this purpose having had the honour to be acquainted with him my self and the opportunity which is now passed of informing my self better of His Life than now I have And I do acknowledge that this account that I now give I receive for the most part from the Hands of the Reverend and my worthy Friend Mr. John Strype Minister of Low-Leyton in Essex who hath furnished me with such an account as though it be short of what might have been had yet may be relied upon And I thought it better to give some though imperfect account of this Learned and Pious Man than that he should go without any at all As to his great Learning his Works are a proof beyond all exception I make no doubt but that the Reader will receive great benefit by them Our Author was a very perspicacious Man and very happy in clearing the difficulties of the Holy Scriptures and greatly furnished with that Learning which enabled him that way His great abilities were acknowledged by the Learned of our own Country and those beyond the Seas I shall not need to insist upon the Testimonies to this purpose which I could easily produce However I shall not forbear to mention some Our Author had sent Doctor Castell one of his Books at that time when he was engaged in his Lexicon In a Letter of his bearing date Aug. 16. 1664. he makes this following acknowledgment Sir you have laid an unutterable obligation upon me by the gift of this Learned and much longed for Work you have enriched my poor Library with an addition so excellent and delightful that truly when I first received it I could not contain my self from reading it quite through notwithstanding the importunacy of my publick engagement and the clamor of all the Work-men Corrector Compositors Press-men c. to all whom I turned a deaf Ear till I had satisfied my Eye with the entire perusal of it And afterwards he adds Sir I will never he ashamed to confess by whom I have profited All that would understand that clear light together with the mysterious hidden use and benefit which the most ancient Records of the Jews bring unto Holy Writ must confess themselves above all others deeply indebted to your Elaborate and incomparable Writings who have fetched out more of these profound and rich Mines than any of the best Seers in this or the precedent Ages have been able to discover I might have added much more from that very excellent Persons own hand Take the suffrage of another Learned Man Mr. Herbert Thorndike who in a Letter to our Author bearing date May 18. 1669. expresses his esteem of his Learning in the Jews Writings and desiring his Judgment of the Exercitations of Morinus in words too long to be transcribed And for Foreigners I shall content my self with two only The first is that of Mounsieur Le Moin a most Learned Minister of the Protestant Church of Roan who in a Letter to Dr. Worthington speaking of his Notes and Exercitations upon Josephus he saith In iis utor saepissime Lightfootii Talmudice Doctissimi quem si inter Philebraeorum familiam ducem dixero nihil certe dixero quod assurgat ultra meritum cruditissimi illius viri Quae de Templo dechorographia sacra in Matthaeum in Actus erudite feliciter Conscripsit diu est quod illa possideo iisque praeclaris operibus Bibliotheca mea superbit The other Testimony is that of the most Learned Professor of Basil the late Doctor John Buxtorf This great Man speaking of our Author in a Letter of his to Doctor Castell hath these words Ex horis ejus Talmudicis incepi illius doctrinam diligentiam valde amare Illae salivam mihi moverunt ut propediem ab ipso similia videre desiderem gustare Precor ipsi omnia laeta ac meritis ejus digna Again in a Letter of the same Professor to our Author dated at Basil Dec. 12. 1663. I find he expresses the highest esteem for him whose diligence and accuracy and dexterity in illustrating the Holy Scriptures he tells him he admires Rarae hae dotes hoc nostro saeculo in viris Theologis rari hujusmodi Scriptores c. as he goes on in that Letter too long to transcribe As no man can question the great Learning of our Author so he will appear to be very exemplary for his indefatigable diligence if we duly consider under what disadvantages he arrived to this great degree of knowledge He was young when he left Cambridge and a stranger to those Studies which he was afterward so deservedly famous for He went as an Usher into a Country School remote from the Books and helps which might assist him His hours were taken up with the care of Boys and his Head filled with their noise and importunities After this he entred into Orders but that did not advance him in Learning Besides he entred upon constant Preaching when he was very young After this he married a Wife and soon had the charge and burden of Children and the cares of the World to divert him from his Studies His worldly circumstances were not large and his family encreased and his work in Preaching was constant He was far from the help and the leisure which a life in the University would have given him But this brave Man surmounts all these difficulties and disadvantages He in his great Judgment saw that the Oriental Learning was worth his while that Chronology and other difficult pieces of knowledge would be of use to him and make him serviceable to others he was sensible of his defects and generously does this young Divine resolve to shake off all sloth and to make no excuses He knew very well
no small induction to him of the writing of this Epistle and sheweth the desperate danger of it Chap. 6. 4 5 c. and Chap. 10. 26 27 c. In which his touching of it we may see how far some had gone in the Gospel and yet so miserably far fallen from it as that some of them had had the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost and yet now sinned willingly and wilfully against it In describing their guilt one of his passages that he useth is but harshly applied by some Chap. 10. 29. Hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing when they say that this horrid Apostate wretch that treads Christ under foot was once sanctified by the blood of Christ whereas the words mean Christs being sanctified by the blood of the Covenant according to the same sense that Christ is said to be brought again from the dead by the blood of the Covenant in this same Epistle Chap. 13. 20. And the Apostle doth set forth the horrid impiety of accounting the blood of the Covenant a common thing by this because even the Son of God himself was sanctified by it or set apart as Mediator And so should I understand the words He hath trodden under-foot that Son of God and counted the blood of the Covenant by which he the Son of God was sanctified an unholy thing He magnifieth faith against those works that they stood upon and sought to be justified by and sheweth that this was the all in all with all the holy men both before the Law and under it When he gives them caution Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau c. Chap. 12. 16. he doth not only speak according to the common tenet of the Nation that Esau was a fornicator as see Targ. Jerus in Gen. 25. but he seemeth to have his eye upon the Nicolaitan doctrine that was now rise that taught fornication to which he seemeth also to refer in those words Chap. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable c. And now henceforward you have no more story of this Apostle what became of him after the writing of this Epistle it is impossible to find out by any light that the Scripture holdeth out in this matter The two last verses but one of this Epistle trace him as far forward as we can any way else see him and that is but a little way neither Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty with whom if he come shortly I will see you By which words these things may be conjectured 1. That after his inlargement out of bonds he left Rome and preached in Italy He mentioneth in his Epistle to the Romans his desire and intent to go preach in Spain Rom. 15. 24. but that was so long ago that he had now found some just cause so much time intervening to steer his course another way For 2. It appears that when he wrote this Epistle to the Hebrews he intended very shortly to set for Judea if so be he sent the Epistle to the Jews of Judea as hath been shewed most probable he did So that trace him in his intentions and hopes and you find him purposing to go to Philippi Phil. 2. 23 24. Nay yet further to Colosse Philem. ver 22. Nay yet further into Judea It is like that the Apostacy and wavering that he heard of in the Eastern Churches shewed him more need to hasten thither then to go westward 3. He waited a little to see whether Timothy now inlarged would come to him in that place of Italy where he now was which if he did he intended to bring him along with him but whether they met and travelled together or what further became of either of them we shall not go about to trace lest seeking after them we lose our selves CHRIST LXIII NERO. IX IT hath been observed before how probable it is that Albinus came into the Government of Judea in Festus room in this ninth year of Nero. And if so then was James the Apostle who was called James the less martyred this year Josephus gives the story of this Antiq. lib. 20. cap. 8. Caesar saith he understanding the death of Festus sendeth Albinus governour into Iudea And the King Agrippa put Ioseph from the High-priesthood and conferred it upon Ananus the son of Ananus Now this Ananus junior was extreme bold and daring and he was of the sect of the Saduces which in judging are most cruel of any of the Iews Ananus therefore being such a one and thinking he had got a sit opportunity because Festus was dead and Albinus was not yet come he gets together a Council and bringing before it Iames the brother of Iesus who was called Christ and some others as transgressors he delivered them up to be stoned But those in the City that were more moderate and best skilled in the Laws took this ill and sent to the King privately beseeching him to charge Ananus that he should do so no more And some of them met Albinus as he came from Alexandria and shewed him how it was not lawful for Ananus to call a Council without his consent Whereupon he writeth a threatning Letter to Ananus And King Agrippa for this fact put him from the Highpriesthood when he had held it but three months and placed Iesus the son of Damneas in his room THE EPISTLE OF JAMES Although therefore the certain time of his writing this Epistle cannot be discovered yet since he died in the year that we are upon we may not unproperly look upon it as written not very long before his death And that the rather because by an expression or two he intimates the vengeance of Jerusalem drawing very near Chap. 5. 8 9. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh and Behold the Judge standeth before the door He being the Apostle residentiary of the Circumcision in Judea could not but of all others be chiefly in the eyes of those that maliced the Gospel there and the Ministers of it So it could not but be in his eye to observe those tokens growing on apace that his Master had spoken of as the forerunners and forewarners of that destruction coming False Prophets Iniquity abounding Love waxing cold betraying and undoing one another that he could not but very surely conclude that the Judge and judgment was not far from the door Among other things that our Saviour foretelleth should precede that destruction this was one Matth. 24. 14. This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all Nations and then shall the end come And so did the Gospel reach all the twelve Tribes as well as other Nations even the ten Tribes as well as the other two Therefore James a Minister of the Circumcision doth properly direct this Epistle to all the twelve Tribes scattered abroad The whole Nation was at this time some at the
ãâã The Emperour commanded them to dig up the whole City and the Temple And a little after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Thus those that digged it up laid all level that it should never be inhabited to be a witness to such as should come thither VERS III. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the World WHAT the Apostles intended by these words is more clearly conceived by considering the opinion of that people concerning the times of the Messias We will pick out this in a few words from Bab. Sanhedr d d d d d d Fol. 92. The Tradition of the School of Elias The righteous whom the Holy Blessed God will raise up from the dead shall not return again to their dust as it is said Whosoever shall be left in Sion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy every one being written in the book of life As the Holy God liveth for ever so they also shall live for ever But if it be objected what shall the righteous do in those years in which the Holy God will renew his world as it is said The Lord only shall be exalted in that day The answer is That God will give them wings like an Eagle and they shall swim or float upon the face of the waters Where the Gloss saith thus The righteous whom the Lord shall raise from the dead in the days of the Messiah when they are restored to life shall not again return to their dust neither in the daies of the Messiah nor in the following age but their flesh shall remain upon them till they return and live ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To eternity And in those years when God shall renew his world or age ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This world shall be wasted for a thousand years where then shall those righteous men be in those years when they shall not be buried in the earth To this you may also lay that very common phrase ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The worlds to come whereby is signified the days of the Messiah of which we spoke a little at the thirty second verse of the twelfth Chapter e e e e e e Gloss in Bab. ãâ¦ã fol. 9. 2. If he shall obtain the favour to see the world to come that is the exaltation of Israel namely in the days of the Messiah f f f f f f âanââum fol. ãâ¦ã The Holy blessed God saith to Israel In this world you are afraid of trasgressions but in the world to come when there shall be no evil affection you shall be concerned only for the good which is laid up for you as it is said After this the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their King c. g g g g g g Hos. III 5. which clearly relate to the times of the Messiah Again h h h h h h Tanchum fol. 77. 3. Saith the Holy Blessed God to Israel In this world because my messengers sent to spy out the land were flesh and blood I decreed that they should not enter into the land but in the world to come I suddenly send to you my messenger and he shall prepare the way before my face i i i i i i Mal. III. â See here the Doctrine of the Jews concerning the coming of the Messiah 1. That at that time there shall be a Resurrection of the just ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Messias shall raise up those that sleep in the dust k k k k k k Midr. Tillin fol. 42. 1. 2. Then shall follow the desolation of this World ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This World shall be wasted a thousand years Not that they imagined that a Chaos or confusion of all things should last the thousand years but that this World should end and a new one be introduced in that thousand years 3. After which ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Eternity should succeed From hence we easily understand the meaning of this question of the Disciples 1. They know and own the present Messiah and yet they ask what shall be the signs of his coming 2. But they do not ask the signs of his coming as we believe of it at the last day to judge both the quick and the dead But 3. When he will come in the evidence and demonstration of the Messiah raising up the dead and ending this World and introducing a new as they had been taught in their Schools concerning his coming VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nation shall rise against Nation BEsides the seditions of the Jews made horridly bloody with their mutual slaughter and other storms of War in the Roman Empire from strangers the commotions of Otho and Vitellius are particularly memorable and those of Vitellius and Vespasian whereby not only the whole Empire was shaken and Totius orbis mutatione fortuna Imperii translit they are the words of Tacitus the fortune of the Empire changed with the change of the whole World but in Rome it self being made the scene of battel and the prey of the Soldiers and the Capitol it self being reduced to ashes Such throws the Empire suffered now bringing forth Vespasian to the Throne the scourge and vengeance of God upon the Jews VERS IX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted TO this relate those words of Peter l l l l l l 1 Pet. IV. 17. The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God that is the time foretold by our Saviour is now at hand in which we are to be delivered up to persecution c. These words denote that persecution which the Jews now near their ruine stirred up almost every where against the professors of the Gospel They had indeed oppressed them hitherto on all sides as far as they could with slanders rapines whippings stripes c. which these and such like places testifie 1 Thes. II. 14 15. Heb. X. 33 c. But there was something that put a rub in their way that as yet they could not proceed to the utmost cuelty m m m m m m 2 Thes. II. 6. And now ye know what withholdeth which I suppose is to be understood of Claudius enraged at and curbing in the Jews n n n n n n Act. XVIII 2 Who being taken out of the way and Nero after his first five years suffering all things to be turned topside turvy the Jews now breathing their last and Satan therefore breathing his last effects in them because their time was short they broke out into slaughter beyond measure and into a most bloody persecution which I wonder is not set in the front of the ten persecutions by Ecclesiastical writers This is called by Peter who himself also at last suffered in it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã o o o o o o 1 Pet.
the very first day of the month as is more probable The reason therefore why the story of the institution of it is laid after this plague is because the Holy Ghost would handle that matter of the Passover all at once and though the command for it and the observation of it fell at some days distance yet hath he brought both together and handled the story of its institution at that time when fell out the story of its observation namely on the fourteenth day CHAP. X. from Vers. 21. to the end And XI all And XII from Vers. 21. to the end THE plague of Darkness for three days In it the Egyptians saw the apparition of Devils and evil Spirits and in the time of this Darkness the Israelites are circumcised Moses on the Passover day morning giveth warning to Pharaoh of the death of the first-born on the fourteenth day in the morning he giveth charge for preparation of the Passover against even which is accordingly done and the Passover kept At midnight all the first-born of Egypt are slain and Israel even driven out by the Egyptians CHAP. XIII XIV XV. XVI XVII World 2514 Moses 81 Redemption from Egypt 1 THE command for observing the Passover renewed and a command for dedicating the first-born given The cloud of glory is their conductor their march was measured by these times On the fifteenth day of Nisan even while it was yet night they began their march and go out in the sight of all Egypt while they are burying their dead this day they go from Rameses to Succoth The sixteenth day they come to the edge of the wilderness of Etham the Red-sea pointeth so into this wilderness that before they pass through the Red-sea they are in the wilderness of Etham and when they are passed through they are in it again The wilderness of Etham and Shur are one and the same see Numb 33. 7 8. and compare Exod. 15. 22. On the seventeenth day they come to Hiroth On the eighteenth day it is told Pharaoh that the people fled for till their third days march they went right for Horeb according as they had desired to go three days journey to sacrifice but when they turned out of that way toward the Red-sea then Pharaoh hath intelligence that they intended to go some whither else then whither they asked to go thereupon he and Egypt prepair to pursue them for their Jewels and their Servants On the nineteenth day they pursue On the twentieth day towards even they overtake them and Israel entereth the Sea and by break of day are all marched through and the Egyptians drowned On the one and twentieth day of the moneth in the morning betime they came out of the Sea this was the last holy day of the Passover week they sung for their delivery and after three days march they come to Marah and from thence to Elim and there they pitch divers days On the fifteenth day of the month Ijar they come to the wilderness of Zin murmur for bread as they had done at Marah for water and they have Quails sent them and Manna The Sabbath now first mentioned but not now first commanded in Egypt they had neglected the Sabbath since their coming thence they had marched on it now a rule is given for its constant observation The people murmur a fourth time and it is for water which they obtain out of the rock but are scourged by Amalek for their repining Amalek conquered by Moses his prayer CHAP. XIX THE eighteenth Chapter that containeth the story of Jethro is anticipated and is to be taken in at the tenth of Numbers betwixt the tenth and eleventh Verses and the reason of this dislocation and proof of the order shall be shewed there On the first day of Sivan Israel cometh to Sinai On the second day Moses called by the Lord goeth up into the Mount talketh with God and when he cometh down relateth the words of the Lord unto the people On the third day he goeth up and relateth the peoples answer unto God On the fourth and fifth day he sanctifieth the people and boundeth the mountain CHAP. XX. XXI XXII XXIII XXIV World 2514 Moses 81 Redemption from Egypt 1 ON the sixth day of the moneth Sivan in the morning the Ten Commandments are given by Christ with such terror that the people are not able to abide it but desire Moses to be a Mediator he drawing near to God in the thick darkness receiveth seven and fifty Precepts Ceremonial and Judicial which when he cometh down from the Mount he telleth the people of and writeth in a book On the next day which was the seventh day of the month Sivan in the morning he buildeth an altar to represent Christ and setteth up twelve pillars to represent the twelve Tribes and with blood besprinkled upon both he bringeth the people into covenant with God after the making of which covenant the elders of Israel that before might not come near the Lord now see him and eat and drink before him and he layeth not his avenging hand on them And from among them he calleth Moses up into the Mount to himself and he goeth up and from hence he beginneth his forty days fast which upon occasions he doubleth yea trebleth and concludeth his third or last fast on that day which was from thence forward ordained the day of expiation CHAP. XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX XXXI WHile Moses is in the Mount with God he sheweth him a Tabernacle pitched with all the utensils of it and a Priest arrayed in all his habiliments and giveth him charge and instructions to make another according to that pattern and appointeth Bezaleel and Aholiah for chief work-men CHAP. XXXII XXXIII XXXIV MOses on the seventeenth day of the month Tammuz cometh down from the Mount and findeth a golden Calf breaketh it and breaketh the two Tables for whereas God had given him the two Tables written at the end of his first forty days fast Moses brake those Tables at the sight of the golden Calf to shew that Israel had made themselves unworthy of so great a Jewel and whereas the Lord had given him a pattern and a command for the making and setting up of a Tabernacle and the service of it that benefit is also forfeited by their calvish Idolatry and neither Tables restored nor Tabernacle to be made till Moses by long and earnest prayer had made Israels peace Moses having destroyed the golden calf and slain the Idolaters returns the next day to God by prayer but is returned back the same day with a sad message whereupon Israel is humbled the tent of Moses which hitherto had been in stead of a Tabernacle is removed out of the unclean camp and then the cloud of glory which had been taken away because of Idolatry is restored The next day Moses goeth up to the Mount again and falleth into a second forty days fast and as in his first forty days fast he
in its proper place and order cometh in the story of Jethro contained in the eighteenth of Exodus as may be evidenced by these observations First That that story lieth not in its proper place in the Book of Exodus may be concluded upon these two or three reasons first because there it is said Jethro took burnt-offerings and sacrifices for God ver 12. Now as the story lieth there the Law for burnt-offerings and sacrifices was not yet given 2. It is said that Moses sate to judge the people and made them know the Statutes of God and his Laws vers 13 16. Now as the story lieth there the Statutes and Laws are not as yet given to Moses and he himself knoweth them not 3. The chusing of Judges and Elders which was upon Jethro's counsel was not till their departing from Sinai Deut. 1. 7 8. And now as the story of Jethro lieth in the book of Exodus they are not as yet come to Sinai therefore that that story is misplaced as it lieth there there is evidence sufficient There remaineth only to see why it is laid there out of its proper place and where is the proper place to lay it the former may be resolved upon by looking back upon the curse that God denounceth upon Amalek in the 17 Chapter I will put out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven And the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation ver 14 16. Now that the Holy Ghost might shew that Jethro who dwelt among the Amalekites 1 Sam. 15. 16. did not fall under this curse he bringeth in the story of his coming into Israel in the very next place after that curse is related not thereby to conclude strictly that his coming was at that very time assoon as the curse was denounced but to shew that he once came and so avoideth and escapeth that curse Now that the proper place of that story is this that we have mentioned may be evidenced by these particulars First that Moses himself telleth Deut. 1. 7. that their choice of Judges which was by Jethro's counsel instantly upon his coming was so near their departure from Sinai which is metioned Num. 10. ver 11. that the warning of their departure was given him before 2. That the murmuring of Aaron and Miriam against Zipporah Moses wife which in all probability was upon her first coming among them and their converse with her or instantly after is set after their departure from Sinai 3. That the departure of Hobab or Jethro from them at Sinai is joyned so near to the place where we suppose this story of his coming is to be laid as that but a few Verses come between and compair that story with the latter end of Exodus 18. and it will help to confirm this place to be the proper place of its order CHAP. X. from Vers. 11. to the end World 2515 Moses 82 Redemption from Egypt 2 THE Cloud is taken up on the twentieth day of the second month and the Camp removeth from Sinai to the wilderness of Paran three days journy In the 35 Verse of this Chapter the letter Nun is written the wrong way in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã when the Ark set forward and so is it also in the first Verse of the next Chapter in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they became as murtherers In the former is hinted as the Jews observe Gods gracious turning back towards the people in the latter the peoples ungracious turning away from God CHAP. XI AT their first incamping after Jethro's departure Moses findeth an occasion to chuse Judges and Elders to help to bear the burden with him and therefore the 24 25 26. Verses of Exodus 18. are to be reputed coincident with this time The Sanhedrin chosen by Moses and indued with the Spirit by God six of a Tribe made up the number and two over and these two were Eldad and Mâdad who were written for Elders but the lot cast them out that there might be but seventy yet did the Lord honour them with the Spirit of Prophecy CHAP. XII ZIpporah Moses wife called a Cushite for Arabia was the land of Cush for her sake Aaron and Miriam begin to rebel against Moses authority for which Miriam is struck with Leprosie but Aaron is not because he was the Judge of Leprosie and could not be tainted with it Their sin causeth the Cloud of glory to depart as the sin of the golden Calf had done before there Aaron had a hand in the sin also Moses vindicated by God himself It is said They removed from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran ver 16. that is they marched and pitched in that wilderness see Chap. 10. 12. CHAP. XIII THEY are now come not very far from the South-point of the land of Canaan compare Ver. 26. and Deut. 1. 2 19. and Moses at the desire of the people Deut. 1. 22. sendeth twelve men to spy the land Sethur the man for the Tribe of Asher ver 13. his name is in number 666. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 666. and in signification hidden or mystical it is toward the end of the year Stilo veteri when they search the land for grapes and figs are then ripe vers 20. CHAP. XIV THE decree and oath in Gods anger that they should not enter into his rest cometh forth and beginneth to seize upon some of them for the ten men that caused the people to murmur died by the plague as they were forty days in searching the land so the people must wander forty years ere they came to enjoy it that is eight and thirty years and an half to make up the year and half that had passed since their coming out of Egypt to be forty and in that time must all the men that were numbred at Sinai the Levites excepted be consumed in the wilderness and here is mans age cut short again as it had been at the Flood and building of Babel PSAL. XC UPON this sad decree of God against the people and upon his cutting short mans age Moses maketh the nintieth Psalm whose proper order is coincident with this story and there sadly sheweth how they were consumed by Gods anger for their impieties that now mans age is come to seventy or eighty years from those hundreds that men lived before c. CHAP. XV. XVI XVII XVIII XIX World 2516 Moses 83 Redemption from Egypt 3 THE place where the people murmured upon the return of the spies was Kadesh Barnea Numb 13. 26. 32. 8. Deut. 1. 19. This place was called Rithmah before Numb 33. 18. compared with Numb 12. 16. 13. 26. and it may be it was so called from the Juniper-trees that grew there as 1 Kings 19. 4. but now named Kadesh because the Lord was there sanctified upon the people as Chap. 20. 13. and Barnea or the wandering son because here was the decree made of their long
them to be humbled some for their fathers guilt some for their own and some for both and to acknowledge that their being alive till now and their liberty to enter into the Land was a free and a great mercy for their own and their fathers faults might justly have caused it to have been otherwise with them 2. They had imitated their fathers rebellion to the utmost in their murmuring at Kadesh at their last coming up thither and in the matter of Baal Peor and therefore he might very well personate them by their fathers when their fathers faults were so legible and easie to be seen in them 4. He reckoneth not their second journy to Kadesh by name but slips by it Chap. 2. 1 4. Nor mentions their long wanderings for seven and thirty years together between Kadesh and Kadesh but only under this expression We compassed mount Seir many days Chap. 2. 1. because in that rehearsal he mainly insisteth but upon these two heads Gods decree against them that had first murmured at Kadesh and how that was made good upon them and Gods promise of bringing their children into the land and how that was made good upon them therefore when he hath largely related both the decree and the promise he hastens to shew the accomplishment of both 5. In rehearsing the Ten Commandments he proposeth a reason of the Sabbaths ordaining differing from that in Exodus there it was because God rested on the seventh day here it is because of their delivery out of Egypt and so here it respecteth the Jewish Sabbath more properly there the Sabbath in its pure morality and perpetuity And here is a figure of what is now come to pass in our Sabbath celebrated in memorial of Redemption as well as of Creation In the fifth Commandment in this his rehearsal there is an addition or two more then there is in it in Exod. 20. and the letter Teth is brought in twice which in the twentieth of Exodus was only wanting of all the letters 6. In Chap. 10. ver 6. 7 8. there is a strange and remarkable transposition and a matter that affordeth a double scruple 1. In that after the mention of the golden Calf in Chap. 9. and of the renewing of the Tables Chap. 10. which occurred in the first year after their coming out of Egypt he bringeth in their departing from Beeroth to Mosera where Aaron died which was in the fortieth year after now the reason of this is because he would shew Gods reconciliation to Aaron and his reconciliation to the people to Aaron in that though he had deserved death suddenly with the rest of the people that died for the sin of the golden Calf yet the Lord had mercy on him and spared him and he died not till forty years after and to the people because that for all that transgression yet the Lord brought them through that wilderness to a land of rivers of waters But 2. there is yet a greater doubt lies in these words then this for in Numb 33. the peoples march is set down to be from Moseroth to Bene Jahaan ver 31. and here it is said to be from Beeroth of Bene Jaahan to Moseroth there it is said Aaron died at mount Hor but here it is said He died at Moseroth now there were World 2553 Moses 120 Redemption from Egypt 40 seven several incampings between Moseroth and mount Hor Numb 33. 31 32 c. Now the answer to this must arise from this consideration that in those stations mentioned Numb 33. From Moseroth to Bene Jaahan to Horhagidgad c. they were marching towards Kadesh before their fortieth year and so they went from Moseroth to Bene Jaahan But in these stations Deut. 10. 6. they are marching from Kadish in their fortieth year by some of that way that they came thither and so they must now go from Bene Jaahan to Moseroth And 2. how Moseroth and mount Hor Gudgodah and Horhagidgad were but the * * * As Horeb and Sinai were though they be counted two several incampings of Israel Exod. 17. 1 6. and 19. 1. compared same place and Country and how though Israel were now going back from Kadish yet hit in the very same journies that they went in when they were coming thither as to Gudgodah or Horhagidgad to Jotbathah or Jotbath requires a discourse Geographical by it self which is the next thing that was promised in the Preface to the first part of the Harmony of the Evangelists and with some part of that work by Gods permission and his good hand upon the Work-man shall come forth 7. It cannot pass the Eye of him that readeth the Text in the Original but he must observe it how in Chap. 29. ver 29. the Holy Ghost hath pointed one clause ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To us and to our Children belong the revealed things after an extraordinary and unparalleld manner to give warning against curiosity in prying into Gods secrets and that we should content our selves with his revealed will 8. Moses in blessing of the Tribes Chap. 33. nameth them not according to their seniority but in another order Reuben is set first though he had lost the birth-right to shew his repentance and that he died not * * * So the Chaldee renders ver 6. Let Reuben live and not die the second death the second death Simeon is omitted because of his cruelty to Sichem and Joseph and therefore he the fittest to be left out when there were twelve Tribes beside Judah is placed before Levi for the Kingdoms dignity above the Priest-hood Christ being promised a King of that Tribe Benjamin is set before Joseph for the dignity of Jerusalem above Samaria c. 9. The last Chapter of the Book was written by some other then Moses for it relateth his death and how he was buried by the Lord that is by Michael Jude 9. or Christ who was to bury Moses Ceremonies The Book of JOSHUA THIS Book containeth a history of the seventeen years of the rule of Joshua which though they be not expresly named by this sum in clear words yet are they to be collected to be so many from that gross sum of four hundred and eighty years from the delivery out of Egypt to the laying of the foundation of solomons Temple mentioned 1 Kings 6. 1. for the Scripture hath parcelled out that sum into these particulars forty years of the people in the wilderness two hundred ninety and nine years of the Judges forty years of Eli forty of Samuel and Saul forty of David and four of Solomon to the Temples founding in all four hundred sixty three and therefore the seventeen years that must make up the sum four hundred and eighty must needs be concluded to have been the time of the rule of Joshua CHAP. I. World 2554 Ioshua 1 JOSHUA of Joseph succeedeth Moses the seventh from Ephraim 1 Chron. 7. 25. and in him first appeared Josephs birth-right 1 Chron. 5. 1. and
Ephraims dignity Gen. 48. 10 He is called Jesus by the LXX and by the New Testament Acts 7. 45. Heb. 4. 8. a type of him that bringeth his people into eternal rest He is installed into the authority of Moses both to command the people and to work miracles and the Book of the Law put into his hand by Eleazer as the manner was at Coronations 2 Chron. 23. 11. He foreseeth the dividing of Jordan and gives charge to provide to march through it CHAP. II. RAhab an hostess of Jericho hath more faith then 600000 men of Israel that had seen the wonders in Egypt and the wilderness Two Spies that were sent out the sixth day of Nisan come out of Jericho again that night the seventh day they lie in the mountains and the eighth day they return to the Camp here are the three days just so counted as the three days of our Saviours burial CHAP. III. IV. ON the ninth day the people march along upon Jordans banks till they come over against Jericho The Ark leads the van for the Cloud of Glory which had been their conductor hitherto was taken away at Moses his death On the tenth day the Ark divided Jordan there are 4000 cubits dry land in the midst of Jordan between the two bodies of the armies that marched on either side of the Ark as it stood in the middest of the river the Ark pitcheth besides Adam Chap. 3. 16. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal. 78. 60. CHAP. V. THERE is a general circumcision now of the people as there had been at their coming out of Egypt and as God then closed the Egyptians in three days darkness that they could not stir so now he striketh the Canaanites with terrour that they dare not stir to hurt the people while they were fore Circumcision sealed the lease of the land of Canaan and therefore as soon as they set foot on it they must be circumcised the eleventh twelfth thirteenth days of Abib or Nisan are spent about this business and on the fourteenth day they kept the Passover and so are sensible of both their Sacraments at once It is now forty years to a day since they came out of Egypt Christ appeareth weaponed and is Lord General in the wars of Canaan CHAP. VI. JEricho strangely besieged incompassed seven days according to the seven generations since the land was promised counting from Abraham by Levi and Moses Israel marcheth on the Sabbath day by a special dispensation The walls of Jericho brought down by trumpets and a shout in figure of the subduing of the strong holds of Satan among the heathens by the power of the Gospel the spoil of the Town dedicated to the Lord as the first fruits of Canaan Rahab received as the first fruits of the Heathen she afterward marrieth Salmon a Prince of Judah Matth. 1. 5. Joshua adjureth Rahabs kindred for ever building Jericho again CHAP. VII World 2554 Ioshua 1 AChan by one fact maketh all Israel abominable the like thing not to be paralleld again The valley of Achor is now the dore of discomfiture and discontent in time to come it must be the dore of hope Hos. 2. 15. fulfilled to the very letter Joh. 4. CHAP. VIII AI taken and the spoil given to the souldiers and here they have the first seisure and possession of the Land for in the spoil of Jericho they had no part And then Joshua builded an Altar vers 30. and writeth the Law upon it and the blessings and the curses are pronounced and now it was full time for now had the Lord by the sweet of the spoil of Ai given the people a taste of his performance of his promise to give them that land and now it was seasonable on their part to engage themselves to him and to the keeping of the Law CHAP. IX X. XI XII XIII XIV Ioshua 2 A Great delusion of the Church by the colour of Antiquity the Gibeonites Ioshua 3 made Nechenims for the inferiour offices about the Sanctuary the Ioshua 4 Sun and Moon do obeisance to a son of Joseph as Gen. 37. 9. thereupon there Ioshua 5 is a miraculous day of three days long In seven years is the land conquered Ioshua 6 as Jericho had been seven days besieged that this was the date of Joshua's Ioshua 7 battles appeareth from the words of Caleb Chap. 14. 7 10. he was sent one of the Spies of the land in the second year of their coming out of Egypt and had lived five and forty years since viz. eight and thirty years in the wilderness and seven in Canaan CHAP. XV. XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX. XXI XXII XXIII XXIV Ioshua 8 JUdah the royal Tribe first seated the taking of Hebron and Kiriath Sepher Ioshua 9 are mentioned here by anticipation for these occurrences came Ioshua 10 not to pass till after Joshua's death because the Holy Ghost in describing of Ioshua 11 the inheritance of Judah would take special notice of the portion of Caleb Ioshua 12 who had adhered to the Lord. Then Ephraim and Manasseh seated the Ioshua 13 birth-right of Joseph is served next after the royalty of Judah The Tabernacle Ioshua 14 set up in a Town of the lot of Ephraim and the Town named Shiloh Ioshua 15 because of the peaceableness of the land at this time The Temple Ioshua 16 was afterward built at Salem which signifieth Peaceable also that in the lot of Benjamin this in the lot of Joseph both the sons of beloved Rachel The rest of the land divided Simeon though he were of the same standard with Reuben and Gad yet consenteth not with them to reside beyond Jordan but is mixed in his inheritance with the Tribe of Judah as Gen. 49. 7. The rest of the Tribes seated agreeable to the prediction of Jacob and Moses The taking of Laish or Leshem by the Danites is related here by anticipation for it was not done till after Joshua's death Judg. 18. 29. because the Text would give account of their whole inheritance together now it is speaking of it From this mention of an occurrence that befel after Joshua's death and the like about Hebron and Kiriath Sepher it may be concluded that Joshua wrote not this Book but Phineas rather Joshua himself is inheritanced last Three Cities of refuge appointed within Jordan one in Judea another in Samaria and the third in Galilee and three without Jordan in the three Tribes there Eight and forty Cities appointed for the Priests and Levites as so many Universities wherein they studied the Law It is not worth the labour to examine because it is past the ability to determine whether the two Tribes and an half returned to their own homes assoon as ever the land had rest from the wars which was in the seventh year or whether they stayed till the land was divided and the people settled which took up a long time more howsoever it was the two and twentieth Chapter that containeth that story is laid
upon this occasion from vers 24. of Chap. 22. to the end all the Prophesies that refer to his time and concern his person are also brought up together viz. Chap. 23. and 24. that the matters concerning him might be laid together in one place The 25 Chapter is dated by Jehoiakims fourth year yet laid before Chap. 26. 27. that bear the date of the beginning of his reign because it pointeth out the term and space of the Babylonian Captivity which was indeed the main subject of Jeremies Prophesie and therefore when in the preceding Chapters he had fore-told the captivity both to and of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin and in the five and twentieth he sets himself to fore-tel and measure out the space of the Captivity therefore these Chapters that handle that main and general head of his Prophesie are laid thus forward and together and then particular matters are laid after So that these 26 27 Chap. to ver 12. do joyn in proper current of time and Chronicle to vers 23. of Chap. 22. and the reason of the interposition of the other Chapters may be conceived of as hath been said In Chap. 26. Jeremy is in danger of his life by the Priests and false Prophets but acquitted by the Elders They alledge two contrary examples one of Hezekiah who piously submitted to Micahs Prophesie and troubled him not for it and the other of Jehoiakim who cursedly slew Urijah for Prophesying the truth the former they propose as a Copy to be followed and the other as a caution not to shed more Prophets blood in murdring Jeremy for too much was lately shed already in the murder of Urijah In Chap. 27. to vers 12. Jeremy is injoyned to make yokes and bonds to denote servitude and subjection to Babel but in the entry of the Chapter there is a visible difficulty for in the beginning of Jehoiakims reign Jeremy is commanded to make bonds and yokes and to send them to certain Kings by the messengers that came to Zedekiah King of Judah now how can Zedekiah be called King of Judah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim since Jehoiakim reigned eleven years and Jehoiachin three months before Zedekiah came to reign Answ. These things are to be understood to be spoken Prophetically concerning Zedekiah as well as concerning Nebuchad-nezzars sons for the Lord by the Prophet fore-tels that Nebuchad-nezzar should reign and his son and Grand-child after him and therefore must the Prophet presently make yokes and bonds and put them of his own neck in token of Judahs subjection which indeed begun in the very next year And he fore-tels withal that Zedekiah should reign and that divers Kings should send Messengers to him and by them should Jeremy send those yokes to those Kings c. World 3401 Division 372 Iehoiakim 3 The latter part of this third year of Jehoiakim is the beginning of Nebuchad-nezzars first year for his first year took up part of Jehoiakims third and part of his fourth this is apparent by comparing Dan. 1. 1. with Jerem. 25. 1. The fourth of Jehoiakim is indeed most commonly reckoned as Nebuchad-nezzars first but we shall observe hereafter that there are intimations sometimes in Scripture to teach us to understand that reckoning according to this account DANIEL 1. to vers 8. And 2 KING XXIV vers 1. 2 CHRON. XXXVI vers 6 7. World 3402 Division 373 Years of Captivity 1 Iehoiakim 4 IN this third year of Jehoiakim Nebuchad-nezzar besiegeth and taketh Jerusalem and Jehoiakim he putteth him in fetters to carry him to Babel but restoreth him again to the Throne as a tributary to the crown of Babel and so Jehoiakim becomes his servant three years Here begins the seventy years Captivity and the seventy years of the rule of Babel Jer. 25. 11 12. 29. 10. In this captivity were carried away Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah and now is that sad Prediction to Hezekiah fulfilled 2 King 20. 18. and that of Zephany Zeph. 1. 8. DAN 1. from vers 8. to 18. DANIEL and his three fellow Nobles now in Babel refuse the Court diet and betake themselves to an austerity of diet but once more to be paralleld in all the Scripture and that was in John the Babtist yet they come on and grow fresh and fat to shew that man liveth not by bread only c. JEREMY XXV IN this fourth year of Jehoiakim which was the first year of Nebuchad-nezzar vers 1. Jeremy prepareth a cup of indignation for Jerusalem and for all the Nations round about it and at last for Sheshach or Babylon it self JEREMY XLVI XLVIII XLIX to vers 34. JEREMY prophesieth against Pharaoh Necho and Egypt foretelling the overthrow of his Army at Carchemish which accordingly came to pass this year and then the Lord avengeth the death of good Josiah as vers 10. This Chapter though it fell under the time of Jehoiakim yet is it laid so far in the Book as after the story of Judahs going into captivity and into Egypt for a reason which shall be touched presently and so shall the method of Chap. 48. 49. be taken into consideration JEREMY XXXVI to vers 9. BARUCH writeth the Prophesie of Jeremy in a Book and readeth it in the Lords House on the solemn Fast day the tenth of Tizri probably in the fourth of Jehoiakim vers 1. This Chapter lieth after many Prophesies of the times of Zedekiah because he would lay the relation of historical things and particularly of Jeremies sufferings together In Chap. 36. is told that he was imprisoned in Jehoiakims time vers 5. and his Book burnt by that wicked King In Chap. 37. is told that he was imprisoned in Zedekiahs time vers 15. and in Chap. 38. how he is put into the dungeon JEREMY XLV A Message comes to Baruch from God upon his writing out of Jeremies Prophesie in the fourth of Jehoiakim The looking back upon Chap. 43. 44. and considering the tenour of them will give light and a reason for the placing of this Chapter and the next following so far in the Book though they are of so early a date in the reign of Jehoiakim Upon Johanans carrying the people into Egypt contrary to the express Word of God Jeremy denounceth sad things to the Jews now in Egypt and sure destruction to Egypt it self this in Chap. 43. from vers 9. c. and in Chap. 44. thorow out Then is laid the relation of the comfort and incouragment that Jeremy gave Baruch many years before the time of the other Prophesies Then Baruchs safety in Aegypt and in her miseries might be thence intimated and observed For thither had Johanan brought Baruch Chap. 43. 6. And the like juncture of Stories was observed at Exod. 18. where Jethroes coming to Israels Camp is storied instantly after the story of the curse passed upon Amalek to shew that he fell not under that curse though he lived in that Nation After the intertexture of this 42 Chapter
a good space of time So that this first Miracle of turning Water into Wine was about the middle of our November or little further The Jews marriages were fixed to certain days of the week For a Virgin was to be married on the fourth day of the week and a widow on the fifth Talm. in chetub cap. 1. The reason why is not pertinent to produce here Now if this marriage at Cana were of a Virgin and on the fourth day of the week or our Wednesday then Christs first shewing himself to John and his Disciples at Jordan was on the first day of the week afterward the Christian Sabbath These Marriage Feasts they held to be commanded and thereupon they have this Maxime It is not fit for the Scholars of the wise to eat at Feasts but only at the Feasts commanded as those of espousals and of marriages Maym. in Deah cap. 5. At the Passeover it is half a year since Christ was baptized and thenceforward he hath three years to live which John reckoneth by three Passeovers more viz. Joh. 5. 1. 6. 4. 18. 28. In this first half year he had gone through his forty days temptation had gathered some disciples and had perambulated Galilee At Jerusalem at the Passeover in the face of all the People he acted in the evidence of the great Prophet and purgeth his own Temple as Mal. 3. 1 3. doth many Miracles knoweth the false hearts of many and trusteth not himself with them He found in the Temple those that sold Oxen and Sheep ver 14. For some illustration to this passage take a Story in Tal. Jerus in Jom tobh fol. 61. col 3. One day Baba ben Bota came into the Temple Court and found it solitary or destitute that is not having any beasts there for sacrifice He saith Desolate be their houses who have desolated the house of our God What did he He sent and fetched in three thousand sheep of the sheep of Kedar and searched them whether they were without blemish and brought them into the mountain of the house or the utmost Court the place where Christ found Sheep and Oxen at this time and saith My brethren the house of Israel whosoever will bring a burnt-offering let him bring it whosoever will bring a peace-offering let him bring it Among other things that Jesus did for the purging of his Temple it is said He poured out the changers money and overthrew the Tables ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so again Matth. 21. 12. Maym. in Shekalim cap. 1. It is an affirmative Precept of the Law that every Israelite pay yearly half a sheckel yea even the poor that lives on alms is bound to this either begging so much money that he may give it or selling his coat to get so much Talm. in Shekalim cap. 1 c. On the first day of the month Adar proclamation was made about this half shekel that they should get it ready On the fifteenth day of that month the Collectors sat in every City for the receiving of it and as yet they forced none to pay But on the five and twentieth day they began to sit in the Temple this was some eighteen or nineteen days before the Passeover and then they forced men to pay and if any refused they distrained They sat with two Chests before them into the one of which they put the money of the present year and into the other the money that should have been paid the year before Every one must have half a shekel to pay for himself Therefore when he brought a shekel to change for two half shekels he was to pay ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some profit to the changer And when a shekel was brought for two there was a double profit to be paid for the change SECTION XIV JOHN Chap. III. All the Chapter Nicodemus The Disciples baptize in the Name of Iesus BEfore our Saviours departure from Jerusalem Nicodemus one of the Judges of the great Sanhedrin cometh to him and becometh his Disciple for we cannot so properly look for a Member of that great Council in any place as at Jerusalem He had observed in his Miracles the dawning of the days of Messias or the Kingdom of Heaven but having but gross and erronious apprehensions concerning the Kingdom of Heaven or of the state of those days as was the general mistake of the Nation he is rectified about that matter and is taught the great Doctrines of regeneration and believing in Christ Christ teaching regeneration by the Spirit and Water exalteth Baptism and closely calleth to Nicodemus to be baptized The Talmudick Records make mention of a Nicodemus in these times who had to do about waters to provide sufficient for the People to drink at the Festivals He is taught against the great misprision of the Nation that Messias should be a redeemer of the Gentiles as well as the Jews The Jews in their common language did title the Gentiles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Nations of the World The Earth they divided into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Land of Israel and out of the Land and the People they parted into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Israel and the Nations of the World The New Testament which follows their common Language exceeding much useth both these expressions very often whereby to signifie the Gentiles sometimes calling them those that are without and sometimes the world Nicodemus very readily understood the word in this common sense when Christ says God so loved the world that he gave his Son And he very well perceived that Christ contradicted in these his words their common and uncharitable error which held that the Messias should be a redeemer only to Israel and those Gentiles only that should be proselyted to their Judaisme but as for the rest of the Heathen he should confound and destroy them Examples of this their proud and uncharitableness might be produced by multitudes let these two or three suffice The Jerus Talm. in Taanith fol. 64. col 1. speaking of the coming of Messias saith and produceth these words Isa. 21. 12. The morning cometh and also the night It shall be the morning to Israel but night to the Nations of the world Midr. Till on Psal. 2. The threshing is come the straw they cast into the fire the chaff into the wind but preserve the wheat in the floor and every one that sees it takes it and kisses it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So the Nations of the world say the world was made for our sakes but Israel say to them Is it not written But the people shall be as the burning of the Lime-kilne but Israel in the time to come ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an expression whereby they commonly mean the times of the Messias shall be left only as it is said The Lord shall lead him alone and there shall be with him no strange god Baal turim on Num 24. 8. on those words He
horns as the Dragon whose deputed she is is pictured Chap. 12. 3. the horns crowned with power and the heads with blasphemies One of his heads had been wounded to death but his deadly wound was healed This seemeth to mean her Monarchical or Kingly power which was extinguisht with the Tarquins but revived in the Caesars and hereby is given intimation from whence to account the beginning of this fifth Monarchy namely from Romes beginning again to be Monarchical and we may well take a hint of this from Luke 2. where at the birth of Christ all the world is taxed by Caesar Augustus Not that Monarchical Government is therefore the worse because thus abused by Rome Heathen no more then Religion is the worse for being abused by Rome Papal Another Beast ariseth like this for power and cruelty but far beyond him in cousenage and delusion Rome Heathen dealt always openly and in down right terms of bloodiness professedly setting it self to destroy Religion But Rome Papal is a mystery of iniquity it goes to work by deceiving and carrying fair pretences therefore it is said that it spake as a Dragon but had horns like a Lamb. It revives the Tyranny of Rome Heathen and Imperial and none must thrive before it that will not bear its badge either some mark or its name or the number of its name which number was the number of a man and his number is six hundred and sixty six In Hebrew numerals Sethur the name of a man in Numb 13. 13. comes just to this number and which being interpreted signifies Hidden or Mystery the very inscription of Rome it self Chap. 17. 5. In Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fits it which is the old name of the Roman And in Gencalogical Arithmetick the number of Adonikams family suits with it Ezra 5. 13. which mans name signifies A Lord rising up REVEL CHAP. XIV THE warring 'twixt Michael and his Angels and the Dragon and his Angels and the Dragons making war with seed of the Woman Chap. 12. receiveth illustration in the thirteenth Chapter and in the beginning of this For in Chap. 13. he resigns his Power and Throne to the Beast Rome and makes him chief leader in his Wars and his Angels are men that receive his mark Here the Lamb upon mount Zion is Michael and his Angels and followers are marked with his Fathers Name in their foreheads as Chap. 7. And now as in the eighth ninth tenth and eleventh Chapters the relation is concerning those things that should be against the Church from henceforth the Prophesie is more especially of things that make for the Church and against her enemies As 1. The preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles ver 6 7. 2. The proclaiming of the ruin of the mystical Babylon proclaimed even from its first rising up a persecutor as Isaiah did Prophesie against the Eastern even before its tyrannical being 3. The Ministry of the Word giving caution against joyning with the Beast and his Image and the danger and damnation that should follow upon joyning with him and the torments described ver 9 10 11. Here the patience of the Saints tried ver 12. and John by a voice from Heaven commanded to write them blessed that die in the Lord from thenceforth ver 13. at once shewing the bitterness of the persecution caused by the Beast that even death should be desirable to deliver the Saints from the trouble and incouraging to stand out against the Beast and his Image even to the death These bitter dealings against the Church ripen the sins of the world ready for cutting down and thereupon Christ is described coming as against Egypt Isa. 19. 1. riding upon a cloud and with a sickle in his hand to reap the Earth As Joel 3. 13. betokening his vengeance against his enemies So the Earth is reaped Harvest and Vintage and all This is a general intimation of Gods judgment and vengeance which is more particularly handled in the pouring out of the Vials Chap. 16. It is observable that the word for reaping of the Earth comes out from the Temple yea though Christ have the sickle in his hand yet an Angel out of the Temple calls to him to reap and another Angel comes out of the Temple with a sickle and a third out of the Temple calls to him to reap As this may be understood to Doctrinal information that the cries and urgencies of the Church to Christ stir him up to avenge them on their enemies Luke 18. 7. so the expressions may be explained by allusive application The putting in of the first sickle to reap the first corn in Judea was by the word and warrant of the Priests and Rulers sitting in the Temple and they that were to reap when they were come to the corn put not in the sickle till the word was given Reap The manner and managing of this business viz. the reaping of the first sheaf is recorded and related by the Talmud Menachoth per. 10. and in Tosaphta ibid. These three men say they that were appointed by the Sanhedrin to reap went out into the valley of Kidron with a great company following them on the first day of the Passover week when now it grew towards evening with three sickles and three baskets One when they came to the place said to them On this Sabbath on this Sabbath on this Sabbath In this basket in this basket in this basket With this sickle with this sickle with this sickle Reap to whom the three answer Well well well I will reap The other says Reap then Then they reap c. Thus phrases taken from known customs do speak the plainer And so is the expression taken from common speech and opinion when it is said in ver 30. The wine-press was troden without the City and blood came out of the wine-press even to the horse bridles Here is treading a wine-press of blood as Christ treadeth in Edom Isa. 63. 1 3. Edom is the common name by which the Hebrew Writers call the Romans The wine-press was without the City alluding to the wine and oyl presses which were without Jerusalem at the foot of mount Olivet Blood came up to the horse bridles An hyperbole by which they expressed great slaughter and effusion of blood So Talm. Jerus in Taanith fol. 69. col 1. describing the woful slaughter that Hadrian made of the Jews at the destruction of the City Bitter saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The horses waded in blood up to the nostrils by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs Of that space and extent doth R. Menahem on gen fol. 60. reckon the largeness of the Land of Israel REVEL CHAP. XV. WHAT was spoken in general in the conclusion of the preceding Chapter concerning the treading of the Wine press of Gods wrath is here more particularly prosecuted in the story of the seven Vials At the beginning of which John again calls us to reflect upon the scheme of the Temple
The meaning of the whole let us take up in parts There are two main things here intended First To shew the ruine of the Kingdom of Satan and secondly The nature of the Kingdom of Christ. The Scripture speaks much of Christs Kingdom and his conquering Satan and his Saints reigning with him that common place is briefly handled here That Kingdom was to be especially among the Gentiles they called in unto the Gospel Now among the Gentiles had been Satans Kingdom most setled and potent but here Christ binds him and casts him into the bottomless pit that he should deceive no more as a great cheater and seducer cast into prison and this done by the coming in of the Gospel among them Then as for Christs Kingdom I saw Thrones saith John and they sate upon them c. ver 4. here is Christ and his inthroned and reigning But how do they reign with him Here John faceth the foolish opinion of the Jews of their reigning with the Messias in an earthly pomp and shews that the matter is of a far different tenour that they that suffer with him shall reign with him they that stick to him witness for him dye for him these shall sit inthroned with him And he nameth beheading only of all kinds of deaths as being the most common used both by Jews and Romans alike as we have observed before at Acts 12. out of Sanhedr per. 7. halac 3. And the first witness for Christ John the Baptist died this death He saith that such live and reign with Christ the thousand years not as if they were all raised from the dead at the beginning of the 1000 years and so reign all together with him those years out as is the conceit of some as absolute Judaism as any is for matter of Opinion but that this must be expected to be the garb of Christs Kingdom all along suffering and standing out against sin and the mark of the Beast and the like whereas they held it to be a thousand years of earthly bravery and pompousness But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first resurrection Not that they lived again when the thousand years were finished but it means that they lived not in this time which was the time of living when Satan was bound and truth and life came into the world The Gentiles before the Gospel came among them were dead in Scripture phrase very copiously Ephes. 2. 1 2. 4. 18. c. but that revived them Joh. 5. 25. This is the first resurrection in and to Christs Kingdom the second is spoken of at the twelfth verse of this Chapter that we are upon Paul useth the same expression to signifie the same thing namely a raising from darkness and sin by the power of the Gospel Rom. 11. 15. Now when this quickning came among the Gentiles Satan going down and Christs Kingdom advanced and the Gospel bringing in life and light as Joh. 1. 4. those that did not come and stick close to Christ and bear witness to him but closed with the mark of the Beast sin and sinful men these were dead still and lived not again till the thousand years were finished that is while they lasted though that were a time of receiving life Blessed therefore and holy are they that have part in this first resurrection for on them the second death hath no power ver 6. The second death is a phrase used by the Jews Onkelos renders Deut. 33. 6. thus Let Reuben live and not die the second death And Jonathan Isa. 65. 6. thus Behold it is written before me I will not grant them long life but I will pay them vengeance for their sins and deliver their carcases to the second death And ver 15. The Lord will slay them with the second death Observe in the Prophet that these verses speak of the ruine and rejection of the Jews now a cursed people and given up to the second death and in Chapter 66. vers 29 30 31. is told how the Lord would send and gather the Gentiles to be his people and would make them his Priests and Levites And then see how fitly this verse answers those In stead of these cursed people these are blessed and holy and might not see the second death and Christ makes them Priests to himself and his Father In this passage of John scorn is put again upon the Jews wild interpretâââân of the resurrection in Ezekiel They take it litterally think some dead were really raised out of their graves came into the Land of Israel begat children and died a second time Nay they stick not to tell who these men were and who were their children Talm. Babyl in Sanhedr ubi supra After the thousand years are expired Satan is let loose again and falls to his old trade of the deceiving the Nations again ver 8. Zohar fol. 72. col 286. hath this saying It is a tradition that in the day when judgment is upon the world and the holy blessed God sits upon the Throne of judgment then it is found that Satan that deceives high and low he is found destroying the world and taking away souls When the Papacy began then Heathenism came over the world again and Satan as loose and deceiving as ever then Idolatry blindness deluding oracularities and miracles as fresh and plenteous as before from the rising of the Gospel among the Gentiles these had been beating down and Satan fettered and imprisoned deeper and deeper every day and though his agent Rome bestird it self hard to hold up his Kingdom by the horrid persecutions it raised yet still the Gospel prevailed and laid all flat But when the Papacy came then he was loose again and his cheatings prevailed and the world became again no better then Heathen And if you should take the thousand years fixedly and literally and begin to count either from the beginning of the Gospel in the preaching of John or of Peter to Cornelius the first inlet to the Gentiles or of Paul and Barnabas their being sent among them the expiring of them will be in the very depth of Popery especially begin them from the fall of Jerusalem where the date of the Gentiles more peculiarly begins and they will end upon the times of Pope Hildebrand when if the Devil were not let loose when was he He calls the enemies of the Church especially Antichrist Gog and Magog the title of the Syrogrecian Monarchy the great persecutor Ezek. 38. 39. Pliny mentions a place in Caelosyria that retained the name Magog lib. 5. cap. 23. So that John from old stories and copies of great troubles transcribeth new using known terms from Scripture and from the Jews language and notions that he might the better be understood So that this Chapter containeth a brief of all the times from the rising of the Gospel among the Gentiles to the end of the world under these two sums first the beating
of the work of the Masorites for this purpose who altered not added not invented not a tittle but carfully took account of every thing as they found it and so recorded it to posterity that nothing could be changed We shall only bring in their own expositions which will attest to this truth to both those words that our Saviour hath ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is little to be doubted that Christ speaking in their language meaneth the letter Jod which is far the least of all their letters And about this letter the Jerusalem Talmud hath this passage Sanhedr fo 20. col 3. The book of Mishneh Torah Deuteronomy came and prostrated it self before God and said unto him O Lord everlasting Thou hast written thy Law in me A Testament that fails in part fails in the whole Behold Solomon seeks to root Jod out of me viz. in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He shall not multiply wives The Holy blessed God saith to it Solomon and a thousand such as he shall fail but a word of thee shall not fail R. Houna in the name of R. Acha said The Jod that the blessed God took from the name of our mother Sarah was given half of it to Sarah and half to Abraham There is a tradition of R. Hoshaiah Jod came and prostrated it self before God and said Lord everlasting thou hast rooted me out from the name of a righteous woman The holy blessed God saith to it Heretofore thou wast in the name of a woman and in the end of it Henceforward thou shalt be in the name of a man and in the beginning This is that which is written Moses called the name of Hoshea Jehoshua ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã one Tittle It most properly means those little Apiculi that distinguish betwixt letters that are very like one to another You may have the explanation of this in this pretty descant of Tanchuma fol. 1. It is written saith he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã You shall not prophane my holy Name He that makes the Cheth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a He ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã destroys the world for he makes this sense You shall not praise my holy Name It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord He that makes the He ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Cheth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã destroys the world for he brings it to this sense Let every thing that hath breath profane the Lord. It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They lyed to the Lord He that maketh Beth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Caph ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã destroyes the world for he maketh this sense They lyed like the Lord. It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There is none holy like the Lord. He that makes Caph ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Beth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã destroys the world for he maketh this sense There is no holiness in the Lord. It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Lord our God is one Lord. He that makes Daleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Resh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã destroys the world for he bringeth the sense to this The Lord our God is a strange God c. In Chagig fol. 77. col 3. they speak more of the letter Jod and so doth Midras Tillin in Psal. 114. In Deut. 32. 18. this little letter is written less then it self in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and yet preserved in that quantity and not altered and observed so by the Masorites 2. Yet could they not for all their care but have some false Copies go up and down amongst them through heedlesness or error of transcribers In Shabb. fol. 15. col 2. they are disputing how many faults may be in a part of the Bible and yet it lawful to read in The books of Hagiographa say they If there be two or three faults in every leaâ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He may mend it and read The Books of Hagiographa they read not in their Synagouges as they did the Law and the Prophets therefore this is to be understood of a mans private reading and of his own Bible which if faulty there were true Copies whereby he might mend it and so read Nay in Taanith fol. 68. col 1. there is mention of a faulty Copy that was laid up in the publick records They found three books in the Court of the Temple The book ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the book ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the book ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In one they found written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in two it was written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Deut. 33. 27. And they approved the two and refused the one In one they found written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in two it was written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Exod. 24. 5. They approved the two and refused the other In one they found written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in two it was written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They approved of the two and resused the other That alteration ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is the second mentioned the Babylonian Gemarists and Massecheth Sopherim per. 1. say was one of the thirteen alterations that the Septuagint made in the Law for Ptolomy King of Egypt Which seems to argue that as they translated the Bible into Greek in which they made thousands of alterations from the text so that they copied an Hebrew copy for him and in that made these and this that was found in the Court of the Temple a transcript of that Copy 3. In every Synagogue they had a true Copy And it was their care every where to have their Bible as purely authentick as possible as may be seen by the curious rules that are given to that purpose in Massecheth Sopherim newly cited and Megillah For this they accounted their treasure and their glory And in the reading of the Law and the Prophets in the Synagogue it was their great care that not a tittle should be read amiss and for this purpose the Minister stood over those that read and oversaw that they read aright and from this as Aruch tells us he was called Chazan that is Episcopus or Overseer In Jerus Sotha fol. 21. col 3. the Samaritans are blamed by the Jews for wilfully corrupting their own Pentateuch R. Eliezer ben R. Simeon said I said to the Scribes of the Samaritans You have falsified your Law and yet reap no advantage by it for you have written in your Law By the plain of Moreh which is Sichem And was it not manifest enough without that addition that it was Sichem But you construe not a pari as we do It is said here The plain of Moreh and it is said elsewhere The plain of Moreh there it is no other but Sichem no more must it be here The addition cavilled at which is Sichem is so in the Samaritan Pentateuch now extant at Deut. 11. 30. But amongst all the wickedness that Christ and his Apostles laid
coming unto her in visible appearance as Chapter 18. 14. At the time appointed I will return c. Or it may be taken in connexion to the sense of the Verses preceding That after the defect of Prophecy the dawning of that gift and after the darkness of the Doctrine of Salvation as it was in the Law the day-spring of it from an high came now to visit us in the brightness of the Gospel Vers. 80. And was in the deserts Of Ziph and Maon 1 Sam. 23. 14. 25. which were places not far from Hebron where John was born Josh. 15. 54 55. His education was not in the Schools at Jerusalem but in these plain Country Towns and Villages in the Wilderness Till the day of his shewing unto Israel That is when at thirty years of age he was to be brought to the Sanctuary service Numb 4. 3. to which he did not apply himself as the custom was but betook himself to another course SECTION VI. S. LUKE CHAP. II. CHRIST born published to the Shepherds rejoyced in by Angels circumcised presented in the Temple confessed by Simeon and Anna. AND it came to pass in those days that there went out a a a a a a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Greek in Dan. 6. 8 12. a decree from b b b b b b Câsar the common name of the Roman Emperors as Abimelech of the Philistims Kings Ols. 34. in tit and Pharaoh of the Egyptians from Julius the first Emperor who was of this name but the name Caesar was long before him see Plin. l. 7. cap. 9. Caesar Augustus that c c c c c c As Ezr. 1. 2. all the World should be taxed 2. And that taxing was first made when d d d d d d In the Roman Historians he is called Quirinus Cyrenius was Governor of Syria 3. And all went to be taxed every one into his own City 4. And Joseph also e e e e e e Taking a journy in Scripture be it whither soever it will is called indifferently a going up or going down as Numb 16. 12 14 Jer. 21. 2. Judg. 16. 18. Gen. 42. 3. Judg. 15. 8. 1 Sam. 26. 10. went up from Galilee out of the City of Nazareth into Judea unto the City of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the stock and linage of David 5. To be f f f f f f This word here and in vers 1. 3. hath various translations That they might be enrolled Syr. Arab. Rhem. That they might profess Vulg. Eras. That they might be taxed Erasm. again and our English All these laid together make up a compleat description of the manner of their taxing First They were taken notice of who were in every Town and City and were Inrolled upon their inrolling they professed subjection to the Roman State and upon this profession they payed some money at which they were assessed taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with Child 6. And so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered 7. And she brought forth her first-born Son and g g g g g g ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã See the Gr. in Job 38. 6. and Ezek. 16. 4. some deriving the word from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To reâd conceive that is meant that his swaddles were poor and ragged and that this is expressed as a particular of his abasement wrapped him in swadling cloaths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for him in the Inn. 8. And there were in the same Country Shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock h h h h h h Christ born by night for if he were born by day why should the revealing of it be forborn till night by night 9. And lo the Angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid 10. And the Angel said i i i i i i This message of the Angel as it was full of comforts so also was it of plainness according to the condition of the men to whom he spake Fear not for behold I bring you good tydings of great joy which shall be to all people 11. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you ye shall find the babe wrapped in swadling cloaths lying in a manger 13. And suddenly there was with the Angel k k k k k k Or the multitude a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God and saying 14. l l l l l l Or the good will of God towards men is glory to God in the Highest and peace on the earth Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace good will towards men 15. And it came to pass as the Angels were gone away from them into Heaven the m m m m m m It hath been held that these Shepherds were about the Tower of Edar Gen. 35. 21. and that this was about a mile from Bethlehem Shepherds said one to another Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us 16. And they came with hast and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger 17. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child 18. And all they that heard it wondred at those things which were told them by the Shepherds 19. But Mary kept all these things and pondred them in her heart 20. And the Shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them 21. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child his name was called Iesus which was so named of the Angel before he was conceived in the womb 22. And when the days of her purification n n n n n n Levit. 12. according to the Law of Moses were accomplished they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23. As it is written in the Law of the Lord o o o o o o Exod. 13. 1. every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. 24. And to offer a Sacrifice according to that which is said in the Law of the Lord p p p p p p Maries poverty in that her hand could not reach to a Lamb which was the proper offering that the Law required Levit. a pair of Turtle Doves and two young Pigeons 25. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and the same Man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and q q q q q q The spirit of Prophesie It had been long a stranger among
journying home-wards though they missed him the other in returning that journey to Jerusalem and on the third day they find him in the Temple where he had slipped from them in the croud when they came to do their farewel-Worship §. In the Temple sitting in the midst of the Doctors Compare Psal. 82. 1. Hag. 2. 7. Mal. 3. 1 2. The Sanhedrin or great Bench of Judges and Doctors sate in the Court of the Temple This R. Solomon observeth upon the conjuncture of the end of the twentieth and beginning of the one and twentieth Chapters of Exodus for whereas the twentieth ends with An Altar of Earth shalt thou make unto me c. and the one and twentieth begins with And these are the judgments his collection from hence is that the Judges were to sit in the Sanctuary And to the same purpose and far more largely speaketh Maimonides The Sanhedrin saith he sate in the Sanctuary and their number was seventy one as it is said Gather me seventy men of the Elders of Israel and Moses was over them as it is said and let them stand there with thee behold seventy one The chiefest in wisdom among them they made head over them and he was the head of the Bench and Wisemen constantly call him Nasi the Prince and he stands in stead of Moses And him that is chief among the LXX they appoint second to the head and he sits on his right hand and he is called Ab beth Din or the Father of the Court and the rest of the LXX sit before them two according to their Dignity c. And they sit as it were in half the floor in a Circle that the Nasi and the Ab beth Din may see them all And they erected also two other Courts of Judges of twenty three men a piece one by the Gate of the Court and one by the Gate of the mountain of the house Maimond in Sanhedr per. 1. 5. That is one at the gate of the outer Court and another at the gate of the inner Now into which of these Societies our Saviour was got at this time it is something hard to determine since being in any of them he may be said to be in the Temple SECTION IX St. MATTHEW CHAP. III. The Ministry of John the Baptist the beginning of the Gospel Multitudes baptized IN those days came Iohn the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Iudea 2. And saying Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand 3. For this is he that was spoken of by the Prophet Esaias saying The voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths streight 4. And the same Iohn had his f f f f f f A rough garment the garb of a Prophet Zech. 13. 4 rayment of Camels hair and a leathern g g g g g g See Elias so arrayed 2 King 1. 8. girdle about his loins and his meat was h h h h h h A clean meat Liv. 11. 22. locusts and wild i i i i i i Honey abroad in the fields a Deut. 32. 13. Judg. 14. 8. 1 Sam. 14. 26. honey 5. Then went out to him Ierusalem and all Iudea and all the Region round about Jordan 6. And were baptized of him in Iordan confessing their sins 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduces come to his baptism he said unto them O generation of Uipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come 8. Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance 9. And think not to say within your selves We have Abraham to our Father For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up Children to Abraham 10. And now also l l l l l l The same word is used by the LXX Psal. 74. 6. Judg. 9. 48. 1 Sam. 13. 20. the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which the Syrian hath is used by the Chaldee Par. Joh. 14. 20. or in our English 29. v. is the ax laid unto the root of the trees Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen down and cast into the fire 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier then I whose shoos I am not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire 12. Whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire St. MARK CHAP. I. THE beginning of the Gospel of Iesus Christ the Son of God 2. As it is written in the Prophets Behold I send my Messengers before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee 3. The voice of one crying in the Wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths streight 4. Iohn did baptize in the Wilderness and preach the Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins 5. And there went out unto him all the land of Iudea and they of Ierusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Iordan confessing their sins 6. And Iohn was clothed with Camels hair and with a girdle of skin about his loins and he did eat locusts and wild honey 7. And preached saying There cometh one mightier then I after me the latchet of whose shoos I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose 8. I indeed have baptized you with water but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost St. LUKE CHAP. III. NOW in the fifteenth year of Tiberius a a a a a a Called Claudius Tiberius Nero and for his vitiousness and intemperance Claudius Bibârius Mero Suât in Ti. c. 42. Caesar b b b b b b Pontius was a common prânomen among the Romans as Pontius Nigrinus Dion lib. 58. Pontius Fregellanus Tac. an l. 6 Pontia Id. ib. lib. 13. derived belike a ponte Pontius c c c c c c A Pilo a Roman weapon or pila a pillar Pilate being Governour of Iudea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abylene 2. d d d d d d In Josephus called Ananus Annas and Caiaphas being the High Priests the word of God came unto Iohn the Son of Zacharias in the wilderness 3. And he came into all the Country about Iordan preaching the Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins 4. As it is written in the Book of the words of Esaias the Prophet saying e e e e e e Not Christ the crier and John his voice as some would understand it but John the crier and his voice his preaching The voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths streight 5. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought
far from this kind slay my two sons that is slay two of my sons for Reuben had four sons at this time Gen. 46. 9. these stones be made bread 4. But he answered and said It is written man shall not live by bread alone but by h h h h h h In the Hebr. in Deut. 8. 3. from whence these words are quoted it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã By every thing that cometh out of the mouth without any determinate naming of a word but the Chaldee and the Seventy have rendred it by every word that proceedeth or cometh forth and Matthew useth the very words of the Septuagint Luke gives the sense of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã rather than the very construction or translation of the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is Gods promise Psal. 89. 34. every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God 5. Then the Devil taketh him up into the i i i i i i The holy City was the common and ordinary name of Jerusalem as Esay 48. 2. 52. 1. Dan. 9. 27. Nehem. 11. 1. Matth. 27. 53. c. yea even when it was full of all abomination and corruption yea even when the story is relating that it is crucifying Christ as in the place last cited yet is it so called in regard of Gods presence and his worship which he had placed there Separists might do well to meditate a little upon this consideration The shekel of Israel had an inscription on the one side of it carrying this same title though not in the very same words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jerusalem the holy The Turks own the place by the same name and title at this day and the Papist in the same notion and nature But when that worship and religion and presence of God in them which he himself had planted there was removed then was Jerusalem no more holy than other places nay more accursed for their other abominations and especially for crucifying the Lord of Life And the Lord buildeth up for himself a new holy City a new Jerusalem when the old one is destroyed namely a spiritual building a City not made with hands a Church under the Gospel when that under the Law had undone themselves Rev. 21. 2. c. holy City and setteth him on a k k k k k k ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this is understood variously but it seemeth to mean the battlements of the Temple wherewithal it was ledged round about as Deut. 22. 8. called there ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an hedge or inclosure as R. Sol. renders it the Chaldee expresseth it by the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a case The Seventy by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Crown The Vulgar and Erasmus use Pinnaculum here as our English doth meaning some spire or broach that shot up from the roof Camerarius indifferently takes it for the top or highest part of the Temple be it pinnacle battlement spire fane or what else it would The Priests used to go to the top of the Temple Talm. in Taanith R. Sol. on Esay 22. 1. pinnacle of the Temple 6. And saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up left at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone 7. Iesus saith unto him It is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God 8. Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them 9. And saith unto him l l l l l l This helpeth to construe the phrase in Luke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that it is to be taken for the Realms and Kingdoms themselves which Satan shewed him rather than for the dominion and rule over those Realms For that expression which Matthew useth All the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them of which Satan saith All these things will I give thee Luke uttereth it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship o o o o o o The two Evangelists expressions laid together may make this useful result and observation That if to worship before the Devil be to worship the Devil for whereas Matthew saith if thou worship me Luke expresseth it if thou worship before me sure to worship before an Image is to worship an Image whatsoever evasion Popery would make to the contrary or else let it shew a reason of the difference me 10. Then saith Iesus unto him Get thee hence Satan for it is written p p p p p p In the Hebrew in Deut. 6. 13. 10. 20. from whence this citation is taken it is 1. Thou shalt fear the Lord which the Evangelist renders thou shalt worship 2. The word only in the second clause is not extant But first our Saviour applies the Text close to the present occasion for the Devil had perswaded him to worship him and he retorts the Scripture so as to face the temptation most directly and since the fearing of God contains and includes all mans duty towards God be it what it will whether in affection or action and whether in worship or in holy conversation our Saviour doth reduce it to such a particular as was most pertinent and agreeable to the thing in hand And so parallels might be shewed in great variety where one place of Scripture citing another it doth not retain the very words of the portion cited but doth sometime change the expression to fit the occasion as Matth. 2. 23. translates Netzer a branch in Esay 11. 1. A man of Nazareth And that which is sorrows in Esay 53. 4. he hath rendred sickness Matth. 8. 17. because he is there discoursing of Christs healing diseases And divers more of this nature will the Reader take up by his own observation so that it is needless to insist upon examples Secondly Although the word only be not in the Hebrew Text yet is it in the Septuagint in the place first cited and it is most ordinary for the Evangelists to follow that copy And that translation hath warrantably added it seeing as Beza well observeth so much is included in the emphatical particle him and is also understood by comparing other places Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve 11. Then the Devil leaveth him and behold Angels came and ministred unto him St. MARK CHAP. I. AND immediately the Spirit a a a a a a Each Evangelist hath his peculiar expression and each expression its peculiar meaning though some Translators do not much mind their differences as the Syriack that useth the same word in Matthew and Luke and the Arabick the same in Matthew and Mark only either of them take it actively in the one and passively in the other 1. Luke saith
Devil said unto him All this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it 7. If thou therefore wilt worship me all shall be thine 8. And Jesus answered and said Get thee behind me Satan for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve 9. And he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the Temple and said unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down from hence 10. For it is written m m m m m m The Chaldee Paraphrast on the 91 Psalm out of which this allegation is produced applieth the promises made there to Solomon but Aben-Ezra to the days of the Messias He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee 11. And in their hands they shall bear thee up left at any time n n n n n n This phrase seemeth to allude to Balaams miscarriage in his way Numb 22. 25. Now the Devil in this quotation from the Psalm doth visibly and palpably play legerdemain two ways In the allegation it self he omitteth this clause To keep thee in all thy ways For such an action as he was now tempting our Saviour to namely to tempt the Lord was none of the ways of Christ. And secondly his allegation reacheth not to take in the words that next follow Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and Adder c. for those directly prophesie of Satans own ruine and treading down and he cannot find in heart to meddle with them thou dash thy foot against a stone 12. And Jesus answering said unto him it is said Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God 13. And when the Devil had ended all the temptation he departed from him for a season Reason of the Order THE juncture and connexion of the two stories of Christs baptism and of his temptation and the speedy succeeding of the one to the other is so clear and manifest in all the Evangelists that it were but loss of time to go about to prove or confirm it especially since Mark hath tied them so close together with the word immediately that it is impossible to put them asunder But it is a difficulty that requireth some study and seriousness viz. how to reconcile the two Evangelists Matthew and Luke together in their relating of this story of the temptation they do so much differ in their order For whereas Matthew hath laid that temptation that was on the pinnacle of the Temple for the second temptation and that upon the high mountain for the last Luke hath laid that upon the mountain for the second and that upon the pinnacle for the third And in the laying down their Text I have suffered each to retain his own order and have not been so bold as to alter and transpose it Now for the reconciling of the difference and satisfying of the difficulty let these things be taken into consideration 1. That the order in which Matthew hath laid the temptation is the proper method and order in which they were done and acted And this is plain by those particles which he hath used to express the time which Luke hath not done as vers 5. Then the Devil taketh him and vers 8. Again the Devil taketh him which clearly methodize and rank the second temptation after the first and the third after the second 2. That Luke was not punctual in setting down the order since he saw Matthew had done it before but he changeth and inverteth it for special reason 3. The reason of his alteration may be conceived to be this He had in the Chapter and Section preceding laid the genealogy and proper pedegree of our Saviour at his baptism and had drawn his line up to Adam and this he did in reference to and in explanation of that part of the promise made to Adam The seed of the woman In this story of the temptations and of Christs victory over Satan in them he illustrateth the other part of the promise Shall break the head of the Serpent Now that he may the clearer explain that latter part concerning Christs breaking the Serpents head he doth not only shew how he conquered the Devil in his temptations as our first parents were conquered by him but he also giveth such a hint by this dislocation of the story that we might observe that these temptations were agreeable to the temptations by which we fell and that this second Adam overcame the Devil in such temptings as in which the first Adam was overcome Our mother Eve had been tempted of the Serpent by the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as 1 Joh. 2. 16. By the lust of the flesh for the woman saw that the tree was good for food by the lust of the eyes for she saw that it was pleasant to look upon and by the pride of life for she conceived that it was a tree to be desired to make one wise and she took of the fruit thereof and did eat Gen. 3. 6. Accordingly was our Saviour assaulted at this time by the same tempter 1. He would have tempted him to lust of the flesh when perceiving him hungry he moveth him to turn stones into bread 2. To lust of the eyes when he shewed and offered to him the glory and pomp of all the Kingdoms of the Earth And 3. to pride of life when he would perswade him from the ordinary way of coming down from the top of the Temple but would have him to cast himself headlong presuming upon a promise The order laid down by Luke is so point-blank correspondent to the order of those first temptations that we may well conceive that the reason of his ranking these in this method is that the Reader might compare and consider the one from the other 4. Now the reason why the Devil did not tempt our Saviour in the very same order and method that he tempted our first parents is very difficult to determine But this is plain to observe that he tempted him first to works of power to make stones bread and to fly in the air and when in these he could not prevail then he tempted him to a work of sinful weakness viz. to adore the Devil such is the impudency of the Devil as even to cross himself in the tenor of his temptations and if he cannot speed in one to take up another clean contrary to it rather than to âail and to go away without speeding in what he desireth if it may be done Harmony and Explanation OUR Saviour being installed into his function of the Ministry by baptism and by the the unction of the Holy Ghost as the Priests under the Law were into their office by washing and anointing Lev. 8. 6 12. he beginneth now to act no more as a private man but as the great High Priest the Redeemer the Messias and
3. 15. Vers. 21. Art thou Elias When he hath resolved them that he is not the Messias they presently question whether he be not Elias Messias his fore-runner for their expectation was of the fore-runners bodily coming as well as of Christs Their opinions concerning Elias his first coming and who he was then and of his latter coming and what they look for from him then it is not impertinent to take up a little in their words and Authors Some of our Rabbins of happy memory saith Levi Gershom have held that Elias was Phinehas and this they have held because they found some correspondency betwixt them And behold it is written in the Law that the blessed God gave him his covenant of peace And the Prophet saith My Covenant was with him of life and peace And by this it seemeth that God gave to Phinehas length of days to admiration And behold we find that he was Priest in the days of the Concubine at Gibeah and in the days of David we find it written And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them of old and the Lord was with him 1 Chron. 9. 20. And he was the Angel that appeared to Gedeon and to Jephthah and the Spirit of the Lord carried him like an Angel as we find also of Elias And for this it is said They shall seek the Law at his mouth for he is the Angel of the Lord and for this cause also he saith Before time and the Lord was with him And behold we find Elias himself saying unto the Lord Take now my life from me for I am no better than my fathers meaning that it was not for him to live always in this world but a certain space after the way of the earth for he was no better than his fathers We find also that he died not after he was taken away from the head of Elisha for there came afterward a writing of Elias to Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat as it is mentioned in the book of Chronicles Thus Ralbag on 1 King 17. And thus the Jews hold Phinehas and Elias to have been but one and the same man And what they held concerning Elias his singular eminency for Prophesie whilst he lived it appeareth by R. Samuel Lanjado in his Comment on 2 King 2. Elias saith he was so indued with Prophesie that many of the children of the Prophets prophesied by his means Our wise men of happy memory say Whilst Elias was not laid up the Holy Ghost was in Israel as it is said the children of the Prophets that were at Bethel said to Elisha To day God will take thy Master from thy head they went and stood afar off and they passed over Jordan It may be because they were but a few the sense telleth that there were fifty men of the sons of the Prophets It may be they were private men The text saith Thy Master It is not said our Master but thy Master shewing that they were wise men like Elias When Elias was taken up ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã treasured up the Holy Ghost departed from them as it is said And they said Behold there is with thy servants fifty men men of strength let them go and seek thy Master c. And concerning the departure of Elias and his estate after the same Author giveth the opinion of his Nation a little after in these words I believe the words of our wise men of happy memory That Elias was taken away in a whirlewind in the Heaven that is in the air and the Spirit took him to the earthly paradise and there he abideth in body and soul therefore they say that Elias died not and they say moreover that he went not into the firmament And they say that some have seen him in the School ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And that he shall come before the great and terrible day of the Lord come Now his coming before the day of the Lord they hold to be twofold one invisible as that he cometh to the circumcision of every child and therefore they set him a chair and suppose he sitteth there though they see him not And the Angel of the Covenant which you desire behold he cometh Mal. 3. 1. The Lord shall come to his Temple this is the King Messias who also is the Angel of the Covenant or he saith The Angel of the Covenant in reference to Elias And so it is said That Elias was zealous for the Covenant of Circumcision which the Kingdom of Ephraim restrained from themselves as it is said I have been exceeding zealous for the Lord God of Israel for the children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant He saith unto him Thou wast zealous in Shittim Phinehas in Numb 25. and art thou zealous here concerning Circumcision As thou livest Israel shall not do the Covenant of Circumcision till thou seest it with thine eyes From hence they have appointed to make an honorable Chair for Elias who is called the Angel of the Covenant Thus Kimch on Mal. 3. 1. Of this matter and of the Jews present expectation of Elias at every circumcision learned Buxtorfius giveth an ample relation in his Synagoga Judaica cap. 2. On the eighth day in the morning saith he those things that are requisite for the Circumcision are duly prepared And first of all two seats are set or one seat so made as that two may sit one by another in it covered with rich coverings or cushions according as every ones state will bear In the one of these seats when the child cometh to be circumcised sitteth the Sponsor or Godfather of the child and the other seat is set for Elias For they conceive that Elias cometh along with the Infant and sitteth down in that seat to observe whether the Circumcision be rightly administred and this they conceive from Mal. 3. 1. And the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye seek behold he cometh when they set that seat for Elias they are bound to say in express words This is the seat of the Prophet Elias That seat is left standing there three whole days together Rabbi Juda the holy once perceived that Elias came not to one Circumcision and the reason was because the child circumcised should once turn Christian and forsake his Judaism They use to lay the child upon Elias his cushion both before and after his Circumcision that Elias may touch him Thus he and more largely about their fancy of Elias his invisible coming upon that occasion And in the thirteenth Chapter of the same book he relateth how they expect him visibly at the other Sacrament even every Passover when among other rites and foolish customs they use over a cup of wine to curse all the people of the world that are not Jews as they are and that they do in this prayer Pour out thy wrath upon the Nations which have not known thee and upon the Kingdoms that have not called upon thy name Pour thine anger upon them and let
little that so we may the better skan and try whether our Architriclinus here and their Symposiarchus there were the same yea or no. He was one chosen among the guests ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that was most festivous of all the company and that would not be drunk and yet that would drink freely He was to rule the company and to prohibit their being disorderly yet not prohibiting their being merry He was to observe the temper of the guests and how the wine wrought upon them and how every one could bear his wine and accordingly to apply himself to them to keep them all in a harmony and an equilibrial composure that there might be no disquiet nor disorder For the effecting of this he used these two ways first to proclaim liberty to every one to drink what he thought good ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am Symposiarchus said he and I license every one to drink at this time as they will And secondly upon observing who among the guests was most ready to be touch'd and distempered with wine to mingle the more water with his wine thereby to keep him in an equal pace of sobriety with the other And so the work and office of this Symposiarchus or governour of the Feast was especially double to take care that none should be forced to drink and to take care that none should be drunk though unforced Of such another office might the Architriclinus be conceived here namely someone that was specially appointed to give entertainment and that had special employment about the distributing and disposing of the wine And this might seem to appear the rather because our Saviour directeth the Servitors to bring the miraculous wine to be tasted first by him But I should understand rather by Architriclinus here the chief guest at the feast than such a Symposiarchus which it may be some question whether he were in use among the Jews or no For not to go about to give account of their manner of sitting at their Feasts in this place it will be more proper elsewhere though from thence might be shewed something toward the proof of this my supposal let it but be considered that the Architriclinus in mention was a meer stranger to the business of the wine and knew not how it went Had Pluâarchs Symposiarchus been here he would readily have known what quantity of wine and what variety there was in the house he would have well known that all the wine was gone and that they were at a loss for more for the Yeomanry of the wine was his office at that time above all other things and above all other men but this Architriclinus knew none of these things but thought the Bridegroom had used a friendly deceit to reserve the best wine to make up their mouths whereas others used to reserve the worst And he speaks as a guest and not as a Yeoman of the Feast And our Saviour sends the wine to him as to the chiefest man at the Table and as the fittest from whom the taste of the wine and the tast of the miracle wrought might be distributed and dispersed throughout all the company of the Feast Vers. 12. After this he went down to Capernaum and continued not there many days Capernaum was his own City as was said before and his return is still thither as Samuel after his circuit his return was still to Ramah for that was his own City 1 Sam. 7. 17. see Matth. 4. 14. 8. 5. Matth. 9. 1. compared with Mark 2. 1. Matth. 17. 24. John 6. 17. c. Now his stay was but a little there because the Passeover calls him up to Jerusalem And thus when the Passeover comes there is half a year passed since he was baptized forty days of which he spent in the Wilderness in his fast before the Tempter came to him beside what time was spent in the threefold temptation and in his going to and coming from the Wilderness Three days you have account of him at Jorclan and going into Galilee John 1. ver 29 35 43. and the next day after he is at Cana at a Feast this was the fourth day from his first appearing from the Wilderness but the third from his saving and entertaining any Disciples So that we have but the account of six weeks or thereabouts upon record of all the time he spent betwixt his Baptism and his first Passeover The rest is concealed and much of it was spent in his peragration and preaching through Galilee to which he addresseth himself John 1. 43. Vers. 14. And the Iews Passover was at hand and Iesus went up to Ierusalem There are none other of the Evangelists that mention any Passover at all after Christs Baptism but that at which he suffered but John reckoneth not only that but three before and so still amongst all the four Evangelists the story is made up and compleated that there is nothing wanting Three of his Passovers John nameth plainly and expresly by name viz. this here and another Chap. 6. 4. and his last Chap. 18. 39. but a fourth he hath not so openly named but meaneth it in Chap. 5. 1. as shall be cleared by Gods permission when we come there And now hath Christ three years to his death and he hath had half a year since his Baptism and so is his time from his anointing by the Spirit for the work of the Gospel till his offering up upon his Cross three years and an half see the notes on Luke 3. 21. Now whereas the Evangelist calleth the Passover the Passover of the Jews Jansenius is of opinion that he doth it for distinction of it from the Easter of the Christians which saith he was observed by them throughout all Asia when John wrote his Gospel And Baronius yet goes further and would prove it from John's calling the Christian Sabbath the Lords day Rev. 1. Annal. ad annum 159. It is not worth the labour at least not in this place to look after the antiquity and originall of the celebration of Easter amongst the Christians in the Primitive times the quarrel about the day between the Eastern and Western Churches is famous in Ecclesiastical Stories but that this is not the intention of the Evangelist in this place we need to go no further to prove than to his own expression of the same thing in another where he calleth it The Passover a Feast of the Jews Chap. 6. 4. and so sheweth that in this short Phrase The Jews Passover he meaneth not so much to distinguish it from any festival of the Christians as to shew what it was to Jews and to distinguish it from other festivals of theirs § And Jesus went up to Jerusalem 1. In obedience to the Law of the males appearing before the Lord Exod. 23. 17. from which none were excepted but for some infirmity or incapacity All are bound to appear but only the deaf fools little ones the man that is bruised in his genitals Hermophrodites
Heaven fol. 66. So that in these mens Dictionary The phrase of The Kingdom of Heaven did signifie mainly the height zeal and strictness of their devotions joined with punctual Ceremoniousness and Phylactery rites Zohar shall be our Lexicon for conclusion What is the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven saith he But as they put a yoke upon an Ox at first to produce by him benefit to the world and if he take not the yoke upon him he is unserviceable so also it behoveth a man to take upon him the yoke at first and afterward to serve with it in every thing that is needful and if he take not the yoke upon him he cannot be serviceable As it is said Serve the Lord in fear what meaneth in fear Why what is written The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom And this is the Kingdom of Heaven Zohar in Levit. fol. 53. But in the language of the Jews in the Gospel and in some of their writers elsewhere also The Kingdom of Heaven signifieth the days of the Messias and the glorious times and their Religion and condition that they expected would be then When he should restore the Kingdom of the house of David to its old glory and build the Temple and bring home all the dispersed of Israel and Israel should be at rest from the Kingdom of wickedness to study the Law and the Commandments without disquieture Maym. in Melachim per. 11. and in Teshubah per. 9. See these places and passages expounding plainly the phrase of the days of Messias both in the construction of the Jews and also of Christ and the Gospel it self John Baptist preached saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 3. 2. So did Christ Matth. 4. 17. and so he bad his Disciples to do Matth. 10. 17. by which was meant no other thing but the time was near when the Son of man should be revealed for so our Saviour himself doth interpret it Matth. 16. 23. Luke 16. 16. The Law and the Prophets were till John but from that time forward the Kingdom of God was preached which John himself expounded thus That Christ should be manifest to Israel therefore came I baptizing with water Joh. 1. 31. Luke 17. 20 21. The Pharisees asked him when the Kingdom of God should come And Jesus answered the Kingdom of God is among you Which in the next verse after is uttered by The days of the Son of man Luke 9. 27. There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God which Matthew utters till they see the Son of man come in his Kingdom Mark 16. 28. Matth. 21. 31. Publicans and Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you and the next verse gives this reason because they believed not John from whom the Kingdom of God began to be preached and by whom the Messiah was pointed out Matth. 21. 43. The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you And the reason is given in the verse before because they refused the corner stone when he was among them to which the gloss is agreeable that R. Solomon maketh on Jer. 13. 17. My soul shall weep in secret for your pride that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because of the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven which shall be given to Idols or to the Idolatrous Heathen And of the days and revealing of the Messias which the Nation so much looked after are those passages to be understood Luke 23. 52. Joseph of Arimathea waited for the Kingdom of God and Luke 19. 11. They thought that the Kingdom of God should shortly appear Sutable to which the Chaldee Paraphrast interprets those words Say to the Cities of Judah Behold your God Esay 40. 9. Say to the Cities of Judah The Kingdom of your God is revealed and Esay 53. 11. They shall see the Kingdom of their Messias Now although our Saviour and the Evangelists and Apostles did use the Phrase The Kingdom of God or of Heaven for the days and affairs under the Messias as well as the Jews yet in the exposition of the things of those days they do as far differ as may be For 1. The Jews looked upon the appearance and days of the Messias as things of incomparable earthly pomp royalty and gorgeousness therefore they called it the Kingdom because they expected the restoring of the earthly glory of Davids throne Act. 1. 6. Luke 24. 21. Mark 20. 20. and The Kingdom of Heavon because they imagined they should be acquitted from under the power of an earthly Kingdom For their wise men held that there should be no difference betwixt this world and the days of Messias but only the oppression of the Kingdoms Talm. in Sanhed per. 10. Maym. in Teshubah per. 9. But Christ professeth that his coming is not with observation Luke 17. 20. that his Kingdom is not of this world Joh. 18. 36. That the Kingdom of Heaven is of the poor Luke 6. 20. and to be received as by little children Mark 10. 15. c. 2. They fancied a change in matters of Religion in the time of the Messiah but all for the greater and higher pomp of Ceremonies and formal worship that the solemn Festivals Sacrifices Sprinklings observations of carnal rites should be in a higher force and esteem than ever yet that their study and practise of the Law according to such a carnal manner should be incomparable both for zeal and diligence And that there should be a punctual exactness in all formalities about meats and drinks converse and worship But the Gospel tells that no coming into the Kingdom of Heaven unless their righteousness exceed this Pharisaical righteousness Matth. 5. 20. That the worship of God was to be in the spirit Joh. 4. 23 24. And that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. 3. They conceited that the happiness of the days of the Messias shall be appropriated only to them of that Nation and that the Heathens should have no share nor interest in that felicity But the Gospel tells that there should come from East and West and North and South and sit down in the Kingdom of God Luke 13. 29. And that that Kingdom should be taken from them who took themselves only to be the children of the Kingdom and should be given to another Nation Mark 21. 43. 8. 11 12. The meaning therefore of this expression The Kingdom of God or Heaven which is so exceeding frequent in the New Testament in the Gospel acceptation is to this extent 1. It signifieth the revealing or appearing of Christ as is apparent by the places cited before not so much his first appearing in humane flesh or when he was born as his revealing coming and appearing in the demonstration of his power and of his being the Son of God And in reference to this matter the Kingdom of Heaven or of God is dated by
9. I believe that he shall overcome death This Israel saw by necessary conclusion that if Christ should fall under death he did no more than men had done before His Resurrection they saw in Aarons Rod Manna Scapegoate Sparrow c. 10. I believe to be saved by laying hold upon his merits Laying their right hand upon the head of every beast that they brought to be offered up taught them that their sins were to be imputed to another and the laying hold on the horns of the Altar being sanctuary or refuge from vengeance taught them that anothers merits were to be imputed to them yet that all offenders were not saved by the Altar Exod. 21. 12. 1 King 2. 29. the fault not being in the Altar but in the offender it is easie to see what that signified unto them Thus far each holy Israelite was a Christian in this point of doctrine by earnest study finding these points under the vail of Moses The ignorant were taught this by the learned every Sabbath day having the Scriptures read and expounded unto them From these ground works of Moses and the Prophets Commentaries thereupon concerning the Messias came the schools of the Jews to be so well versed in that point that their Scholars do mention his very name Jesus the time of his birth in Tisri the space of his preaching three years and an half the year of his death the year of Jubile and divers such particulars to be found in their Authors though they knew him not when he came amongst them SECTION XXVIII The Covenant made with Israel They not sworn by it to the ten Commandments Exod. 24. WHEN Israel cannot indure to hear the ten Commandments given it was ready to conclude that they could much less keep them Therefore God giveth Moses privately fifty seven precepts besides namely Ceremonial and Judicial to all which the people are the next morning after the giving of the ten Commandments sworn and entred into Covenant and these made them a Ceremonial and singular people About which these things are observable 1. That they entred into Covenant to a written Law Chap. 24. 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord c. Against traditions 2. That here was a book written forty days before the writing of the two Tables Against them that hold that the first letters that were seen in the world were the writing of God in those Tables And we have seen before also two pieces of writing before this of Moses viz. the eighty eighth and eighty ninth Psalms And of equal Antiquity with them or not much less was the penning of the book of Job most probably written by Eliâu one of the Speakers in it as may be conjectured from Chap. 32. 15 16 17. and some other probability 3. That this first Covenant was made with water and blood and figurative language For the twelve pillars that represented the people are called the people Exod. 24. 4. 8. As the words in the second Covenant this my Body are to be understood in such another sense 4. That the ten Commandments were not written in the book of that Covenant but only those 57. precepts mentioned before For 1. The Lord giveth the other precepts because the people could not receive the ten for could they have received and observed those as they ought they must never have had any parcel of a Law more as if Adam had kept the Moral Law he had never needed to have heard of the promise and so if we could but receive the same Law as we should we had never needed the Gospel Now it is most unlike that since God gave them those other commands because they could not receive the ten that he would mingle the ten and them together in the Covenant 2. It is not imaginable that God would ever cause a people to swear to the performance of a Law which they could not indure so much as to hear 3. The ten Commandments needed not to be read by Moses to the people seeing they had all heard them from the mouth of the Lord but the day before 4. Had they been written and laid up in this book what necessity had there been of their writing and laying up in the Tables of stone 5. Had Moses read the ten Commandments in the beginning of his book why should he repeat some of them again at the latter end as Exod. 23. 12. Let such ruminate upon this which hold and maintain that the Sabbath as it standeth in the fourth Commandment is only the Jewish Sabbath and consequently Ceremonial And let those good men that have stood for the day of the Lord against the other consider whether they have not lost ground in granting that the fourth Commandment instituted the Jewish Sabbath For First The Jews were not sworn to the Decalogue at all and so not the Sabbath as it standeth there but only to the fifty seven precepts written in Moses his book and to the Sabbath as it was there Exod. 23. 12. Secondly The end of the Ceremonial Sabbath of the Jews was in remembrance of their delivery out of Aegypt Deut. 5. 15. but the moral Sabbath of the two Tables is in commemoration of Gods resting from the works of Creation Exod. 20. 10 11. SECTION XXIX The punishment of Israel for the golden Galf. Exod. 32. ISRAEL cannot be so long without Moses as Moses can be without meat The fire still burneth on the top of mount Sinai out of which they had so lately received the Law and yet so suddainly do they break the greatest Commandment of that Law to extreamity of Aegyptian Jewels they make an Aegyptian Idol because thinking Moses had been lost they intended to return for Aegypt Griveous was the sin for which they must look for grievous punishment which lighted upon them in divers kinds First the Cloud of Glory their Divine conductor departeth from the Camp which was now become prophane and unclean Secondly the Tables Moses breaketh before their face as shewing them most unworthy of the Covenant Thirdly the Building of the Tabernacle the evidence that God would dwell among them is adjourned and put off for now they had made themselves unworthy Fourthly for this sin God gave them to worship all the host of Heaven Acts 7. 42. Fiftly Moses bruised the Calf to Powder and straweth it upon the waters and maketh the People drink Here spiritual fornication cometh under the same tryal that carnal did Numb 5. 24. These that were guilty of this Idolatry the water thus drunk made their belly to swell and to give a visible sign and token of their guilt then setteth Moses the Levites to slay every one whose bellies they found thus swelled which thing they did with that zeal and sincerity that they spared neither Father nor Brother of their own if they found him guilty In this slaughter there fell about three thousand these were ring-leaders and chief agents in this abomination and therefore made thus exemplary
us And put into our hearts to know understand obey learn teach observe do and perform all the words of the Doctrine of thy Law in love and enlighten our Eyes by thy Law and cause our hearts to cleave to thy commandments and unite our hearts to love and to fear thy Name c. After this Prayer they rehearsed the Ten Commandments and after the Ten Commandments they said over their Phylacteries There is mention of their Phylacteries in the Scripture Matth. 23. 5. and they were four Sections or Paragraphs of the Law written in two Parchments which Parchments they wore about them continually as Memorandums of their observance of the Law and evidences of their devotion and therefore they were called in the Greek Tongue Phylacteria or Observatories and in the Hebrew Tephillin or Oraisons The portions of the Law that were written in these Parchments were these I. Exod. chap. 13. vers 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. II. Exod. chap. 13. vers 11 12 13 14 15 16. III. Deut. chap. 6. vers 4 5 6 7 8 9. IV. Deut. chap. 11. vers 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21. The manner and curiosity of writing these sentences * * * Vid. Maym in Tephillin per. 1. 2. Buxtorf Lex Tal. in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in their several columns and in what Parchment and with what ink is largely discoursed by the Author cited in the margin with which I shall not trouble the Reader at this time only I may not omit the reason why these were used rather than any other sentences of the Law which was this because in every one of the Sections there is mention either of Those words being Totaphoth or frontlets between their eyes or a memorial between their eyes or that they should bind them upon their hands And accordingly the place where they wore these two parchments was the one upon their foreheads downwards towards between their eyebrows and the other upon their left arm whereupon * * * Tanchuma fol. 6. col 3. Tanchuma hath taken occasion to expound Gods swearing by his strong arm of his swearing by the Phylacteries I doubt whether all the Nation used these Phylacteries indifferently or only those who were called The Scholars of the wise who pretended more knowledge devotion and study of the Law than the common people a a a Iuchasin It is recorded by the Jewish writers that the Sadduces though they could not away with the Pharisees traditions yet that they used Phylacteries as well as they but only that they differed from them in opinion about the place where they should wear them but whether Husbandmen Tradesmen and the rest of the common people wore them as well as Scholars and the learned of the Nation this one passage of Maymony amongst other arguments may give some occasion to suspect He speaking of those things for which a man might be allowed to pass by a Synagogue whilst they were at prayers there and not come in among other things he saith thus b b b Maym. ubi sup Were his Phylacteries seen upon him then that was a sign that he neglected not the Law and so though he had occasion to pass the Synagogue at that time yet his Phylacteries appearing spake for him that it was not for want of devotion that he passed the Synagogue but was called away by some business or occasion Howsoever the common people did not wear these Phylactery parchments as the learned did yet both learned and unlearned were bound alike to the rehearsing or saying over the Phylactery sentences contained in them morning and evening every day c c c Talm. in Beracoth per. 2. Yea workmen that were on the top of a tree or on the top of a piece of timber rearing or repairing a house they were bound to this rehersal there when the time of the day for it was come This rehearsal is commonly called by the Hebrews ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Keriath Shema the saying over of Shema because one of the Sections began with Shema Israel Hear O Israel c. Deut. 6. 4. which though it were not the first of the four as they stand written in the book of the Law nor the first written in their parchments which they wore yet was it ever the first in their rehearsal and the reason is given because it containeth the first and the foundation of all other duties and that is to love the Lord. The time of their Keriath Shema or rehearsal of their Phylactery sentences in the morning is thus determined in their Traditions d d d Ibid. per. 2 At what time of day do they say over their Phylacteries in the morning Namely from such time as a man can see to distinguish between blew and white Rabbi Eliezer saith between blew and green even until sun rising Rab. Joshua saith until the third hour And at what time do they say them over at Evening Namely from the time that the Priests go in to eat their offerings until the end of the first watch c. Now besides this dayly rehearsal of these sentences morning and evening to which they were all bound by their traditions they also held it a great piece of piety to say them over at the hour of death so it is related of one of the ten Martyrs of the Kingdom for so let me Translate ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that as he was saying over his Phylacteries he was slain and cast unto the dogs And to speak from more later times Joseph the Priest e e e Lib. 1. ad ann 1096. in his various History of the Turks Jews and Christians a book very rare to be had describing a massacre raised by the red Cross Souldiers that went under Godfrey of Bulloine and the rest to the holy war against the Jews in Germany he recordeth it several times over that when such and such murdered Jews were ready to expire yea even children in their mothers arms they said their Keriath Shema or their Phylactery sentences over and with those in their mouths they gave up the Ghost SECT V. The burning of Incense and the rest of their Prayers COncerning the time of the burning of Incense they have this Tradition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã * * * Ioma per. 3. That the Incense of the morning was offered between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying of the pieces upon the Altar and of the Evening between the laying on of the pieces on the Altar and the drink offering Now for this imployment of offering the Incense they go to lotting again to be resolved who should do it and so there was another lot likewise cast to determine who should bring the pieces from the rise of the Altar and lay them on He that was alotted to burn the Incense took a silver dish in which there was a Censer full of Frankincense another took another dish and went to the top of the
Vid. Gloss. in Ioma in Talm. Babyl per. 1. Job Ezra Daniel and Chronicles places that might most affect and prepare him for the service The day being come which was so strict a Fasting day e e e Kerithuth per. 1. as that to eat any thing or to do any work on it fell under the penalty of being cut off the High-Priest is now to prepare himself for the business And first he puts off his ordinary wearing Cloathes bathes himself in water f f f Mid. per. 5. his bathing this day was on the roof of the room of Happarbah a fine Sheet hanging betwixt him and the sight of the People wipes himself dry with a Towel and puts on the rich Garments of the High-Priesthood washeth his Hands and Feet killeth the daily Sacrifice burns the pieces offers the Incense dresseth the Lamps and doth all the service belonging to the ordinary daily service And so he doth by the Bullock and seven Lambs of the extraordinary Sacrifice And when he had done with these he washed his hands and his feet again g g g Maym. ubi supra per. 4. Then put he off his rich Robes again and bathed himself and put on the white Linnen Garments appointed Levit. 16. 4. and performed the peculiar services of that day as first he goeth to his own Bullock Levit. 16. 6. which stood between the Temple and the Altar laid his two hands upon his head and made this confession Ah Lord I have sinned done perversly and transgressed before thee I and mine house I beseech thee O Lord expiate the sins perversities and transgressions whereby I have sinned done perversly and transgressed I and mine house as it is written in the Law of Moses thy servant saying for on this day he will expiate for you to purge you from all your sins before the Lord that ye may be clean h h h Id. ibid. per. 3. Then went he to cast the Lots upon the two Goats on the North-East part of the Court below the Altar The two lots were ordinarily of Gold pieces just of one and the same bigness on the one of them was written for the Lord and on the other for Azazel these were put into a Box into which the Priest could put both his hands this Box was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The two Goats were set before him one before the right hand and the other at the left and on his right hand stood the Sagan and on his left hand stood chief of his Fathers house He put his hand in the box and took out the lots and opening his hands if the lot for the Scape-goat came in his right hand the Sagan said to him Sir lift up your right hand and so the right hand Goat was the Scape-goat And if that lot came in his left hand the chief of his Fathers house said to him Sir lift up your hand and then that was the Scape-Goat that was on the left hand And he tied a Scarlet list upon that Goats head and set him there from whence he was to be sent away and the other Goat he sent where he must be killed This Scarlet list is called commonly by the Rabbins ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lingula coccinea the Scarlet tongue because it was broad and fashioned like a tongue And they expected that when it was tied upon the Scape-Goats head i i i Ioma per. 4. in Gemara it should turn white And so they say it did k k k Iuchasin fol. 15. col 1. in the time of Simeon the just and that the lot for the Scape-Goat came still up in his right hand and this they ground upon Esay 1. 18. Having thus set the two Goats ready against their time comes he returned again to his own Bullock where he left him standing and lays his hand upon his head a second time and makes a second confession in the very same words that he had done the former save that when he had said wherein I have sinned done perversly and transgressed before thee I and my fathers house he added and the sons of Aaron thy holy people as it is written in the Law of Moses c. Then killed he the Bullock took the blood and gave it one to stir that it should not congeal He himself took a Censer full of Coals from the Altar and set them down upon a Bench in the Court and from a Vessel brought him he took his hands full of Incense and put it into a Dish The Censer of Coals he took in his right hand because it was hot and heavy otherwise he should have carried it in his left and the Dish of Incense in his left hand and so he went into the Holy of Holies and came up to the Ark and there he sets his Coals down empties the Incense into his hands again and so lay it on the coals and stays till all the room be full of smoak and then comes backward out from within the vail having his face still toward the Ark Being come out he made this short Prayer O Lord God let it be thy good pleasure that this year may have seasonable rains if it have been droughty And let not thy Scepter depart from Judah and let not thy people Israel want sustenance and let not the prayer of wicked transgressors come before thee and so he came out Then took he the blood of the Bullock which had been stirred about all this while for congealing and brought it within the most holy place and sprinkled of it eight times once upward and seven times downward between the bars of the Ark and having so done he came out thence set the rest of the blood in the bason in the Holy place and came forth Then slew he the Goat took the blood of it into the most holy place and sprinkled it there eight times as the other came forth and set it down in the holy place took up the Bullocks blood and sprinkled it eight times before the vail and so he did by the Goats blood then mingled he them together and sprinkled therewith the golden Altar going round about it He began first with the North-east corner so to the North-west and to the South-west and ended at the South-east then sprinkled he the body of the Altar it self seven times and so came out and poured the remainder of the blood at the foot of the burnt offering Altar on the West-side And now he goes about to send the Scape-goat away he first laid his hands upon his head and made this confession Ah Lord thy people the house of Israel have sinned and done perversly and transgressed before thee I beseech thee now O Lord expiate the sins perversities and transgressions which the house of Israel thy people have sinned done perversly and transgressed before thee as it is written in the Law of Moses thy servant For this day he will expiate for you to purge you from all your sins that
Pot and put a little water into it out of the Laver and going within the Temple door he took up some dust from under a stone that was left loose for that purpose where it lay we have observed in its proper place and this dust he strewed upon the water Then denounced he the curse and wrote it in a Book even those words Num. 5. 19 20 21 22. If no man hath lien with thee and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness c. But if thou hast gone aside c. the Lord make thee a curse c. And this water which causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels and make thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot And the Woman answered Amen Amen Then blotted he the curses out of the book with the bitter water and gave her the water to drink If upon the donuncing of the curses she were so terrified that she durst not drink the water but confessed she was defiled the Priest flung down the water and scattered her offering among the ashes but if she confessed not and yet would not drink they forced her to drink and if she were ready to cast it up again they got her away that she might not defile the place The operation of these waters say the Rabbins followed after though sometimes it appeared not of two or three years for she bare no children she was sickly languished and died of that death SECT IV. The atoning for a cleansed Leper IN a a a Talm. in Middoth per. 2. the North-west corner of the Court of the Women there was a piece of Building which was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the chamber or room of the Lepers whither the Leper resorted after his cleansing in the Country or at his own house And now I am sensible of a mistake and inadvertency which fell from me in another place and which I here retract and crave the Readers patience and that was in that I asserted in the Notes on John 2. 15. that the Lepers were tryed in this room by the Priests and had access to the Mountain of the House and to the Publick Service of the Temple It is true indeed b b b Maym. in Tephil that the Lepers had access to the Publick Service in those Synagogues that were not in walled Towns being placed there apart by themselves so that they came not near others but their offering to come into the Temple did fall under a very sharp penalty as was shewed before nay they were excluded even out of Walled Cities Their tryal therefore was in the Country and there they were cleansed by the Priest c c c Id. in Tumi tsor 11. with variety of Ceremony in the business and on the seventh day of their cleansing he shaved himself again for he had done so before and washed himself in water and then he might come within Jerusalem On the eighth day he came up into the Mountain of the House and brought three Lambs with him for a burnt offering sin offering and trespas offering d d d Talm. in Neg. per. 11. and bathed himself in that room in the corner of the Court of the Women that was from hence called the Room of the Lepers e e e Tam. per. 5 When the Migrephah or the Bell for so let it be called was rung by those that went into the Temple to burn the incense the President or chief man of the station then serving went and fetched him and whosoever else had been unclean and came now for their purifying f f f Ib. Sot per. 1. and set them in the gate of Nicanor g g g Maym. in Mechos capp per. 4. Glos. in Sotah But here two contrary exigents were to be provided for for neither might the Leper tread on the ground of the Court because he yet wanted his atonement nor might the bloud of the trespass offering which was to be his atonement be brought out of the Court and yet it was to be put upon his thumb great toe and tip of his ear Lev. 14. 14. A temper therefore for these two repugnacies was this that he went into the Gate as far as possibly he might so that he trod not within the Court. Thither did the Priest bring the trespass offering to him and he stretched out his hands into the Court and laid them upon him And when he was slain the Priest brought the bloud himself standing within the Court and the Leper stretched out his neck and thrust his head within the Virge of the Court and he put some of the bloud upon the tip of his right ear and likewise he stretched out his hand and his foot within the Virge of the Court and he put the bloud upon his thumb and his great toe and so he was cleansed The cleansing of other unclean persons as those that had issues and Women after Child-birth was in the same place and much after the same manner save that the blouding of the ear thumb and toe was not used so that they need not a particular discourse by themselves SECT V. The manner of bringing and presenting their first fruits NOT to insist upon the several sorts of things out of which the first fruits were to be paid nor upon the manner of setting them apart for first fruits at their own homes of which the Talmud doth debate at large this being somewhat out of the Virge of our discourse because so far out of the Virge of the Temple their custom and Ceremony in bringing of them up thither and presenting them there cometh nearer within our compass and that was thus a a a Talm. in Biccur per. 3. Maym. ib. per. 4. All the Cities that belonged to such or such a station met together at the chief City of the station and there lodged all night in the streets and the reason of this their gathering thus together was because they would go together by multitudes according to what is said the multitude of People is the Kings honour and the reason of their lodging in the streets was lest going into houses they should be defiled In the morning the President or chief among them called them up betime with this note Arise and let us go up to Sion to the Lord our God and they set away Before them there went an Ox with his horns gilded and a Garland or Crown of Olive branches upon his head and a Pipe playing before them till they came near to Jerusalem and they often rehearsed that saying I was glad when they said Let us go up to the house of the Lord compare Esay 30. 29. They travelled not all day when they travelled but only two parts of it because they would not spoil their solemnity with toyling when they were come near Jerusalem they sent in a Messenger to give notice of their coming and they flowred and deckt their baskets and exposed some of the freshest fruits to
David saith Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous Judgments At the time that David went into the bath and saw himself stand naked he said wo is me that I stand naked without the * * * Heb. Mitsuah âr without my Philacteries Commandment but when he remembred the Circumcision in his flesh his mind was at quiet Afterward when he went out he made a song of it as it is said To him that excelleth upon Sheminith or an eight a Psalm of David because of the Circumcision that was given on the eighth day Rabbi Eliezer the son of Jacob saith whosoever hath Philacteries upon his head and Philacteries upon his arm and fringes upon his garments and a mark on his door all this will keep * * * From this conceit it appears they were called Philacteries that is keepers him from sinning as it is written A threefold cord is not easily broken And he saith the Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about those that fear him to deliver them c. Qui Bavium non odit amet c. CHAP. IX Of the Cabalists THESE should be men of great account for their Trading is chiefly in numbers but the effect of their Studies prove but fetches nullius numeri of no reckoning Their strange tricks and sleights of invention how to pick out a matter of nothing out of a thing of no matter is so intricate that I do not much care if into these secrets my soul do not come Their Atbash is a strange crotchet beyond the moon it is described by the great Buxdorfius in his Abbreviaturae Their Rashe Sophe tebhoth their Notericon and Geometria whether to call them Cabalistical Masoretical or Phantastical I know not they have paid the margin of the Bible with such conceits I could give examples by hundreds but it were but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a present worse than none at all CHAP. X. Gideons Army Iosh. 7. GIdeons Army represents the Church visible and invisible for as in his Army all the company marched alike and used the same Military Discipline and yet two and twenty thousand were cowards and returned from him for fear at the well Harodh which it may be was called Harodh or fear from their fearfulness so in the Church visible men use the same Word the same Sacraments and the same outward Profession yet are many of them but cowards in Christs warfare when it comes to the trial Gideons trial of his Souldiers by lapping water and kneeling to drink was a good piece of Military Discipline for those that lapped in their hands shewed their nimbleness in march who could drink and not stay but those that kneeled down made a stop in their marching Gideons fight is much like Jerichoes siege that with Trumpets this with Trumpets and Lamps his conquest like Abrahams with three hundred men he overthrows an Army as Abraham did with three hundred and eighteen Saint Austen keeps a deplorable stir about allegorizing this number three hundred by the Greek letter T tau to make it resemble the sign of the cross And so he runs both besides the language and the matter charity to the good man makes me ambiguous and doubtful whether that fancy be his or not CHAP. XI A Ierusalem Tenet ex Kimchio in Praefat. to the small Prophets OUR Rabbins of happy memory say saith he that every Prophet whose name and his fathers name is set down in his Prophecy it is certain that he was a Prophet and the son of a Prophet He whose name and not his fathers name it is certain that he was a Prophet and not the son of a Prophet He whose name and the name of his City is set down it is certain that he was of that City He whose name and not the name of his City it is certain that he was a Prophet of Jerusalem And they say that he whose father and fathers fathers name is set down in his Prophecy was a greater man of Parentage then he whose father is only named As in Zephaniah Chap. 1. vers 1. CHAP. XII Nun inversum Numb 10. 11. IN the tenth of Numbers and the thirty fifth verse in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And when the Ark went forward the letter Nun is written wrong way or turned back thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to shew say the Hebrews the loving turning of God to the people And in the eleventh Chapter and first verse in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And the People became as murmurers c. The letter Nun is again written wrong or turned back thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To shew say they the perverse turning of the People from God and thus are these two Places written in every true Bible in the World If the Jews do not here give any one satisfaction yet do they as Erasmus speaks of Origen set Students on work to look for that which else they would scarce have sought for Such strange passages as these in writing some words in the Bible out of ordinary way as some letters above the word some letters less and some bigger than other observed constantly by all Copies and Books cannot sure be for nothing If they shew nothing else yet this they shew us that the Text is punctually kept and not decayed when these things that to a hasty ignorant beholder might seem errors are thus precisely observed in all Bibles CHAP. XIII Of the Massorites THESE men are held to be the Authors of the Vowels and Accents which opinion received by some and those no ordinary men neither I must needs confess I am not so fully satisfied for as to believe it I do indeed admire the Massorites pains in observation of them in the Bible but I cannot guess by that that they have done more than observed when a word either in Letter or Vowel goes from ordinary rules of Grammar they have marked that it does so which a mean Hebrician may do but why it does so there is either a right Jewish reason or none at all given To exemplifie ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in one Gen. 14. 5. the word kederlaomer is so strangely pricked that one cannot pass it I my self observed it before ever I saw the Massoreth and when I came thither to them for a reason they have done no more but observed it viz. Tebhah hhatha c. that Camets is written with two schevaes and so of others they seldom say more Admirable is their pains to prove the Text uncorrupt against a gainsaying Papist For they have summed up all the letters in the Bible to shew that one hair of that Sacred Head is not perished Eight hundred eight and forty marginal notes are observed and preserved for the more facility of the Text. The middle verse of every Book noted the number of the verses in every Book reckoned and as I said before not a Vowel that misseth ordinary Grammar which is not marked So that if we
New answers Holy is the Lord that hath performed The Old says Holy is the Father that gave the Law the New saith Holy is the Son that preached the Gospel and both say Holy is the Holy Ghost that penned both Law and Gospel to make men holy The two Cherubins in Salomons 2 Chron. 3. Temple stood so that with their outmost wings they touched the sides of the house and their other wings touched each other So the two Testaments one way touch the two sides of the house and the other way touch each other In their extent they read from the beginning of the World to the end from in the beginning to come Lord Jesus In their consent they touch each other with He shall turn the Heart of the Fathers to the children Mal. 4. 6 and He shall turn the heart of the Fathers to the children Luke 1. 17. Here the two wings joyn in the middle Tertullian calls the Prophet Malachi the bound or skirt of Judaism and Christianity a stake that tells that there promising ends and performing begins that Prophecying concludes and Fulfilling takes place there is not a span between these two plots of holy ground the Old and New Testament for they touch each other What do the Papists then when they put and chop in the Apocripha for Canonical Scripture between Malachi and Matthew Law and Gospel What do they but make a wall between the Seraphins that they cannot hear each others cry What do they but make a stop between the Cherubins that they cannot touch each others wing What do they but make a ditch betwixt these grounds that they cannot reach each others coasts What do they but remove the Land mark of the Scriptures and so are guilty of Cursed be he that removes his neighbours mark Deut. 27. 17. And what do they but divorce the mariage of the Testaments and so are guilty of the breach of that which God hath joyned together let no man put asunder These two Testaments are the two paps of the Church from which we suck the sincere milk of the Word One pap is not more like to another than are these two for substance but for Language they vary in colour The Old as all can tell is written in Hebrew but some forraign Languages are also admitted into Scripture besides the Hebrew as forraign Nations were to be admitted also to the Church besides the Hebrews A great piece of Ezra is Chaldee because taken from Chaldee Chronicles Those parts of Daniels visions that concern all the World are written in the Chaldee the Tongue then best known in the World because the Chaldeans were then Lords of the World The eleventh verse of the tenth of Jeremy is in the same Tongue that the Jews might learn so much of their Language as to refuse their Idolatry in their own Language Other words of this Idiom are frequent in the Scripture as I take two names given to Christ as Bar the son in Psal. 2. 10. and Hhoter the rod of Jesses stem Isa. 11. to be natively Chaldee Hhutra used by all the Targums for a rod in divers places words and for that they do shew the greater mystery viz. that this Son and this Rod should belong to Chaldeans and Gentiles as well as to Jew or Hebrews Infinite it is to trace all of this nature and Language The Arabian is also admitted into Scripture especially in the Book of Job a man of that Country whether Philistin Phrases and other adjacent Nations Dialects be not to be found there also I refer to the Reader to search and I think he may easily find of the eloquence of some pieces above others and the difficulty of some books above others those that can even read the English Bible can tell I would there were more that could read it in its own Language and as it were talk with God there in his own Tongue that as by Gods mercy Japhet dwells now in the tents of Sem or the Gentiles have gained the preheminence of the Jews for Religion so they would water this graffing of theirs into this stock with the juyce of that Tongue thereby to provoke them the more to Jealousie CHAP. XXXIII Of the New Testament Language or the Greek THE Greek Tongue is the key which God used to unlock the Tents of Sem to the sons of Japhet This glorious Tongue as Tully calls it is made most glorious by the writing of the New Testament in this Language God hath honoured all the Thucyd. lib. 1 letters by naming himself after the first and the last as Homer shews the receit of all the Grecian ships by shewing how many the greatest and how few the least contained Javan is held both by Jews and Christians to have planted the Country The Tongue is likely to be maternal from Babel The Jews upon Genesis the forty ninth think that Jacob curseth his sons Simeon and Levies fact in one word of Greek Macerothehem that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã their swords but all the Chaldees and other Translations render it better their habitations Gen. 49. 5. The ancientest Heathen Greek alive is Homer though the Tongue was long before and Homers subject of Ilias treated of in Greek verse by Evanders Wife of Arcadia as some have related Homer watered the Tongue and in succeeding ages it flourished till it grew ripe in the New Testament The Dialects of it familiarly known to be five The Attick the Jonick c. The Macedonian was something strange as appears in Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. 5. Especially their devout Macedonian or about their oraisons How God scattered and divulged this Tongue of the Greeks over the World against the coming of Christ and writing of the New Testament is remarkable Alexander the great with his Macedonians made the Eastern parts Grecian The Old Testament at Ptolomaeus his request translated into Greek was as an Usher to bring in the New Testament when Japhet should come to dwell in the Tents of Sem. The Jews used to keep a mournful fast for that Translation but as Jews mourn so have Gentiles cause to rejoyce In like sort for the preparation for the Gospel of late which as far as Antichrist his power could reach lay depressed but not overwhelmed the Greek Tongue at the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks was sent into these Western climates that we might hear Christ speak in his own Language without an Egyptian to interpret to us as Joseph had to his brethren What need we now to rely upon a Latine foundation when we have the Greek purity Never did the Turk any good to Christianity but this and this against his will but God worketh all things for his own glory And we may say of the poor inhabitants of Grecia as of the Jews by their impoverishing we are inriched As Athens in old time was called the Grecia of Grecia so the New Testament for Language may be stiled the Greek of Greek In it as upon the
inimicis suis crediderunt qui persequebantur Aust. Ser. de Temp. 109. To omit the Jews fancy that the Israelitish women bare six at a birth and to omit questioning whether faetifer Nilus the drinking of the water of Nilus which as some say is good for generation did conduce to the increasing of Israel I can only look at God and his work which did thus multiply and sustain them in the furnace of affliction Si Deus nobiscum quis contra nos God had promised this increase to Jacob as he fled to Haran Gen. 28. in a dream from the top of Jacobs ladder And here he proves faithful who had promised CHAP. LIII Israels Camp according to the Chaldee Paraphrast his description Numb 2. THE Chaldee is precise about pitching Israels Camp I have not thought much to translate a whole Chapter out of him that the Reader may see at the least his Will if not his Truth Numb 11. 1. And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron saying 2. Every one of the children of Israel shall pitch by his Standard by the Ensigns whereto they are appointed by the Standards of their fathers shall they pitch over against the Tabernacle of the Congregation * * * Chald. Round Round round about 3. The Camp of Israel was twelve miles long and twelve miles broad and they that pitched Eastward toward the Sun-rising the Standard of the Camp of Judah four miles square and his Ensign was of three party colours like the three Pearls that were in the brestplate or rational the Rubies Topaz and Carbuncle and in it was deciphered and expressed the names of three Tribes Judah Issachar Zebulon and in the middle was written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arise O Lord and let thine enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee And in it was drawn the picture of a Lions whelp for the Prince of the children of Judah Nahshon the son of Aminadab 4. And his hoast and the number of them seventy four thousand and six hundred 5. And they that pitched next him the Tribe of Issachar and the Prince that was over the Army of the Tribe of the sons of Issachar Nethaneel the son of Tsuar 6. And his Army and the number of his Tribes fifty four thousand and four hundred 7. The Tribe of Zebulon and the Prince that was set over the Army of the Tribe of the sons of Zebulon Eliah the son of Hhelon 8. And the Army and their number of his Tribe fifty seven thousand and four hundred 9. All the number of the hoast of Judah were * * * The Chaââ numbers ãâ¦ã wise but it ãâ¦ã misprinting therefore I take the Hebrew one hundred eighty six thousand and four hundred by their Armies they went first 10. The Standard of the hoast of Reuben shall pitch Southward by their Armies four miles square and his Ensign was of three party colours like the three stones in the brest-plate the Emeraud Saphire and Diamond and in it was deciphered and expressed the names of three Tribes Reuben Simeon Gad and in the middle was written thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. And in it was drawn the picture of a young Hart but there should have been drawn in it a Bullock but Moses the Prophet changed it because he would not put them in mind of their sin about the Calf And the Prince that was set over the hoast of the Tribe of Reuben was Elitzur the son of Shedeur 12. And his hoast and the number of his Tribe fifty nine thousand and three hundred The Chaldee misseth the 11. 12. verses 13. And the Tribe of Gad and the Prince that was set over the hoast of the Tribe of Gad Eliasaph the son of Devel 15. And his hoast and the number of his Tribe * * * The Chaldee cometh so short of the right number forty five thousand and six hundred 16. All the number of the hoast of Reuben one hundred fifty one thousand four hundred and fifty by their Armies they went second 17. Then went the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the hoast of the Levites in the Camps and their Camp was four mile square they went in the middle as they pitched so they went every one in his rank according to his Standard 18. The Standard of the Camp of Ephraim by their hoasts pitched Westward and their Camp was four mile square and his Ensign was of three party colours like the three stones in the brestplate a Turky an Achat and an Hamatite and in it was deciphered and expressed the names of three Tribes Ephraim Manasseh and Benjamin and in the middle was written c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day when they went out of the Camp and in it was drawn the picture of a Child And the Prince that was set over the Army of the Children of Ephraim was Elishama the son of Ammihud 19. And his hoast and the number of his Tribe forty thousand and five hundred 20. And next him the Tribe of Manasses and the Prince which was set over the hoast of the Tribe of the Children of Manasses Gamliel the son of Pedah tzur 21. And his hoast and their number of his Tribe thirty two thousand and two hundred 22. And the Tribe of Benjamin and the Prince that was set over the hoast of the Tribe of the Children of Benjamin Abidan the son of Gideoni 23. And his hoast and their number of his Tribe thirty five thousand and four hundred 24. All the number of the Camp of Ephraim one hundred eighty thousand and one hundred by their Armies and they went in the third place 25. The Standard of the Camp of Dan Northward and their Camp four miles square and his Ensign was of three party colours according to the three stones in the brestplate a Chrysolite Onyx and Jasper and in it were deciphered and expressed the names of three Tribes Dan Naphtali Asher and in the middest was written and expressed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And when it rested he said return O Lord to the ten thousand of Israel and in it was drawn the figure of a Serpent or Arrow-snake and the Prince that was set over the hoast of the Children of Dan Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai From thence to the end of the Chapter he goes on just with the Hebrew Text so that I will spare further labour about Translating only I must tell the Reader thus much that the Pearls he speaks of I have not punctually followed the Chaldee in rendring their names but have followed the Geneva Bible which was at that instant the only English Bible about me As also for perfect and future tense I find the Chaldee confused and for this I have been the less curious CHAP. LIV. Of Iob. ABOUT Israels being in Egypt Job lives in Arabia a heathen
Solomon will spare me as he did Abiathar For that âhe laying hold of the Altar in this kind had a Vow in it for the future as well as a present safety might be argued from the nature of the Altar which made holy what touched it and from the very circumstance of laying hold upon it But Joab to the wilful murder of Abner and Amasa had added contempt and opposal of the King upon Davids Throne which figured him that was to Reign over the House of Israel for ever and therefore unfit to escape and uncapable to be any such votary 4. A cubit above the first rising of the horns of the Altar the square narrowed a cubit y Mid. ubi supr Ataym ubi supr again and so was now but four and twenty cubits every way and so held on to that flat of it on the top where the fire lay The cubits-ledge that the abatement made to be as a bench round about was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the place whereupon the Priests went and stood about the Altar to lay on the pieces of the Sacrifice or to stir them as they lay in the fire And this helpeth us to judge concerning the manner and fashion of the horns spoken of last namely that they did not rise directly upright higher than the Altar it self for then it had been impossible for the Priest to go about the Altar upon this ledge for the horns would have hindred if they had risen a full cubit square up hither but their form is to be conceived as was said before namely that they rose indeed up even with this ledge but they so sharpened and bended outward when they came level with it that the Priests had passed between them and the Altar From the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Circuit of the Altar upward which was four cubits was that part which more peculiarly was called Harel and Ariel Ezek. XLIII 15. And Harel was four cubits and from Ariel upwards were the four horns He had described the gradual risings of the Altar hitherto in the Verses before in these characters and descriptions Vers. 13. The bottom shall be a cubit and the breadth a cubit This was the Foundation of which we have spoken a cubit high and a cubit broad And the border thereof by the edge thereof round about a span The edge of this Foundation was not sharp as are the edges of stone steps but it was wrought as are the stone borders of our Chimney-hearths with a border of a span over and so the blood that was poured upon this Foundation could not run off to the Pavement but was kept up that it might run down at the holes fore-mentioned into the Common-shore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And thus was the top of the Altar The top of the Altar was also finished with such another bordering Vers. 14. And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle two cubits Not that the Foundation called here the lower settle was two cubits thick in the flatness of it as it lay upon the ground for the Verse before saith that the bottom was but a cubit but that from this Foundation there arose a slope rising a cubit height which was somewhat thicker than the body of the Altar presently above it and so from the ground to the top of this rising where the square narrowed were two cubits and from the top of this sloping where the square narrowed to the Circuit was properly but four cubits but from the Foundation five And so though the Talmud speaketh differently from the Prophet when it saith the Foundation or lower settle was but one cubit high and he two and when it saith the height from the lower to the higher settle or from the Foundation to the circuit was five cubits and the Prophet saith but four yet do they both mean but one and the same thing but understood as hath been spoken namely the one taketh the Foundation or lower settle barely as it lay flat upon the ground and the other takes it with this cubital slope rising from it made leaning a cubit height to the body of the Altar and this interpretation helpeth to understand that which David Kimchi professeth he cannot tell what to make of and that is why the upper settle which was narrower by two cubits in the square is called the greater and the lower which was larger in the square is called the lesser The reason whereof is this because the upper though it were less in compass yet was larger in bredth because this leaning slope rising that we speak of took up a good part of the bredth of the lower and so the walk upon it was not so clear and large as it was upon the other And then the Prophet tells us that when the body of the Altar was thus risen six cubits high to the upper settle which the Talmudicks call the circuit That thence Harel was to be four cubits and from Ariel and upward the four horns There a a a Kimch in loc âââât Lemp in Mid. p. 97. are some that conceive that Harel and Ariel are indeed but one and the same word though so diversly written from whom I cannot much differ as to point of Grammar because the Letters ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do admit of such alternancy in the language yet me thinks the difference of the words should hold out some difference of the sense and Harel to signifie the Lords Mountain and Ariel the Lords Lion upon the Mountain the lower part at the horns more properly Harel and the upper more properly Ariel But since the Text gives the b b b Vid. R. Sol. ibid. name Ariel to all that part that was from the Root of the horns upward we shall not much stick upon it The word Harel if you will construe it the Mountain of the Lord David Kimchi tells you that it is as much as to say The House of the Lord and because they served other Gods in every place upon high Hills this which was the Hill of the Lord was but four cubits high And if you will take the word Ariel our Rabbins of happy memory saith he say the Altar was called Ariel or the Lords Lion because the holy fire that came down from Heaven couched on it like a Lion The word Ariel doth also signifie one exceeding strong 2 Sam. XXIII 20. and so doth Arel Esai XXXIII 7. But take it whether way you will here either for a strong thing or for the Lords Lion the Altar was very properly so called either because of the devouring of many Sacrifices Lion like or because of the great strength and prevalency the people had by Sacrifice the Lord owning them wonderfully in that service whilest gone about according to his Will or because of the strong Lion Christ whom the Altar and Sacrifices did represent Jerusalem and especially Zion the City where David Dwells is also called Ariel the strong one or the Lion of
filled with compassion and said What Is this Man that is but Flesh and Blood filled with pity towards my Children and shall not I be much more Of whom it is written For the Lord thy God is a merciful God he will not forsake thee nor destroy thee nor forget the covenant of thy Fathers Presently he gave a sign to the Blood and it was swallowed up in the place R. Jochanan saith The Eighty thousand young Priests fled to the midst of the Chambers of the Sanctuary and they were all burnt and of all them none was left but Joshua the son of Jozedeck as it is written Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire Zech. III. 2. In this space between the Altar and the Porch there stood the Laver but not directly before the Altar but removed towards the South so that it stood betwixt the rise of the Altar and the Porch as we shall observe in the viewing of it by and by But the Talmud speaketh of a Vessel which by its relation appeareth to have lain directly betwixt Porch and Altar which it calleth Migrephah but what to English it is not very ready The Treatise Tamid speaketh thus of it f f f Tamid per. 5 They that were to go into the Temple to burn Incense and to dress the Lamps came between the Porch and the Altar one of them taketh the Migrephah and Rings it between the Porch and the Altar one man could not hear another speak in Jerusalem because of the sound of the Migrephah It served for three things The Priest that heard the sound of it knew that his Brethren the Priests were gone in to Worship and he ran and came A Levite that heard the sound of it knew that his Brethren the Levites were gone in to sing and he ran and came And the chief of the stationary men brought them that had been unclean and set them in the Gate of Nicanor Now what kind of thing this Migrephah was I find but little light towards an exact resolution g g g Gloss. in Mishnaioth ib. Some say it was a great Vessel which they rung to make a sound but of what fashion and whether for any other use also they leave uncertain The Chaldee renders ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Exod. XXXVIII 3 c. which seemeth to be the same word with this that we are about and so he understands it to mean some of the fire-shovels that belonged to the Altar which being either rung upon or shoved upon the pavement would make a loud noise being of brass and very big The Jews upon the sound of this and divers other things at the Temple do hyperbolize thus h h h Tamid per. 3. Even from Jericho they heard the noise of the great Gate of the Temple when it opened From Jericho they heard the ringing of the Migrephah From Jericho they heard the noise of the Engine that Ben Kattin made for the Laver. From Jericho they heard the voice of the Crier that called them to their Services From Jericho they heard the sound of the Pipe From Jericho they heard the sound of the Cymbal From Jericho they heard the sound of the Song From Jericho they heard the sound of the Trumpets And some say also The voice of the High Priest when he uttered the Name Jehovah on the day of Expiation c. The truth of which things is not to be pleaded seeing it is apparent that they are uttered by way of Hyperbole only it may not be improper to observe how common the phrase was From Jerusalem to Jericho which is also used in Luke X. 30. CHAP. XXXVII Concerning the Vessels and Utensils of the Temple SECT I. The Laver. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã THE first command of making the Laver and the end of it being made is related in Exod. XXX 18 19 20. c. in these words Thou shalt make a Laver of brass and his Foot of brass to wash withal and thou shalt put it between the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the Altar and thou shalt put water therein For Aaron and his sons shall wash their Hands and their Feet thereat when they go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation they shall wash with water that they dye not or when they come near the Altar to minister c. And the making of it is related in Exod. XXXIV 8. He made the Laver of brass and the Foot of it of brass of the looking glasses of the Women assembling which assembled at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation The measures and the receipt of it is not at all described The Holy Ghost hath left it undetermined what was the form or the cize of it but hath given notice only of the materials of it and the end It was made of the brazen Looking-glasses of the Women that assembled at the Door of the Tabernacle The Septuagint expresseth it of the fasting Women which fasted at the Door of the Tabernacle reading ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Jerusalem Targum with which also Jonathans agrees reads it of the Looking-glasses of the modest Women which were modest at the Door of the Tabernacle which Aben Ezra's Gloss upon the place helps us to understand thus It is the custom of all Women saith he to look their faces in Looking-glasses every morning either of Brass or Glass that they may see to dress their heads but behold there were Women in Israel that served the Lord that departed from this worldly delight and gave away their Glasses as afree-will-offering for they had no more use of them but they came every day to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation to pray and hear the words of the Commandment The end of it was to wash the Hands and Feet of the Priests but the most ultimate end was to signifie the washing and purifying by the Spirit of Grace which is so oft called water in the Scripture and so the sprinkling of the Blood of the Sacrifice and the washing in the Water of the Laver did read the two great Divinity Lectures of washing by the Blood of Christ from guilt and by the Grace of God from filthiness and pollution The cize and measure of the Laver at the second Temple is not described neither only we have these things recorded of it in the Antiquities of the Hebrew Writers 1. That it stood between the Altar and the Porch as the Primitive appointment was Exod. XXX 18. but not just and directly between them but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a a a a Mid. per. 3. Sect. 6. little aside toward the South And the reason given for the placing of it there is this b b b R. Sol. in Exod. XXX ex Zevachin Because it is said And the Altar of Burnt-offering at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation meaning that the Altar was to be before the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the Laver not
and being so found he had his white Garments put upon him all which Garments were found at the publick charge The Man clothed with linnen with a writers Inkhorn by his side Ezek. IX 3. Walking with Christ in white Rev. III. 4. Araying in white Robes Rev. VII 9 c. do seem to refer to this holy Garb and Colour of the Priests 3. Upon their Feet they wore nothing at all whilst they served but stood in the Court barefooted were it never so cold nay though they were barefooted yet might they not stand upon any thing to keep their Feet from the cold pavement but must stand barely upon that were the Service never so long and the season never so sharp The reason of their barefootedness was because of the holiness of the ground as Exod. III. 5. Josh. V. 15. and the reason of their standing only on the bare stones was to shew their fervour and zeal to the Service 4. Upon their Thighs and Loins they wore linnen breeches to prevent the discovery of their nakedness Exod. XXVIII 42. either when they stood upright aloft upon the Altar or when they stooped down to any work of the Service either there or in any other place And here I cannot but think of that ridiculous passage in c c c Martial lib. 3 Epig. 24. Martial in lib. 3. Epig. 24. which such a provision as this might have prevented And of that passage in the Treatise Tamid d d d Tamid per. 5. where some of the Priests are said to be delivered to the Chazanim or Overseers and they stripped them of their Garments and left nothing upon them but their breeches 5. Upon their Bodies they wore a linnen Coat or Surplice which was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Exod. XXVIII 4. by the Seventy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã upon which Nobilius maketh this comment e e e Nobil in LXX in Ex. XXVIII Graecam dictionem retinet S. Hieronymus ad Marcellam S. August q. 114. habet cum cornibus c. Hierome retaineth the Greek word Cosymbotam Austin in quest 114. Translates it with horns and addeth that the Latine Interpreters thought it better to call it the Coat with horns than if they had said with tufts But others Interpret it strait and girt which Interpretation seemeth not impertinent seeing that afterward in this same Chapter Cosymbi and Cosymboti do signifie knots But others Translate it out of the Hebrew Ocellatam or checkered And so it might be shewed from the Original of the Hebrew word used that it so signifieth and this linnen was wrought Diaper-like with checker or diced work or some such kind of Workmanship which set it out with neatness as well as it was white 6. This Coat was girt to them with a long scarf which went divers times about them like a swaddle which was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and which both helped to keep them warm in their thin clothing and to strengthen their Backs in their hard Service which sometime they met withal tugging with the Beasts that they were to slay and lifting at them when they were killed 7. Upon their Heads they had a Bonnet or a Mitre which was a linnen scarf often wrapped and wrapped about their Heads after the manner of the Turkish Tullibants as is more fully described in the Temple Service Chap. 4. In these four parcels of Vesture the High Priests and the other Priests were alike for the High Priest wore these as well as they but he had four other parcels over and above which they might not wear and by which he was singularly distinguished from them and these were 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Coat of the Ephod this the Seventy call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Ephod it self which he put upon that Coat and clasped it together over his Paps with a curious girdle This helpeth to understand that in Rev. I. 13. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 3. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Brest-plate in which were put the Urim and Thummim Exod. XXVIII 30. which in the Apostles application seem to signifie Faith and Love 1 Thes. V. 8. 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Golden Plate upon his Forehead in which was written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The holy One of the Lord compare Luke IV. 34. which have been particularly spoken to in the Tract and Place cited a little above As the Priests Garments were provided at the Publick charge so when they were over-worn they returned to the Publick again for their Coats and Breeches c. were ravelled to make yarn for the Lamps and for the lights at the solemn nightly Festivity in the Feast of Tabernacles and it is like for the Priests Candles in their Chambers SECT VI. The anointing Oil. THE appointment and composition of anointing Oil is laid down in Exod. XXX 23 c. where the Lord commanded thus Thou shalt take unto thee principal Spices of pure Myrrhe five hundred shekels and of sweet Cinnamon half so much even two hundred and fity shekels and of sweet Calamus two hundred and fifty shekels and of Cassia five hundred shekels after the shekel of the Sanctuary and of Oil Olive an hin And thou shalt make it a holy anointing Oil c. The Simples need not to be disputed of only I cannot but observe and wonder at the conception of Rambam about one of them who holdeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mor which our English hath very properly Translated Myrrhe to be a a a Maim in Kelt Mikdash per. 1. the congealed Blood of an Indian Beast whereupon one of his Glossaries takes him up thus b b b Gloss. ibid. It cannot enter into my Head that they would put the Blood of a Beast into any holy composition much less of a Beast unclean But ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mor is that that is spoken of in the Canticles I am come into my Garden my Sister my Spouse I have gathered my Myrrhe For the making up of these Simples into the compound of the anointing Oil the way and manner is recorded to have been thus c c c Ibid. They were bruised every one apart and by themselves and then were they mingled and boiled in clean Water till all their strength was come out into that Decoction which Decoction strained and having Oil put to it was again boiled to the height of an Ointment and so reserved This anointing Oil was only in use in the times of the Tabernacle and first Temple and with it were their Vessels sanctified according as was appointed in the place of Exodus even now cited and described Levit. VIII but there was no such Ointment under the second Temple for there the Vessels were sanctified by their very use and serving in them and so indeed was the Temple it self For there was neither cloud of Glory to sanctifie the House nor divine Fire to sanctifie the Altar nor holy Oil to sanctifie the
Hebrew but such as learned it by Study However therefore all the Jews inhabiting the land of Canaan did not so readily understand the Chaldee Language as the Syriac which was their Mother Language yet they much readilier understood that than the Hebrew which to the unlearned was not known at all Hence it was not without necessity that the Prophets were turned into the Chaldee Language by Johnathan and the Law not much after by Onkelos that they might a little be understood by the common people by whom the Hebrew original was not understood at all r r r r r r Hierof Schabb. fol. 15. col 3. We read also that the Book of Job had its Targum in the time of Gamaliel the Elder that is Pauls Master the sense of the words yet they reputed it not for a prophesie because it was not uttered in the Language that was proper for prophetical predictions But we tarry not here That which we would have is this that Matthew wrote not in Hebrew which is proved sufficiently by what is spoken before if so be we suppose him to have written in a Language vulgarly known and understood which certainly we ought to suppose Nor that he nor the other Writers of the New Testament writ in the Syriac Language unless we suppose them to have written in the ungrateful Language of an ungrateful Nation which certainly we ought not to suppose For when the Jewish people were now to be cast off and to be doomed to eternal cursing it was very improper certainly to extol their Language whether it were the Syriac Mother Tongue or the Chaldee its cozin Language unto that degree of honour that it should be the original Language of the New Testament Improper certainly it was to write the Gospel in their Tongue who above all the Inhabitants of the World most despised and opposed it II. Since therefore the Gentiles were to be called to the Faith and to embrace the Gospel by the preaching of it the New Testament was writ very congruously in the Gentile Language and in that which among the Gentile Languages was the most noble viz. The Greek Let us see what the Jews say of this Language envious enough against all Languages besides their own z z z z z z Mâgillab fol. 9. 2. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel saith Even concerning the holy Books the wise Men permitted not that they should be writ in any other Language than Greek R. Abhu saith that R. Jochanan said the Tradition is according to Rabban Simeon that R. Jochanan said moreover Whence is that of Rabban Simeon proved From thence that the Scripture saith The Lord shall perswade Japhet and he shall dwell in the tents of Sem The words of Japhet shall be in the Tents of Sem and a little after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God shall perswade Japhet i. e. The grace of Japhet shall be in the Tents of Sem. Where the Gloss speaks thus The Grace of Japhet is the Greek Language the fairest of those Tongues which belong to the sons of Japhet a a a a a a Hierof Meâill fol 71. â Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel saith Even concerning the sacred books they permitted not that they should be written in any other Language than Greek They searched seriously and found ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That the Law could not be translated according to what was needful for it but in Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã You have this latter clause cut off in Massecheth Sopherim where this story also is added b b b b b b Cap. 1. artic â The five Elders wrote the Law in Greek for Ptolomy the King and that day was bitter to Israel as the day wherein the golden Calf was made because the Law could not be translated according to what was needful for it This story of the five Interpreters of the Law is worthy of consideration which you find seldom mentioned or scarce any where else The Tradition next following after this in the place cited recites the story of the LXX Look it When therefore the common use of the Hebrew Language had perished and when the Mother Syriac or Chaldee Tongue of a cursed Nation could not be blessed our very enemies being judges no other Language could be found which might be fit to write the New divine Law besides the Greek Tongue That this Language was scattered and in use among all the Eastern Nations almost and was in a manner the Mother Tongue and that it was planted every where by the Conquests of Alexander and the Empire of the Greeks we need not many words to prove since it is every where to be seen in the Historians The Jews do well near acknowledge it for their Mother Tongue even in Judea c c c c c c Hieros Megill in the place above col 2. R. Jochanan of Beth Gubrin said There are four noble Languages which the world useth The Mother Tongue for Singing the Roman for War the Syriac for Mourning and the Hebrew for Elocution and there are some who say the Assyrian for Writing What is that which he calls the Mother Tongue It is very easily answered The Greek from those encomiums added to it mentioned before and that may more confidently be affirmed from the words of Midras Tillin respecting this saying of R. Jochanan and mentioning the Greek Language by name d d d d d d Midr. Till fol. 25. 4. R. Jochanan said There are three Languages The Roman for War the Greek for Speech the Assyrian for Prayer To this also belongs that that occurs once and again in Bab. Megillah ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã e e e e e e Fol. 18. 1. In the Greek mother Tongue you have an Instance of the thing f f f f f f Hieros Sotah fol. 21. 2. R. Levi coming to Cesarea heard some ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã reciting the Phylacteries in the Hellenistical Language This is worthy to be marked At Cesarea flourished the famous Schools of the Rabbins ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Rabbins of Cesarea are mentioned in both Talmuds most frequently and with great praise but especially in that of Jerusalem But yet among these the Greek is used as the Mother Tongue and that in reciting the Phylacteries which you may well think above all other things in Judea were to be said in Hebrew In that very Cesarea Hierom mentions the Hebrew Gospel of S. Matthew to be laid up in the Library of Pamphilus in these words Matthew who was also called Levi from a Publican made an Apostle first of all in Judea composed the Gospel of Christ in Hebrew letters and words for their sakes who were of the circumcision and believed Which Gospel who he was that afterwards translated it into Greek it is not sufficiently known Moreover that very Hebrew Gospel is reserved to this day in the Library at Cesarea which Pamphilus the Marlyr with much care collected I also had leave
his birth in the month Tisri But that he died at that age not to make any delay by mentioning more things appears hence that he was baptized now beginning his thirtieth year and that he lived after his baptism three years and an half as the space of his publick Ministry is determined by the Angel Gabriel Dan. IX in the half of a week that is three years and an half he shall make the sacrifice to cease c. But of this hereafter This month was innobled in former times 1. For the Creation of the World Weigh well Exod. XXIII 15. Joel II. 23. 2. For the nativity of the first Fathers which the m m m m m m Hieros Rosh Hashanah fol. 56. 4. Jews assert not without reason 3. For the repairing the Tables of the Law For Moses after the third Fast of forty days comes down from the mountain a messenger of good things the tenth day of this month which was from hence appointed for the Feast of Expiation to following ages 4. For the Dedication of the Temple 1 King VIII 2. And 5. For three solemn Feasts namely that of the beginning of the year that of Expiation and that of Tabernacles From this month also was the beginning of the Jubilee VI. It is probable Christ was born at the Feast of Tabernacles 1. So it ariseth exactly to three and thirty years and an half when he died at the Feast of the Passover 2. He fulfilled the Typical equity of the Passover and Pentecost when at the Passover he offered himself for a Passover at Pentecost he bestowed the Holy Ghost from Heaven as at that time the Law had been given from Heaven At that time the first fruits of the Spirit were given by him Rom. VIII 23. when the first fruits of corn had been wont to be given Levit. XXIII 17. It had been a wonder if he had honoured the third solemnity namely the Feast of Tabernacles with no Antitype 3. The Instruction of the Feast of Tabernacles agrees excellently with the time of Christs birth For when Moses went down from the Mount on the tenth day of the month Tisri declaring that God was appeased that the people was pardoned and that the building of the holy Tabernacle was forthwith to be gone in hand with hitherto hindred by and because of the Golden Calf seeing that God now would dwell among them and forsake them no more the Israelites immediately pitch their Tents knowing they were not to depart from that place before the divine Tabernacle was finished and they set upon this work withal their strength Whence the tenth day of that month wherein Moses came down and brought this good news with him was appointed for the Feast of expiation and the fifteenth day and seven days after for the Feast of Tabernacles in memory of their dwelling in Tents in the wilderness when God dwelt in the midst of them which things with how aptly Typical an aspect they respect the Incarnation when God dwelt among men in humane flesh is plain enough 3. Weigh Zechar. XIV vers 16 17. And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the Earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hosts even upon them shall be no more rain ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In Bethlehem It will not be improper here to produce the Gemarists themselves openly confessing that the Messias was born now a good while ago before their times For so they write n n n n n n Hieros Beracoth fol. 5. 1. After this the children of Israel shall be converted and shall enquire after the Lord their God and David their King Hos. III. 5. Our Rabbins say That is King Messias if he be among the living his name is David or if dead David is his name R. Tanchum said Thus I prove it He sheweth mercy to David his Messiah Psal. XVIII 50. R. Josua ben Levi saith His name is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Branch Zech. III. 8. R. Judan bar Aibu saith His name is Menahem that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Comforter And that which happened to a certain Jew as he was plowing agreeth with this business A certain Arabian travailing and hearing the Ox bellow said to the Jew at Plow O Jew loose thy Oxen and loose thy Plows for behold the Temple is laid waste The Ox bellowed the second time the Arabian saith to him O Jew Jew yoke thy Oxen and sit thy plows ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For behold King Messiah is born But saith the Jew What is his name Menahem saith he And what is the name of his father Hezekiah saith the Arabian To whom the Jew but whence is He The other answered From the palace of the King of Bethlehem Judah Away he went and sold his Oxen and his Plows and became a seller of Infants swadling cloths going about from Town to Town When he came to that City Bethlehem all the women bought of him but the Mother of Menahem bought nothing He heard the voice of the women saying O thou Mother of Menahem thou Mother of Menahem carry thy son the things that are here sold. But she replied May the enemies of Israel be strangled because on the day that he was born the Temple was laid waste To whom he said But we hoped that as it was laid waste at his feet so at his feet it would be built again She saith I have no mony To whom he replied But why should this be prejudicial to him Carry him what you buy here and if you have no mony to day after some days I will come back and receive it After some days he returns to that City and saith to her How does the little infant And she said From the time you saw me last Spirits and Tempests came and snatched him away out of my hands R. Bon saith What need have we to learn from an Arabian Is it not plainly written And Lebanon shall fall before the Powerful one Esa. X. 34. And what follows after A Branch shall come out of the root of Jesse Esa. XI 1. The Babylonian Doctors yield us a confession not very unlike the former o o o o o o Avâdoh Zarah fol. 9. 2. R. Chaninah saith After four hundred years are past from the destruction of the Temple if any one shall say to you Take to thy self for one peny a field worth a thousand pence do not take it And again After four thousand two hundred thirty and one years from the creation of the World if any shall say to you Take for a peny a field worth a thousand pence take it not The Gloss is For that is the time of Redemption and you shall be brought back
a man first take upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and then the yoke of the Precept u u u u u u Gemâra Bab. ibid. fol. 13. 2. Rabh said to Rabbi Chaijah ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We never saw Rabbi Judah taking upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven Bar Pahti answered At that time when he put his hands to his face he took upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven Where the Gloss speaks thus We saw not that he took upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven for until the time came of reciting the Phylacteries he instructed his Scholars and when that time was come I saw him not interposing any space x x x x x x Ibid. fol. 15. 1 Doth any ease nature Let him wash his hands put on his Phylacteries repeat them and pray ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And this is the Kingdom of Heaven fulfilled ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã y y y y y y Ibid. col 2. in the Gloss. If thou shalt have explained Shaddai and divided the letters of the Kingdom of Heaven thou shalt make the shadow of death to be cool to thee that is if in the repeating of that passage of the Phylacteries Deut. VI. 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord c. you shall pronounce the letters distinctly and deliberately so that you shall have sounded out the names of God rightly thou shalt make cool the shades of death For the same Gloss had said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The repeating of that passage Hear O Israel c. is the taking of the Kingdom of Heaven upon thee But the repeating of that place And it shall be if thou shalt harken c. Deut. XI 13. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is the taking of the yoke of the Precept upon thee z z z z z z In eodem cap. 2. tract Berac hal 5. Rabban Gamaliel recited his Phylacterical prayers on the very night of his nuptials And when his Scholars said unto him Hast thou not taught us O our Master that a bridegroom is freed from the reciting of his Phylacteries the first night He answered I will not harken to you nor will I lay aside the Kingdom of Heaven from me no not for an hour a a a a a a Zohar in Levit. fol. 53. What is the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven In like manner as they lay the yoke upon an Ox that he may be serviceable and if he bear not the yoke he becomes unprofitable so it becomes a man first to take the yoke upon himself and to serve in all things with it but if he casts it off he is unprofitable as it is said Serve the Lord in fear What means In fear The same that is written The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom And this is the Kingdom of Heaven a a a a a a Hieros Kid ãâã âââ 59 4 The Scholars of Jonathan ben Zaccai asked why a servant was to be bored through the ear rather than through some other part of the body He answered When he heard with the ear those words from Mount Sinai Thou shalt have no other Lord before my face he broke the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven from him and took upon himself the yoke of flesh and blood If by the Kingdom of Heaven in these and other such like places which it would be too much to heap together they mean the inward love and fear of God which indeed they seem to do so far they agree with our Gospel sense which asserts the inward and spiritual Kingdom of Christ especially And if the words of our Saviour Behold the Kingdom of God is within you Luke XVII 21. be suited to this sense of the Nation concerning the Kingdom of Heaven there is nothing sounds hard or rough in them for it is as much as if he had said Do you think the Kingdom of Heaven shall come with some remarkable observation or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with much shew Your very Schools teach that the Kingdom of God is within a man But however they most ordinarily applied this manner of speech hither yet they used it also for the exhibition and revelation of the Messiah in the like manner as the Evangelical History doth Hence are these expressions and the like to them in Sacred Writers The Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God should come Luke XVII 20. They thought that the Kingdom of God should presently be manifested Luke XIX 11. Joseph of Arimathea waited for the Kingdom of God Luke XXIII 52. c. And these words in the Chaldee Paraphrast Say ye to the Cities of Judah the Kingdom of your God is revealed Esa. XL. 9. They shall see the Kingdom of their Messiah Esa. LIII 11. The Baptist therefore by his preaching stirs up the minds of his hearers to meet the coming of the Messiah now presently to be manifested with that repentance and preparation as is meet VERS IV. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The food was locusts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã b b b b b b Hieros Nedarim fol. 40. 2. He that by vow tyeth himself from flesh is forbidden the flesh of fish and of locusts See the Babylonian Talmud c c c c c c Câolin fol. 65 1. concerning Locusts sit for food VERS V. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The region round about Iordan THE word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the region round about is used by the Jerusalem Gemara d d d d d d Sheâiâth fol. 38. 4. From Beth Horn to the Sea ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is one region ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã round about or one circumjacent region ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã perhaps both in the Talmudists and in the Evangelist is one and the same thing with a Coast or a Country along a coast in Pliny e e e e e e Lib. 5. cap. 13 The country saith he along the coast is Samariâ that is the Sea coast and the country further lying along by that coast which may be said also concerning the region round about Jordan Strabo concerning the Plain bordering on Jordan hath these words It is a place of an hundred furlongs all well watered and full of dwellings VERS VI. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And were baptized §. A few things concerning Baptism IT is no unfit or unprofitable question whence it came to pass that there was so great a conflux of men to the Baptist and so ready a reception of his Baptism I. The first reason is Because the manifestation of the Messias was then expected the weeks of Daniel being now spent to the last four years Let us consult a little his Text. Dan. IX 24. Seventy years of years are decreed concerning thy people c. That is four hundred and ninety years from the first of Cyrus to the death of Christ. These years are divided into three parts and they very unequal 1. Into seven weeks
22. 2. And there was a Rabbin named Rabh Jod Of the letter Jod See Midrash Tillin upon the CXIV Psalm ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã One tittle It seems to denote the little heads or dashes of letters whereby the difference is made between letters of a form almost alike The matter may be illustrated by these examples ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã m m m m m m Hieros Schab fol. 10. 4. If it were Daleth and a man should have formed it into Resh on the Sabbath or should have formed Resh into Daleth he is guilty n n n n n n Tanchâm fol. 1. 1. It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ye shall not prophane my holy Name whosoever shall change ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cheth into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He destroys the World for then ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã written with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He makes this sense Ye shall not praise my holy Name It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let every spirit praise the Lord. Whosoever changeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cheth destroys the World It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They lied against the Lord whosoever changeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Beth into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Caph destroies the World It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There is none holy as the Lord whosoever changeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cheth into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Beth destroys the World It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Lord our God is one Lord he that changeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Daleth into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Resh destroys the World But that our Saviour by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jot and Tittle did not only understand the bare letters or the little marks that distinguished them appears sufficiently from vers 19. where he renders it one of these least commands in which sense is that also in the Jerusalem Gemara of Solomons rooting out Jod that is evaâuating that precept ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He shall not multiply Wives And yet it appears enough hence that our Saviour also so far asserts the uncorrupt immortality and purity of the holy Text that no particle of the sacred sense should perish from the beginning of the Law to the end of it To him that diligently considers these words of our Saviour their Opinion offers it self who suppose that the whole Alphabet of the Law or rather the original character of it is perished namely the Samaritan in which they think the Law was first given and written and that that Hebrew wherein we now read the Bible was substituted in its stead We shall not expatiate in the question but let me with the Readers good leave produce and consider some passages of the Talmud whence if I be not mistaken Christians seem first to have taken up this opinion The Jerusalem Talmud treats of this matter in these words o o o o o o In Megill fol. 71. 2 3. R. Jochanan de Beth Gubrin saith There are four noble Tongues which the World useth The Mother Tongue for Singing the Roman for War the Syriac for Mourning the Hebrew for Elocution and there are some which add the Assyrian for Writing The Assyrian hath writing that is letters or characters but a language it hath not The Hebrew hath a language but writing it hath not They chose to themselves the Hebrew language in the Assyrian character But why is it called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Assyrian ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Because it is blessed or direct in its writing R. Levi saith Because it came up into their hands out of Assyria A Tradition R. Josi saith Ezra was fit by whose hands the Law might have been given but that the age of Moses prevented But although the Law was not given by his hand yet writing that is the forms of the letters and the language were given by his hand And the writing of the Epistle was writ in Syriac and rendred in Syriac Ezr. IV. 7. And they could not read the writing Dan. V. 8. From whence is shewn that the writing that is the form of the characters and letters was given that very same day R. Nathan saith the Law was given in breaking that is in letters more rude and more disjoyned And the matter is as R. Josi saith Rabbi Judah Haccodesh saith the Law was given in the Assyrian language and when they sinned it was turned into breaking And when they were worthy in the days of Ezra it was turned for them again into the Assyrian I shew to day that I will render to you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mishneh the doubled or as if he should say the seconded Zech. IX 12. And he shall write for himself the Mishneh the doubled of this Law in a book Deut. XVII 18. namely in a writing that was to be changed R. Simeon ben Eleazar saith in the name of R. Eleazar ben Parta and he in the name of R. Lazar the Hammodaean the Law was given in Assyrian writing Whence is that proved From those words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Exod. XXVII 10. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That the letter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Vau in the Law is like a pillar So the Jerusalem Talmudists Discourse is had of the same business in the p p p p p p Sanhedr fol. 21. 2. 22. 1. Babylonian Talmud and almost in the same words these being added over The Law was given to Israel in Hebrew writing and in the holy Language And it was given to them again in the days of Ezra in Assyrian writing and the Syriac Language The Israelites chose to themselves the Assyrian writing and the holy Language ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And left the Hebrew writing and the Syriac Language to ignorant persons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But who are those Idiots or ignorant persons R. Chasda saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Samaritans And what is the Hebrew writing R. Chasda saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is according to the Gloss Great letters such as those are which are writ in charms and upon door posts That we may a little apprehend the meaning of the Rabbins let it be observed I. That by the Mother Tongue the Hebrew Syriac Romane being named particularly no other certainly can be understood than the Greek we have shewn at the three and twentieth verse of the first Chapter II. That that writing which the Gemarists call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and which we have interpreted by a very known word Hebrew writing is not therefore called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because this was proper to the Israelites or because it was the antient writing but as the Gloss very aptly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because the writing or character was in use among them that dwelt beyond Euphrates In the same sense as some would have Abraham called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hebrew signifying on the other side that is beyond or on
we have produced is plain and without any difficulty as if he should say It is an old Tradition which hath obtained for many ages VERS XXII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But I say unto you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But I say the words of one that refutes or determines a question very frequently to be met with in the Hebrew Writers To this you may lay that of Esaiah Chap. II. vers 3 And he will teach us of his ways c. When Kimchi writes thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This Teacher is King Messias And that of Zacharias Chap. XI vers 8. Where this great shepherd destroys three evil shepherds namely the Pharisee and the Saduâee and the Essene ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause c. First let us treat of the Words and then of the Sentences With his Brother The Jewish Schools do thus distinguish between a Brother and a Neighbour that a Brother signifies an Israelite by nation and blood a Neighbour an Israelite in religion and worship that is a Proselyte The Author of Aruch in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Son of the Covenant writes thus The Sons of the Covenant these are Israel And when the Scripture saith If any ones Ox gore the Ox of his Neighbour it excludes all the Heathen in that it saith of his Neighbour Maimonides writes thus t t t t t t in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ch. 2. It is all one to kill an Israelite and a Canaanite Servant for both the punishment is death But an Israelite who shall kill ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A stranger inhabitant shall not be punished with death because it is said Whosoever shall proudly rise up against his Neighbour to kill him Ex. XXI 14. And it is needless to say he shall not be punished with death for killing a Heathen Where this is to be noted that Heathens and stranger Inhabitants who were not admitted to perfect and compleat Proselytism were not qualified with the title of Neighbour nor with any privileges But under the Gospel where there is no distinction of Nations or Tribes Brother is taken in the same latitude as among the Jewes both Brother and Neighbour was that is for all professing the Gospel and is contradistinguished to the Heathen 1 Cor. V. 11. If any one who is called a Brother And Mat. XVIII 15. If thy Brother sin against thee c. ver 17. If he hear not the Church let him be a Heathen But Neighbour is extended to all even such as are strangers to our religion Luk. X. 29 30 c. He shall be guilty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã words signifying guilt or debt to be met with a thousand times in the Talmudists Es. XXIV v. 23. They shall be gathered together as Captives are gathered into prison Where R. Solomon speaks thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Guilty of Hell unto Hell which agrees with the last clause of this verse Of the Councel ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Sanhedrin that is of the Judgment or Tribunal of the Magistrate For that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Judgment in the clause before is to be referred to the Judgment of God will appear by what follows Raka ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A word used by one that despiseth another in the highest scorn very usual in the Hebrew Writers and very common in the mouth of the Nation u u u u u u Tanchum fol. 5. col 2. One returned to repentance his wife said to him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Raka if it be appoynted you to repent the very girdle wherewith you gird your self shall not be your own x x x x x x Id. fol. 18. col 4. A Heathen said to an Israelite Very sutable food is made ready for you at my house What is it saith the other To whom he replied swines-flesh Raka saith the Jew I must not eat of clean beasts with you y y y y y y Midras Tillin upon Psal. CXXXVII A Kings daughter was married to a certain durty fellow He commands her to stand by him as a mean Servant and to be his Butler To whom she said Raka I am a Kings daughter z z z z z z Id. fol. 38 col 4. One of the Scholars of R. Jochanan made sport with the teaching of his Master but returning at last to a sober mind Teach thou saith he O Master for thou art worthy to teach for I have found and seen that which thou hast taught To whom he replied ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Raka thou hadst not believed unless thou hadst seen a a a a a a Bab. Berac fol. 32. 2. A certain Captain saluted a religious man praying in the way but he saluted him not again He waited till he had done his prayer and saith to him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Raka It is written in your Law c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Into Hell fire The Jews do very usually express Hell or the place of the damned by the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gehinnom which might be shewn in infinite examples The manner of speech being taken from the vally of Hinnom a place infamous for foul Idolatry committed there for the howlings of Infants roasted to Molech filth carried out thither and for a fire that always was burning and so most fit to represent the horror of Hell b b b b b b Bab. Erubhin fol. 19. 1. There are three doors of Gehenna one in the Wilderness as it is written They went down and all that belonged to them alive into Hell Num. XVI 33. Another in the Sea as it is written Out of the belly of Hell have I called thou hast heard my voice Jon. II. 2. The Third in Jerusalem as it is written Thus saith the Lord whose fire is in Sion and his furnace in Jerusalem Esai XXXI 9. The Tradition of the School of R. Ismael Whose fire is in Sion this is the Gate of Gehenna The Chaldee Paraphrast upon Esai ch XXXIII ver 14. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gehenna eternal fire c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Gehenna of eternal fire We come now to the sentences and sense of the Verse A threefoid punishment is adjudged to a threefold wickedness Judgment to him that is angry ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is without cause Judgment also and that by the Sanhedrin that calls Raka Judgment of Hell to him that calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Fool. That which is here produced of the threefold Sanhedrin among the Jewes pleases me not because passing over other reasons mention of the Sanhedrin is made only in the middle clause How the Judgment in the first clause is to be distinguished from the Judgment of the Sanhedrin in the second will very easily appear from this Gloss and Commentary of the Talmudists Of not killing c c c c c
but whether it were used while Alms were done I still enquire That comes into my mind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã o o o o o o Hieros Demai fol. 23. 2. The Collectors of Alms do not proclaim on a feast day as they proclaim on a common day but collect it privately and put it up in their bosom But wether this Proclamation did publish what was giving by every one or did admonish of not giving any thing but what might rightly be given let the more learned Judge by looking upon the place III. They gave Alms also out of the field and that was especially fourfold 1. The Corner of the field not reaped 2. Sheaves left in the field either by forgetfulness or voluntarily 3. The âleaning of the Vintage of which see Levit XIX 9 10. Deut. XXIV 19. And 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Poors Tenth of which the Talmudists largely in the Tracts Peah Demai and Maasaroth To the gathering of these the poor were called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p p p p p p Peah cap. 4. hal 5. By three manifestations in the day namely in the morning and at noon and at Minchah or the Evening That is the Owner of the field openly shewed himself three times in the day for this end that then the poor should come and gather In the morning for the sake of nurses because in the mean time while their young children slept they might the more freely go forth for this purpose at noon for the sake of children who also at that time were prepared to gather at Mincha for the sake of old men So the Jerusalem Gemarists and the Glossers upon the Babylonian Talmud These were the ordinary Alms of the Jewish people in the doing which seeing as yet I cannot âiâd so much as the least sound of a trumpet in their Writers I guess that either our Saviour here spoke Metaphorically or if there were any trumpet used that it was used in peculiar and extraordinary Alms. The Jews did very highly approve of Alms done secretly hence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Treasury of the silent was of famed memory in the Temple whither q q q q q q Aruch in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some very religious men brought their Alms in silence and privacy when the poor children of good men were maintained And hence is that Proverb ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã r r r r r r Bab. Bava Baâhra fol. 9. â He that doth Alms in secret is greater than our Master Moses him self And yet they laboured under such an itch to make their Alms publick lest they should not be sâen by men that they did them not without a trumpet or which was as good as a trumpet with a proud affectation of making them known that they might the more be pointed at with the singer and that it might be said of them These are the men VERS III. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth HE seems to speak according to the custom used in some other things For in some actions which pertained to Religion they admitted not the left hand to meet with the right s s s s s s Maimon in Schabâ cap. ââ c. The Cup of Wine which was used to sanctifie the coming in of the Sabbath was to be taken with the right hand without the assistance of the left Let no man receive into a Vessel the blood of the sacriâice bring it to the Altar or sprinkle it with his left hand t t t t t t Bab. Joma f. 49. 1. And in the same Tract it is related of Shammai that he would feed himself only with one hand u u u u u u Fol. 77. 2. VERS V. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They love to pray standing in the Synagogues and in the corners of the streets I. THEY prayed standing Luke XVIII 11 13. Mark XI 25. x x x x x x Bab Berac fol. 26. 2. It is written And Abraham rose early in the morning at the place where he had stood before the Lord. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But to Stand was nothing else than to Pray as it is said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And Phinehas stood and judged y y y y y y Hieros f. 20. 1. One entreth into the Synagogue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And found them standing in Prayer z z z z z z Maimon in Deah cap. 5. Let a Scholar of the Wise men look downwards ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã When he stands Praying And to name no more the same Maimonides a a a a a a In Tephillaâ cap. 5. asserts these things are required in Prayer That he that prayeth stand that he turn his face towards Jerusalem that he cover his head and that he fix his eyes downwards II. They loved to pray in the Synagogues b b b b b b Tanchum fol. 35. 1. He goes to the Synagogue to pray Why do they recite their Phylacteries in the Synagogue when they are not bound to do it R Josi saith They do not recite them in the Synagogue for that end that so the whole office of the Phylacteries may be performed but to persevere in Prayer For this recitation was to be said over again when they came home c c c c c c Piske in Berac cap. 1. art 6 Rabbena Asher hath these words d d d d d d In Berac fol. 69 3. When any returns home in the evening from the field let him not say I will go into my house but first let him betake himself to the Synagogue and if he can read let him read something if he can recite the Traditions let him recite them And then let him say over the Philacteries and Pray But that we be not too tedious Even from this very opinion they were wont to betake themselves to the Synagogues because they were perswaded the Prayers of the Synagogue were certainly heard III. They prayed in the streets So Maimonides e e e e e e In Tephillaâ cap. 11. They prayed in the streets in the feasts and publick Fasts f f f f f f Taanith cap. 2. hal 1. 2. What are the rites of the Fasts They brought out the Ark into the streets of the City and sprinkled ashes upon the Ark and upon the Head of the President of the Sanhedrin and the Vice-President and every one put ashes upon his own head One of the Elders make this exhortation It is not said O Brethren of the Ninivites that God saw their sackcloth or their fastings but that he saw their works c. They stand praying and they set some fit Elder before the Ark and he prays four and twenty prayers before them But doth our Saviour condemn all Prayers in the Synagogue By no means For he himself prayed in and with the Synagogue Nor
tramples under his feet whatsoever is given him is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cardiacus troubled in mind And a little after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã One while he is mad another while he is well while he is mad he is to be esteemed for a mad man in respect of all his actions while he is well he is to be esteemed for one that is his own man in all respects See what we say at Ch. XVII ver 15. VERS XXX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã An heard of many swine feeding WERE these Gadarens Jews or Heathens I. It was a matter of infamy for a Jew to keep swine k k k k k k Hieros Shekalim fol. 47. 3. R. Jonah had a very red face which a certain woman seeing said thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Seignior Seignior either you are a Winebibber or a Usurer or a keeper of hogs II. It was forbidden by the Canon l l l l l l Maimon in Nizke Mammon cap. 5. The Wise men forbad to keep hogs any where and a dog unless he were chained Hogs upon a twofold account 1. By reason of the hurt and dammage that they would bring to other mens feilds Generally m m m m m m Bava Kama cap. 7. hal 7. the keeping of smaller cattle was forbid in the Land of Israel among which you may very well reckon hogs even in the first place And the reason is given by the Gemarists That they ââeak not into other mens grounds 2. The feeding of hogs is more particularly forbidden for their uncleanness For ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is forbidden to trade in any thing that is unclean n n n n n n Gloss. in Kama in the place above III. Yea it was forbid under a curse The o o o o o o Maimon in the place before Wise men say Cursed is he that keeps dogs and swine because from them ariseth much harm p p p p p p Bab. Kama fol. 82. 2. Let no man keep hogs any where The Rabbins deliver When the Asmonean family were in hostility among themselves Hyrcanus was beseiged within Jerusalem and Aristobulus was without The besieged sent mony in a box let down by a rope and they which were without bought with it the daily sacrifices which were drawn up by those that were within Among the beseigers there was one skilled in the Greek learning who said As long as they thus perform the service of the Temple they will not be delivered into your hands The next day therefore they let down their mony and these sent them back a hog When the hog was drawing up and came to the middle of the Wall he fixed his hoofs to the Wall and the Land of Israel was shaken c. From that time they said Cursed be he who keeps hogs and cursed be he who teacheth his son the Wisdom of the Greeks This Story is cited in q q q q q q fol. 64. 2. Menacoth Therefore you will wonder and not without cause at that which is related in their Talmud r r r r r r Bab. Taanith fol. 21. 2. They said sometimes to Rabh Judah There is a plague among the Swine He therefore appoynted a fast What Is a Jew concerned for a plague among swine But the reason is added For Rabh Judah thought that a stroak laid upon one kind of cattle would invade all You may not therefore improperly guess that these hogs belonged not to the Jews but to the Heathen dwelling among the Gadaren Jews for such a mixture was very usual in the Cities and Countries of the land of Israel Which we observe elsewhere of the Town Susitha or Hippo but some small distance from Gadara Or if you grant that they were Jews their manners will make that opinion probable as being persons whose highest Law the purse and profit was wont to be Since Brawn and Swines flesh were of so great account with the Romans and other Heathens there is no reason to believe that a Jew was held so straightly by his Canons as to value them before his own profit when there was hope of gain CHAP. IX VERS IX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He saw a man sitting at the receit of custom called Matthew FIVE Disciples of Christ are mentioned by the Talmudists among whom Matthew seems to be named a a a a a a Bab. Sanhedr fol. 43. â The Rabbins deliver There were five Disciples of Jesus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mathai Nakai Nezer Boni Thodah These they relate were led out and killed See the place Perhaps five are only mentioned by them because five of the Disciples were chiefly employed among the Jews in Judea namely Matthew who wrote his Gospel there Peter James John and Judas Matthew seems to have set in the Custom-house of Capernaum near the Sea to gather some certain âole or rate of those that sailed over See Mark Ch. II. 13 14. b b b b b b Schabb. cap. 8. hal 2. He that produceth paper on the Sabbath in which a Publicans note is writ and he that produceth a Publicans note is guilty The Gloss is When any pays tribute to the Lord of the River or when he excuses him his tribute he certifies the Publican by a note or some Bill of free commerce that he hath remitted him his duty and it was customary in it to write two Letters greater than ours See also the Gemara there VERS XIV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We and the Pharisees fast oft MOnsters rather than stories are related of the Pharisees fasts 1. It is known to all from Luk. XVIII 12. that they were wont to fast twice every week The rise of which custom you may fetch from this Tradition c c c c c c Bab. Bava Kama fol. 82. 1 Ezra decreed ten decrees He appointed the publick reading of the Law the second and fifth days of the week and again on the Sabbath at the Mincha or Evening-service he instituted the Session of the Judges in Cities on the second and fifth days of the week c. Of this matter discourse is had elsewhere f f f f f f Hieros in Megill fol. 75. 1. If you ask the reason why the decree was made concerning the second and fift days c. We must answer saith the Gloss from that which is said in Midras concerning Moses namely that he went up into the Mount to receive the second Tables on the fifth day of the week and came down God being now appeased the second day When therefore that ascent and descent was a time of grace they so determined of the second and fifth day And therefore they were wont to fast also on the second and fifth day II. It was not seldom that they enjoyned themselves fasts for this end to have lucky dreams or to attain the interpretation of some dream or to turn away the ill import
the cloud of persecution at last he brake forth a revenger and cut off that persecuting Nation and shewed himself a conqueror before the eyes of all both Jews and Gentiles Let it be observed in the Text before us how after the mention of that judgment and victory against the Jews presently follows And in his Name shall the Gentiles trust VERS XXIV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã By Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils FOR the searching out the sense of this horrid blasphemy these things are worthy observing I. Among the Jews it was held in a manner for a matter of Religion to reproach Idols and to give them odious names a a a a a a Hieros Avodah Zâraâ fol. 43. 3. R. Akibah saith Idolatry pollutes as a menstruous woman pollutes as it is said Thou shalt cast away the Idol as something that is menstruous and thou shalt say to it Get thee hence âsai XXX 22. R. Lazar saith Thou shalt say to it Get thee hence That which they call the face of b b b b b b See Strabo âiâ ââ pag âpââ mâ ââ4 God let them call the face of a dog That which they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the fountain of a âup let them call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the fountain of Toâl or of Flailes that which they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fortune let them call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a stink c. That Town which sometimes was called Bethel was afterwards called Bethaven See also the Tract c c c c c c Fol. 11. 4. Schabbath where these same words are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã d d d d d d âââ ãâã fol âââ All jeering is forbidden except the jeering of Idolatry This also is repeated in the Tract e e e e e e âol 25. 2. Megillah Where this is added It is lawful for a Jew to say to a Cââhite ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Take you Idol and put it under your buttocks II. Among the ignominious names bestowed upon Idols the general and common one was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Zebul dung or a dunghil f f f f f f Hieros Bââaââââ fol. 12 â Even to them who have stretched out their hands ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in a dunghill that is in an Idol-Temple or in Idolatry there is hope Thou âanst not bring them into the Church because they have stretched forth their hands ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In a dunghill But yet you cannot reject them because they have repented And a little after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He that sees them dunging that is sacrificing to an Idol let him say Cursed be he that sacrifices to a strange God Let them therefore who dare form this word in Matthew into Beelzebuâ I âm so far from doubting that the Pharisees pronounced the word Beelzebul and that Matthew so wrote it that I doubt not but the sense fails if it be writ otherwise III. Very many names of evil spirits or devils occur in the Talmudists which it is needless here to mention Among all the devils they esteemed that devil the worst the foulest and as it were the Prince of the rest who ruled over the Idols and by whom Oracles and Miracles were given forth among the Heathens and Idolaters And they were of this opinion for this reason because they held Idolatry above all other things chiefly wicked and abominable and to be the Prince and head of evil This Demon they called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Baal-zebul not so much by a proper name as by one more general and common as much as to say the Lord of Idolatry the worst devil and the worst thing and they called him the Prince of devils because Idolatry is the Prince or chief of wickedness g g g g g g Hieros Peaââ fol. 21. 2. We meet with a story where mention is made of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Prince of spirits Whether it be in this sense let the Reader consult and judg Also in the h h h h h h Ex ââââoth Aruch we meet with these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Demon Asmodeus the Prince of spirits IV. The Talmudists being taught by these their Fathers do give out horribly blaspheming That Jesus of Nazareth our Lord was a Magician a broacher of strange and wicked worship and one that did Miracles by the power of the Devil to beget his worship the greater belief and honour i i i i i i Bâb Sâhab fol. 104. â Ben ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Satda brought Magick out of Egypt by cuttings which he had made in his flesh By ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ben Satda they understand Jesus of Nazareth as we have said before whom they dishonour by that name that they might by one word and in one breath reproach him and his Mother together For ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Satda or Sâada sounds as much as an Adulterous wife which the Gemara shews after a few lines ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã She went aside from her husband k k k k k k Saâhedr fol. 107. 2. They seign that Jesus travelled with Joshua ben Perachiah into Egypt when the said Joshua fled from the anger and sword of Janneus the King which we have mentioned at the second Chapter and that he brought thence Magical witchârafts with him but under the cutting of his flesh that he might not be taken by the Egyptian Magicians who strictly examined all that went out of that land that none should transport their Magiâk Art into another land And in that place they add these horrid words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jesus practised Magick and deceived and drove Israel to Idolatry Those whelps bark as they were taught by these dogs To this therefore does this blasphemy of the Pharisees come as if they should say He casts out Devils indeed but he doth this by the help of the Devil the Lord of Idols that dwells in him by him that is the worst of all Devils who favours him and helps him because it is his ambition to drive the people from the worship of the true God to strange worship VERS XXV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But Iesus knowing their thoughts BEhold O Pharisee a sign of the true Messias for a sign you would have He smells out a wicked man l l l l l l Bab. Sanheâr fol. 93. â It is written of Messias The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and shall make him smell in the fear of the Lord. Rabba said He shall smell and judg as it is said He shall not judg by the sight of his eyes c. Ben Cozba reigned two years and a half and said to the Rabbins I am the Messias They said to him It is written of Messias that he shall smell and judg The Gloss is He shall smell of the Man and shall judg and know whether he be
a little colt In that Treatise Mezia they speak concerning an hired Ass and the terms that the hired is obliged to m m m m m m Chap. 6. Halac 3. Among other things there the Babylon Gemara hath these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Whosoever transgresses against the will of the owner is call'd a robber n n n n n n Fol. 78. 1. For instance If any one hires an Ass for a journey on the plains and turns up to the mountains c. Hence this of our Saviour appears to be a miracle not a robbery that without any agreement or terms this Ass should be led away and that the Owner and those that stood by should be satisfied with these bare words The Lord hath need of him VERS V. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Meek and sitting upon an Ass. THIS triumph of Christs compleats a double prophesie 1. This prophesie of Zacharia here mentioned 2. The taking to themselves the Paschal Lamb for this was the very day on which it was to be taken according to the command of the Law Exod. XII 3. In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb It scarce appears to the Talmudists how those words of Daniel concerning the Messias that he comes with the clouds of heaven o o o o o o Dan. VII 13. are consistent with these words of Zacharie that he comes sitting upon an ass p p p p p p See Bab. Sanhedr fol. ââ â If say they the Israelites be good then he shall come with the clouds of heaven but if not good then riding upon an Ass. Thou art much mistaken O Jew for he comes in the clouds of heaven as a Judg and Revenger because you are evil and very wicked but sitting upon an Ass not because you are but because he is good ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã King Sapores said to Samuel you say your Messias will come upon an Ass I will send him a brave horse He answers him you have not a horse with a hundred spots as is his Ass. q q q q q q Ibid. In the greatest humility of the Messias they dream of grandure even in his very Ass. VERS VIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Strowed branches in the way NOT that they strowed garments and boughs just in the way under the feet of the ass to be trod on this perhaps might have thrown down the rider but by the way side they made little tents and tabernacles of clothes and boughs according to the custom of the feast of Tabernacles John also adds that taking branches of palm trees ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in their hands they went forth to meet him That book of Maimonides intituled ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tabernacles and Palm branches will be an excellent comment on this place and so will the Talmudic treatise Succah We will pick out these few things not unsuitable to the present story s s s s s s Maimon Succah chap. 5. artic 17. Doth any one spread his garment on his tabernacle against the heat of the sun c. it is absurd but if he spread his garment for comeliness and ornament it is approved Again t t t t t t Chap. 7. âââv XXIII 40. The boughs of Palm trees of which the Law speaks u are the young growing sprouts of Palms before their leaves shoot out on all sides but when they are like small staves and these are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And a little after It is a notable precept to gather ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã young branches of Palms and the boughs of myrtle and willow and to make them up into a small bundle and to carry them in their hands c. VERS IX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hosannah to the Son of David SOME are are at a loss why it is said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the Son and not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã O Son Wherefore they fly to Caninius as to an Oracle who tells us that those very bundles of boughs are called Hosanna and that these words Hosanna to the Son of David signifie no more than Boughs to the Son of David w w w w w w See Baronius at the year of Christ 34. We will not deny that bundles are sometimes so called as seems in these clauses x x x x x x Bab. Succah fol. 37. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã where it is plain that a branch of Palm is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lulab and boughs of Mirtle and Willow bound together are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hosanna y y y y y y See the Gloss But indeed if Hosanna to the Son of David signifies Boughs to the Son of David what do those words mean Hosanna in the highest The words therefore here sung import as much as if it were said We now sing Hosanna to the Messias In the Feast of Tabernacles the great Hallel as they call it used to be sung that is the CXIII CXIV CXV CXVI CXVII CXVIII Psalms And while the words of the Psalms were sung or said by one the whole company used sometimes to answer at certain clauses Halleluia Sometimes the same clauses that had been sung or said were again repeated by the company sometimes the bundles of boughs were brandished or shaken But when were the Bundles shaken The Rubric of the Talmud saith At that clause ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Give thanks unto the Lord in the beginning of Psalm CXVIII and at the end ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and at that clause save now I beseech thee O Lord Psalm CXVIII 25. as saith the School of Hillel But the School of Shammai saith also At that clause ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity R. Akibah said I saw R. Gamaliel and R. Joshuah when all the company shook their bundles they did not shake theirs but only at that clause save now I beseech thee O Lord. z z z z z z Succah cap. 3. halac 9. On every day of the feast they used once to goround the Altar with bundles in their hands singing this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Save now I beseech thee O Lord I beseech thee O Lord send now prosperity But on the seventh day of the feast they went seven times round the Altar c. a a a a a a Maimon on Succah cap. 6. The tossing or shaking of the bundles was on the right hand on the left hand upwards and downwards b b b b b b Bah Succah sol 27. 2. The reason of the bundles was this because it is written Then let all the trees of the wood sing Psal. XCVI 12. And afterwards it is written Give thanks unto the Lord because he is good Psal. CVI. 1. And afterwards Save us O Lord O our God c. Psalm CVI. 47. And the reason is mystical
In the beginning of the year Israel and the nations of the world go forth to Judgment and being ignorant who are to be cleared and who guilty the holy and blessed God commanded Israel that they should rejoyce with these bundles as a man rejoyceth who goeth cut of the presence of his Judg acquitted Behold therefore what is written Let the trees of the wood sing as if it were said Let them sing with the trees of the wood when they go out justified from the presence of the Lord c. c c c c c c Rabbenu Asher on Succah sol 66. 2. 3. These things being premised concerning the rites and customs of that Feast we now return to our story I. It is very much worth our observation that the company receives Christ coming now to the Passover with the Solemnity of the Feast of Tabernacles For what hath this to do with the time of the Passover If one search into the reason of the thing more accurately these things occur First The mirth of that Feast above all others concerning which there needs not much to be said since the very name of the Feast for by way of emphasis it was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Festivity or Mirth sufficiently proves it Secondly That prophesie of Zacharie d d d d d d Chap. XIV 16. which however it be not to be understood according to the letter yet from thence may sufficiently be gathered the singular Solemnity and Joy of that Feast above all others and perhaps from that same prophesie the occasion of this present action was taken For being willing to receive the Messias with all joyfulfulness triumph and affection of mind for by calling him the Son of David it is plain they took him for the Messias they had no way to express a more ardent zeal and joy at his coming than by the solemn procession of that Feast They have the Messias before their eyes they expect great things from him and are therefore trasported with excess of joy at his coming II. But whereas the great Hallel according to the custom was not now sung by reason of the suddenness of the present action the whole solemnity of that song was as it were swallowed up in the frequent crying out and ecchoing back of Hosanna as they used to do in the Temple while they went round the Altar And one while they sing Hosanna to the son of David another while Hosanna in the highest as if they had said now we sing Hosanna to the Son of David save us we beseech thee O thou who dwellest in the highest save us by the Messias VERS XII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple I. THERE was always a constant market in the Temple in that place which was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the shops where every day was sold wine salt oyl and other requisites to Sacrifices As also Oxen and Sheep in the spacious Court of the Gentiles II. The neerness of the Passover had made the market greater for innummerable beasts being requisite to this solemnity they were brought hither to be sold. This brings to mind a story of Bava ben Buta e e e e e e Hieros Jom âoâh sol 61. 3. He coming one day into the Court found it quite empty of beasts Let their houses said he be laid wast who have laid wast the house of our God He sent for three thousand of the Sheep of Kedar and having examined whether they were without spot brought them into the mountain of the house that is into the Court of the Gentiles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Overthrew the tables of the mony changers Who those mony changers were may be learn'd very well from the Talmud and Maimonides in the treatise Shekalim f f f f f f Maim Shekal chap. â It is an Affirmative precept of the Law that every Israelite should give half a Shekel yearly ev'n the poor who live by alms are obliged to this and must either beg the mony of others or sell their clothes to pay half a shekel as it is said g g g g g g Exod. XXX 15. The rich shall give no more and the poor shall give no less h h h h h h Id. ibid. Talm. Shekal chap. 1. In the first day of the month Adar they made a publick Proclamation concerning these shekels that every one should provide his half shekel and be ready to pay it Therefore on the fifteenth day of the same month the Exchangers ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sat in every City civilly requiring this mony they receiv'd it of those that gave it and compelled those that did not On the five and twentieth day of the same month they sat in the Temple and then compelled them to give and from him that did not give they forced a pledge ev'n his very coat i i i i i i Idem chap â They sat in the Cities with two chests before them in one of which they laid up the mony of the present year and in the other the mony of the year past They sat in the Temple with thirteen chests before them the first was for the mony of the present year the second for the year past the third for the mony that was offered to buy Pigeons c. They called these chests ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Trumpets because like Trumpets they had a narrow mouth and a wide belly k k k k k k Idem chap. 3 It is necessary that every one should have half a shekel to pay for himself Therefore when he comes to the Exchanger to change a shekel for two half shekels he is obliged to allow him some gain which is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Kolbon And when two pay one shekel between them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã each of them is obliged to allow the same gain or fee. And not much after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã How much is that gain At that time when they paid pence for the half shekel a Kolbon or the fee that was paid to the mony-changer was half a Mea that is the twelfth part of a penny and never less But the Kolbons were not like the half shekel but the Exchangers laid them by themselves till the holy Treasury were paid out of them You see what these mony-changers were and whence they had their name You see that Christ did not overturn the Chests in which the holy mony was laid up but the Tables on which they traffiqued for this un holy gain ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Of those that sold Doves ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sellers of Doves See the Talmudic Treatise of that title ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã l l l l l l Chârithutâ chap. 1. halac â Doves were at one time sold at Jerusalem for pence
whether by the door and the lower parts where the Owner dwels Or whether he must climb up to the roof ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the way to the roof that is as the Gloss hath it That he ascend without the house by a ladder set against it for entrance into the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Upper Room and so go into the Upper Room By ladders set up or perhaps fastned there before they first draw up this Parylitic ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã upon the Roof Luke V. 19. Then seeing there was a door in every roof through which they went up from the lower parts of the house into the roof and this being too narrow to let down the bed and the sick man in it they widen that space by pulling off the tiles that lay about it Well having made a hole through the roof the Paralitic is let down ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Into the Upper Chamber There Christ sits and the Pharisees and the Doctors of the Law with him and not in the lower parts of the house For it was customary for them when they discoursed of the Law or Religion to go up into the Upper Chamber d d d d d d Schabb. cap. 1. hal 7. These are the Traditions which they taught ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the Upper Chamber of Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Garon e e e e e e Hieros Sanhedr fol. 24. 3. The Elders went up ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã into an Upper Chamber in Jericho They went up also into an Upper Chamber in Jabneh Rab. Jochanan and his Disciples went up ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to an Upper Chamber and read and expounded Compare Mark XIV 15. Act. I. 13. and XX. 8. VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Who can forgive sins A Certain f f f f f f Sanhedr fol. 38. 2. Heretic said to Rabh Idith It is written And he said unto Moses Come up unto the Lord Exod. XXIV 1. It should rather have been said Come up to me He answereth This is Mitatron whose name is like the name of his Lord as it is written My Name is in him Exod. XXIII 21. If it be so then said the other he is to be worshipped To whom Idith replyed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Properly Do not embitter or provoke him but they illy and perversly read Do not change for him do not exchange me for him If that be the sense said the other What is the meaning of that He will not forgive your sins He answered true indeed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For we received him not so much as for a messenger The Gloss is He will not forgive your sins that is He cannot pardon your sins and then what advantage is there from him For he had not the power of pardoning our sins we therefore rejected him c. Ye rejected him indeed in whom was the name of Jehovah but alas how much to your own mischief VERS IX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which is easier to say c. HE that observes the use of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is easie and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is hard in the Jewish Schools and the School men were now with Christ cannot think it improper that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã should be of the same import with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which word denotes the thing or the sense plain smooth and without scruple ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is hard denotes the contrary As if our Saviour had said were not the sense plainer and more suited to the present business to have said Arise and take up thy bed than to say Thy sins are forgiven thee But I say thus That ye may know that the Son of man hath power c. He does not speak of the easiness of the pronunciation of the words but of the easiness of the sense And I should thus render the words It is easier to say to the Paralytic Thy sins are forgiven thee than to say c. Whether to say as it is vulgarly rendred hath a sense not to be disapproved of but Then to say hath a sense more emphatical Is not the sense easier as to the present business to say Thy sins are forgiven than to say Rise up and walk VERS XII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He went out before them all IT is very well rendred Before them all and it might truly be rendred Against them all according to another signification of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That is when the multitude was so crowded that there was no way of going out through it he being not only made whole but strong and lusty pressed through the press of the multitude and stoutly made his way with his bed upon his shoulders VERS XVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And Sinners WHO were they g g g g g g Sanhedr fol. 25. 2. Diâers Usurers Plunderers Publicans Shepherds of lesser Cattle those that sell the fruit of the seventh year those that make gain of birds with their fists c. VERS XXVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the days of Abiathar the High Priest IT is well enough known what is here said in defence of the purity of the text namely that Ahimelech the father was called Abiathar and Abiathar the Son was called also Ahimelech But I suppose that something more was propounded by our Saviour in these words For it was common to the Jews under Abiathar to understand the Urim and Thummim Nor without good reason when it appears that under the Father and the Son both of that name the mention of enquiring by Urim and Thummim is more frequent than it is ever any where else and after Abiathar the Son there is scarcely mention of it at all Christ therefore very properly adds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the days of Abiathar the High Priest therein speaking according to a very received opinion in the Nation as though he had said David eat the Shew-bred given him by the High Priest who had the Oracle by Urim and Thummim present with him and who acted by the Divine direction h h h h h h Bâb Sanhedr fol. 16. 2. Ahitopel that is A Councellour Benaiah the Son of Jehoiadah that is the Sanhedrin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abiathar that is Urim and Thummim CHAP. III. VERS IV. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But they held their peace THIS reminds me of the like carriage of the Sanhedrin in judging a Servant of King Janneus a murtherer when Janneus himself was present in the a a a a a a Sanhedr fol. 19. 1. Sanhedrin It was found sufficiently that he was guilty but for fear they dared not to utter their opinion when Simeon ben Sheta President of the Sanhedrin required it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He looked on his right hand and they fixed their eyes upon the earth on his left hand and they fixed their eyes upon the earth c. VERS XVII
of some delicate niceness VERS V. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Above three hundred pence I. THE prizes of such precious oyntments as it seems in Pliny were commonly known For thus he f f f f f f Lib. XII c. 1â The price of Costus is XVI pounds The price of Spike Nard is XC pounds The Leaves have made a difference in the value From the broadness of them it is called Hadrospherum with greater Leaves it is worth X xxx that is thirty pence That with a lesser leaf is called Mesopherum it is sold at X lx sixty pence The most esteemed is that called Microspherum having the least leafe and the price of it is X lxxv seventy five pence And elsewhere g g g g g g Cap. 20. To these the merchants have added that which they call Daphnois surnamed Isocinnamon and they make the price of it to be CCC ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Three hundred pence See more there II. It is not easie to reduce this sum of three hundred pence to its proper value partly because a peny was twofold a silver peny and a gold one partly because there was a double value and estimation of mony namely that of Jerusalem and that of Tyre as we observed before Let these be silver which we believe which are of much less value than gold and let them be Jerusalem pence which we also believe which are cheaper than the Tyrian yet they plainly speak the great wealth of Magdalen who poured out an oyntment of such a value when before she had spent some such other Which brings to my mind those things which are spoken by the Masters concerning ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The box of spices which the husband was bound to give the wife according to the proportion of her dowry h h h h h h Bab. Chetub fol. 66. 2. But this is not spoken saith Rabh Ishai but of Jerusalem people There is an example of a daughter of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nicodemus ben Gorion to whom the Wise men appoynted four hundred crowns of gold for a chest of spices for one day She said to them I wish you may so appoynt for their daughters and they answered after her Amen The Gloss is The husband was to give to his wife ten Zuzees for every Manah which she brought with her to buy spices with which she used to wash her self c. Behold a most wealthy woman of Jerusalem daughter of Nicodemus in the contract and instrument of whose marriage was written A thousand thousand gold pence out of the house of her Father besides those she had out of the house of her Father in-Law whom yet you have in the same story reduced to that extream poverty that she picked up barly corns for her food out of the cattles dung VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For ye have the poor always with you SAmuel i i i i i i Bab. Schabb. fol. 63. 1. saith There is no difference between this world and the days of the Messias ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã anless in regard of the affliction of the Heathen kingdoms as it is said A poor man shall not be wanting out of the midst of the earth Deut. XV. 11. Observe a Jew cofessing that there shall be poor men even in the days of the Messias Which how it agrees with their received opinion of the pompous kingdom of the Messias let him look to it R. Solomon and Aben Ezra write If thou shalt obey the words of the Lord there shall not be a poor man in thee but thou wilt not obey therefore a poor man shall never be wanting Upon this received reason of the thing confess also O Samuel that there shall be disobedient persons in the days of the Messias which indeed when the true Messias came proved too too true in thy Nation VERS XII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And on the first day of unleavened bread SO Matth. Chap. XXVI 17. and Luke Chap. XXII 7. And now let them tell me who think that Christ indeed kept his Passover the fourteenth day but the Jews not before the fifteenth because this year their Passover was transferred unto the fifteenth day by reason of the following Sabbath Let them tell me I say whether the Evangelists speak according to the day prescribed by Moses or according to the day prescribed by the Masters of the Traditions and used by the Nation If according to Moses then the fifteenth day was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the first of Unleavened bread Exod. XII 15 18. But if according to the manner of the Nation then it was the fourteenth And whether the Evangelists speak according to this custom let us enquire briefly Sometime indeed the whole seven days feast was transferred to another month and that not only from that Law Numb IX but from other causes also concerning which see the places quoted in the margin l l l l l l Hieros in Maasar Sheni fol. 56. 3. Maimon in Kiddush Hodesh cap 4. But when the time appointed for the feast occurred the Lamb was always slain on the fourteenth day I. Let us begin with a story where an occasion occurs not very unlike that for which they of whom we spake think the Passover this year was transferred namely because of the following Sabbath The story is this m m m m m m Hieros Pisachin fol. 33. 1. After the death of Shemaiah and Abtalion the sons of Betyra obtained the chief place Hillel went up from Babylon to enquire concerning three doubts When he was now at Jerusalem and the fourteenth day of the first month fell out on the Sabbath observe that it appeared not to the sons of Betyra whether the Passover drove off the Sabbath or no. Which when Hillel had determined in many words and had added moreover that he had learnt this from Shemaiah and Abtalion they laid down their authority and made Hillel president When they had chosen him President he derided them saying What need have you of this Babylonian Did you not serve the two chief Men of the world Shemaiah and Abtalion who sat among you These things which are already said make enough to our purpose but with the Readers leave let us add the whole story While he thus scoffed at them he forgat a Tradition For they said What is to be done with the people if they bring not their knives He answered I have heard this tradition but I have forgot But let them alone for although they are not Prophets they are Prophets sons Presently every one whose Passover was a Lamb stuck his knife into the fleece of it and whose Passover was a Kid hung his knife upon the horns of it And now let the impartial Reader judge between the reason which is given for the transferring the Passover this year unto the fifteenth day namely because of the Sabbath following that they might not be forced to abstain from
Heathenism is as if he separated himself from a sepulchre The Gloss And hath need of seven days purification ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There x x x x x x Hieros Pisach fol. 36. 2. were Souldiers at Jerusalem who baptized themselves and eat their Passovers in the Even A thing certainly to be noted Proselytes the same day made Proselytes and eating the Passover and that as it seems without Circumcision but admitted only by baptism The care of the School of Hillel in this case did not so much repulse a Proselyte from eating the Passover who was made a Proselyte and baptized on the day of the Passover as provided for the future that such an one in following years should not obtrude himself to eat the Passover in uncleanness For while he was in Heathenism he contracted not uncleanness from the touch of a Sepulchre but being made a Proselyte he contracted uncleanness by it These are the words of the Gloss. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That we prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover For the Passovers were prepared by the servants for their Masters If y y y y y y Pisachin cap. â hal 2. any say to his fervant Go and kill me the Passover and he kills a Kid let him eat of it if he kill a Lamb let him eat of it if a Kid and a Lamb let him eat of the former c. VERS XXVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And when they had sung an Hymn 1. WHAT z difference is there between the first Passover and the second that is x Pisach cap. 9. hal 3. The Passover of the first month and of the second Numb IX In the first every one is bound under that Law Leaven shall not be seen nor found among you In the second Leaven and unleavened bread may be with a man in his house In the first he is bound to an Hymn when he eats the Passover In the second he is not bound to an Hymn when he eats it In both he is bound to an Hymn while he makes or kills Both are to be eaten rost and with unleavened bread and bitter herbs and both drive away the Sabbath The Gemarists ask Whence this is that they are bound to an Hymn while they eat the Passover R. Jochanan in the name of R. Simeon ben Josedek saith The Scripture saith You shall have a song as in the night when a Feast is kept Esa. XXX 29. The night which is set apart for a Feast is bound to an Hymn The night which is not set apart for a Feast is not bound to an Hymn The Gloss writes thus As ye are wont to sing in the night when a Feast is kept But there is no night wherein they are obliged to a song besides the night when the Passover is eaten II. That Hymn is called by the Rabbins the Hallel and was from the beginning of Psal. CXIII to the end of Psal. CXVIII which they cut in two parts and a part of it they repeated in the very middle of the banquet and they reserved a part to the end How far the former portion extended is disputed between the Schools of Shammai and Hillel That of Shammai saith Unto the end of Psal. CXIII That of Hillel saith Unto the end of Psalm CXIV But these things must not stop us The Hymn which Christ now sung with his Disciples after meat was the latter part In which as the Masters of the Traditions observe these five things are mentioned a a a a a a Pisachin fol. 118. 1. The going out of Egypt The cutting in two of the Red Sea The delivery of the Law The Resurrection of the dead and the sorrows of the Messias The going out of Egypt as it is written When Israel went out of Egypt The cutting in two of the Red Sea as it is written The Sea saw it and fled The Delivery of the Law as it is written The Mountains leaped like Rams The Resurrection of the dead as it is written I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living And the sorrows of the Messias as it is written Not unto us Lord Not unto us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They went out to the Mount of Olives They were bound by the Traditional Canons to lodge within Jerusalem b b b b b b Pisach fol. 95 2. On the first Passover every one is bound to lodge ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Also on the second Passover he is bound to lodg The Gloss thus He that keeps the Passover is bound to lodge in Jerusalem the first night But it is disputed whether it be the same night wherein the Lamb is eaten or the night first following the feast day See the place and let not the Lion of the Tribe of Judah be restrained in those cobwebs SECT XXXVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abba Father AS it is necessary to distinguish between the Hebrew and Chaldee Idiom in the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abi and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abba So you may I had almost said you must distinguish of their sense For the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abi signifies indeed a natural Father but withal a civil Father also an Elder a Master a Doctor a Magistrate But the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abba denotes only a natural Father with which we comprehend also an adopting Father yea it denotes My Father ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c c c c c c Bab. Sanhedr fol. 37. 1. Let no man say to his neighbour ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Father is nobler than thy Father d d d d d d Aruch in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã R. Chaija asked Rabh the son of his brother when he came into the Land of Israel ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Doth my Father live And he answereth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And doth your Mother live As if he should have said You know your Mother is dead so you may know your Father is dead e e e e e e Bathr fol. 10. 2 Solomon said Observe ye ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what my Father saith So in the Targum infinite times And we may observe in the Holy Scriptures wheresoever mention is made of a natural Father the Targumists use the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abba but when of a civil Father they use another word I. Of a natural Father Gen. XXII 7 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And he said Abi my Father The Targum reads ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And said Abba my Father Gen. XXVII 34. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bless me even me also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abi O my Father The Targum reads ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bless me also Abba my Father Gen. XLVIII 18. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Not so Abi my Father Targum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Not so Abba my Father Iudg. XI 36. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abi my Father if thou hast opened thy mouth Targum ãâã ãâã ãâã
obtains also of the Chagigah And another saith He is bound ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to Rejoycing namely to rejoyce in the Feast as it is written And thou shalt rejoyce in thy Feast And they say elsewhere that that rejoycing is over the Peace offerings namely in eating flesh Secondly Appearance was not tyed so strictly to the first day but the Chagigah was tyed to it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Burnt sacrifices by vow and free will-offerings are offered on the common days of the Feast they are not offered on a Feast day ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But the burnt sacrifices of Appearance may be offered also on a Feast day and when they are offered let them not be offered but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã out of common cattle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But the Peace offerings of Rejoycing also out of the Tithes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Chagigah of the first Feast day of the Passover the School of Shammai saith let it be of Cholin common cattle the School of Hillel saith let it be of the Tithes What is it that it teaches of the Chagigah of the first Feast day of the Passover Rabh Ishai saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Chagigah of the fifteenth day is so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Chagigah of the fourteenth not The Gloss is The burnt-offerings of Appearance were not offered the first day of the Feast although they were due to the Feast because compensation might be made by them the day following The Chagigah of the first Feast day was without doubt due although it had flesh enough otherways For as it was said a little before They offered Peace-offerings on that Feast-day ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because they had need of them for private food and although there was food enough yet the Chagigah was to be offered as the due of the day The Chagigah of the fourteenth day was this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã When any ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã company was numerous they joyned the Chagigah also with the Paschal Lamb that they might eat the Passover even till they were filled But now the Chagigah of that first day was not but of common cattle but the Chagigah of the fourteenth day might also be of the Tithes It was a greater matter to offer of common cattle or Cholin than of the Tithes or the First born for they were owing to the Lord by right but to offer the Cholin was the part of further devotion and free-will That therefore which John saith That the Jews would not go into the Judgment-Hall lest they should be polluted but that they might eat the Passover is to be understood of that Chagigah of the fifteenth day not of the Paschal Lamb for that also is called the Passover Deut. XVI 2. Thou shalt sacrifice the Passover to the Lord of thy flocks and of thy herds Of thy flocks this indeed by vertue of that precept Exod. XII 3. But what have we to do with herds Of thy herds saith R. Solomon for the Chagigah And Aben Ezra saith Of thy Flocks according to the Duty of the Passover Of thy Herds for the Peace offerings and produceth that 2 Chron. XXX 24. and XXXV 8. The Targum of Jonathan writes Ye shall kill the Passover before the Lord your God between the Eves and your sheep and Oxen on the morrow in that very day in joy of the Feast In one Glosser i i i i i i Ad Chahig fol. 17. 2. mention is made of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The less Passover by which if he understands not the Passover of the second month which is very usually called by them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The second Passover or the Passover of the second month instruct me what he means by it However this matter is cleâr in Moses that Oxen or the sacrifices offered after the Lamb eaten are called also the Passover as well as the Lamb it self And no wonder when the Lamb was the very least part of the Joy and there were seven Feast days after he was eaten and when the Lamb was a thing rubbing up the remembrance of affliction rather than denoting gladness and making merry For the unleavened bread was marked out by the Holy Scripture under that very notion and so also the bitter herbs which were things that belonged to the Lamb. But how much of the solemnity of the Feast is attributed to the Chagigah and the other Sacrifices after that it would be too much to mention since it occurs every where Hear the author of the Aruch concerning the Chagigah of Pentecost The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chag denotes dancing and clapping hands for joy In the Syriac Language it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chigah and so in the Scripture ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal. CVII 27. The interlinear Version reads They went in a round and moved themselvs like a drunken man And from this root it is that they eat and drink and dance or make holy day And the Sacrifice of the Chagigah which they were bound to bring on a Feast day is that concerning which the Scripture saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And thou shalt make ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chag a Solemnity of weeks to the Lord thy God a free-will-offering of thy hand c. Deut. XVI 10. And now tell me whence received that Feast its denomination that it should be called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Feast of weeks Not from the offering of the loaves of first-fruits but from the Chagigah and the feasting on the Chagigah The same is to be said of the Feast of the Passover So that John said nothing strange to the ears of Jews when he said They went not into the Judgment Hall lest they might be polluted but that they might eat the Passover poynting with his finger to the Chagigah and not to the Lamb eaten indeed the day before The word Passover might sound to the same sense in those words of his also It was the Preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour It was the Preparation to the Chagigah and not to the Lamb. But I suspect something more may be understood namely that on that day both food was prepared and minds for the mirth of the whole Feast So that the Passover denotes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Feast not this or that particular appendage to the Feast The burnt Sacrifices which were offered in the Appearance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they all became Gods as the Masters say truly and he who offered them carried not back the least part of them with him But the Sacrifices of the Chagigah whether they were oxen or sheep the greatest part of them returned to them that offered them and with them they and their friends made solemn and joyful feastings while they tarried at Jerusalem So that the oblation of these the first day of the Feast was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Preparation of the Passover and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The
only asks How shall this be c Doubtless she took the Prophecy in its proper sense as speaking of a Virgin untoucht She knew nothing then nor probably any part of the Nation at that time so much as once thought of that sense by which the Jews have now for a great while disguised that place and the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã II. Give me leave for their sakes in whose hands the book is not to transcribe some few things out of that noble Author Morney a a a a a a De Verit. Christ. Relig. cap. 28. which he quotes concerning this grand mystery from the Jews themselves b b b b b b Moses Haddarson in Psa LXXXV Truth shall spring out of the earth R. Jotten saith he notes upon this place That it is not said truth shall be born but shall spring out because the Generation and Nativity of the Messiah is not to be as other creatures in the world but shall be begot without Carnal Copulation and therefore no one hath mentioned his Father as who must be hid from the knowledge of men till himself shall come and reveal him And upon Genes Ye have said saith the Lord we are Orphans bereaved of our Father such an one shall your redeemer be whom I shall give you So upon Zachary Behold my servant whose name is of the branch And out of Psal. CX Thou art a Priest after the order of Melchizedech He saith R. Berachiah delivers the same things And R. Simeon Ben Jochai upon Genes more plainly viz. That the Spirit by the impulse of a mighty power shall come forth of the Womb though shut up that will become a mighty Prince the King Messiah So he VERS XXXVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hath also conceived a Son in her old age THE Angel teaches to what purpose it was that Women either barren before or considerably stricken in years should be enabled to conceive and bring forth viz. to make way for the easier belief of the Conception of a Virgin If they either beside or beyond nature conceive a Child this may be some ground of belief that a Virgin contrary to Nature may do so too So Abraham by Faith saw Christ's day as born of a pure Virgin in the birth of his own Son Isaac of his old and barren Wife Sarah VERS XXXIX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. She went into the hill Country c. THAT is to Hebron Jos. XXI 11. For though it is true indeed the Priests after the return from Babylon were not all disposed and placed in all those very same dwellings they had possest before the Captivity yet is it probable that Zachary who was of the seed of Aaron being here said to dwell in the hill Country of Judah might have his House in Hebron which is more peculiarly said to be the City of Aaron's off-spring VERS XLI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Babe leaped in her Womb. SO the Seventy Gen. XXV 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Children leaped in her womb Psal. CXIV 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Mountains skipped That which is added by Elizabeth Vers. 44. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The babe leaped in the womb for joy signifies the manner of the thing not the cause q. d. it leaped with vehement exultation For John while he was an Embryo in the Womb knew no more what was then done than Jacob and Esau when they were in Rebecca's Womb knew what was determined concerning them a a a a a a Hieros Sotah fol. 2. 3. At the Red Sea even the infants sung in the wombs of their Mothers as it is said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal. LXVIII where the Targum to the same sense Exalt the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ye infants in the bowels of your Mothers of the seed of Israel Let them enjoy their Hyperboles Questionless Elizabeth had learnt from her Husband that the Child she went with was designed as the fore-runner of the Messiah but she did not yet know of what sort of Woman the Messiah must be born till this leaping of the infant in her womb became some token to her VERS LVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Abode with her three Months A Space of time very well known amongst the Doctors defined by them to know whether a Woman be with Child or no. Which I have already observed upon Matth. I. a a a a a a Iâââmoth fol. 33 2. 34. â 35. 1 c. VERS LIX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And they called it c. I. THE Circumciser said a a a a a a Schabb. fol. 137. 2. Blessed be the Lord our God who hath sanctified us by his precepts and hath given us the Law of Circumcision The Father of the infant said who hath sanctified us by his precepts and hath commanded us to enter the Child into the Covenant of Abraham our Father But where was Zachary's tongue for this service II. God at the same time instituted Circumcision and changed the names of Abraham and Sarah hence the custom of giving names to their Children at the time of their Circumcision III. Amongst the several accounts why this or that name was given to the Sons this was one that chiefly obtained viz. for the honour of some person whom they esteemed they gave the Child his name Which seems to have guided them in this case here when Zachary himself being dumb could not make his mind known to them Mahli the Son of Mushi hath the name of Mahli given him who was his Uncle the Brother of Mushi his Father 1 Chron. XXIII 21 23. b b b b b b Cholin fol. 47. 2. R. Nathan said I once went to the Islands of the Sea and there came to me a Woman whose first born had died by Circumcision so also her second Son She brought the third to me I bad her wait a little till the blood might asswage She waited a little and then Circumcised him and he lived They called him therefore by my name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nathan of Babylon See also Jerusalem Jevamoth c c c c c c Fol. 7. 4. d d d d d d âab Jevam. fol. 105. 1. There was a certain Family at Jerusalem that were wont to die about the eighteenth year of their age They made the matter known to R. Johanan ben Zacchai who said perhaps you are of Elie's Lineage concerning whom it is said The increase of thine House shall die in the flower of their age Go ye and be diligent in the study of the Law and ye shall live They went and gave diligent heed to the Law and lived They called themselves therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Family of Johanan after his name It is disputed in the same Tract e e e e e e Fol. 24. 1. whether the Son begot by a Brother's raising up seed to his Brother should not be called after the
in Bava Rama fol. 10. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the masters of the Agada or Expositions because they are Dorshanin or profound searchers of the Scriptures are honour'd of all men for they draw away the hearts of their auditors Nor does that sound very differently as to the thing it self b b b b b b Gloss. in Schaâb fol. 115 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã on the Sabbath-day they discuss'd discussions i. e. in the Scriptures ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã * * * * * * Ioh. 5. 39. searching the Scriptures to the masters of families who had been employ'd in their occasions all the week and whiles they were expounding they taught them the articles about things forbidden and things permitted them c. To these kind of mystick and allegorical expositions of Scripture if at least it be proper to call them expositions they were so strangely bewitcht that they valu'd nothing more than a skill tickling or rubbing the itching ears of their auditors with such trifles Hence that passage c c c c c c Hierosol Chagigah fol. â5 4. R. Joshua said to R. Johanan ben Bruchah and to R. Eliezar the blind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã What new thing have you met with to day in Beth Midras They answered and said we are all thy disciples and drink wholly at thy waters To whom he It is impossible but you should meet with something novel every day in Beth Midras II. As to the Oral Law there was also a twofold way of explaining it as they had for the written Law I. The former way we have intimated to us in these words d d d d d d Megillah fol. 26. 2. The book of the Law when it grows old they lay up with one of the disciples of the wise men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã even although he teach ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the traditions The passage seems very obscure but it is thus explain'd by the Gloss Albeit it doth not any way help the disciples of the wise men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Talmud Gemara ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but in Misnaioth Bariathoth that is he that would only read the body of the Traditional Law and render the literal sense of it and not he that would dispute scholastically and comment upon it For II. There were Doctors that would enquire more deeply into the Traditions would give some accounts such as they were of them would discuss difficulties solve doubts c. a Specimen of which is the Talmudick Gemara throughout Lastly Amongst the Learned and Doctors of that Nation there were the Agadici who would expound the written Law in a more profound way than ordinary even to what was cabbalistical These were more rare and as it should seem not so acceptable amongst the people Whether these are concern'd in what follows let the Reader judg e e e e e e Hierosol Schââb fol. 1â 3. â Midras Tillen fol. 20. 4. R. Joshua ben Levi saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so and so let it happen to me if in all my life I ever saw ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the book Agada above once and then I found an hundred seventy and sive Sections of the Law where it is written The Lord hath said hath spoken hath commanded They are according to the number of the years of our father Abraham as it is said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to receive gifts for men c. An hundred forty and seven Psalms which are in the book of Psalms mark the number they are according to the number of the years of our father Jacob. As it is written thou art holy and inhabitest the praises of Israel an hundred twenty and three turns wherein Israel answereth Hallelujah to him that repeats the Hallel are according to the number of the years of Aaron c. And as a Coronis let me add that passage in Sanhedr * * * * * * Fol. 101. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If they be masters of the Textual reading they shall be conversant in the Law the Prophets and the Hagiographa ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã if they be masters of the Mishneh they shall be conversant in Mishneh Halacoth and Haggadoth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and if they be masters of the Talmud they shall be conversant in the Traditions of the Passover in the Passover in the traditions of Pentecost in Pentecost in the traditions of the feast of Tabernacles in the feast of Tabernacles These all whom we have mention'd were Scribes and Doctors and expounders of the Law but which of these may properly and peculiarly challenge to themselves the title of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Lawyers whether all or any particular classis of them The latter is most probable but then what classis will you choose or will you distinguish betwixt the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Lawyer and the teacher of the Law I had rather the Reader would frame his own judgment here And yet that I might not dismiss this question wholly untoucht and at the same time not weary the Reader with too long a digression I have refer'd what is to be alledged in this matter to my notes upon Chapt. XI 45. VERS XXVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã How readest thou AN expression very common in the Schools ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what readest thou when any person brought a Text of Scripture for the proof of any thing f f f f f f Schabb. fol. 33 2. The Rabbins have a Tradition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that the disease of the Squinancy came into the world upon the account of tithes the Gloss hath it for eating of fruits that had not been tithed R Eliezar ben R. Jose saith it was for an evil tongue Rabba saith and it is the saying also of R. Joshua ben Levi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what readest thou The King shall rejoyce in God every one that sweareth by himself shall glory ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã thence comes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped b b b b b b Psal. LXIII 11. And a little after upon another subject R. Simeon ben Gezirah saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what or how readest thou If thou know not O thou fairest among Women go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock Cant. I. 8. We will not be very curious in enquiring whether our Saviour used the very same form of speech ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or any other In this only he departs from their common use of speech in that he calls to another to alledge some Text of Scripture whereas it was usual in the Schools that he that spoke that would alledge some place himself VERS XXVII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And with thy whole mind IN this answer of the man there are
VERS VI. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings TWO Sparrows were sold for one farthing d d d d d d Mat. X. 29. and five for two We find that Doves were sold in the Temple upon the account of women in child-bed and their issues of blood by whom a pair of Turtles and young pigeons were to be offer'd if they had not wherewithal to present a more costly sacrifice so probably the Sparrows were likely to be sold upon the account of lepers in the cleansing of whom they were made use of e e e e e e Levit. XIV 4. I confess the Greek Version in this place hath not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã two sparrows but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã two little birds And yet if you will believe the far-fetcht reason that R. Solomon gives you will easily imagine that they are sparrows that are pointed at The leprosie saith he came upon mankind for an evil tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is for too much garrulity of words and therefore in the cleansing of it they used ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sparrows that are always chirping and chattering with their voice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And not one of them is forgotten before God f f f f f f Beresh rabb fol. 88. 4. R. Simeon ben Jachai standing at the mouth of his Cave wherein he lay hid for the space of thirteen years he saw a certain man catching of birds And when he heard Bath Kol out of Heaven saying mercy mercy the birds escaped But when he heard Bath Kol saying the pain of death then was the bird taken He saith therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A bird is not taken without God much less the life of a man This passage is also recited in Midras Tillen g g g g g g Fol. 15. 1. but the circumstances vary VERS IX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. But he that denyeth me c. COnsider whether in these words and in the following Verse our Blessed Saviour do not point at those two unpardonable sins Apostacy or denying and renouncing of Christ and Blasphemy or the sin against the Holy Ghost The first is called a sin unto death h h h h h h 1 Joh. V. 16. And so in truth and in the event is the latter too I find them indeed confounded by some who discourse upon the sin against the Holy Ghost when yet this difference may be observed viz. that Apostacy cannot properly be charged on any but who have already profest Christianity but Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost was uttered by the Scribes and Pharisees at that time that they disowned and rejected Christ. VERS XIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That he divide the inheritance with me I. IN the titles of brethren this obtained amongst them that as the eldest was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the first born so the younger was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã simple because without the title of first-born It seems to be only two brethren here betwixt whom the complaint is made but which of them is the complainant it is not so easie to determine You will say the younger most probably because it is more likely that the first-born should wrong the younger than the younger the first-born And yet in that Court of Judicature which they called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Court of thou draw and I 'll draw the younger might be troublesome to the first-born as well as the first-born to the younger That matter was thus i i i i i i Baâa bathra fol. 13. 1. When a Father had bequeathed to his first-born and younger Son a servant and an unclean beast which could not be parted in two then saith the one to the other do thou draw or I 'll draw that is do thou redeem thy share or I will redeem mine Now here the younger brother may be perverse and as well hinder the redemption as the first-born II. In the division of inheritances how many vexations and quarrels may arise both reason and common experience do abundantly teach us The Rabbins are very large upon this head and suppose that great controversies may arise either from the Testament of the Father or the nature of the inheritance or the quality of the Sons as if the younger Son be a Disciple of the Wise-men and the elder not if the younger be made a Proselyte the elder a Gentile c. But in the instance now before us the complaint or controversie is not about dividing but about not dividing because the first-born most probably would not gratifie the younger in that thing The Judges in that case was the Bench of the Triumviri these were the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Judges in the Controversie and decreed concerning the right or equity of dividing And either some were appointed by them or some chosen by those between whom the cause depended as arbiters in the case and these were the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dividers those that took care as to the equality of the division Now we cannot easily suppose what should move this man to appeal to our Saviour as judge in this matter unless either himself or Brother or both were of the number of his Disciples VERS XIX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Soul take thine ease eat drink c. k k k k k k Tâanith fol. 11. 1. WHen the Church is in distress let not any man then say I will go into mine house and will eat and drink ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and peace be to thee O my soul. For if any one shall so do it is written of him behold joy and gladness staying Oxen and killing Sheep eating flesh and drinking wine Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye But what follows It was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of Hosts surely this iniquity shall not be purged away from you till you dye And what if he should so say and do when the Church is not in distress VERS XX. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This night shall thy soul be required of thee HOwever this following story hath something in it that may be laught at yet hath it something in it that is serious enough l l l l l l Elleh Haddehbarim rabb fol. 300. 1. The Rabbins say It fell out in the days of R. Simeon ben Chalaphta that he went to a certain Circumcision and there feasted The Father of the infant gave them old wine wine of seven years old to drink and said unto them with this wine will I grow old in the joy of my Son They feasted together till midnight R. Simeon ben Chalaphta trusting to his own vertue went out at midnight to go into the City In the way he finds the Angel of death and observes him very sad Saith he to him who art thou He saith I am the messenger of the Lord And why then saith
there were Israelites only and no Priests or Levites nor on the other hand that there ever was a Sanhedrin wherein there were only Priests and Levites and no Israelites The ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therefore or the Scribes seem in this place to denote either the Levites or else together with the Levites those inferior ranks of Priests who were not the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Chief Priests And then the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Elders may be the Israelites or those Elders of the Laity that were not of the Levitical Tribe Such an one was Gamaliel the present President of the Sanhedrin and Simeon his Son of the Tribe of Judah VERS XXXVII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. He calleth the Lord the God of Abraham c b b b b b b Shemoth rabba fol. 159. 1. WHY doth Moses say Exod. XXXII 13. Remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob R. Abin saith the Lord said unto Moses I look for ten men from thee as I looked for that number in Sodom Find me out ten righteous persons among the people and I will not destroy thy people Then said Moses behold here am I and Aaron Eleazar and Ithamar Phineas and Caleb and Joshua but saith God these are but seven where are the other three When Moses knew not what to do he saith O Eternal God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do those live that are dead Yes saith God Then saith Moses if those that are dead do live remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob. VERS XLII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. The Lord said unto my Lord c. WHereas St. Matthew tells us c c c c c c Matt. XXII 46. That no man was able to answer him a word to that Argument whereby he asserted the Divinity of the Messias it is plain that those evasions were not yet thought of by which the Jews have since endeavoured to shift off this place For the Talmudists apply the Psalm to Abraham the Targumist as it seems to David others as Justin Martyr tells us to Hezekia which yet I do not remember I have observed in the Jewish Authors His words are in his Dialogue with Tryphon d d d d d d Pag. 250. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am not ignorant that you venture to explain this Psalm when he had recited the whole Psalm as if were to be understood of King Hezekiah The Jewish Authors have it thus e e e e e e Sanhedr fol. 148. 2. Sem the great said unto Eleazar Abraham's servant when the Kings of the East and of the West came against you what did you He answered and said The Holy blessed God took Abraham and made him to sit on his right hand And again f f f f f f Nedarim fol. 32. 2. The Holy blessed God had purposed to have derived the Priesthood from Shem according as it is said thou art the Priest of the most high God Gen. XIV but because he blessed Abraham before he blessed God God derived the Priesthood from Abraham For so it is said And he blessed him and said Blessed be Abraham of the most high God possessor of Heaven and Earth and blessed be the most high God Abraham saith unto him who useth to bless the servant before his Lord Upon this God gave the Priesthood to Abraham according as it is said The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand And afterward it is written the Lord sware and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever for the speaking for so they render ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Melchizedech Midras Tillin and others also in the explication of this Psalm referr it to Abraham Worshipful Commentators indeed VERS XLVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That desire to walk in long robes IN Garments to the feet which their own Rabbins sufficiently testifie g g g g g g Bava bathra fol. 57. 2. R. Johanan asked R. Banaah ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what kind of Garment is the inner garment of the Disciple of the wise men It is such an one that the flesh may not be seen underneath him The Gloss is It is to reach to the very sole of the foot that it may not be discerned when he goes bare-foot ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã What is the Talith that the Disciple of the wise wears that the inner Garment may not be seen below it to an hand bredth What is that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Luke XV. 22. the first Robe Is it the former robe that is that which the Prodigal had worn formerly or the first i. e. the chief and best robe It may be quaeried whether it may not be particularly understood the Talith as what was in more esteem than the Chaluk and that which is the first Garment in view to the beholders h h h h h h Sanhedr fol. 44. 1. I saw amongst the spoils ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Babylonish Garment Jos. VII Rabh saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a long Garment called Melotes The Gloss is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Talith of purest Wool CHAP. XXI VERS XXIV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled JERUSALEM shall be troden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled And what then in what sense is this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã until to be understood Let every one have his conjecture and let me be allowed mine I am well assured our Saviour is discoursing about the fall and overthrow of Jerusalem but I doubt whether he touches upon the restauration of it Nor can I see any great reason to affirm that the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled before the end of the world it self But as to this controversie I shall not at present meddle with it And yet in the mean time cannot but wonder that the Disciples having so plainly heard these things from the mouth of their Master what concerned the destruction both of the place and nation should be so quickly asking Lord wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel Nor do I less wonder to find the Learned Beza expounding the very following Verse after this manner Then shall there be the signs in the Sun c. That is after those times are fulfilled which were alloted for the salvation of the Gentiles and vengeance upon the Jews concerning which St. Paul discourses copiously Rom. XI 25 c. When indeed nothing could be said clearer for the confutation of that Exposition than that of Vers. 32. Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled It is strange this should be no more observed as it ought to have been by himself and diverse others when in truth these very words are as a gnomon to the whole Chapter All the other passages of the Chapter fall in with Matth. XXIV and Mark XI where we have placed those Notes that were proper and shall
there The first given by the Jews according to their custom the second by the Souldiers in abuse and mockery But if you will grant a third Cup then all difficulty vanisheth indeed Let the first be Wine mingled with Myrrhe the second Vinegar mingled with Gall the third meer Vinegar Which the Souldiers gave to Malefactors if they had desired drink being that which they drank themselves Hence the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the vessel filled with Vinegar was always in readiness that the Souldiers might drink when they had a mind and persons also upon the Cross if they stood in need of it VERS XLII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lord remember me CHrist is now upon the Cross as old Joseph was in the Prison between two Malefactors There one of them was delivered the other hanged Here one obtains salvation the other perisheth The Faith of this Thief is admirable kept even pace with that of the Apostles if in some circumstances it did not go beyond it The Apostles acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah and so doth he with this addition which I question whether they did so clearly own and know or no viz. that Christ should reign and have his Kingdom after his death He seems to have a sounder judgment concerning Christ's Kingdom than the Apostles themselves as may be gathered from their question Acts I. 6. It pleased God in this last Article of time to glorifie the riches of his grace in a singular and extraordinary manner both in the conversion of a sinner and the forgiveness of his sins I say in such an Article of time which the world had never before seen nor ever was like to see again viz. in the very instant wherein the Messiah was finishing his redemption It was not unknown to either of the Thieves that Jesus was therefore condemn'd to dye because he had professed himself the Christ Hence that of the Impenitent Malefactor If thou art Christ save thy self and us And if the Penitent Thief did for a while joyn with the other in his petulant reproaches which seems intimated to us Matth. XXVII 44. yet was his heart toucht at length and perhaps upon his observation of that miraculous darkness which at that time had covered the world VERS XLIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise I. LET us here first consider the phrase ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Paradise In common Jewish speech ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Garden of Eden In what sense we may collect from these following passages ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã f f f f f f Chagigah fol 14. 2. The Rabbins have a Tradition There are four that went into Paradise namely Ben Azzai Ben Zumah Acher and R. Akibah R. Akibah saith unto them when you come to the stones of pure Marble do not ye say ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Waters Waters i. e. Alas these Waters will hinder us from going forward for it is written he that telleth lyes shall not dwell in my presence Now it would be a lye to call white Marble Water Ben Azzai ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lookt with some curiosity about him and he dyed Of him the Scripture speaks Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his Saints Ben Zumah looked with some curiosity about him and he was disturbed in his intellectuals Of him the Scripture speaketh Hast thou found Honey eat so much as is sufficient for thee lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it Aruch reciting these words saith It is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Paradise under the signification ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Garden of Eden which is reserved for the just This place is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Heavens where the souls of the just are gathered together And the Talmudick Gloss hath it much to the same sense These four by God's procurement ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã went up into the firmament Whiles we are reading these passages that story may easily occur to mind of St. Paul's being caught up into Paradise 2 Cor. XII and perhaps the Legend before us is but the ape of that story In the story it is observable that Paradise and the third Heaven are one and the same thing in the Legend Paradise and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the highest Heavens For so the Doctors Comment upon the word in Psal. LXVIII 5. g g g g g g Midras Tillin fol. 11. 3. There are seven Classes or Degrees of just persons who see the face of God sit in the house of God Ascend up unto the hill of God c. and to every Class or Degree there is allotted their proper dwelling place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Paradise There are also seven abiding places in Hell Those that dwell in Paradise they shine like the shining ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Firmament like the Sun like the Moon like the Firmament like the Stars like Lightning like the Lilies like burning Lamps h h h h h h Ibid. II. Our Saviour therefore telling the Penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise he speaks in the common dialect and to the capacity of the Thief viz. that he should be in Heaven with Christ and with all just persons that have left this world Nor indeed would I fetch the explication of that Article of our Creed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He descended into Hell from any passage in the Scripture sooner than this here adding this that we must of necessity have recourse to the Greek Tongue for the signification of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which they generally use to denote the state of the dead as well the blessed as the miserable Those who would expound that passage in 1 Pet. III. 19. of his going down from the Cross into Hell to preach to the Spirits in Prison there do very little regard the scope of the Apostle and are absolute strangers to his meaning in it For 1. In that he shuts up the generation before the flood in an infernal prison he falls in with the received opinion of that Nation which was that that generation had no part in the world to come And that they were condemned to boiling waters in Hell 2. He compares the present Generation of the Jews with that Generation before the flood That Christ did of old preach even to that Generation and so he hath done to this That that Generation perished through its disobedience and so will this He runs much upon the same parallel in his second Epistle Chap. III. 6. c. We must observe that the Apostle makes his transition from the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Saviour directly to the Generation before the flood passing over all those Generations that came between on purpose that he might make the comparison betwixt that and the Age he lived in VERS LIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Wrapped it in Linnen MAR Zutrah saith that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
find it Herbanus the Jew s s s s s s Oregent Dial. at the beginning ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was a man excellently well instructed in the Law and holy Books of the Prophets and the Octateuch and all the other Writings What this Octateuch should be distinct from the Law and the Prophets and indeed what the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all the other writings besides should be is not easily guessed This Octateuch perhaps may seem to have some reference to the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Hagiographa or Holy Writings for it is probable enough that speaking of a Jew well skilled in the Holy Scriptures he might design the partition of the Bible according to the manner of the Jews dividing it but who then can pick out books that should make it up Let the Reader pick out the eight and then I would say that the other four are the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all the other Writings But we will not much disquiet our selves about this matter It may be asked why these Books should be called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Scriptures when the whole Bible goes under the name of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the holy Scriptures Nor can any thingbe more readily answered to this than that by this title they would keep up their dignity and just esteem for them They did not indeed read them in their Synagogues but that they might acknowledge them of most Holy and Divine Authority ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã out of them they confirm their Traditions and they expound them mystically t t t t t t Schabb. fol. 116. 2. Yea and give them the same title with the rest of the Holy Scriptures u u u u u u Bathra ubi supr This is the order ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Hagiographa Ruth the Book of Psalms Job the Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Canticles the Lamentations Daniel the Book of Esther Ezra and the Chronicles It is here disputed that if Job was in the days of Moses why then is not his Book put in the first place the answer is they do not begin with vengeance or affliction and such is that Book of Job They reply ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ruth also begins with affliction viz. with the story of a Famine and the death of Elimelech's Sons But that was say they ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an affliction that had a joyful ending So they might have said of the Book and affliction of Job too We see it is disputed there why the Book of Ruth should be placed the first in that rank and not the Book of Job But we might enquire whether the Book of Psalms ought not have been placed the first rather than the Book of Ruth IV. In this passage at present before us who would think otherwise but that our Saviour alludes to the common and most known partition of the Bible and although he name the Psalms only yet that under the title he includes that whole volume For we must of necessity say that either he excluded all the Books of that third division excepting the Book of Psalms which is not probable or that he included them under the title of the Prophets which was not customary or else that under the title of the Psalms he comprehended all the rest That he did not exclude them reason will tell us for in several Books of that division is he himself spoken of as well as in the Psalms and that he did not include them in the title of the Prophets reason also will dictate because we would not suppose him speaking differently from the common and received opinion of that Nation There is very little question therefore but the Apostles might understand him speaking with the vulgar and by the Psalms to have meant all the Books of that Volume those especially wherein any thing was written concerning himself For let it be granted that Ruth as to the time of the History and the time of its writing might challenge to its self the first place in order and it is that kind of priority the Gemarists are arguing yet certainly amongst all those Books that mention any thing of Christ the Book of Psalms deservedly obtains the first place so far that in the naming of this the rest may be understood So St. Matthew Chap. XXVII 9. under the name of Jeremiah comprehends that whole Volume of the Prophets because he was placed the first in that rank which observation we have made in Notes upon that place VERS XLV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Then opened he their understanding WHere it is said that by the imposition of the hands of the Apostles the gift of Tongues and of Prophesie was conferred they spake with tongues and they prophesied Acts XIX 6. by Prophesie nothing may be better understood than this very thing that the minds of such were opened that they might understand the Scriptures and perhaps their speaking with tongues might look this way in the first notion of it viz. that they could understand the original wherein the Scriptures were writ VERS L. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã As far as Bethany HOW many difficulties arise here I. This very Evangelist Acts I. 12. tells us that when the Disciples came back from the place where our Lord ascended they returned from Mount Olivet distant from Jerusalem a Sabbath days journey But now the Town of Bethany was about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem Joh. XI 18. and that is double a Sabbath days journey II. Josephus tells us that the Mount of Olives was but five furlongs from the City and a Sabbath days journey was seven furlongs and an half q q q q q q Antiq. lib. 20. cap. 6. About that time there came to Jerusalem a certain Egyptian pretending himself a Prophet and perswading the people that they would go out with him to the Mount of Olives ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which being situated on the front of the City is distant five furlongs These things are all true 1. That the Mount of Olives lay but five furlongs distance from Jerusalem 2. That the Town of Bethany was fifteen furlongs 3. That the Disciples were brought by Christ as far as Bethany 4. That when they returned from the Mount of Olives that they travelled more than five furlongs And 5. Returning from Bethany they travelled but a Sabbath days journey All which may be easily reconciled if we would observe That the first space from the City toward this Mount was called Bethphage which I have cleared elsewhere from Talmudick Authors the Evangelists themselves also confirming it That part of that Mount was known by that name to the length of about a Sabbath days journey till it come to that part which was called Bethany For there was Bethany a tract of the Mount and the Town of Bethany The Town was distant from the City about fifteen furlongs i. e. two miles or a double Sabbath days journey but the first border of this
f. 71. 1. Three years and an half did Hadrian Beseige Bittar x x x x x x Ibid. f. 66. 2. The judgment of the Generation of the Deluge was twelve months The judgment of the Aegyptians twelve months The judgment of Job was twelve months The judgment of Gog and Magog was twelve months The judgment of the wicked in Hell twelve months But the judgment of Nebuchadnezzer was three years and an half and the judgment of Vespasian three years and an half y y y y y y Ibid. f. 79. 2. Nebuchadnezzar stayed in Daphne of Antioch and sent Nebuzaradan to destroy Jerusalem He continued there for three years and an half There are many other passages of that kind wherein they do not so much design to point out a determinate space of time as to allude to that miserable state of affairs they were in under Antiochus And perhaps it had been much more for the reputation of the Christian Commentators upon the Book of the Revelations if they had looked upon that number and the forty and two months and the thousand two hundred and sixty days as spoken allusively and not applied it to any precise or determinate time But the way whiles we are speaking of the Persecution under the Greeks we cannot but call to mind the story in the second Book of Maccab. VII of the Mother and her seven Sons that underwent so cruel a Martyrdom because we meet with one very like it if not the same only the name changed z z z z z z Gittim fol. 57. 2. We are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter Psal. XLIV Rab. Judah saith this may be understood of the Woman and her seven Sons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They brought forth the first before Cesar and they said unto him worship Idols He answered and said to them it is written in our Law I am the Lord thy God Then they carried him out and slew him They brought the second before Caesar c. Which things are more largely related in Echah Rabbathi a a a a a a Fol. 67. 4. 68. 1. where the very name of the Woman is expressed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mary the Daughter of Nachton who was taken Captive with her seven Sons Cesar took them and shut them up within seven grates He brought forth the first and commanded saying worship Idols c. The Story seems wholly the same only the names of Antiochus and Cesar changed of which the Reader having consulted both may give his own judgment And because we are now fallen into a comparing of the story in the Maccabees with the Talmudists let us compare one more in Josephus with one in the same Authors Josephus tells us that he foretold it to Vespasian that he should be Emperour b b b b b b De Bell. Jud. lib. 3. cap. 27. Vespasian commanded that Josephus should be kept with all the diligence imaginable that he might be conveighed safely to Nero which when Josephus understood he requested that he might be permited to impart something of moment to Vespasian himself alone Vespasian having commanded all out of the Room except Titus and two other of his friends Josephus accosts him thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Are you sending me to Nero Thou thy self O Vespasian shalt be Cesar and Emperor thou and this thy Son c. The Talmudists attribute such a Prediction to Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai in the Tracts before quoted viz. c c c c c c Gittin fol. 56. 1. Echah Rabbathi fol. 64. 2. Rabban Johanan ben Zaccai was carried out in a Coffin as one that is dead out of Jerusalem He went to Vespasian's Army and said where is your King They went and told Vespasian there is a certain Jew desireth admission to you Let him come in saith he When he came in he said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Live O King Live O King So in Gittin but in Midras ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Live my Lord the Emperour Saith Vespasian you salute me as if I were King but I am not so and the King will hear this and judge such an one to death To whom he although you are not King yet you shall be so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for this Temple must not be destroyed but by a King's hand as it is written Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one Isai. X. 34. To which of these two or whether indeed to both the glory of this Prediction ought to be attributed I leave it to the Reader to judge returning to the times of the Greeks The Army and Forces of the Enemy being defeated under the conduct of Judah the Maccabite the people begin to apply themselves to the care and the restauration of the Temple and the Holy things The Story of which we meet with 1 Maccab. IV. 43 c. and in Josephus d d d d d d Antiqu. lib. 12. cap. 11. whose words are worth our transcribing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He found the Temple desolated the Gates burnt and the grass through the mere solitude of the place springing up there of its own accord Therefore he and his followers wept being astonished at the sight They therefore apply themselves to the purging of the Temple making up the breaches and as Middoth in the place above speaks Those thirteen breaches which the Grecians had made ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they repaired them and according to the number of those breaches they instituted thirteen adorations The Altar because it had been prophaned by Gentile Sacrifices they pull it wholly down and lay up the Stones in a certain Chamber near the Court. e e e e e e Middoth cap 1. hal 6. Toward the North-East there was a certain Chamber where the Sons of the Asmoneans laid up the Stones of that Altar which the Grecian Kings had prophaned and that as the Book of the Maccabees hath it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Till there might come a Prophet that should direct them what to do with them Nor did it seem without reason for whereas those Stones had once been consecrated they would by no means put them to any common use and since they had been prophaned they durst not put them to any holy use The rest of the Temple they restored purged repaired as may be seen in the places above quoted and on the five and twentieth of the month Cisleu they celebrated the Feast of the Dedication and established it for an Anniversary Solemnity to be kept eight days together Of the Rites of that Feast I shall say more in its proper place and for the sake of it I have been the larger in these things CHAP. VII Various things § I. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ephraim Joh. XI 54. II. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Maron and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Maronite III. Chalamish Naveh and other obscure places IV. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
Synagogues on the Sabbath-day or whether they read them not that is the Hagiographa It is likely that the Sadducees and Samaritans I mean those Samaritans that liv'd about our Saviours time and before might disown the Prophets and the Holy writings much after the same manner and no more For is it at all probable that they were either ignorant of the Histories of Joshua Judges Samuel the Kings and the writings of the Prophets or that they accounted them tales and of no value There were some amongst the Samaritans as Eulogius in Photius q q q q q q Cod. CCXXX tells us who had an opinion that Joshuah the Son of Nun was that Prophet of whom Moses spake that God would raise up to them out of their brethren like to him Do we think then that the History and Book of Joshua were unknown or disown'd by them However I cannot omit without some remarks some few passages we meet with in Sanhedr r r r r r r Fol. 90. 2. The Sadducees asked Rabban Gamaliel whence he could prove it that God would raise the dead from the Law saith he and from the Prophets and from the Holy Writings And accordingly he alledgeth his proofs out of each Book which I hope may not be very tedious to the Reader to take notice of in this place I prove it out of the Law where it is written And the Lord said to Moses Deut. XXXI 16. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Behold thou shalt sleep with thy fathers and rise again They say probably it is meant ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This people will rise up and go a whoring I prove it out of the Prophets according as it is written thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust Isa. XXVI 19. But perhaps say they this may be meant of those dead which Ezekiel raised I prove it out of the Hagiographa according as it is writien The roof of thy mouth is like the best wine for my beloved that goeth down sweetly causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak Cant. VII 9. But perhaps say they it is meant they move their lips in the world I add say they though it is not I confess in the Gemarists Text because reason and sense makes it evident that this ought to be added and the Gloss confirms it Now it would have been a most absurd thing for Gamaliel to have offer'd any proofs of the Resurrection either out of the Prophets or the Hagiographae against the Sadducees if those Books had been either not known or of no authority amongst them And we see that the Books themselves out of which these proofs were brought were not excepted against but the places quoted had another sense put upon them and pleaded for by them s s s s s s Hieros Jevamoth fol. 3. 1. It is a Tradition of R. Simeon ben Eliezer I said unto the Scribes of the Samaritans ye therefore err because you do not interpret according to R. Nehemiah for it is a Tradition of R. Nehemiah's where ever we meet with a word which ought to have the letter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the beginning of it if it have it not you must then put an ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the end of it e. g. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they answer R. Nehemiah but behold it is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Now those that return this answer to R. Nehemiah if they be the Samaritan Scribes then do they themselves quote the ninth Psalm But further the Book of Ezekiel is quoted by a Samaritan in this story t t t t t t Ellâh haddthherim Rabba fol. 292. 2. 3. Rabban Jonathan went to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Neapolis i. e. Sychar of the Samaritans A certain Samaritan was in his company When they came to Mount Gerizzim the Samaritan saith unto him How comes it to pass that we are gotten to this holy mountain R. Jonathan saith how comes this mountain to be holy the Samaritan answer'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because it was never plagu'd with the waters of the deluge saith R. Jonathan how prove you this the Samaritan answer'd is it not written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Son of man say unto her thou art the land not cleansed nor rain'd upon in the day of indignation Ezek. XXII 24. If it were so saith R. Jonathan then should the Lord have commanded Noah to have gone up into this mountain and not have built himself an Ark. We also meet with a Sadducee quoting the Prophet Amos Cholin fol. 87. 1. A certain Sadducee said to a certain Rabbi He that created the Hills did not make ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a spirit or the wind And he that created the wind did not make the hills for it is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Behold he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind Amos V. 13. The Rabbi answer'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã thou fool go on but to the end of the verse and thou wilt find the Lord of Hosts is his name That passage also is remarkable x x x x x x Schabb. fol. 116 1. They do not snatch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Books and Volums of the Hereticks from the flames they may be burnt where they are The Gloss is The Books of Hereticks i. e. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Idolaters or those that use any strange worship who wrote out the Law the Prophets and the Holy writings for their own use in the Assyrian character and holy language But ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã upon the place renders it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They snatch not away the Volums and Books of the Sadducees If by Hereticks the Sadducees are to be understood as the latter Gloss would have it then comparing it with the former they had the Law Prophets and the Holy writings writ in the Assyrian Character in the Holy language If by Hereticks the Christians are understood as in the former Gloss for as to the Gentiles there is no room to understand it of them in this place then we see what Copies of the Old Testament the Hebrew-Christians anciently had in use It may be objected that if the Sadducees admitted the Books of the Prophets and the Holy writings with this exception only that they had them not read in their Synagogues how came they to deny the Resurrection from the dead when it is so plainly asserted in those Books To this may be answer'd that this argument might have something in it if it had not been one fundamental of the Sadducees Faith that no article in Religion ought to be admitted that cannot be made out plainly from the five Books of Moses Compare this with that of the Pharisees y y y y y y Gloss in Sanhedr fol. 90. 1. However any person may acknowledg the Resurrection from the dead yet if he does
not own that there is some indication of it in the Law he denies a fundamental So that whereas Moses seemed not clearly and in terminis to express himself as to the Resurrection the Sadducees would not admit it as an article of their Faith though something like it may have occur'd in the Prophets so long as those expressions in the Prophets may be turn'd to some other sense either Historical or Allegorical But if they had apprehended any thing plain and express in the Books of Moses the Prophets also asserting and illustrating the same thing I cannot see why we should not believe they were receiv'd by them It is something of this kind the passage now in hand where we find the Samaritan woman using the word Messias which though it is not to be met with in the Books of Moses yet Moses having clearly spoken of his coming whom the Prophets afterward signaliz'd by the name of the Messias this foundation being laid the Sadducees and the Samaritans do not stick to speak of him in the same manner and under the same title wherein the Prophets had mention'd him But then what kind of conceptions they had of the person Kingdom and days of the Messiah whether they expected the fore-runner Elias or the Resurrection of the dead at his coming as the Scribes and Pharisees did is scarcely credible VERS XXVII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They marvel'd that he talked with the woman THEY marvel he should talk with a woman much more with a Samaritan woman z z z z z z Erubhim fol. 53. 2. R. Jose the Galilaean being upon a journey ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am much mistaken if it should not be writ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã found Berurea in the way to whom he said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what way must we go to Lydda She answered O thou foolish Galilean have not the wise men taught ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do not multiply discourse with a woman Thou oughtest only to have said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which way to Lydda Upon what occasion this woman should be call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Berurea is not our business at present to enquire but that the Reader may know something of her she was the wife of R. Meir a learned woman and a teacher her self a a a a a a Juchasin fol. 40. 2. His wife Berurea was a wise woman of whom many things are related in Avodah Zarah Another story we have of her b b b b b b Erubhin ubi supr ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Berurea found a certain Scholar reading mutteringly and spurn'd at him c. c c c c c c Kiddushin fol. 7â 1 Samuel saith they do not salute a woman at all d d d d d d Bâmid ir rabba fol. 135. 4. A certain Matron askt R. Eleazar why when the sin of the Golden Calf was but one only should it be punisht with a threefold kind of death he answer'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a woman ought not to be wise above her Distaff Saith Hyrcanus to him because you did not answer her a word out of the Law she will keep back from us three hundred measures of Tythes yearly but he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã let the words of the Law be burn'd rather than committed to women e e e e e e Vid. Joma fol â6 2 Ibid. fol. 240. 2. Let no one talk with a woman in the street no not with his own wife VERS XXVIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Left her water-pot T WAS kindly done to leave her water-pot behind her that Jesus and his Disciples whom she now saw come up to him might have wherewithal to drink VERS XXIX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Who hath told me all things that ever I did c. THIS passage doth something agree with the Jewish notion about their Messiah's smelling f f f f f f Sanhedr fol. 93. 2. It is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and he shall make him of quick scent or smell in the fear of the Lord Isa. XI 3. Rabba saith he shall be of quick scent and shall judg as it is written he shall not judg by the sight of his eyes c. Ben Cozibah reign'd two years and an half and said to the Rabbins I am the Messiah They say unto him it is said of the Messiah that he shall be of quick scent and shall judg let us see if you can smell and judg which when he could not do they killed him The Samaritan woman perceiv'd that Jesus had smelt out all her clandestine wickednesses which she had perpetrated out of the view of men for which very reason she argu'd it with her self that this must be the Messiah And by her report her fellow Citizens are encourag'd to come and see him They see him hear him invite him receive and entertain him and believe in him Is it not probable therefore that they as well as the Jews might have expected the coming of the Messiah about this time if so whence should they learn it from the Jews or from the Book of Daniel VERS XXXV ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest THE beginning of the harvest that is the barley-harvest was about the middle of the month Nisan Consult Levit. XXIII 10 c. Deut. XVI 9. Bava Mezia fol. 106. 2. Half Tisri all Marheshvan and half Cisleu is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the seeds time Half Cisleu whole Tebeth and half Shebat is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the winter Half Shebat whole Adar and half Nisan is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the winter solstice Half Nisan all Ijar and half Sevan is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the harvest Half Sivan all Tammuz and half Ab is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Summer Half Ab all Elul and half Tisri is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the great heat They sow'd the wheat and spelt in the month Tisri and Marheshvan and so onward Targ. upon Eccles. XI 2. Give a good portion of thy seed to thy field in the month Tisri and withhold thou not from sowing also in Cisleu They sow'd barley in the months Shebat and Adar i i i i i i Gloss. in Râsh hashanab fol. 16. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The lateward seed or that which is hid and lieth long in the earth the wheat and the spelt which do not soon ripen are sown in Marheshvan ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the early seed the barley which soon ripens is sown in Shebat and Adar k k k k k k Menacoth fol. 85. 1. They sow seventy days before the Passover The Barley therefore the hope of an harvest to come after four months was not yet committed to the ground and yet our Saviour saith Behold the fields are already white unto the harvest Which thing being a little observ'd will help to illustrate the words and design of
assert or argue for the calling of the whole Nation but of that remnant only and that he discourses concerning the present calling of that remnant and not about any future call of the whole Nation V. That is a vast mystery the Apostle is upon ver 25. of that Chapter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Blindness hath severally happen'd to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in I render ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã severally or by parts not without warrant from Grammar and according to the meaning and intention of St. Paul for the mystery mention'd by him is that blindness severally and at several times happen'd to the Israelites First the Ten Tribes were blinded through Idolatry and after many ages the two Tribes through Traditions and yet both those and these reserv'd together to that time wherein the Gentiles who had been blinded for a longer space are called and then both Israelites and Jews and Gentiles being all call'd together do close into one body It is observable that the Apostle throughout this whole Chapter doth not so much as once make mention of the Jews but of Israel that he might include the Ten Tribes with the two within his discourse And indeed this great Shepherd had his flock or his sheep within the Ten Tribes as well as within the two and to me it is without all controversie that the Gospel in the times of the Apostles was brought and preacht as well to the one as the other Doubtless St. Peter whiles he was in Babylon preached to the Israelites dispersed in those Countries as well as to the Jews VI. Some of the Gemarists do vehemently deny any conversion of the Ten Tribes under the Messiah let them beware lest there be not a conversion of their own p p p p p p Sanhedr fol. 110. 2. The Ten Tribes shall never return as it is written And he cast them out into a strange land as it is this day Deut. XXIX 28. As this day passeth and shall never return so they are gone and shall not return again They are the words of R. Akibah It is a Tradition of the Rabbins that the Ten Tribes shall not have a part in the world to come as it is written the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation and cast them out into another land He rooted them out of their own land in this world and cast them out into another land in the world to come They are the words of Rabbi But in truth when the true Messiah did appear the Ten Tribes were more happily call'd if I may so speak that is with more happy success than the Jews because amongst those Jews that had embrac'd the Gospel there happen'd a sad and foul Apostacy the like to which we read not of concerning the Ten Tribes that were converted VERS I. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. By the door into the sheepfold c. THE sheepfold amongst the Talmudists is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some Inclosures or Pen wherein I. The sheep were all gathered together in the night lest they should stray and where they might be safe from thieves or wild beasts II. In the day-time they were milked As ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã â Iliad ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Trojans as the rich mans numerous flocks Stand milked in the fold III. There the Lambs were tythed r r r r r r Becoroth fol. 38. 2. How is it that they tythe the lambs ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They gather the flock into the sheepfold and making a little door which two cannot go out of at together they number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and the tenth that goes out they mark with red saying this is the tythe The ews are without and the lambs within and at the bleating of the ews the lambs get out So that there was in the sheepfold one larger door which gave ingress and egress to the flock and shepherds and a lesser by which the Lambs past out for tything ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Is a thief and a robber ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In Talmudick language s s s s s s Maimon Ginebah cap. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who is a thief He that takes away another mans goods when the owner is not privy to it as when a man puts his hand into another mans pocket and takes away his money the man not seeing him but if he takes it away openly publickly and by force ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this is not a thief but a robber Not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã VERS III. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Porter I Am mistaken if the servants that attend about the flock under the shepherd the owners of them are not called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Eccles. XII 11. i. e. those that fold the sheep at least if the sheepfold its self be not so called And I would render the words by way of Paraphrase thus The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastned by those that gather the flock into the fold Goads to drive away the thief or the wild beast and nails to preserve the sheepfold whole and in good repair Which goad and nails are furnisht by the chief Shepherd the Master of the flock for these uses Now one of these servants that attended about the flock was call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Porter Not that he always sat at the door but the key was committed to his charge that he might look to it that no sheep should stray out of the fold nor any thing hurtful should get or be let in VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am the door PURE Israelitism among the Jews was the fold and the door and all things For if any one was of the seed of Israel and the stock of Abraham it was enough themselves being the Judges for such an one to be made a sheep admitted into the flock and be fed and nourisht to eternal life But in Christs flock the sheep had another original introduction and mark VERS VIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã All that ever came before me are thieves OUR Saviour speaks agreeably with the Scripture where when there is any mention of the coming of this great Shepherd to undertake the charge of the flock the evil Shepherds that do not feed but destroy the flock are accused Jer. XXIII 1 c. Ezek. XXXIV 2 c. Zach. XI 16. And our Saviour strikes at those three Shepherds before mention'd that hated him and were hated by him the Sadduces and Essenes under whose conduct the Nation had been so erroneously led for some ages I should have believed that those words All that ever came before me are Thieves and Robbers might be understood of those who having arrogated to themselves the name of the Messiah obtruded themselves upon the people but that we shall hardly or not at
of the Scribes So we often meet with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is out of the Law or Scripture to which is opposed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is out of the Rabbins That Christ abideth for ever How then came the Rabbins to determine his time and years some to the space of Forty years some to Seventy and others to three Generations q q q q q q Sanbedr fol. 99. 1. After the days of Messiah they expected that Eternity should follow VERS XXXIX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Therefore they could not believe c. THEY were not constrained in their infidelity because Isaiah had said Their heart is waxen gross c. But because those things were true which that Prophet had foretold concerning them Which Prophesie if I understand them aright they throw off from themselves and pervert the sense of it altogether r r r r r r Rosh hashanah fol. 17. 2. R. Johanan saith repentance is a great thing for it rescinds the decree of judgment determined against man as it is written The heart of this people is made fat their ears heavy and their eyes are closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but they shall be converted and healed For to that sense do they render these last words diametrically contrary to the mind of the Prophet They have a conceipt that Isaiah was cut in two either by the Saw or the Ax by Manasses the King principally for this very Vision and Prophesie s s s s s s Jevamoth fol. 49. â It is a Tradition Simeon Ben Azzai saith I found a Book at Jerusalem in which was written how Manasses slew Isaiah Rabba saith He condemned and put him to death upon this occasion He saith to him Thy Master Moses saith no man can see God and live But thou sayest I have seen the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up Thy Master Moses saith Who is like our God in all things that we call upon him for Deut. IV. 7. But thou saiest seek ye the Lord while he may be found Isai. LV. 6. Moses thy Master saith the number of thy days I will fulfil Exod. XIII 26. But thou saiest I will add unto thy days fifteen years Isai. XXXVIII 5. Isaiah answered and said I know he will not hearken to me in any thing I can say to him If I should say any thing to the reconciling of the Scriptures I know he will deal contemptuously in it He said therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I will shut my self up in this Cedar They brought the Cedar and sawed it asunder ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And when the Saw touched his mouth he gave up the Ghost This happened to him because he said I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips Manasses slew Isaiah and as it should seem the Gemarists do not dislike the fact because he had accused Israel of the uncleanness of their lips No touching upon Israel by any means VERS XLI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã When he saw his Glory ISAI VI 1. I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne Where the Targum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I saw the Lords Glory c. So Exod. XXIV 10. They saw the God of Israel Targum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They saw the glory of the God of Israel and vers 11. and they saw God Targum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And they saw the glory of God So the Targumists elsewhere very often commended therefore by their followers for so rendring it because no man cold see God It might be therefore thought that our Evangelist speaks with the Targumist and the Nation when he saith that Isaiah saw his glory whereas the Prophet himself saith he saw the Lord. But there is a deeper meaning in it nor do I doubt but this glory of our Saviour which Isaiah saw was that kind of Glory by which he is described when he was to come to avenge himself and punish the Jewish Nation As when he is said to come in his Kingdom and in his Glory and in the Clouds c. viz. in his Vindictive Glory For observe 1. The Prophet saw the posts of the door shaken and removed as hastening to ruine 2. The Temple it self filled with smoke not with the cloud as formerly the token of the Divine Presence but with smoke The forerunner and prognostick of that fire that should burn and consume it 3. He saw the Seraphims Angels of fire because of the predetermined Burning 4. He heard the decree about blinding and hardening the people till the Cities be wasted and the Land desolate CHAP. XIII VERS I. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Now before the Feast of the Passover THE Vulgar Beza and the Interlinear read Now before the Feast-day of the Passover But by what authority they add day it concerns them to make out For I. In the common language of the Jews ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do never signifie less than the whole Festivity and time of Passover Pentecost and of Tabernacles no part of that time being excepted nor does the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Feast occur any where throughout the whole Bible in another signification II. It is something harsh to exclude the Paschal Supper out of the title ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Feast of the Passover because the name of the whole Feast takes its original from it This they do who imagine this Supper mentioned in this place to have been the Paschal Supper and yet it was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã before the Feast of the Passover We have therefore shewn by many Arguments in our Notes upon Matth. XXVI 2 6. That the Supper here mentioned was with that at Bethany in the House of Simon the Leper two days before the Passover VERS II. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And Supper being ended I Acknowledge the Aorist and yet do not believe the Supper was now ended We have the very same word in the story of the same Supper Matth. XXVI 6. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And Jesus being in Bethany Which in St. Mark is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And being in Bethany Chap. XIV 3. So that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is no more than ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Being Supper Let us joyn the full story together whiles Jesus was at Supper in the House of Simon the Leper two days before the Passover a Woman comes and pours very precious Oyntment upon his head when some murmured at the profuseness of the expense he defends the Woman and the action by an Apology and having finished his Apology he rises immediately from the Table as it were in the very midst of Supper and girds himself to wash his Disciples feet so that while they are grumbling at the anointing of his head he does not disdain to wash their
1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Calf and the young Bullock which they kill in the name of the Passover Or for the Passover Whence we may observe The Calf is the Passover as well as the Lamb. 2. The Elders of the Sanhedrin prepare and oblige themselves to eat the Chagigah the Passover on that day because the next day was the Sabbath and the Chagihah must not make void the Sabbath y y y y y y Pesachin ubi supr ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Chagigah doth not set aside the Sabbath Hence that we quoted before that the Chagigah was not to be brought upon the Sabbath day as also not in case of uncleanness because however the Chagigah and defilement might set aside the Passover yet it might not the Sabbath VERS XXXI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is not lawful for us to put any man to death DOTH Pilate jest or deride them when he bids them take him and judge him according to their own Law It cannot be denied but that all capital judgment or sentence upon life had been taken from the Jews for above forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem as they oftentimes themselves confess But how came this to pass It is commonly received that the Romans at this time the Jews Lords and Masters had taken from all their Courts a power and capacity of judging the capital matters We have spoken largely upon this subject in our Notes upon Matth. XXVI 3. Let us superadd a few things here z z z z z z Avodah Zarah fol. 8. 2. Rabh Cahna saith when R. Ismael bar Jose lay sick they sent to him saying pray Sir tell us two or three things which thou didst once tell us in the name of thy Father He saith to them an hundred and fourscore years before the destruction of the Temple the wicked Kingdom the Roman Empire reigned over Israel fourscore years before the destruction of the Temple ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they the Fathers of the Sanhedrin determined about the uncleanness of the Heathen Land and about Glass Vessels Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin removed and sate in the Taberne What is the meaning of this Tradition Rabh Isaac bar Abdimi saith they did not judge ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã judgments of Mulcts The Gloss is Those are the judgments about sining any that offered violence that entice a maid and the price of a Servant When therefore they did not sit in the room Gazith they did not judge about these things and so those judgments about mulcts or sines ceased Here we have one part of their judiciary power lost not taken away from them by the Romans but falling of it self as it were out of the hands of the Sanhedrin Nor did the Romans indeed take away their power of judging in capital matters but they by their own oscitancy supine and unreasonable lenity lost it themselves For so the Gemara goes on Rabh Nachman bar Isaac saith Let him not say that they did not judge judgments of Mulcts for they did not judge capital judgments neither And whence comes this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã When they saw that so many Murders and Homicides multiplied upon them that they could not well judge and call them to account they said it is better for us that we remove from place to place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For how can we otherwise sitting here and not punishing them not contract a guilt upon our selves They thought themselves obliged to punish Murderers whiles they sate in the room Gazith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for the place it self engaged them to it They are the words of the Gemarists Upon which the Gloss. The room Gazith was half of it within and half of it without the Holy place The reason of which was that it was requisite that the Council should sit near the Divine Majesty Hence it is that they say whoever constitutes an unfit Judge is as if he planted a Grove by the Altar of the Lord as it is written Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee and it follows presently after thou shalt not plant thee a Grove near the Altar of the Lord thy God Deut. XVI 18 21. They removed therefore from Gazith and sate in the Taberne Now though the Taberne were upon the mountain of the Temple yet they did not sit so near the Divine Majesty there as they did when they sate in the room Gazith Let us now in order put the whole matter together I. The Sanhedrin were most stupidly and unreasonably remiss in their punishment of capital offendors going upon this reason especially that they accounted it so horrible a thing to sentence an Israelite to death Forsooth he is of the seed of Abraham of the blood and stock of Israel and you must have a care how you touch such an one a a a a a a âava Meziah sol 83. 2. R. Eliezer b. R. Simeon had laid hold on some Thieves R. Joshua b. Korchah sent to him saying ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã O thou Vinegar the Son of good Wine i. e. O thou wicked Son of a good Father How long wilt thou deliver the people of God to the slaughter He answered and said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I root the Thornes out of the Vineyard to whom the other Let the Lord of the Vineyard come and root them out himself It is worth noting that the very thieves of Israel are the people of God and O they must not be touched by any means but referred to the judgment of God himself b b b b b b Ibid. fol. 64. 1. When R. Ismael b. R. Jose was constituted a Magistrate by the King there happened some such thing to him for Elias himself rebuked him saying how long wilt thou deliver over the people of God to slaughter Hence that which we alledged elsewhere c c c c c c Maccoth fol. 7. 1. The Sanhedrin that happens to sentence any one to death within the space of seven years is called a destroyer R. Eleazar ben Azariah saith it is so if they should but condemn one within seventy years II. It is obvious to any one how this foolish remissness and letting loose the reins of judgment would soon encrease the numbers of Robbers Murderers and all kind of wickedness and indeed they did so abundantly multiply that the Sanhedrin neither could nor durst as it ought call the Criminals to account The Laws slept whiles wickedness was in the height of its Revels and punitive justice was so out of countenance that as to uncertain murders they made no search and certain ones they framed no judgment against d d d d d d Sotah fol. 47. 1. Since the time that Homicides multiplied the beheading the Heifer ceased And in the place before quoted in Avodah e e e e e e Fol. 8. 2. When they saw the numbers of Murderers so greatly encrease that
lookt toward one another but when they did not then they turn'd their faces toward the walls Thus Onkelos comments upon this place of the Chronicles I hardly think he Targumizeth on the Book for the Targum at least that is in our hands renders it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã both the Cherubins are made of lilly-work VERS XVII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Touch me not for I am not yet ascended c. THESE words relate to what he had spoken formerly about sending the Comforter and that he would not leave them comfortless c. And this probably Mary Magdalen's mind was intent upon when she fell at his feet and would have embraced them But he I must first ascend to my Father before I can bestow those things upon you which I have promised do not therefore touch me and detain me upon any expectation of that kind but wait for my Ascension rather and go and tell the same things to my Brethren for their encouragement VERS XXIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted HE had formerly given them a power of binding and loosing and therefore probably bestows something more upon them now than what he had conferr'd before For I. It would seem a little incongruous for our Saviour to use an action so new and unwonted such as was his breathing upon them to vest them only with that power which he had before given them II. The power of binding and loosing was concern'd only in the articles and decisions of the Law this power which he now gives them reacht to the sins of mankind That power concern'd the Doctrines this the persons of men Now that we may understand the words that are before us let us a little consider what is said Luk. XXIV 46. Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem Which words we may suppose he spoke before he utter'd what is in this verse And so might there not upon the occasion of those words arise some such scruple as this in the Apostles breasts Is it so indeed must remission of sins be Preached to those in Jerusalem who have stain'd themselves with the blood of the Messiah himself Yes saith he For whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them To this those words of his upon the Cross have some reference Luk. XXIII 34. Father forgive them c. And indeed upon what foundation with what confidence could the Apostles have preacht remission of sins to such wretched men who had so wickedly so cruelly murder'd their own Lord the Lord of life unless authoriz'd to it by a peculiar commission granted to them from their Lord himself ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Whose soever ye retain they are retained Besides the negative included in these words that is If you do not remit them they shall not be remitted there is something superadded that is positive That is I. There is granted to them a power of smiting the rebellious with present death or some bodily stroke II. A power of delivering them over to Satan Whence had St. Peter that power of striking Ananias and Sapphira with so fatal a bolt whence St. Paul that of striking Elymas blind whence of delivering over Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan if not from this very commission given them by Christ Christ himself never exercis'd this power himself it was not one person whom he stroke either with death or any afflictive disease some indeed he raised when they had been dead and infinite numbers of the sick and diseased whom he cured He snatcht several from the power of the Devils he deliver'd none to them That the Apostles therefore might be capable of performing things of so high a nature it was necessary they should be backt and encourag'd by a peculiar authority which if we find not in this clause Whose soever sins ye retain they are retained where should we look for it And therefore when he endows his Apostles with a power which he never thought fit to exercise in his own person no wonder if he does it by a singular and unusual action and that was breathing upon them ver 22. But we must know that whereas amongst other mighty powers conferr'd we reckon that as one viz. delivering over unto Satan we are far from meaning nothing else by it but Excommunication What the Jews themselves meant by that kind of phrase let us see by one instance d d d d d d Succah fol. 53. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Those two men of Cush that stood before Solomon Elihoreph and Ahijah the Scribes Sons of Shausha On a certain day Solomon saw the Angel of Death weeping he said why weepest thou He answer'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Because these two Cushites entreat me that they may continue here ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Solomon deliver'd them over to the Devil who brought them to the borders of Luz and when they were come to the borders of Luz they dy'd Gloss. He calls them Cushites Ironically because they were very beautiful They entreat me that they might continue here For the time of their death was now come But the Angel of death could not take their souls away because it had been decreed that they should not die but at the Gates of Luz Solomon therefore deliver'd them over ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the Devils for he reign'd over the Devils as it is written And Solomon sat upon the Throne of the Lord for he reigned ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã over those things that are above and those things that are below Josephus also makes mention of the power that Solomon had over Devils e e e e e e Antiq. lib. 8. cap. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God taught him an art against Demons The belief of either of these stories is at the liberty of the Reader Only from the former we may make this observation that a power of delivering over to Satan was even in the Jews opinion divine and miraculous We acknowledg this to have been in the Apostles and in the Apostles only and I know no where if not in the words we are now treating of from whence otherwise the original of this power and authority can be deriv'd III. It seems further that at this very time was granted to the Apostles a commission to confer the Holy Spirit on those whom they found qualify'd and that in these words Receive ye the Holy Ghost i. e. Receive ye it to distribute it to others For although it cannot be deny'd but that they receiv'd the Holy Ghost for other reasons also and to other ends of which we have already discours'd yet is not this great end to be excluded which seem'd the highest and noblest endowment of all viz. that Christ breathing upon them inspir'd them with the Holy
was to Dâphne of Antioch The other where the clouds did descend upon them and covered them o o o o o o Vid. âemid rabba fol. 268. 1. VERS LI. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Stiff-necked VVE have a like phrase and a story not much unlike in Shemoth rabba p p p p p p Fol. 156. 2. when the people in the absence of Moses were urgent with Aaron to make them Gods that should go before them Hur resisted them and said to them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ye short necked do you not remember what wonderful things God hath done for you Immediately they rose up against him and slew him VERS LIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã By the disposition of Angels I. I Would not render this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the Hebrew word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Angels as the Syriack and Arabick Interpreters have done but by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã messengers so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Angel or messenger of the Church The Jews have a trifling fiction that those Israelites that were present at mount Sinai and heard the Law pronounced thence by God himself should have been like the Angels that they should never have begot children nor died but for the time to come should have been like to Angels had it not been for that fatal and unfortunate crime of theirs in the matter of the Golden Calf q q q q q q Vid. Avod Zarah fol. 5. 1. Hor. Heb. in Joh. X. 3â If ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã might admit of this passive construction that men might be disposed into the same predicament or state with the Angels then I should think our Blessed Martyr might in this passage remember them of their own opinion and the more smartly convince them of their ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã transgression of the Law even from what they themselves granted As though he had said Ye have received a Law which you your selves confess would have put men into an Angelical state and yet you have not observed it II. But if this clause will not bear that interpretation it is doubtful in what sense the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã must be taken and whether ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã unto the dispositions be the same with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the dispositions or disposition That expression in Gal. III. 19. agrees with this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ordain'd by Angels and in both these places it would be something harsh to understand by Angels those heavenly spirits strictly and properly so taken for what had they to do in the disposition of the Law They were present indeed at Mount Sinai when the Law was given as many places of the Holy Scriptures do witness but then they were but present there for we do not find that any thing further was done or performed by them So that the thing it self makes it necessary that both in this and in that place we should understand by Angels the messengers of God's Word his Prophets and Ministers And the particle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã may retain its own proper force and vertue that the sense may come to thus much viz. Ye have received the Law unto the disposition of messengers i. e. that it should be propounded and published by Ministers Prophets and others and that according to your own desire and wish Exod. XX. 19. Deut. v. 25. and XVIII 15 16. and yet ye have not kept the Law Ye desired Prophets and ye had them and yet which of those Prophets have not you persecuted VERS LVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God CHRIST frequently calls himself the Son of Man but it is rarely that we find him so called by others But St. Stephen in this expression recites that of Dan. VII 13. I saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of Heaven and coming to the ancient of days and they brought him before him I would hardly have expected from a Jew what R. Saâdiah âaith upon this place like to the Son of Man ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is the Messiah our righteousness but is it not written of the Messiah poor and riding upon an Ass For he shall come in humility And they brought him before the Ancient of days this is that that is written The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand The Doctors in Sanhedrin r r r r r r Fol. 98. 1. talk much more out of the way ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If they are worthy i. e. the Israelites then he shall come with the clouds of Heaven but if they are not worthy then he will come poor and riding upon an Ass. The Proto-martyr declares he saw that of Daniel fulfilled now in Jesus to which that in Isa. VI. 1. is something parallel VERS LVIII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And casting him out of the City they stoned him s s s s s s Hieros Sanhedr fol. 23. 1 Bab. Sanhed fol. 42. 2. I. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the place of stoning was without the Sanhedrin according as it is said bring forth him that hath cursed without the Camp Levit. XXIV 14. It is a Tradition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the place of stoning was without three Camps The Gloss tells us that the Court was the Camp of the Divine Presence the Mountain of the Temple the Camp of the Levites and Jerusalem the Camp of Israel Now in every Sanhedrin in whatever City the place of stoning was without the City as it was at Jerusalem We are told the reason by the Gemarists why the place of stoning was without the Sanhedrin and again without three Camps viz. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If the Sanhedrin go forth and sit without the three Camps they make the place for stoning also distant from the Sanhedrin partly lest the Sanhedrin should seem to kill the man partly that by the distance of the place there may be a little stop and space of time before the Criminal come to the place of execution if peradventure any one might offer some testimony that might make for him For in the expectation of some such thing II. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There stood one at the door of the Sanhedrin having a Handkerchief in his hand ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and an horse at such a distance as it was only within sight If any one therefore say I have something to offer in behalf of the condemned person he waves the Handkerchief and the horseman rides and calls the people back Nay if the man himself say I have something to offer in my own defence they bring him back four or five times one after another if it be any thing of moment that he hath to say I doubt they hardly dealt so gently with the innocent Stephen III. If no testimony arise that makes any thing for
IV. Whether therefore these were mandatory letters or only exhortatory which St. Paul desired the Fathers of the Sanhedrin knew the Synagogues were heated with so great an indignation against Christianity that they would most readily undertake what was desired Where by the way we may make this observation That the power of Life and Death was not yet taken out of the hands of the Sanhedrin I have elsewhere given you a copy of a Letter from the Sanhedrin to those of Babylon and also to those of Alexandria m m m m m m Vid. Hor. Heb. âd Matth. II. 14 VERS V. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks IN Syriac ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is well known that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies to kick from Deut. XXII 15. and 1 Sam. II. 29. nor is it less known what this word kicking in these places means n n n n n n Hieros Schab fol. 11. 1. R. Bibai sat and taught R. Isaac ben Cahna ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã kickt against him VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Hearing a voice c. BUT it is said Chap. XXII 9. They heard not the voice of him that spake unto me They heard ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Voice or Sound but they did not hear ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the words So we find the Jewish writers distinguishing o o o o o o Bemidb. rab fol. 163 â There I will speak with thee The word shall be with thee but not with them all ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Perhaps they did not hear the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but they heard the voice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But seeing no man But did Paul himself see him See vers 17. Jesus that appeared to thee in the way and vers 27. He saw the Lord in the way 1 Cor. IX 1. Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord And Chap. XV. 8. He was seen of me also c. but did he see his person or his glory only I would say he saw both and so had obtained a more illustrious Vision of him than any of the rest having seen him since he was glorified which they did not But whether he saw with his bodily eyes or as Isaiah Cap. VI. 1. by Vision only let those dispute it that think fit Concerning Damascus the scene of this history we may call to mind that of Zechar. IX 1. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus the rest thereof c. where the Targum Damascus shall be converted so that it shall be of the land of the house of his Majesty Kimchi hath it Damascus shall be his rest that is the habitation of his glory and of his prophet c. which things whither they have any relation to this place let the Reader judge Only I must not let it pass unobserved that Paul the Converter of the Gentiles was called to his Apostleship and saw Christ in a Country and almost in a City of the Gentiles St. Paul himself tells us that this voice which came from Heaven spake to him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Hebrew tongue Chap. XXVI 14. which our Historian doth not mention nor indeed those passages vers 16. 17 18. which S. Paul there relates VERS XII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Putting his hand on him that he may receive his sight ANANIAS himself adds vers 17. that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost Could Ananias therefore confer the Holy Ghost This seemed the peculiar prerogative of the Apostles could therefore a private Disciple do this to an Apostle By the imposition of his hands could he impart the gift of Tongues and Prophesie Will not this degrade our Apostle even below the ordinary Ministers who received these gifts by the imposition of the Apostles hands and shall he that is an Apostle take his Commission from the hands of one that is not so himself It was not ordinary for an Apostle to be baptised by one that was not an Apostle and it would be strange if such an one should add over and above greater things to an Apostle It may be no needless question who it was that baptized the rest of the Apostles when Jesus himself baptized not Joh. IV. 2. who therefore baptized those that did baptize Let the Romanists say who baptized Peter I would say John the Baptist did But do you think Peter was rebaptized If so by whom when Jesus himself did not baptize CHAP. XII VERS II. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He killed Iames with the sword THIS kind of death is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã killing p p p p p p Sanhedr fol. 49. 2. Four kinds of death are delivered into the hands of the Sanhedrin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã stoning ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã burning ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã killing with the sword ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã strangling q q q q q q Ibid. fol. 52. 2. The precept ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã concerning those that are to be killed is this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they beheaded him with the sword as the Roman Kingdom does R. Judah saith This is a vile disgrace to him But they lay his head upon a block and chop it off with an Ax. Others reply there can be no death more disgraceful than that You will say Herod Agrippa imitated the Roman customs as having no small relation to Rome But beheading by the sword was a death used amongst the Jews them selves and they particularly fell under that sentence that drew away the people to the worship of other Gods r r r r r r Ibid. fol. 111. 2. If they be but a few that seduce the people to strange worship they are stoned and their goods are not confiscated but if their numbers be great they dye by the sword and their goods are confiscated St. James indeed was but a single person but Herod knew that there was Peter also and several others who according to his judgment ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã drew away the people to an irreligious worship and deals with James as he intended to do with the rest So he falls and his goods are confiscated And so that begins to be accomplished which our Saviour had formerly told the sons of Zebedee ye shall drink of my cup c. s s s s s s Hieros Sanhedr fol. 29. 4. The Rabbins say Killing by the sword is an heavier punishment than strangling VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã His chains from his hands I Am mistaken if the Jerusalem Talmudists do not express ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chiromanicae hand-manacles t t t t t t Ibid. fol. 28. 3 It is written The Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people but they harkned not Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the Captains of that host
CHAP. XIV VERS VI. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To Derbe and Lystra Cities of Lycaonia STRABO tells us expressly that Iconium also was within Lycaonia b b b b b b Strab. Geogr. lib. 12. Thence are the Lyconian Hills plain cold naked and pastures for wild Asses c. There are also the lakes the greater called Coralis the less called Trogitis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã About those places stands Iconium a Town built in a better soil than what I mentioned as the pasture of wild Asses Ptolomy also places Iconium in Lycaonia c c c c c c Ptol. tab Asiae 1. cap. 6. How comes it to pass then that St. Luke doth not call Iconium a City of Lycaonia as well as Derbe and Lystra Because Iconium was of something a distinct jurisdiction d d d d d d Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27. Datur et Tetrarchia ex Lycaonia c. There is also granted a Tetrarchy out of Lycaonia on that side that bounds upon Galatia consisting of fourteen Cities the most famous of which is Iconium VERS XI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the Speech of Lycaonia IT is hard to say what the Lycaonian Tongue was nor is it easie to say why this was added when it might have sufficed to have said They lift up their voices saying the Gods c. I. I should hardly be perswaded the Lycaonian Language was any Greek Dialect when it sufficiently appears by what I lately quoted out of Strabo that there were peculiar Mother Tongues in these Countries distinct from the Greek And he himself remarketh * * * * * * Lib. 8. That the Carians who are situated something nearer Greece than the Lycaonians were called by Homer ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã people of a barbarous language so the Phrygians also were Barbari barbarous e e e e e e Pausan. lib. 1. Let us hear once again what Strabo saith f f f f f f Strab. lib. 12. The Coppadocians who use the same language are those chiefly who are bounded South-ward with that part of Cilicia that is called Taurus East-ward by Armenia and Colchis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and other interjacent Countries that use a different language What amongst these other languages should be the Lycaonian let him find out that hath leisure and capacity to do it As for my part I neither can nor dare attempt it CHAP. XV. VERS II. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. No small dissension and disputation c. WERE I to render these words into the Talmudick Language which was the School Language I would render ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã terms very well known in the Schools according to which Idiom if they were expounded there would be no difficulty in them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. They determined that Paul should go up c. Of this journey Paul himsel makes some mention Gal. II. 1. where he intimates that he went up by revelation that is given to the Ministers of Antioch for it would not have been said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they determinded if the Revelation had been made to Paul himself Amongst others that ââcompanied him in his journey Titus was one But where he adopted him to himself in those his journeys described Chap. XIII and XIV let him guess that can VERS VII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A good while ago c. I Do not question but St. Peter in these words had an eye to that saying of our Saviour I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven viz. that thou mayst first open the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles Then it was that the Lord chose him that by his mouth first the Gentiles might hear the word of the Gospel and might believe This he saith was done ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In former days that is as he speaks elsewhere In the time when Jesus went in and out amongst them Acts I. 21. which time is expressed by our Evangelists by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã From the beginning Luke I. 2. VERS XVI ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I will build again the Tabernacle of David which is fallen down g g g g g g Sanhedr fol. 69. 2. RAB Nachman said to R. Isaac ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Whence art thou taught when Bar Naphli will come He saith unto him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Who is this Bar Naphli The other replied it is the Messiah Dost thou then call the Messias Bar Naphli Yes saith he for it is written In that day I will build again the Tabernacle of David ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nopheleth falling down VERS XVII ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord c. I. I Think it will hardly be denied by any but that St. James spake now in Hebrew i. e. in the Syriac Tongue For reason will tell us that the Council at Jerusalem would be managed best in the language of Jerusalem and indeed the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Symeon with which he begins his discourse argues that he spoke Hebrew amongst Hebrews not so much in that he saith Simeon and not Simon as in that he saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with the letter v and not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Simeon the Syriac Tongue affecting the letter u in the first syllable as in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Buâra Gushma Ductha and many such words So also in proper names ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ben Sutda in Jerusalem Language for Ben Satda and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mugdala for Magdala II. Neither I presume will it be denied that the Apostle quoting this passage of the Prophet recites the very words as they are in the Hebrew which was always done in their Schools and Sermons when they recited any place or testimony of Scripture they did it always in the very original words But do you think that the Hebrew words of Amos in the mouth of James were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That the residue of men might seek in which sense the Greek words speak The Hebrew Text in Amos IX 12. is thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That they may possess the remnant of Edom. But the Greek Interpreters have it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord. where they add ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Lord of their own and is not the Prophets nor indeed is it in the Roman Copy but in the Alexandrian M. S. it is It is hardly worth our enquiry whether through carelessness or set design they have gone thus wide from the words of the Prophet for indeed nothing is more common with those Interpreters than to depart after that manner from the Hebrew Text. One may suspect that they did it on purpose here partly as envying so comfortable a promise
hardned their faces ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Gloss renders it h h h h h h Moed Katon fol. 16. 1. He reproacheth the Messenger of the Sanhedrin More particularly i i i i i i ârach Chaaiâ cap. 359. Rambam of blessed memory saith For twenty four causes they Excommunicate either man or woman and these are they that are to be Excommunicated 1. He that vilifies a wise Man yea after his death 2. He that vilifies the Messenger of the Sanhedrin 3. He who calls his companion Servant 4. He that sets at nought one word of the Scribes There is no need to say he that sets at nought the Law 5. Who appears not at the day set him by the Bench. 6. Who submits not to the judgment of the Bench they excommunicate him till he do submit 7. Who keeps any hurtful thing for example a fierce Dog or a broken Ladder they excommunicate him till he put it away 8. Who sells his farm to a Heathen they excommunicate him until he take upon himself all the wrong which may thence come to an Israelite his neighbour 9. Who gives evidence against an Israelite before a Heathen Tribunal and by that Evidence wracks mony from him they excommunicate him until he pay it back again 10. A Butcher Priest who divides not a portion to the other Priest they excommunicate him until he gives it 11. Who profaneth the second Feast day of the Captivity although it be according to custom Of this day see Maimonides l l l l l l In Kiddush Hodesh cap. 5. 12. Who doth any servile work on the Passover Eve afternoon 13. Who mentioneth the name of God in vain either in an Oath or in Words 14. Who compels the people to eat the holy things out of the bounds 15. Who compels the people to prophane the Name of God 16. Who intercalates the year or months without the Land of Israel 17. Who lays a stumbling block before the blind 18. Who hinders the people from performing the precept 19. The Butcher who offers a torn beast 20. The Butcher who sheweth not his knife to a wise Man to be approved of 21. Who hardens himself against knowledge 22. Who hath put away his wife and yet hath partnership and dealing with her 23. A wise Man that lies under an ill fame 24. Who excommunicates him that deserves not excommunication These you have likewise in the Learned Buxtorph his Talmudick Lexicon in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Niddui By how much the more carefully I look upon the causes and reasons of Excommunication so much the more I persist in my opinion that Excommunication was invented as a punishment for those faults for which no kind of punishment was decreed either by the Law or by any Traditional Canons Consider them singly and perhaps you will be of my opinion III. He against whom they were to proceed by Excommunication was first cited and a day set him wherein to appear by a Messenger sent him by the Bench which certified him of the day and of the persons before whom he was to appear ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã m m m m m m Moed Katon fol. 16. 1. They appoint him the second day of the week on which day they sit in the Court and assemble in the Synagogue and the fifth day of the week on which day also there is an Assembly and a Session and the second of the week following If he appeared not on the day first appointed they look for him unto the day that was secondly appointed and thirdly appointed And this was when the case was about mony ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But if it were for Epicurism if he made not his appearance on the first day appointed they Excommunicate him without delay IV. They first struck him with simple Excommunication which they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Niddui in which there was not absolute cursing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã n n n n n n Piske ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Moed Katon art 55. In Niddui was not absolute cursing For they said only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let N. be under Excommunication V. This Excommunication was for thirty days ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã o o o o o o Hieros Moed Katon fol. 81. 3 Excommunication Niddui was not less than for thirty days As it is said Until a month until the flesh come out of your nostrils Numb XI 20. But if the Excommunicated person appeased those that Excommunicated him within that time they absolve him forthwith VI. But if he persisted in his perversness the thirty days being ended they Excommunicate him again ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Adding also a curse And this second Excommunication they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Shammatha ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p p p p p p Bab. Moed Katon in the place before Whence is it that we Shammatize In that it is written Curse ye Meroz Judg. V. 23. Rabbenu Asher upon the place q q q q q q Fol. 34. 2. Barak Shammatized Meroz as it is written Curse ye Meroz which is both ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Excommunication and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cursing for in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is both Excommunication and Cursing VII They published his offence in the Synagogue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã r r r r r r Moed Katon in the place before We particularly publish his crime in the Synagogue The Gloss is They said to his fellow Citizens For this and this cause we Shammatize him VIII If he persist still for these thirty days in his perversness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They Anathematized him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They Excommunicate him and after thirty days they again Excommunicate Shammatize him and after sixty they Anathematize Rabbenu Asher s s s s s s In the place above saith They Anathematize saying Let him be under Anathema And this much more heavy than either Niddui or Shammatha For in this is both Excommunication and Cursing and the forbidding the use of any men unless in those things only which belong to the sustaining of life And they Anathematize not but when a man hath hardened himself against the Bench once and again IX They give the reason of these proceedings in Moed Katon t t t t t t In the place alledged in these words Whence is it that they send a messenger to him from the Court ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã From the house of judgment Because it is written And Moses sent to Dathan and Abiram Whence is it that they summon him to judgment Because it is written And Moses said to Korah Be thou and all thy company present Whence is it that they cite him before some great and eminent man Because it is written Before the Lord. Whence is it that it is before N. or such a man Because it is writien Thou and they and Aaron Whence is it
that they appoynt them a set time of Appearance Because it is written Be ye present to morrow Whence is it that it is from time to time Because it is written There they called Pharaoh King of Egypt but a noise he passed the time appoynted Jerm XLVI 17. Whence is it that they Shammatize Because it is written Curse ye Meroz Whence is it that they Anathematize Because it is written Curse ye Whence is it that he is cursed that eats and drinks with him and stands within four cubits of him Because it is written ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The inhabitants thereof as one would say Sedentes ejus or those that sit with her Judg. V. 23. Whence is it that they publish his crimes in the Synagogue Because it is written Because they came not to the help of the Lord. Whence is it that they confiscate his goods Because it is written whosoever comes not within three days according to the Councel of the Princes and Elders all his substance shall be forfeited Ezra X. 8. Whence is it that we contend with him and curse him and strike him and pull off his hair and abjure him Because it is written And I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled off their hair Nehem. XIII 25. Whence is it that we tye and bind him The Gloss is His hands and feet and to a pillar to be whipped Because it is written Either to death or banishment or confiscation of goods or imprisonment Ezr. VII 26. You see excommunication among the Jews drawn out by their own pensil from head to foot And now whether this themselves being Judges were delivering into the hands of Satan is matter of further enquiry and more obscure inquiry too Any such saying of Excommunication does not at all occur in terms and whether it occur in sense let the Reader judge from those things that are spoken of the condition of the person excommunicate I. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã u u u u u u Pisk ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Moed Katon cap. 3. This is the condition of a person excommunicate They eat not nor drink with him nor sit within four cubits of him his Wife and Children and Servants being excepted to whom it was permitted to sit by him When they give thanks at meat they joyn him not in the thanks nor admit him to any thing which wants the Ten men But any may talk with him and he hires workmen and he is hird himself for a workman II. As to those things which respect Religion First Persons excommunicate went to the Temple as well as others x x x x x x Middoth c. 2. hal 2. All that go into the Temple according to the custom go in the right hand way and go about and go out the left hand way except him to whom any thing happens who walked about to the left hand Being asked What is the matter with you that you go about to the left he answered Because I am excommunicate ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To whom the other replyed He that dwells in this house put it into thy heart to hearken to the words of thy companions Secondly y y y y y y Orach Chaijim in the place before It is a Tradition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He thatis excommunicate expounds the Traditions and they expound to him He that is Anathematized expounds not to others nor do thy expound to him but he expounds by himself that he forget not his learning And again z z z z z z Pisk ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the place above Art 51. It is permitted the Excommunicate person to deal in the Law But to the person Anathematized it is forbidden But he expounds by himself Thirdly he that turns over the Talmudical Authors shall very often observe that a person Excommunicate and he that mourns for the dead are subject to the same conditions in very many things yea the Mourner to worse conditions The a a a a a a Piske Harosh in the place above Art 51. Mourner and the Person Excommunicate are forbidden to have their hair cut The Mourner is bound to vail his head the Excommunicate not The Mourner on the first day is deprived of his Philacteries The Excommunicate not The Mourner is forbidden salutation To the Excommunicate it is permitted much more is it lawful to talk with him The Mourner is forbid to imploy himself in the Law To the Excommunicate it is permitted But the Person Anathematized may not converse in the Law but he expounds it to himself and he makes himself a little tent for his food The Mourner is bound to the rending of his garment the Excommunicate not The Mourner is forbid to do any work to the Excommunicate it is allowed The Mourner is forbid to wash himself to the Excommunicate it is allowed The Mourner putteth not on Sandals the Excommunicate puts them on The Mourner lies not with his wife the Excommunicate lies with his c. From what hath been said it seems that it may be concluded on one part that Excommunication among the Jews scarcely sounded the same with Delivering to Satan and there are some reasons also by which it seems it may be concluded in like manner that Delivering to Satan here in the Apostle doth not sound the same with Excommunication Be it granted that he that is Excommunicated and cast out of the Church is rejected also by God and is indeed delivered into the hands of Satan this is not that which is our task at present to consider but whether Paul by his let him be delivered to Satan or the Corinthians by that expression understood Excommunication We embrace the negative for these reasons I. Because no reason can be rendred why the Apostle rejecting the vulgar and most known word Excommunication should fly to another that was very unknown very obscure II. The act of this wicked wretch was above Excommunication And it was a small matter for such an impious man to be excommunicated He deserved death as we have observed two or three times over And it was more agreeable to that extraordinary wickedness that it should have some more extraordinary punishment inflicted on it then that very common one of Excomunication III. Why should the Apostle use such earnest council and exhortation to excite the Church to excommunicate one that so deserved Excommunication Was Excommunition a thing so difficult to be obtained among them What need was there of the presence of St. Pauls Spirit in a thing any Ministers of the Church were empowred to do What need was there of such solemn determination ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I have determined already in a thing concerning which every one would confess that he deserved Excommunication IV. To deliver to Satan was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For destruction of the flesh But what could Excommunication avail to that in a man sworn upon his lusts You will say
of the Covenant I need not instance hundreds of places do evidence it But what could any one see in the Ark that might speak Gods Covenant There was indeed the Mercy seat upon it and the two Cherubims at the several ends of it and the cloud oft between and this was all that any Israelite could see that looked upon it But this was not that that intitled it to that Title but the two Tables of the Law that were in it And so Moses himself doth make the exposition Exod. XXXIV 28. He wrote upon the Tables the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments Deut. IX 11. At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two Table of stone the Tables of the Covenant And to spare more instances you find the terms Covenant and Commands to be convertible or to mean one and the same thing Psal. CV 8. He hath remembred his Covenant the word which he Commanded And Psal. CXI 9. He Commanded his Covenant for ever He Commanded his Covenant a strange expression and a comfortless expression as one would think his Covenant to be nothing but a company of impossible Commands his Covenant to be nothing but a Law the Ministration of which the Apostle tells us was the Ministration of death II Cor. III. As he I thought he would have stroked his hand over the sore and prayed and he bids only Go wash in Jordan So one would think it should be said He hath promised tendred ingaged his Covenant and it comes off only with this He hath Commanded his Covenant And here we are come to the great question Under what notion the Moral Law stands in the Covenant of grace You know who they were that have held and I doubt too many hold it at this day that to Israel it was a Covenant of Works and thereupon infer that Christians are delivered from the obligation of the Moral Law because they are not under the Covenant of Works but the Covenant of Grace And accordingly they understand that distinction of the old Covenant and new mentioned so much by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews that the old Covenant means the Moral Law and the new Covenant the Gospel To these men let me first speak in the style of God to Abraham Gen. XV. 5. Look up to Heaven and count the Stars if thou canst number them So look up to Heaven and see the old Moon and the new and observe them Are they really two several Moons No but one and the same Moon under various shapes Or look on the Earth upon a person now Regenerated he was before an old Creature now he is a new II Cor. V. 17. What is he now a really distinct person from what he was before No but of a different condition only the same man but his condition and temper changed So the Covenant of Grace is the same like Christ the chief Tenor of the Covenant yesterday and to day and the same for ever the same from the first day that it was given to Adam to the last day of the World and till Time shall be no more The same under the Law the same under the Gospel but clothed in different garments in administrations of various fashions The Covenant of Grace to the Jew was Believe in Christ and be saved as it is to us as the Apostle clears in all his Epistles more particularly in Heb. XI But to them God added thus Because the Doctrine of Christ is not yet so clear use these Ceremonies which figure out the actings and Office of Christ the Priesthood his Mediating the Sacrifices his Death cleansing with Blood his purging of Sin and the like And because no other people is yet to be admitted to the Church and true Religion but themselves use these Ceremonies to distinguish you from all other people till time come that the Gentiles come to be admitted So that these Ceremonies were not the Covenant of Grace to them nor a Covenant of Works to them but only the manner and mode of the administration of the Covenant of Grace till the Gospel should come which when it came and Christ was come then the Doctrine of Christ was clear and all Nations were come in then were these Ceremonies laid aside and a clean different administration of the Covenant of Grace brought in and under these reasons are these different administrations called the old and new Covenant So that the Ceremonial part of the Law is called the old Covenant but the Moral doth not fall under that title nor vanish as the other did And secondly To these that we are speaking of let me propose this question Did God go backward in his Covenanting first to give a Covenant of Grace to Adam when he had broke his Covenant of Works and after to give a Covenant of Works to Israel and to lay by his Covenant of Grace The Sun in the sky stood still once and went backward once but the glorious Son of Righteousness that rose in the Covenant of Grace the first day of Adam never stood still never went back but is still keeping his course to save by Grace to save in the Covenant of Grace and not by Works If I go to Jonathans house again saith Jeremy I shall surely die and if God send man back to a Covenant of Works when Adam himself failed in his Covenant of Works man is but lost for ever And thirdly Let us read the Draught of the Covenant it self This Indenture made betwixt the great God and poor dust and ashes sinful and miserable witnesseth That God of his infinite Love and Grace and Mercy doth promise and demise and let to this poor creature Grace and Glory interest in himself and Heaven Provided always That man keep his Law and do those Commands that God lays upon him For God could not make a Covenant of Grace but it must include Commandments and a Law unless he would have conditioned thus with him Do what thou wilt live as thou wilt Eat Drink Revel be Epicure be Atheist and yet thou shalt enjoy me for ever thou shalt be blessed for ever We may tremble at such Language The Stool of wickedness could do no more And how cheap and vile a thing were God if to be enjoyed on such terms as these Man as he is a Creature must have a Law from his Creator or else God should resign his authority and let man be his own God Our obedience to God is founded in God himself If God be God serve him an argument so urgent that t is never to be dissolved And therefore that clause is set before the ten Commandments and set after divers Commands afterwards I am the Lord as an argument sufficient to challenge obedience There is nothing can dissolve the bond of mans obedience to his Creator unless God would cease to be God for if God be God serve him And therefore the Covenanting for Grace is so far from abating of a
Will so to do And that it is his Will so to do he hath given assurance in that he hath appointed a day wherein to judge the world in righteousness by the man that he hath ordained And of that appointment and ordaining he hath given assurance in that he raised him from the dead And so we are come to the second part of our task or the second thing that I named to be spoken viz. the assurance that God hath given of the Judgment to come and more particularly of that whereby he hath assured that Christ shall be Judge viz. in that he raised from dead The assurance God hath given of the Judgment to come we may distinguish into verbal and real Assurance that he hath given in his Word and in his Providential dispensation I need not to insist upon his verbal assurances of the certainness that he hath given of such a thing in Word for he that runs may read them Such as these Eccles. XI 9. XII ult II Cor. V. 10. and multitudes of passages to the same purpose So that the Apostle reckons Eternal Judgment for one of the fundamental Articles of our Christian Faith and that it is so clearly asserted that he finds he needs not to insist much upon the proving of it Heb. VI. 2. And as the verbal assurances that God hath given of this in Scripture are so very many so the real ones that he hath given in his dispensations are not few I shall but mention some and pitch only upon this mentioned in the Text Christs Resurrection I. Was not the Judgment of all the World by Water in the days of Noah a prognostication and assurance of the Judgment to come at the end of the World Certainly they must need conclude so that thinks that Peter speaks of the last Judgment in II Epistle III. 6 7. where he hath these words The World that then was being overflowed with water perished But the Heaven and Earth that now are are kept in store reserved unto fire II. Was not the Judgment and sad conflagration of Jerusalem and destruction of the Jewish Church and Nation an assurance of the Judgment to come when the expressions whereby it is described are such as you think they meant nothing else but that final Judgment As Christs coming coming in clouds in his glory in his Kingdom The day of the Lord the great and terrible day of the Lord The end of the World the end of all things The Sun darkned the Moon not giving light The Stars falling from Heaven and the powers of Heaven shaken The sign of the Son of man appearing in Heaven Heaven departing as a scroll rolled together and every mountain and hill removed out of its place c. You would think they meant nothing but the last and universal Judgment whereas their meaning indeed is Christs coming in Judgment and vengeance against the Jewish City and Nation but a fore signification also of the last Judgment III. I might speak of particular fearful judgments upon persons and places Are not they assurances of the Judgment to come I am sure the Apostle Peter raiseth them to such a signification in his second Epistle and second Chapter where when he had mentioned the Judgment of the Angels that fell of the Judgment of the old World by water and of Sodom by fire he makes this conclusion vers 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the ungodly to the day of Judgment to be punished IV. Are not the Tribunals and Judicatures that God hath set up on Earth assurances that he hath given of a final Judgment to come Upon which we may take up the stile of the Psalmist in Psal. XCIV 9. He that planted the car shall he not hear So he that hath erected Judicatures shall not he Judge V. Is not the Judicature that he hath set up in every mans soul an undoubted assurance of the Judgment coming Where the Conscience as one very well defines it is Praejudicum judicii A foretaste a Preface to the Judgment to come VI. And lastly The very prospering of the wicked in this World and the affliction of the righteous is an undoubted assurance that the day is coming when both the one and other is to be judged according to their works and receives a reward according to their works And with this very Argument Will. Tyrius in his bello sacro relates that he satisfied Amalrich King of Jerusalem when he desired him to give him some proof of this very point So that that very prosperity in this World that deââives Atheistical men to think there shall be no Judgment is continually a growing argument that there shall Upon all these things I might have spoken very largely but I hasten to that assurance that is in the Text viz. The Resurrection of Christ may give assurance to all the World of his coming to Judgment It is worth your observing these two things about the Jews asking a sign from our Saviour 1. That he ever denies to give them a sign Matth. XII 39. He wrought signs and wonders among them above number but he would never work that that should be a mere sign His healing diseases c. were not mere signs but were benefits by miracle wrought for the People as the Plagues on Egypt were not mere signs but punishments wrought by miracle 2. That he still when they asked a sign referred them to his Resurrection Joh. II. when he whips the buyers and sellers out of the Temple and they ask him what sign shewest thou seeing thou doest these things He refers them thither vers 19. Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up speaking of the Temple of my body So Matth. XII 39. when the Scribes and Pharisees are at it Master we would see a sign from thee he still refers to his Resurrection No sign shall be given but the sign of the Prophet Jonas As Jonah was three days and three night buried in the Whales belly but rose again and was cast alive on shore so shall the Son of man be buried and rise again And why thus refer them still to his Resurrection Because that was the great sign and demonstration that he was the Missias the Son of God Rom. I. 4. Declared to be the Son of God with power by his Resurrection from the dead And Observe that allegation of the Apostle Act. XIII 33. God hath raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Was this Resurrection day the day of the Lords begetting him was that the first day that he was the Son of God It was the day that he was first declared in full power and that it was manifest that he was the Son of God It was the day of his Victory and putting on his Kindom the day of his Trophea and Triumph and the sign that he was the Son of
True indeed the Adults that were baptized confessed their sins but this restrains not baptism to them alone because there are several ends of it applicable to those that know not especially that in the next particular As to the second That Baptism belongs to none but such as are in the Covenant and that it is a seal of our righteousness This phrase is fetched from IV. Rom. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the Faith Which place is expounded to mean a seal of the persons righteousness that receives it But to examine this place 1. It is said to be a sign now a sign is to help unbelief and to confirm doctrine Exod. IV. Moses miracles there mentioned were to be signs to make the Israelites believe his message 1 Cor. XIV 22. Tongues are for a sign not to them that believe but to them that believe not And to that purpose is that of our Saviour Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe 2. The Doctrines there delivered are well worth such a Confirmation namely first That a sinner upon his believing in Christ becomes righteous this is the greatest truth Secondly That he becomes righteous by another this was a wonder to the Jews Thirdly That it is by a better righteousness than Adams Fourthly That it is by a righteousness infinite viz. A righteousness that outvies condemning righteousness and that very same righteousness that God gives to Christ. So that the meaning of those words the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the Faith is that it was a Seal to confirm that great Doctrine So Sacraments are to Seal the truth of God He hath put to his Seal in the Sacrament as a Seal to a Dead confirms the truth of it So that Circumcision is a Seal of the same truth to Esau Judas c. else it loses its nature which is to confirm Gods truth And so the Sacraments are Seals of Gods truth Baptism seals that truth that washing by the blood of Christ cleanseth us from our sins So that though children know not what baptism means yet it hath this nature III. They were all baptized unto Moses i. e. unto his discipline They were circumcised unto God viz. unto true religion Now they are baptized into Moses that is into his Way Baptism is to enter us into the true profession Matth. XXVIII 19. Baptizing them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost that is into the profession of the true God So in the Name of Jesus that is into his belief and religion Hence also Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a distinctive body that marks us out for Christians And therefore we are said to be all baptized into one body 1 Cor. XII 13. So the children of Israel were circumoised though they were born Israelites that they might be marked for Gods people As to the fourth observable in the Text baptized in the Cloud and in the Sea I cannot now insist on that The Conclusion is that we retain this Sacrament without doubting It carries its warrant in its institution and in its own nature I will leave two directions with you I. Rest not in a negative Religion only II. Let the practise of the Church have authority with you A SERMON PREACHED AT S. MARIES Cambridge Febr. 24. 1655 6. LUKE XI 2. When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven THE words are our Saviours And they are a sweet condescention to a pious request in the verse before where Christ praying publickly as it seems among his Disciples one affected with it prays Lord teach us to pray Where was this Disciple at the Sermon in the Mount Matth. VI. 9. where Christ had taught them to pray Was he absent or had he forgot Or did he not rightly understand However it was Christ yields to his request and gives the same directions again here as he had done there There it is After this manner pray ye Here When ye pray say In the Text are two things contained The one is Christs giving a Platform of prayer When ye pray say The other is The form given Our Father which art in Heaven c. The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã When leaves us not at liberty but commands us and is of the same import with another saying of our Saviour when he instituted his holy Supper As oft as ye do this do it in remembrance of me Out of the former I Observe two things I. That we had need to pray II. That we had need to be taught to pray Two truths confirmed by three witnesses John this Disciple and Christ. Ask John why he taught his Disciples to pray he will answer these two things viz. because they had need to pray and because they had need to be taught to pray Ask the Disciple why he asked Christ to teach him to pray he will answer so Ask Christ why he taught his Disciples to pray he will answer so also As there are many Comments on these subjects so there is as copious handling them So that I shall not handle them at large but speak to them in a few illustrations and so pass to insist rather on the second viz. The Form it self I. That we had need to pray And that first because of our Duty Secondly Because of our Wants In regard of what we owe to God and in regard of what we expect from him These both draw and drive us Accordingly the Lords Prayer consists of two general parts first we pray in adoration to his Name Kingdom Will in the three first petitions and then for our wants in the last I shall not now speak how Prayer is Adoration of God nor how it is commanded by Scripture on that account I shall only at present shew First That it is a duty and that we had need pray because of our Duty And for â that purpose observe 1. It is a Duty written in nature That in Gen. IV. ult Then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord however understood shews it from the beginning Hence the Heathen prayed though they mistook in the manner of praying Matth. VI. 7. 2. It is a Duty for every man and woman in the World to perform All flesh come to thee LXV Psal. 2. And Psal. CL. ult Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. T is a Duty due upon our creature-ship It is the Duty of the holiest men Psal. XXXII 6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee And of the wickedest also even Magus was to pray to God Act. VIII 22. It is so a Duty for the holiest that it lay upon Adam in innocency It lay upon Christ in the Flesh he prayed both because of his Duty and because of his wants V. Heb. 7. Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
cruelty and horridness that Rome Heathen could never shew its parallel And the old Roman valour though cruel enough yet would have been ashamed to have been so murtherous in so base and undermining a manner And now sursum corda lift up your hearts unto the Lord. It is very meet and right and our bounden duty so to do upon consideration of our deliverance and upon consideration from whom and what we were delivered Let us fall into the hands of the Lord saith David and not into the hands of men Where had we been had we fallen into the hands of these men Blessed ever blessed be our God that he did take us into his own hand and protection or else poor England had dwelt in silence Imagine in your thoughte that you saw that which your hearts abhor to imagine the cursed Plot to have taken place and effect as Abraham from the hills of Hebron saw the smoak of Sodom and Gomorrha ascend up to Heaven like the smoak of a furnace Imagine that you had seen King Parliament Religion England going up in fire and smoak and destroyed and come to nothing can our hearts but quake and tremble at the only imagination of such a sight Oh! what great things hath God done for us that we neither saw it nor heard of it yea the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we rejoyce They shew how sensible they are from what and from whom they are delivered that sing so triumphantly and praise God so heartily upon the Fall of Babylon Revel XIX the beginning and they intimate what a vexation a curse a plague that was to the World while it stood when they so were ravished with joy when it is taken away After these things saith the Apocalyptick I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven saying Alleluia salvation and honour and glory and power unto the Lord our God For he hath judged the great whore that corrupted the earth c. And again they said Alleluia vers 3. And again Amen Alleluja vers 4. They never think they can say enough for such a deliverance of them from so mischievous a vexer and enemy The word Hallelujah is frequently in Davids Psalms rendred Praise ye the Lord. Ye first meet with it at the latter end of Psalm CIV where the Jews note upon it is not impertinent viz. That Hallelujah comes not till there be tidings of the ruin and destruction of ungodly men and such you have in the last verse of that Psalm Let the sinners be consumed out of the Earth and let the wicked be no more Bless thou the Lord O my soul. Hallelujah Ye have the like in that place of Revelations the wicked destroyed Babylon Babylon no more but ruined fired and her smoke goeth up for ever and ever and then are the mouths of all the Church of God filled with Hallelujahs praising of the Lord for so great deliverance When Babylon shall be destroyed I shall not go about to prophesie too many have lost themselves in that boldness and curiosity but when the Plots of Babylon have destroyed especially such an one as this was which would have destroyed us all when such brats of Babylon are dashed against the stones we know not what Babylon is nor what our own interest is if our mouths be not filled with Hallelujahs and our hearts with the praises of the Lord. Where had England been by this time if the Plot designed had taken effect We had been by this time like the Syrians blindfold in the midst of Samaria our eyes blinded with the smoak of the bottomless pit that we should never have seen the light of that Truth and Gospel that we now behold Blindness and ignorance and superstition had been entailed upon us to all generations Except the Lord had been on our side now may Israel say except the Lord had been on our side when men rose up against us they had swallowed us up quick when they were so wrathfully displeased with us This is a day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it A SERMON PREACHED AT ELY Novemb. V. MDCLXX REVEL XX. 7 8. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battel whose number is as the sand of the Sea A Very sad story and heavy news Satan loose Gog and Magog in arms Nations deceived and a numberless army mustered and going forth to battel against the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City as it is related in the verse following It is no wonder if there go before such a rout as this such a Proclamation as you have Chap. XII 12. Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come out among you having great wrath I and having a great army too And as Balaam complains Alas who shall live when the Lord doth this Numb XXIV So may we Alas who shall live when the Devil doth this and the Lord suffer him You cannot blame Elishas servant when he saw the City where he was beset round about with Syrians if he cried out Alas Master what shall we do If the matter of the Text have any relation to our times we have much reason to make such a crying out Alas Men and Brethren what shall we do And whether the things concern our times we shall search as we go along You see in the Text the Monster Goliath and his uncircumcised Philistins marching against the poor Israel of God and if God be not with them what will become of them Now blessed be the Lord God of Israel for that he hath set such a memorial upon this day as he hath done and written as it were upon it Emanuel God with us For if the Lord had not been on our side now may England say if the Lord had not been on our side when these enemies rose up against us they had swallowed us up quick when they were so enraged against us For that those that then contrived our Destruction were of Satans army I believe none but they themselves will be so senseless as to deny and that they were of Gog and Magogs regiments the design it self and the truth it self makes undeniable That may seem something in consistence with the Text which the Apostle speaks Eph. VI. 12. We have not to fight against flesh and blood but against the Rulers of the darkness of this world But the Text tells that we have to fight against them and against flesh and blood too against Satan and against Gog and Magogs army also But the Apostle understands the word only which if spoken out makes the sense clear and reconciles him and our Apocalyptick very well and very easily together We have not to fight against flesh and blood only but against principalities c. And such
not what spirit you are of His meaning was that they understood not what spirit the Disciples of Christ should be of not so fiery but meek charitable and forgiving Did these men think you ever consult Christ and his oracle when they went about to fire Parliament and State and Kingdom Would Christ think you ever have given such counsel and would he have owned such a spirit for the spirit of a true Chistian Certainly they are gone astray from his right way that breath nothing but fire and sword and blood and slaughter I have heard it more then once and again from the Sheriffs that took all the Powder Traitors and brought them up to London that every night when they came to their lodging by the way they had their musick and dancing a good part of the night One would think it strange that men in their case should be so merry And was it think you because God had prevented their shedding so much innocent blood as Divid once rejoyced for such a prevention by the Counsel of Abigail No it was because they were to suffer for such an undertaking accounting they should dye as Martyrs in such a cause Let them dance and make themselves merry with such a fancy I am sure we have cause to rejoyce and to leap for joy because their design was prevented For where had England been had their design taken effect It may make us even to tremble to think where England had been had their design taken effect Blessed be the God of our mercies that hath given us cause only to think of it and that we did not feel it that only shewed us the pit and did not shut us up in it The great Memorandum to Israel was I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of Egypt out of the house of bondage To England it may be I am the Lord thy God which kept thee out of Egypt and from the house of spiritual bondage And our keeping from falling into that servitude was little less if not as much as their delivery out of it A SERMON PREACHED AT ELY Novemb. V. MDCLXXIII 2 TIM III. 8. As Iannes and Iambres withstood Moses so do these also resist the truth IF any one be of that curiosity as to desire to see the picture of incarnate Devils let him look here for the Apostle is charactering such from the beginning of the Chapter hitherto A generation of men as black as Hell and of that linage and kinred An ungodly breed of worthies that like the Devil himself sinned as deeply as they could against God as irrecoverably as they could against themselves and as destructively as they could to others That whereas the Lycaonians said concerning Paul and Barnabas The Gods were come down to them in the likeness of men Paul and Barnabas might very well say concerning these That fiends were come up among men in the same likeness of men From such turn away is the Apostles counsel at the fifth verse of this Chapter which words compare but with those words of another Apostle Resist the Devil and he will flee from you and guess what kind of creatures these were A man may make the Devil flee from him but there is no putting of these to flight but you must flee from them Impudent untractable ones that will by no means be moulded to Religion Reason or Humanity that will never be convinced answered satisfied that there is no way to deal with them but not to deal with them no way to deal with them but to flee from them Their manners the Apostle begins to describe as vers 2. That they were lovers of themselves lovers of money proud boasters blasphâmers desobedient c. so he goes on to the 5th verse There he describes their Religion That they had a form of godliness as a Devil in shape of an Angel of light but that they denied the power of it resisted the truth of it and that not in an ordinary manner and degree but as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses So that in the words you have mention of a cursed Copy and a cursed Company that wrote after it The Copy Jannes and Jambres withstanding Moses and the cursed Company that wrote after it those also resist the truth The former obscure who they were and the latter obscurer I. Of Jannes and Jambres you have no more mention by name in all the Scripture For Moses himself nameth no such men though the Apostle say They were the men that did resist him And the Apostle gives no other signification of them but only that they resisted Moses Who then were they and whence had the Apostle their names From the common received opinion and agreement of the Jewish Nation that currently asserted that the Magicians of Egypt was called by these names So their own Authors tell us in their Babylonian Talmud in the Treatise Menacoth Aruncha Talmudical Lexicon in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And the Chaldee Paraph. of Jonathan upon Exod. I. to omit more So that the Apostle takes up these two names neither by revelation as certainly asserting that the Sorcerers of Egypt were of these names but as he found the names commonly received by the Jewish Nation so he useth them Such a passage is that of the Apostle Jude about Michael contending with the Devil about the body of Moses which he neither speaketh by inspiration nor by way of certain assertion but only citing a common opinion and conceit of the Nation he takes an argument from their own Authors and concessions The observation of such a thing as this is useful upon general places of the New Testament which is more worth discoursing upon ââ it suited with the time and pâace Thus have we intâlligencâ who Jannes and Jambres werâ the Sorcerers or Magicians of Egypt that withstood Moseâ helped to haââen Pharââh âeceived the people with lying wonders affronted the real miracles of God and opposed the deliverance of Israel Wretches that one would think they should never find their matches and yet the Apostle hath found mates for them For where was there ever copy of villany set but some or other was found that hath written after it Even the crucifying of the Lord of glory when it cannot be done literally because he is not here again to be crucified yet there are but too many that in our sense crucifie the Lord of âlâry Heb. VI. 6. And if he had been again upon Earth do you not think he would have been crucified again before this II. Who these are whom the Apostle compares with Jannes and Jambres is harder to find than to find who Jannes and Jambres were For the mark whereby the Apostle would discover them seems rather to cloud than to clear their discovery viz. the circumstance of the time wherein they lived which he calls the last days vers 1. This know that in the last days shall perilous times come So 2 Pet. III. 3. In the last days
all to pieces and the noblest Creature to whom God put all other Creatures in subjection was himself become like the beasts that perish the beasts that were put in subjection to him and when Satan the enemy of God as well as man had thus broke all to pieces the chief work-manship of God here the world was mar'd as soon as made And as God in six days made Heaven and Earth and all things therein so before the sixth day went out Satan had mar'd and destroyed him for whom all these things were created God therefore coming in with the promise of Christ who should destroy Satan that had destroyed all and having now created a new world of grace and brought in a second Adam the root of all were to be saved and having restored Adam that not only from his lost condition but into a better condition than he was in before as having ingrafted him and all believers into Christ a surer foundation than natural perfection which he had by Creation but had now lost then he rested as having wrought a greater work than the Creation of nature But then you will say that the first Sabbath was of Evangelical institution not of moral that then the law for keeping of it was not written in Adams heart but was of Evangelical revelation I may answer truly that it was both For though Adam had not sinned yet must he have kept the Sabbath And to this purpose it is observable that the institution of the Sabbath is mentioned Gen. II. before the fall of Adam is mentioned Gen. III. partly because the Holy Ghost would mention all the seven days of the first week together and partly to intimate to us that even in innocency there must have been a Sabbath kept a Sabbath kept if Adam had continued in innocency and in that regard the Law of it to him was Moral and written in his heart as all the Laws of piety towards God were It is said Gen. II. 15. The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress and keep it Now if Adam had continued in innocency do you think he must have been at work dressing and keeping the Garden on the Sabbath day as on the other six He had Gods own copy so laid before him of working six days and resting the seventh that he could not but see that it was laid before him for his Example But you will say All the Moral Law was written in Adams heart as soon as he was created now the Law to keep the Sabbath could not be because the Sabbath was not yet created nor come And by then the Sabbath came the Law in his heart was blurred by sin and his fall I answer The Law writ in Adams heart was not particularly every Command of the two Tables written as they were in two Tables line by line but this Law in general of piety and love toward God and of justice and love towards our neighbour And in these lay couched a Law to all particulars that concerned either to branch forth as occasion for the practice of them should arise As in our natural corruption brought in by sin there is couched every sin whatsoever too ready to bud forth when occasion is offered So in the Law in his heart of piety towards God was comprehended the practice of every thing that concerned love and piety towards God as occasion for the practice was offered Under this Law was couched a tie and Law to obey God in every thing he should command And so though the command Eat not of the forbidden fruit was a Positive and not a Moral Command yet was Adam bound to the obedience of it by virtue of the Moral Law written in his heart which tyed him to love God and to obey him in every thing he should command And so the Sabbath when it came although you look upon it as a positive command in its institution yet was it writ also in Adams heart to obey God in that Command especially when God had set him such a Copy by his own resting II. A second thing observable in that first Sabbath and which was transmitted to posterity as a Law to keep is that now it had several ends As in man there is something of the perfection of every Creature a Spirit as Angels Life as Beasts Growth as Trees a Body as Stones so the Sabbath hath something of the excellency and of the end of every Law that was or could be given There are four sorts of Laws which God hath given to men Moral Commentorative Evangelical and Typical Moral Laws are given in the Ten Commandments Commemorative Laws as the Law of the Passover to commemorate the delivery out of Egypt Pentecost to commemorate the giving of the Law Typical as Sacrifices Priesthood Purifications sprinkling of blood to signifie good things to come as the Apostle speaks and to have their accomplishing in Christ Evangelical such as repentance self-denial believing c. Now the Sabbath is partaker of all these Ends together and hath the several excellencies of all these ends included in its self And so had that first Sabbath appointed to Adam First The Moral end is to rest from labours So in this fourth Commandment six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work c. So Jer. XVII 21. Thus saith the Lord Take heed to your selves to bear no burthen on the Sabbath day nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem Neither bring forth a burthen out of your houses neither do you any work but hallow the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers Oh! then I celebrate the Sabbath saith the Sabbath-breaker for I do no work but play and recreate and drink and sit still and do no work at all Friend dost thou think God ever established idleness and folly by a Law That he hallowed the Sabbath day to be a playing fooling sporting day But Christian how readest thou as a Christian The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God not a Sabbath for thy lust and laziness And in it thou shalt do no manner of work of thine own but the work of the Lord thy God And the rest that he hath commanded is not for idleness but for piety towards God for which end he gave all the Laws of the first Table viz. to leave communion with the world and worldly things that day and to have it with God as in Esai LVIII 13 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy will on my holy days and call the Sabbath a delight As Moses to betake our selves to the mount of God and there to have communion with him To get into the Mount above the world and there to meet God and converse with him To be in the Spirit on the Lords day and not to recreate the Body but the Soul