Synagogues for there the clean and the unclean might meet together every Sabbath or seventh Day as I have observed in Chap. 4. but in case they had been defiled by any accident whatsoever at Sun-set they could not have eaten of their festival Sabbath-supper for all Israel were admonished to be clean at every solemn Feast saith Maymony Obj. 11. Why doth John call the first day of the Feast of unleavened Bread a high Sabbath Joh. 19. 31. Ans All the seven solemn Festival Sabbaths in Levit. 23. 7. are called High Feasts by the Geneva in Eze. 45. 17. But secondly this first day of the Feast of unleavened Bread was the very first of all those seven Sabbaths it was the day in which the Lord brought them out of Aegypt with a high hand and therefore the Lord did in a special manner charge them to remember this day for ever Exod. 13. 3. this Day and the weekly Sabbath have the word remember prefixed before them more than any other Sabbaths and in this regard the Hebrew Doctors in Deuteroproton and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do call Pascha day a great Sabbath but they do not give this high title to the proper Passeover day for that was no Sabbath it was but half Holy-day and therefore Moses doth not reckon it into the number of the Festival Sabbaths in Gen. 23. but they mean it of the first day of the Feast of unleavened Bread this day they called a great Sabbath and Pascha Day because in it they did festivally eat the remainder of their Peace-offerings which they had offered with the Lamb-Passeover on the fourteenth day But though they held this day to be a great Festival Sabbath and shewed great reverence to it now in their request to Pilate because it was their preparation time to their Festival Supper yet in the morning they held it lawful to judge Causes of Life and Death as we may see they did in our Saviours case and after Sun-set they held it lawful not only to bury but also to imbalm the Dead as the godly persons did to our Saviour See Ains in Lev. 23. 56. but they did not hold any of this work lawful to be done on their weekly Sabbath Luk. 23. 56. Obj. 12. Why doth John use the term Sabbath twice over in John 19. 31. doth he speak but of one kinde or of two sorts of Sabbaths Ans John speaks but of one high Festival Sabbath only now it was their immediate preparation to their high Festival Sabbath-Supper and therefore having satisfied their malice on Christ they besought Pilate that their leggs might be broken and that they might be taken down for that Sabbath was a high Sabbath I grant also that the weekly Sabbath was now begun according to the date of the person purified but not the seventh Day it self for this high Festival Sabbath was now in its full force and in its solemn Feast Secondly The time of Christs Burial is noted by Luke to bee The time of Christs burial was at Star-light when the said Festival Sabbath did begin to lighten Luk. 23. 54 so doth Mr. Broughton and Mr. Weames read it and so doth the Syriac read it in this phrase the Evangelist Luke doth plainly Thalmudize his words run thus That day was the preparation and the Sabbath began to lighten two things are observable 1. Luke saith this day was the preparation namely to their festival Supper 2. He describes the exact time when Christ was inclosed in the heart of the earth it was when this High Sabbath began to lighten namely in the first place with the Evening Star and that was a perspicuous mark of the near time of their Festival Supper but they did not begin their Festival Supper till three Stars appeared as I have noted in chap. 4. and Luke doth relate to this custom of theirs in shewing that the time of Christs Burial was when the Sabbath began to lighten but I beleeve the chief Priests did deferre the time of their feasting now somewhat longer than at other times because they had some businesse to do with Pilate before they could intend their Festival Supper for they went to Pilate to intreat him that the Sepulchre might be made sure until the third day because this Deceiver said that he would rise again the third day Mat. 27. 62 63. This request of their 's no doubt did occasion their delay to begin their High Sabbath Supper till more than three Stars appeared in the Skie this night Obj. 12. You say the Priests went to Pilate to intreat him to make sure the Sepulchre before they kept their Festival Supper but it is out of doubt I think that they did not go to Pilate till the next morning for Matthew calls the time of their going to Pilate the next day that followed their preparation Mat. 27. 62. Ans Ignorance of the Iewish Customs makes many misconstructions the next day began at Sun-set as I have sufficiently explained the matter in Chap. 4. Sect. 2. and this day followed their Preparation to their Festival Supper for their preparation in the after-noon was either by washing away of some light defilements or else it was their preparation of holy flesh by offering sacrifices c. But Matthews meaning lyes fair and round thus The next day after their preparation which began at the Sun-set evening they assembled unto Pilate to make the fore-said request Hence note that they did not go to Pilate to make this request till the next day namely not till after Sun-set and then also they had commission to make him sure by appointing such a Watch and all this they did after it was Star-light Their Satanical policy would not suffer them to stay so long as until the next morning for then Pilate would have said to them Why did you neglect to set a Watch about his Sepulcre over night as soon as he was buried for if his Disciples had had any minde to steale him away they would have done it in the first part of the night and doubtlesse when the Souldiers came to the chief Priests to tell them what had happened the chief Priests would have said that his Disciples stole him away before they began their watch but the chief Priests could not plead that excuse because they went presently to the sepulchre and made it sure sealing the stone and setting a watch Matth. 27. 66. Hence it follows that they went to Pilate in the beginning of their next Ceremonial day namely presently after Sun-set before they began their Festival Supper 2 Pilates answer to their request implies that they came over-night for Pilate saith You have a Watch go make it sure as you know Hence it follows that they came to Pilate when Watches were wont to be set but if they had not come to him til the next morning then in reason he would have said Get Warders and make it sure Hence it follows that the next day in which
Holy Time OR The True Limits of the Lords Day I. Proving That the Lords Day doth begin with the Natural Morning and that the Morning of the Natural day doth begin at Mid-night and so consequently that the Lords Day must both begin with the Natural Morning at Mid-night and end with the Natural Evening at Mid-night II. Proving That the Jews beginning of the Day at the Sun-set Evening was only in relation to the date of the Person purified from his Levitical uncleanness III. That The Jews themselves did hold That the Natural day did continue after Sun-set till Mid-night Maymony saith Grateful is a Command that is done in the hour of the same so say I grateful is the sanctifying of the Lords Day in the hour of the same In his Treatise of Offering Sacrifice Chap. 4. Sect. 1. Part II. By WILLIAM PYNCHON Esq Published by Authority Printed at London by R. I. and are to be sold by T. N. at the Sign of the three Lions in Cornhil near the Royal Exchange 1654. Grace and Peace to such as desire to know when the Lords Day doth begin and end To the end they might abstain from their own Worldly imployments in the Lords own Sanctified time THis point is the more difficult to be explaned because I have not met with any beaten road from other Interpreters But I have laboured to make it evident 1 That the Sanctified and separated time of the Lords Day is just according to the Natural day 2 I have laboured to make it evident That the Natural day begins with the Morning 3 That the Natural morning begins at Mid-night 4 That the Natural day and so consequently the Lords Day doth begin with the Natural morning and doth end with the Natural evening at Mid-night And for the want of the knowledge of these things I perceive that many godly persons do the works of their ordinary Callings in some part of the Lords sanctified and separated day as those do that begin and end the Lords Day at the Sun-set Evening and for their better information I forced my self to compose this Treatise I finde that the chief ground of their error doâ—h arise First from a mistaken interpretation of the first Darknesse to be a full Night of twelve hours and Secondly from a mistaken interpretation of the word Evening because they apprehend it to bee nothing else but a full Night These and sundry such like mistakes I conceive I have cleared I presum'd therefore that this insuing Treatise will be heartily welcome to every tender Conscience that doth truly desire to give unto the Lord his own separated and sanctified time Many godly Christians to my knowledge have been much exercised in their Studies and Meditations to finde out the true limits of the Lords Day that so they might abstain from the works of their particular Calling in every part of that sanctified and separated time from the beginning of the day to the full end thereof For their sakes also and at the special request of some of them I have laboured in this Treatise to prove That all the time of the first Darknesse was comprehended in the word Morning at last and that it took its beginning from the Mid-night at last namely as soon as all the several parts of the Natural day were shaped and set into their order And therefore the beginning of the Morning from the time of Mid-night must not be ascribed to the Romans as the first Authors of it as many unadvisedly do nor yet to any other Nation but it is the most ancient Scripture-Computation from the very first created day and so consequently it must needs be the true beginning of the Jews Sabbath This Tenent may happily seem strange at the first to such as have long held both in their judgement and practise That the Jews Sabbath and so consequently the Lords Day did properly begin at the Sun-set evening and of this judgement and practice are most of the Churches in New England and in that respect many Professors among them do without scruple take liberty in the Sun-set Evening of the Lords Day to do the servile works of their particular Callings and others take liberty to use Recreations But it is worthy to be taken notice of that whole Churches do many times erre both in their judgement and practice or else how could so much Corruption Superstition Idolatry and Prophanenesse creep in to several reformed Churches as there hath done from time to time in sundry ages Being therefore intreated by some godly persons in New England and being also moved thereunto by the fear of God I have taken this difficult Task in hand lest to confute this corrupt judgement and practice it should spread like Leaven to the corrupting of Posterity and so I rest Thine in the Lord WILLIAM PYNCHON The chief Heads of this Treatise OF HOLY TIME CHAP. I. PRoving that the first Darknesse in Gen. 1. 2. was not a compleat Night By three Reasons Page 1 The true Definition of a compleat Night It is the absence of the Suns shining for the space of twelve Hours p. 3 CHAP. II. Proving that Moses by the term Evening in Gen. 1. 5. doth not mean the whole Night but the latter half of the Artificial Day and the first half of the Night p. 6 This Chapter is distributed into four Sections and six Objections are answered SECT 1. The Hebrew word Gnereb translated the Evening in Gen. 1. 5. is explaned in p. 9 1 The first Darknesse cannot be called the Evening in a proper sense p. 10 2 Neither can the whole night be called Gnereb the Evening in a proper sense p. 10 3 Neither can the Twilight be called Gnereb the Evening in a proper sense p. 10. And therefore it is a great mistake in our larger Annotation in Mat. 26. 20. to say that Harab properly signifieth mixed namely the mixture of Light and Darknesse in the Twilight and in that sense mis-applying Deut. 16. 6. which is meant of the time of sacrifising the Passeover and not of the time of feasting Our Ancestors held Gnereb the Evening to be at all times of the yeer an even and equal part of time to Boker the Morning p. 16 Gnereb the Evening is often put by the figure Synecdoche for the later half of the Evening which doth alwayes begin at Sun-set and end at Mid-night p. 16 Gnereb is often put by the figure Metanomia for the West because the later Evening begins at Sun-set which when it is in the Equinoctial doth alwayes set in the West p. 17 Gnereb the Evening is often put by the figure Metanomy for the last dayes and also for the last end of a thing because it is the last half of the natural day p. 17 SECT 2. Gnereb signifies such a connexion of several species as doth ever preserve the said several species distinct and intire without any confused mixture and so Gnarbaiim in the Dual number doth explain it and therefore
form untill the light was first shaped and formed into an artificial day by its orderly shining upon the face of the earth for twelve hours together and then he called it day as the proper name of its perfect shape and form Hence we may cleerly perceive That Moses in Gen. 1. 5. doth name all the parts of the first natural day in their true priority of order as they were shaped and formed 1 Day 2 Night 3 Evening 4 Morning And secondly hence it follows that the first formed part of the naturall day was the artificiall day and not the night CHAP. II. Proving that Moses by the terme Evening in Gen. 1. 5. doth not me an the whole night But the latter halfe of the artificial day and the first halfe of the night LEarned Mr. Richardson saith That these two words Evening and Morning do set our Divines to School to finde out what is meant by them in the first Creation Most Interpreters say that the two Hebrew words Gnereb and Boker which we translate Evening and Morning in Gen. 1. 5. doe mean nothing else but night and day But I must crave leave to differ from them in judgement for these two Reasons Reason I. If Moses had called the first darknesse Evening and the artificiall day Morning Then in reason he would have placed the said termes in the same methodicall order in the end of the verse as he had done in the beginning of the said verse but he doth place them in a contrary order for in the beginning of the verse he names the Day before the Night but in the end of the verse he names the Evening before the Morning and what else doth this argue but that he did thereby intend that Gods people should take notice that the Evening and the morning were a differing division of the natural day from the division of Day and Night Reason II. If Moses had intended to call the first darknesse Evening as synonimous to the terme Night then doubtlesse some Scripture or other would have shewed them to be synonima seeing the said termes are so often repeated in the Bible But though I have made diligent search yet I cannot finde where the term Morning is made synonimous to the ful artificial day nor where the term Evening is made synonimous to the whole night in a proper sense Therefore seeing they are no where synonima it is altogether unlike that Moses doth make them synonima in Gen. 1. 5. and no where else Object Why might not the first Darknesse be a full Evening and so a full night of twelve houres though it wanted a Twilight in the beginning of it might not God dispense with the Twilight in the first night Ans Why do you go about to make the most wise Creator and Governour of all things to be an imperfect Artist in his first pattern for if you make the first Night to want a Twilight in the beginning of it do you not thereby make him an imperfect Artist in his first pattern to the other creation dayes for it is manifest that the shape and form of the first creation day was a true pattern by which the rest were shaped and formed for as the text expresseth it in verse 5. so was the Morning and so was the Evening the first day so in like sort it is said of the second day in verse 8. and so it is said of the third day in verse 13. and so it is said of the fourth day in verse 19. and so it is said of the fifth and sixth days all these dayes were shaped and formed just according to the pattern of the first day The addition of the Sun in the fourth day made no new part of Light more then the first day had as I have noted it already and therefore the manner how the Light did break out of Darknesse on the first day was in the same manner and order as we see the Sun doth in the Equinoctial 1 The Light ascended out of darknesse by degrees as the Sun doth now Gen. 32. 24. By means whereof it did first make a Twilight in the morning so the Hebrew phrase calleth it in Psal 119. 147. 2 Then after a while it began to shine upon the face of the earth Gen. 19. 23. 3 Then it ascended higher till it came to its height at mid-day as Es 16. 3. Act. 22. 6. Act. 26. 13. 4 Then it ceased to ascend and made a little stand for about halfe an hour 5 Then it began to decline or go down by degrees till it went out of the Horizon 6 Then it made a Twilight called the Twilight of the Evening Prov. 7. 9. 7 Then succeeded twelve hours darknesse the first half whereof made up the first darknesse a full night 8 Then the last halfe of the said twelve hours darknesse went on towards the beginning of the second day In this admirable order did the God of nature set together all the parts of the first naturall day But I have again set it out more fully in Section 4. Object 2. Some learned men say That Moses by the terme Evening and Morning in Gen. 1. 5. meant Night and Day no otherwise but by the figure Synecdoche onely They say that the Night is called Evening no otherwise but because it is begun of the Evening and that the artificial day is called Morning no otherwise but because it is begun of the Morning and so by this Exposition they make no other part of time to be called Evening but a little point of time onely at the beginning of the night all the rest of the night is called Evening say they but by the figure Synecdoche only In like manner they make no other part of the artificial Day to be called Morning but a little point of time in the beginning of the artificial day onely and this Exposition they borrow from Tremelius Annotation on Gen. 1. 5. or rather from Junius for it is easie to make it appear that Tremelius was of another judgement Ans A man had need of more patience then ordinary that shall spend his time to answer such fantastical conceits as this But in brief I think I have fully confounded this Objection 1 By proving that Moses in Gen. 1. 5. divided the first natural day into two equall parts two several wayes as I have exemplified it by the lines of longitude and latitude on a Compasse Diall in Sect. 4. and see also the gradations to the morning in Chap. 3. Sect. 2. at Sixthly 2 I answer by proving that Gnereb the Evening is a connexion of the latter halfe of the artificial day to the first halfe of the Night and so making it to be an equall part of time to Boker the Morning But the best way to answer this and many other Objections is to lay downe the true interpretation of Gnereb the Evening in the various use of it in the Scripture I am not ignorant that Gnereb is usually interpreted to
of being rooted out or cut off thus the Iews protest against our slander See Bro. in his Advertisement of corruptions in Religion p. 104. Fifthly This our grosse mistake of the Iews practise doth arise from our mistake of the meaning of the word Passeover in Iohn 18. 28. he saith thus The Iews went not into Pilate common Hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passeover and in ch 19. 14. Iohn saith It was the preparation of the Passeover and about the sixth hour Hence some that are not wel acquainted with the Iews customs which are now recorded in their Thalmuds as the learned do observe have collected this inference that the Iews transferred the Passeover from the evening of the fourteenth day to the evening of the fifteenth day and also to the sixteenth day but indeed in this term Passeover Iohn doth Thalmudize and therfore without the help of the Hebrew Doctors it is not easie to spel Iohns meaning they apply the term Passeover not only to the proper Feast of the Pascha but as I noted in my answer to the former objection they use it as a general term for the whole Feast of unleavened Bread and in that respect they count all the days of it as if they were the days of the Passeover but more especially they did account the first day of unleavened Bread to be a Passeover day because they did then feast on the Peace-offerings belonging to the Passeover for they sacrificed with the Paschal Lamb on the fourteenth day certain Peace-offerings of Sheep or Oxen and these voluntary Peace-offerings they called the Passeover because they were sacrificed together with the Paschal Lamb on the fourteenth day and by the Law they might bee eaten for the space of two days and one night Levit. 7. 16. now the Iews had eaten the Paschal Lamb the night before but they had not as yet endedtheir feasting on these Peace-offerings which Iohn calls the Passeover the term Passeover in this last sense is not understood of many but Mr. Broughton and Mr. Ainsworth have given special notice of the word Passeover in this sense and that the Hebrew Doctors had grounded their common use of it on the Law in Deut. 16. 2. 4. and Mr. Broughton cites Solomon Jarchi speaking thus in Deut. 16. If many belong to one Passeover then they adde to it Chagiga Oxen for the Holy-day feast and saith Jarchy presently after the proper sense of the Scripture is that the flesh of the Chagigah-Passeover which thou dost sacrifice in the evening with the Lamb-Passeover shal be eaten in the fourteenth day and in the fifteenth day take notice by the way that he makes no mention of the sixteenth day as Mr. Weames doth most falsly Maymony also saith When they offered the Passeover in the first Month they offered it with the Peace-offerings of the fourteenth day Oxen or Flock-beasts great or small Male or Female but they offered not the Chagigah if the Lamb sufficed the company and so it was voluntary and not forced by any affirmative Commandment and it was eaten two days and one night and not in the second night as M. Weames doth mistakingly say In these words Maymony doth tell us that Iohn spake from the depth of Thalmudique knowledge and in this sense also doth Mr. Ainsworth explain the equivocation of the word Passeover from the Hebrew Doctors in Deut. 16. 2 4. and in Lev. 7. 16. John saith it was morning and they went not into Pâ—aetorion that they might not be defiled but might eat the Passeover not the Passeover strictly taken for that was eaten the night before but that they might eat their voluntary Peace-offerings which they had sacrificed with the Lamb-Passeover the day before and which by the Laws allowance they might feast on all the next day till Sun-set but no longer Lev. 7. 16. These Peace-offerings are called the Passeover by the Lawonce in Deut. 16. 2. and they are also clearly comprehended under the term Passeover in 2 Chron. 35. 11. but they are most usually called the Passeover in the Writings of the Hebrew Doctors and from their custom John doth use the word Passeover in their sense John saith it was morning and it was the preparation of the Passeover and about the sixth hour which sixth hour according to their account by their great hours began at our ten a Clock and ended with our twelve a Clock and this time was called the Jews preparation in order to their Passeover Dinner and in that respect they were afraid to come into Pilates Common Hall lest they should be defiled and so might be made unfit to eat the Passeovers Peace-offerings at Dinner time Object 10. You say that by the allowance of the Law the Jews might feast on the Peace-offerings that were offered with the Passeover for two days and one night namely till the next day at Sun-set but not after Sun-set but John speaks of another preparation to the Sabbath his words in chap. 19. 31. run thus The Jews then because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain upon the Crosse for that Sabbath was a high day besought Pilate that their leggs might be broken and that they might be taken down Ans This preparation is indeed a differing preparation from the former the former was their fore-noon preparation to their Passeover Dinner but this preparation was nigh unto Sun-set and so consequently it approached apace unto that festival Supper that did properly belong unto the Feast of unleavened Bread and in that respect they besought Pilate that their leggs might be broken and that they might be taken down lest their cruelty in suffering them to hang longer on the Tree should be a blot to their joyful Feast for this day was the first of unleavened Bread which was the first and the chief of all their High Sabbaths Now as soon as the chief Priests had made this request to Pilate Joseph of Arimathea did wisely espy the advantage of time and then he also went boldly unto Pilate requesting that he might have the Body of Jesus in his own power to bury it The time when this was done was when the Evening was come as two Evangelists do witnesse Mat. 27. 17. Mar. 15. 42. and so Tindall in his Bible doth translate and expound Mark 15. 42. thus when night was come because it was the evening that goeth before the Sabbath This preparation therefore in Joh. 19. 31. must needs be in relation to their solemn Festival Supper which did properly belong to this High Sabbath as John doth call it Before Dinner the Jews were careful lest they should be defiled by going into Pilates Judgement Hall and so should have been hindred from their Festival Dinner and now also at Sun-set they take the like care to avoyd cruelty c. If this Sabbath spoken of had been the weekly Sabbath or seventh Day then though they had been defiled they might have resorted to their
doubtlesse Lukes phrase doth allude to that custom This Sabbath that did now begin to lighten was not the Sabbath it self for if the Sabbath it self had been begun at the rising of the Evening Starre then doubtlesse the holy Women had broken the holy rest of the Sabbath day because after all this they went to the shops and bought Odors and Oyntments Luke 23. 56. compared with Mark 16. 1. yea and after they had bought these Odors and Oyntments they went home and prepared them in a readinesse to perfume the Body of Christ with them as soon as ever the Sabbath was past Mat. 28. 1. If they had bought them before his burial they would have perfumed his Body before his burial as Nicodemus did Therefore seeing these holy Women did all this work after the burial and after the Sabbath began to lighten it is an evident proof that the Sabbath it self did not begin neither at the Sun-set evening when the person purified began the date of his new day nor yet at the rising of the evening starre for if the Sabbath it self had been begun at either of these times then the holy Women had most grosly broken the holy rest of the Sabbath But the Holy Text doth witnesse on their side that they rested the Sabbath according to the Commandment Luk. 23. 56. Hence I conclude from this practise of the holy Women that though the evening before the Sabbath doth bear the date of the day following to the person purified yet in proper speaking it is no part of the Sabbath it self it is only to be esteemed the Sabbath but by way of preparation and no more Secondly I answer That your exposition of the word before may better carry this sense namely that this latter evening was indeed before the Sabbath it self and I have shewed in chap. 5. that the evening of the Sabbath is put by the Hebrew Doctors sometimes for the evening before the Sabbath and sometimes for the last half of the Sabbath it self but see more in this Chapter in the answer to the next objection Object 2. It seems to me that the Sabbath it self did begin and end at the Sun-set Evening by the Jews practise for they held it unlawful before the Sun-set Evening was come for our Saviour to heal diseased persons But after the Sun-set Evening was come all manner of diseased persons came flocking to him for cure Mar. 1. 32. Hence it appears that the Jews held the Sabbath to be fully ended as soon as the Sun-set Evening was come Ans It is but the bare conjecture that they forbore to bring their sick persons till the Sabbath was ended I deny it to be the very reason I beleeve the onely reason why they came no sooner was because they had no sooner intelligence of his miraculous power to heal you do barely affirm that the Jews in general held it unlawful for our Saviour to heal diseased persons upon the Sabbath day but you are deceived Tremelius doth testifie from the ancient Hebrew Doctors that they held the contrary They held that the perill of life did drive away the Sabbath that is to say they held it lawful to use any means to prevent the danger of death upon the Sabbath day See Tremelius his Annot. in Mat. 12. 8. in the Syriack Testament Mr. Ainsworth also doth affirm from the Hebrew Doctors that they held it to be a Sabbath days work to visit the sick for they held that perill of life did drive away the Sabbath See Ains in Exod. 20. 10. See also my former Treatise 2 I do also apprehend by the circumstances of the story that the Jews of Capernaum were not offended with our Saviour for his miraculous cure which he did upon that Sabbath day as the malignant Scribes and Pharisees sometimes were in healing one in the Synagogue that had an unclean spirit Mark 1. 27. 3 They took no offence at him for the curing of Peters wives mother of her Feavor presently after he had left the said Synagogue v 31. Therefore seeing they found no fault with Christ for neither of these miraculous cures before the Sabbath was ended doubtless they did not forbear to bring their diseased persons in respect of the Sabbath for they admired the power of God in these miracles and therefore as soon as the publick exercise was ended they spread his fame verse 28. and thereupon a multitude of the diseased persons of Capernaum came to him for cure with all the possible speed they could as it appears by their earnest pressing after so short a warning for I conceive by the circumstances of the story that it was but a little afore Sun-set when Christ left the Synagogue and then as soon as he had left the Synagogue he healed Peters wives mother which was another procuring cause that made the greater flocking to him but if his miraculous cures had been done sooner doubtlesse the fame thereof would have made the sick persons to have flocked sooner after him I grant that some of the malignant Scribes and Pharisees did sometimes take offence at Christ for his miraculous healing upon the Sabbath day But the people in general rejoyced at all the excellent things that were done by him upon the Sabbath day Luke 13. 17. for Christ did now heal a poor crooked woman upon that Sabbath day verse 11. And when the Ruler of the Synagogue took offence at it Christ by reasons put him to silence and the people rejoyced that Christ had put him to silence Therefore though some of the malignant Jews held erroniously that Christ ought not to heal upon the Sabbath day yet that is no good argument to prove that these Jews of Capernaum did purposely detain their sick persons till the Sabbath was ended I deny it to be the Reason I do apprehend rather that they did hastily flock to him rather than deliberately forbear till the Sabbath might be ended 4 Mr. Pemble on this place saith That this Evening was the Evening of the same day wherein Christ had done so much before as the inference shews plainly 5 It is evident to me from several testimonies of the Hebrew Doctors that they held the Sun-set Evening after the Sabbath to be a true part of the Sabbath it self because they held it lawful to The Hebrew Doctors held the Sun-set Evening after the Sabbath to be a true part of the Sabbath it self do many things in the Sun-set Evening before the Sabbath which they did not hold lawfull to be done in the Sun-set Evening after the Sabbath 1 Maymony saith thus The two Loaves of New Corn for the Wave-offering on the day of Penticost were not Baked on the day of Pentecost because it was a Sabbath nor in the Evening before if it were a Sabbath See Ains in Lev. 23. 17. Two things are evident from this Testimony 1 That in the judgement of the Hebrew Doctors the Sun-set Evening after the Sabbath was a true part of the
testimony of the Evangelist John in Chap. 20. 19. the Text runs thus The same day at Evening being the first day of the week John calls this Evening not the second but the first day of the week and yet it must needs be now a good space after Sun-set for there were two Disciples now present that came from Emaus and it was towards Evening before they came from Emaus and they could not well come from thence to Jerusalem in lesse than three hours space for it was sixty Furlongs from Emaus to Jerusalem Luke 24. 13. 29. 36. Mr. Goodwin and others allow eight Furlongs to an English or Italian mile but the Hebrew Doctors allow but seven Furlongs and a half to an English mile See Ains in Lev. 16. 21. The New Testament doth not follow the Italian Furlong but the Greek Furlong or stadium Olympicum which contains six thousand feet and the Hebrew Doctors say that two thousand Cubits make a mile See Ains in Exod. 16. 29. The New Testament doth follow the Greek Customes as frequently as they followed the Greek Tongue Therefore in reason as the New Testament was written in Greek so it should follow the Greek stadium rather than the Italian besides I conceive that the Italian stadium came not into common use untill after the New Testament was written So then by the Hebrew Doctors account it was eight miles from Emaus to Jerusalem that is to say it was Eight English miles Now if you will allow but three hours time for the going of these eight miles it must needs be after Sun-set when they came to the Apostles and after they were come they spent some time in relating unto the Apostles what had happened to them the same day as they went to Emaus and as they were making this Relation Jesus came and stood in the midst of them Luke 24. 36. These circumstances considered it must needs be after the date of the Jews Ceremonial day before Christ came in among them and yet the Evangelist calls this time of the Evening the same day in which Christ rose from the dead and secondly he calls it the first day of the week So then by these two expressions the Evangelist puts the matter out of doubt to such as will be satisfied by plain consequences of Scripture that this latter Evening when Christ came into the house to the Apostles was a true part of the former day and yet it was after Sun-set and therefore it was after their Ceremonial day was begun 6 And lastly I may well bring hither all those five Arguments which I alleged in Chap. 5. to prove the latter Evening of the fourteenth day of Nishan to be a true part of the fourteenth day and therefore it follows by good consequence hat the latter Evening of the Sabbath was a true part of the Sabbath it self Obj. It appears to me that the Natural day begins at the Sun-set evening for the Lord telleth Ezekiel in the ninth year of Jeconiahs captivity that he should be dumb untill the day that Jerusalem should be destroyed and untill a Messenger should come to Ezekiel to tell the news thereof Ezek. 24. 26 27. this is the Prediction now the accomplishment of this Prophecy is set down in Eze. 33. 21 22. In the twelfth year of our captivity in the tenth Month and in the fifth day of the Month then one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto Ezekiel and said The City is smitten now saith Ezekiel The hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before he that had escaped came and had opened my mouth untill he came to me in the morning and when he had opened my mouth I was no more dumb From these two Scriptures compared it is evident that the evening before the Messenger came and the morning after he was come are termed the same day therefore it follows by good consequence that the same day began in the evening Ans This is a strange collection to prove the evening to be the beginning of the Natural day the vanity of this collection will appear by the opening of two words in this Prophecy which must not be taken as you do in strict propriety of speech but in a figurative sense I mean the word Day and the word Dumb. 1 I say the word Day must not be taken in a strict sense for a proper Natural day of twenty four hours but it must be taken Figuratively for a time to come as it appears by the computation of time for Ezekiel is said to be dumb in the ninth year of Jeconiahs captivity in the tenth Month and in the tenth day of the Month Eze. 24. 1 2. in which day Ezekiels wise dyed vers 18. which was the pleasure of his eyes vers 16. and her death was for a sign unto the Iews that the Temple which was the pleasure of their eyes vers 21. should be destroyed and then in that day namely when the Temple should be destroyed he that escapeth in that day should come to Ezekiel and tell him And in that day viz. in time to come Ezekiels mouth should be opened unto him which escaped to tell him and then he should speak and be no more dumb ver 26 27. This is the Prediction now compare the story of events and that lyes thus The Temple was burnt on the tenth day of the fifth Month in the eleventh year of Zedekiah Jer. 52. 12 13. and there is no record to be found that any Messenger came to Ezekiel to tell him in the same day neither is it possible for any man to come from Jerusalem to Chaldea in one Natural day of twenty four hours therefore the Messenger that came to him in that day came to him in that day which is Figuratively put for the time to come for the Messenger came not to Ezekiel until seventeen Months after that the Temple was destroyed for hee came not till the fifth day of the tenth Month and in the twelfth year of Jeconias captivity Ezek. 33. 21. therefore this phrase the same day must not be understood of the same Natural day but of day at large for the term day is often put for a large time to come as in Ezek. 23. 38 39. Ezek. 33. 12. and in Deut. 27. 2 See Ains 2 Ezekiel is said to be dumb in the ninth year Ezek. 24. 12. 27. till the Messenger came to him in the twelfth year of Ieconiahs captivity in all which space Ezekiel was not dumb from ordinary speech as Zachary was Luk. 1. 20. neither yet was he dumb from Prophecying against other Nations as it appears by Eze. 26. 1. and Eze. 29. 1. and Eze. 31. but he was dumb or silent from Prophecying any more against the unbeleeving Iews as chap. 3. 26. untill this Messenger came with special tidings to certifie him how all things were accomplished as he had fore-told and now at the coming of this special Messenger Ezekiels mouth was opened again
the Egyptians Exod. 14. 20. So is Gnereb the natural evening the first halfe is light called day and the other half is dark called night But if the naturall evening had been nothing else but night as most Interpreters doe affirme upon Gen. 1. 5. then all evening Sacrifices must have been offered in the night time only but the Hebrew Doctors wil laugh that opinion to scorn as a foule absurdity for after Sun-set say they the blood of all Sacrifices became unlawful see Ains in Lev. 6. 9. they mean it only of all evening Sacrifices and therefore it was a foul mistake in K. James's Translators to translate Gnereb by the word night â—n Lev. 6. 20. they say that Aarons Meat-offering was offered halfâ— of it in the morning and halfe of it at night so also they put night for Gnereb in Gen. 49. 27. and in Job 7. 4. and in Psal 30. 5. and the Geneva Translators do the like in Gen. 49. 27. and in Lev. 6. 20. and often elsewhere but I beleeve themselves better advised would alter it and though the 70 Translators do take liberty to render Gnereb in differing terms yet they never do translate Gnereb by the word Night because the night in propriety of speech can not agree to the composition of Gnereb in Gen. 1. 5. SECT III. Proving by seven demonstrative grounds that the Naturall Evening begins at Mid-day at the first declining of the Sun THe first Scripture by which I prove that the Natural Evening doth begin at Mid-day at the first declining of the Sun is from Jeremy whose speech is both plain and elegant Jeremy speaks thus in the person of the Babylonian Souldiers Arise let us go up at noon woe unto us for the day declineth and the shadowes of the evening are stretched out Jer. 6. 4. These words are spoken by way of allusion but yet two phrases are remarkable in this Text. 1. The day declineth 2. The shadowes of the evening are stretched out both these termes are Synonima and mean the same time of the day for as soon as the day begins to decline the shadowes of the evening begin to be stretched out Hence then it follows 1. That the evening doth begin as soon as the day begins to decline 2. That the shadowes of the evening do begin to stretch themselves as soon as the sun which rules the day doth begin first to decline Jeremy speaks these words in the person of the Babylonian Souldiers who made haste to destroy the Jewes by the Noon-tide but when they were upon their march they saw they were like to come short of the appointed time and therefore they cry out in an angry passion Woe unto us for the day declineth and the shadowes of the evening are stretched out The Prophet speaks this by way of Prosopopeia yet there must be a reall truth in the allusion Secondly I prove that the natural Evening begins at Mid-day at the first declining of the Sun by Matth. 14. 15. When the Evening was come Luke expounds this evening to be come when the day began to go down or decline Luk. 9. 12. So Mr. Broughton renders the Text And when else doth the day first begin to go down or decline but when the Sun that rules the Day doth first begin to go down or decline as is above observed from Jer. 6. 4. And experience doth tell us that the Sun doth first begin to decline at mid-day and that it continues declining till Sun-set So then from the term Evening in Matthew described by this adjunct in Luke when the day begins to go down or decline it may truly be gathered by necessary consequence that the natural evening doth begin at mid-day at the first declining of the Sun and this evening hath two parts the first part begins at the first declining of the Sun as I have already expounded v. 15. and another evening doth begin at Sun-set in v. 23. Thirdly I prove that the full natural evening begins at mid-day at the first declining of the Sun by Deut. 16. 6. Thou shalt sacrifice the Passeover at Evening at the going down of the Sun at the season thou camest out of Egypt This Text is very pregnant to prove the point in question but because I have occasion to expound this Text at large in chap. 5. Therefore I refer the Reader thither Fourthly I prove that the full natural Evening begins at mid-day by 1 Sam. 20. 5. David doth there intreat Jonathan to meet him on the third day at Even and it appears that Jonathan was very careful to observe the punctual beginning of this appointed evening because it was a matter of weight and because David depended upon his punctual observation of the precise time therefore Jonathan did confirm his promise by an oath ver 13. besides David did over and above all this charge Jonathan to come to him quickly or diligently that is to say to be exact and to keep the appointed time diligently or punctually and accordingly Jonathan did manifest his diligence to observe the punctual time as it is evident because he went out into the field on the third day in the Morning which saith the Text was at the time appointed with David v. 35. Object 4. How can you make Jonathans Morning to be the appointed time with David seeing David did not appoint Jonathan to meet him on the third day in the morning but on the third day at even as v. 5. testifieth Answ Jonathans morning was the appointed time with David because Jonathans morning did end at mid-day and Davids evening did begin at mid-day at the first declining of the Sun now Jonathan could not have come quickly diligently exactly and punctually to the place appointed at the beginning of the evening unlesse he went out on the third day morning that is to say a little before the evening began but by his diligence in taking in a little peece of the morning at the beginning of his Journey he might well be at the place appointed according to the punctuall time of the appointed Evening and thus Jonathans Morning and Davids Evening do meet together at Mid-day and no other resolution can be given as I conceive to make Jonathans morning and Davids evening to agree together at one and the same appointed time but this Object 5. Why may not the appointed evening be understood of the night-evening and the appointed place be a great way off and in that respect Jonathan might begin his journey in the morning that so he might come to the place appointed at the time of the Sun-set evening Answ I perceive that men are loath to have any other evening but the night-evening and therefore they are willing to raise what Objections they can against the mid-day evening But I will give you divers Reasons why the appointed evening cannot be meant of the Sun-set evening First If the place of meeting had been so far off as to cause Jonathan to spend so much
the Ravens do not use to carry meat in the evening after Sun-set for then they use to flie to their Roost and so to continue there all night Therefore the Ravens carried meat to Elijah in the Afternoon Evening Seventhly Paul sent for the Jews in Rome to come to his Iodging that he might testifie unto them the things of the Kingdome of God and that he might perswade them concerning Jesus and they came at the day appointed and then Paul preached unto them from morning till evening Act. 28. 23. But I think no deliberate man will say that Paul continued his Sermon to that mixed multitude from the morning light till the evening at Sun-set The hungry bellies and captious spirits of most of these Jewes would not indure it neither would Pauls wisdom nor his strength suffer him to offer it especially seeing the Jewes of this Synagogue had before-hand manifested to Paul their dislike of this Sect vers 22. These circumstances considered this phrase from morning till evening must be understood of a convenient portion of time for one Sermon It is like they came to Pauls lodging at the ordinary houre wherein they used to resort to their Synagogues about nine a clock in the morning and it is like also that Paul continued his Sermon to them till the Noon-tide evening a little more or lesse as in wisdom he thought it convenient all circumstances considered and in likelihood the Jews would not appoint to meet at Pauls lodging before the ordinary hour of morning prayer nor be contented to stay longer than Dinner-time when the Evening begins at Mid-day therefore it may be gathered by probable conjecture that the evening began at Mid-day in Rome as well as in Iudea The first Naturall Day is divided two several ways by Moses in Gen. 1. 5. 1 Into Day and Night by the Line of Longitude 2 Into Evening and Morning by the Line of Latitude The wombe of the .i. morning East The Artificiall morning The midle of the night the midle of the day Esa 16.3 The first Eueninge West The Latter Eueninge The begining of the 2d day The Hebrew word Gnereb in Gen. 1. 5. was well translated the Evening by our Ancestors because it is a connexture of so much Day and Night together as makes up an even and equal part of time to Boker the morning And secondly Because the Natural Evening is half Day and half Night therefore Moses doth eleven times over call it the two Evenings as it is noted in Chap. 2. Sect. 2. SECT 4. Bring a Description of the twofold Division of the first Naturall Day how and in what order every part of it was shaped named and framed together THe first Natural day in Gen. 1. 5 was twice divided by Moses just according to the Lines of Longitude and Latitude in the Globe and it was shaped and framed together in this order Take a peece of paper and pourtray upon it the shape or image of a compasse Dial. Then first shadow out upon it the first darkness from the North point almost to the East point 2. Then shadow out a little peece of Twilight to fill it up to the East point as a sign that the light did thence break out of darknesse by degrees 3. Then shadow out a peece of light of six hours long for the ascending of the shining light from the East point to the South point 4. Then make a mark of distinction at the South point for the standing still of the light for a little while at Mid-day 5. Then shadow out another peece of light of six hours long for the declining of the light from the South point to the West point 6 Then write upon all this shining light from the East point to the West point the name Day as the proper name of his perfect shape and limit and in this order was the first Artificiall Day shaped out limited and named 7. Then shadow out a little peece of Twilight at the departure of the light out of that Horizon on the inside of the West point 8. Then take twelve hours darknesse and shadow out the first half of that Darknesse from the West point untill it meet with the place of the first darknesse at the North point 9. Then write upon all that Darknesse from the West point to the East point the name Night as the proper name of its perfect shape and limit and in this order was the night last shaped out limited and named Then let the other half of the last twelve hours Darknesse be set upon the out-side of the same Compasse Diall from the North point to the East point for the beginning of the second Day 10. Hence we may observe the Reason why the first Darknes could not be called Night at first namely because it wanted the form and limits of a Night for it wanted the shape of a twilight going before it and therefore until it had obtained that it was called nothing else but confused darknes and it could not have this form til the last period of time belonging to the night was finished and it could not have that period till the first half of that twelve houres darknesse succeeding the Artificial Day had met with the first darknesse at the North point and that conjunction occasioned a mark of distinction in the middle of the night 11. By these marks of distinction the true Form and Figure of the two Lines of Longitude and Latitude from East to West and from North to South were clearly marked out 12. By this Line of division from Mid-day to Mid-night the Natural Day was again divided into two equal parts in a differing manner from the division of the Day from the Night the first half from Mid-day to Mid-night was called Gnereb the Evening and the other half from Mid-night to Mid-day was called Boker the Morning 13. After this sort hath the God of Nature halfed and quartered the Natural day by the Lines of Longitude and Latitude 14 By this method the God of Nature hath not only made the natural day to be a twiparty day consisting of light and darkness But also Secondly He hath made the Artificial Day to be a twiparty day because he hath made the one half of it to belong unto the Morning and the other half of it to belong unto the Evening Thirdly He hath also made the Night to be a twiparty Night because he hath made the one half of it to belong unto the Evening and the other half of it to belong unto the morning And in this regard the night is sometimes called nights in the plural number Psal 134. 1. Psal 92. 2. Fourthly He hath also made the Natural Evening to be a twiparty evening because it is a connexion of the latter half of the Day to the first half of the Night and in this respect it is called Gnereb a connexion and sometimes it is called Gnarbaiim the two Evenings because of the two
in regard of his early Judgements upon a people and also in regard Boker the Morning is put for Gods early seeking either to punish the wicked or protect the godly of his early Preservation of his own people 1. His early and speedy Judgements upon the wicked are set out by the term Morning in Num. 16. 5. Zeph. 3. 5. Psal 73. 14 Ezek. 7. 7 10. and so in Hos 10. 15. In the morning shal the King of Israel be destroyed and in this sense I shall presently expound Isa 47. 11. 2. The term Morning doth often denote Gods early care and Providence in looking out for the Protection of his people Exod. 14. 24. Psal 46. 7. Hence I infer that seeing the word Morning doth signifie early seeking or early looking out it may well denote unto us that the first Darkness was not comprehended under the term Evening but under the term Morning for Gnereb the Evening is never put for early or first but it is always put for late or last because it was the latter part of the Day as I have shewed in my Answer to the third Objection of the former Chapter and more by and by Secondly It is further evident that the Morning time was first As Gnereb the Evening is put for last time So Boker the Morning is put for the first time or for the beginning of a thing and the Evening last by Gen. 49. 27. Benjamin shall ravine like a Woolf in the Morning he shall devour the prey and in the Evening he shall divide the spoile The Seventy render it The early Morning and truly seeing the first Darkness had the priority of time before the Artificial Morning it is not proper to put the Artificial Morning for first in preheminence of time before the first Darkness and therefore in reason the first Darkness must belong to the early Morning as well as the first half of the Artificial Day doth or else Jacob did not make a proper Allusion to the Morning and to the Evening if the first Darkness had been Evening for then the evening had been first in order of time search into the story of Events and see how Jacobs Prophecie doth relate to the term Morning and Evening the event of his Pâ—ophecie lyes thus 1. Ehud of Benjamin was raised up by God like a Woolf in the early morning to devour the Moabites and to deliver Israel Judge 3. 15. Then God did also raise up Hester and Mâ—rdecai of Benjamin like a Woolf as it were in the Artificial Morning to deliver the Jews and to devour Haâ—an and all his Confederates in a hundred twenty seven Provinces Hâ—st 8. and Hest 9. 2. In the Evening-time of the world God raised up Paul of Benjamin to divide the spoil with the other Apostles by the preaching of the Gospel for Paul is said to make the Word of God to abound from Jerusalem to Illyricum Rom. 15. 19. and it is further evident that the daies of the Gospel are called the Evening by Zeph. 2. 7. the Prophet doth there foretel that there shall be a remnant of the Jews namely of the dispersed Jews dwelling in several Countries that shall be called to rest or lie down in the Evening and to this remnant of dispersed Jewes did Peter and James write in the Evening-time of the Gospel to exhort them to rest and repose their Souls in Christ for Life and Salvation Zachary also doth use the term Evening for the last times namely for the daies of the Gospel and in that respect the time of the Gospel is often called the last dayes Isa 2. 2. Jer. 30. 24. Heb. 1. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 5. 20. Zacharies phrase runs thus In the Evening time it shall be light Zach. 14. 7. It is very suitable to compare the last daies of the Gospel to the Evening because it is the last half of the Natural Day and it is most suitable also to compare the light of the Gospel to the light of the Evening for the Evening begins at Mid-day at the first declining of the Sun and then the day is most clear and bright and so it continues till almost Sun-set and in the last days when the Apostles had a Commission to preach the Gospel in all the world the Gospel gave a light most clear to many souls that sat in darkness But if the Evening had been no other time but the dark Night as the most would have it then Zacharies Allusion to the light of that Evening had been but a poor comparison to set forth the light of the Gospel for in such an Evening there is no other light but Star-light or Moon-light at the best and that is but a poor light to illustrate the light of the Gospel by in the days of the Apostles Thirdly As the Evening is often put for last so the Morning is put for first in Dan. 9. 21. The man Gabriel whom I had seen in a vision at First or in the Morning so the Hebrew speaks Fourthly It is evident by another Allusion that the Morning is before the Evening because the term Morning is put for the very first beginning of a thing and in this sense Isaiah is most elegant Isa 47. 11. Evill shall come upon thee O Babylon and thou shalt not know the morning thereof or the beginning thereof The Hebrew word signifies the early Morning but the Geneva doth render it the Beginning and by this phrase the Holy Ghost did by a Periphrasis describe the beginning of Babylons ruin by the early Morning Object 2. Good Divines do take the term Morning here for the beginning of the Artificial Day and the word Morning in that sense doth not hinder but that the first Darkness was Evening Answ I have already answered this Objection immediately before I told you there that if the first Darkness had been called Evening then doubtless the Evening would have been put for the first beginning of any thing and the Morning for last but because the Morning is put for the first beginning of a thing therefore it is out of all doubt to me that the first Darkness did belong to the Morning and not to the Evening 2. I answer further that the Morning of Babylons fall cannot be so conveniently compared to the Morning of the Artificial day as to the dark early morning because the Artificial Morning is apparent and perspicuous to all men But the ruin of Babylon was not perspicuous at first but it was carryed on in a speedy and obscure manner by the Persians so that the Babylonians had no suspition or discerning of their fall as yet therefore the Morning of the Artificial Day was not so suitable to exemplifie the manner of their speedy ruin as the early dark Morning was for it was done speedily ere they were aware Jer. 50. 24. as it appears by these two considerations 1. Isay did foretel that Babylon should be destroyed in the Night Isa 21. 4. 2. Isay did foretel
of the world Hence it follows that then it is morning in some Countries near unto mid-night especially when the daies are at the longest and known experience doth tell us that in the North parts of England the day doth sometimes begin to break near unto mid-night and indeed the day-light when the daies are at the longest is scarse ever out of the Sky in those parts except a little while about mid-night Hence it follows that seeing it is day-break sometimes near unto Mid-night then why may not the morning begin at mid-night all the year long as well in one Country as in another seeing the God of Nature hath set such an eminent mark upon mid-night and upon mid-day which doubtless was to set out the bounds and limits of the Natural morning and of the evening Fifthly Both Scripture and experience doth tell us that there is a certain Star called the Morning Star which at some time of the year is seen to arise not long after Mid-night and all men call it morning as soon as that Star is risen and in some parts when the daies are at the longest it riseth near unto Mid-night but it alwaies riseth before it is day break Sixthly It is evident that the morning begins in the dark night by this phrase in Psal 110. 3. The womb of the early Morning I purpose not to meddle with the mystical sense of these words because it concerns not the Argument in hand but I will onely meddle with the phrase for the phrase sake onely for this phrase must have some proper allusion to some natural truth Mibschar we translate Morning but saith Mr. Ainsworth the letter M is a Preposition signifying From or Before and in that respect some translators do render the text thus Before the womb of the early Morning this phrase must have an allusion to some proper truth and I can find nothing that may so fitly be called the womb of the early Morning as the first darkness was for out of this darkness God created the morning light and in this respect the Morning may well be divided into several degrees of time 1 The first Darkness was the womb of the Morning light 2 From the womb of the morning proceeded the Son of the morning called the morning Star as soon as it was created and it is now called the Son of the morning Isa 14. 12. 3. Then follows the ascending of the morning or day-break Gen. 32. 24 26. 4 Then follows the time of killing the morning Sacrifice namely when the face of all the East is inlightned which is between day-break and Sun-rising See Ains in Num. 28. 4. And certain it is that the morning Sacrifice was not onely slain but also offered before Sun-rising because the Meat Offering which was alwaies offered after the Burnt Offering was offered before Sun rising as it appears by 2 King 3. 20 22. and the Burnt Offering was alwaies first Lev. 1. and then the Meat Offering Lev. 2. now though the Morning Sacrifice was offered before Sun-rising yet the Evening Sacrifices of all sorts must be offered before Sun-set For the Hebrew Doctors say that after Sun-set the blood of all Sacrifices became unlawful See Ains in Lev. 1. 6 9. 5. Then follows the morning of the Artificiall day at Sun-rising Psal 104. 22 23. for God did appoint the Sun to rule and limit the Artificiall day Gen. 1. 6. Then followed the time of morning Prayer at the third hour of the day namely at our nine a clock First By these gradations to the morning we may see the vanity of their opinion that hold no other time to be called the morning properly but a point of time onely at the beginning of the Artificial day all the rest they say is called the morning improperly Secondly By these gradations to the morning it is evident that the first darkness was the root or womb of the morning and therefore at last it was called Morning SECT 3. Proving that the Morning in all likelihood doth begin at mid-night besides the former certain grounds from the exact beginning and ending of the Evening FIrst I will endeavor to prove that the morning doth begin at mid-night by an argument drawn from Job 26. 7. compared with Gen. 1. 2. Job saith That God stretcheth out the North upon the empty and saith Moses The Earth was empty and void namely as long as darkness was upon the face of the deep But as soon as the light was created the earth could not be said to be empty and void any longer for then the deep was adorned with the light as with a most glorious ornament Object 4. The first Darkness did continue twelve hours upon the face of the deep after the general matter called Earth was created Or thus how long was the Earth empty and void before the light was created Answ The answer is from Job That the Earth was empty and void all the space of time that the North point is stretched out upon a Compass Dial namely the space of six hours for the North point on a Compass Dial doth stretch it self out untill it meet with the beginning of the East point the four ends of the two Lines of Longitude and Latitude do make the four Cardinal Points of the Compass North East South and West Hence it follows that the North point is stretched out to the East point and that is just six hours by the Compass Dyal and so long saith Job the Globe was empty but as soon as God created Light out of Darkness which began to appear by degrees first By a Twilight and then shined forth at the East point then the Earth was no longer empty and void but it was adorued with the light If any man can give a better Interpretation for the stretching out the North upon the Empty I shall bee glad to see it But if the first Darkness had been twelve hours long then Job should have said that God stretched out the West point as well as the North point upon the Empty but Job doth not say so but only that he stretched out the North upon the Empty and therefore it follows 1 That the first Darkness was not twelve hours but only six hours long upon the face of the deep before the light was created 2 Hence it follows that the first half of that twelve hours Darkness that succeeded the Artificial Day did make up the first darkness to be a just Night of twelve hours and after this manner both these parts of Darkness did meet together at the North point as I have exemplified the matter upon a Compass Dyal and the North Land in Jer. 23. 8. may according to the Hebrew be read from the Land of darkness And why else doth the Prophet in Psal 89. 12. begin the time of the first Creation in order from the North point but to remember us where and how long the darkness did continue upon the face of the deep after the Earth was
he had bathed himself in water The answer is no hee must yet stay a while longer without the Camp till his Sun be set and then when the Sun is gon down he shall come into the Camp Hence it is evident that his Ceremoniall purity was not compleat until his Sun was set but then it was compleat and therefore he did then begin to date the day of his cleanness Hence also I gather that their Ceremonial baptizing might be done in any part of the afternoon provided it were done before Sun-set because the Sun did look forth towards the place of his going down by his shadow from Mid-day til it went out of that Horizon as I have formerly explained the matter But if any were defiled by any accident in the night after his Sun was set upon him he must remain in that uncleanness untill a new baptizing in the next afternoon and till a new Sun-set Evening Secondly It is evident that none were compleatly purified till Sun-set by Levit. 22. 5 6 7. Moses saith thus If any man whether Priest or Israelite be made unclean by touching a dead creeping thing or the like unclean thing Then in ver 6. he shall be unclean untill the Evening he shall not eat of the holy things But first He shall bath himself in water And then Secondly saith ver 7. when the Sun is gon down he shall be clean By this Text it is also evident that he did not attain to a perfect ceremonial cleanness by baptizing himself in water untill the Sun was gon down upon him after his bathing But as soon as his Sun was set then he was compleatly purified and then also he began to date the day of his cleanness and then also he might eat of the holy things Thirdly The Hebrew Doctors do abundantly testifie that no baptized person did begin the day of his cleanness untill his Sun was set for this is their common and peculiar phrase They shall be unclean untill their Sun be set But the common phrase of the Ceremonial Law saith thus They shall be unclean untill the Evening The unclean saith Maymony may not eat of the Heave-Offering untill their Sun be set See Ains in Lev. 22. 9 10. And hence it is evident that they held the baptized persons to have some degree of uncleanness upon them untill their Sun was set And therefore Maymony saith thus He that is baptized is the second in uncleanness untill his Sun be set And he that is so baptized if his Sun bee not set may not eat or drink of the Trumah or holy offerings nor of any meat or drink that is holy See Ains in Lev. 11. 32. and in Lev. 7. 20 21. and in Numb 19. 19 20 21. This phrase in the Law He shall be unclean untill the Evening is eight times over repeated in Lev. 11. and fourteen times over in Lev. 15. and often elsewhere But the Hebrew Doctors do usually express it He shall be unclean till his Sun be set they accounted the term Sun-set and the term Evening to be all one time Hence then it follows that the date of their new day of cleanness did alwaies begin at the Sun-set Evening Fourthly It is evident that the Jews began the date of their new day of cleanness at the Sun-set Evening because the Sun-set The Jews morrow began at Sun-set in Ceremonial respects Evening is called Their morning 1 Sam. 30. 17. David and his men are said to pursue after the Amalekites From the twilight unto the Evening of Their Morrow that is to say from the Twilight in the Morning until their Morrow which began at the Sun-set Evening it was a custom that was proper and peculiar unto them differing from other Nations to date the new day of their cleanness from the Sun-set Evening and therefore the Hebrew Text doth apply the word Their unto David and his men in special calling it their morrow Dr. Willet doth explain the word Morrow to be the next day after David his men were set forth to pursue the Amalekites But the text doth not say so but that David and his men fell upon the Amalekites and pursued their victory from the Twilight in the morning untill the Evening of their morrow that is till the Sun-set Evening for at that Evening began their Morrow or their new day to the person purified 2. It is evident that the Sun-set Evening was the Jews morrow from the time of their reckoning of the seven weeks to the day of Penticost They are commanded to begin that reckoning from the morrow of the Sabbath meaning by the Sabbath the first day of the feast of unleavened bread which God commanded them to observe as a Sabbath Lev. 23. 15. And by the Morrow of the Sabbath is meant the second day of the Feast of unleavened bread which began at the Sun-set Evening at the end of the first day that Evening is called the Morrow but this is observable also that the seventh day of the Feast of unleavened bread did not end at Sun-set but the holy feast of that day continued in the night time after Sun-set and in this sense the word Morrow must be understood in ver 11. and 16. The Hebrew Doctors say they begin this reckoning from the beginning of the day not from the beginning of the Artificial day as most are apt to mistake their meaning but from the night of the sixteenth of Nishan See Ains in Lev. 23. 15. and it is a known thing as I have explained the matter that they did account the night to begin at the Sun-set Evening according to the date of the person purified And in this sense the phrase of The next day in Matth. 27. 62. must be understood then the next day that followed the preparation must be understood of the Sun-set Evening 3. As Boker the Morning is put for the beginning of the day namely for the beginning of the Natural day and for the beginning of the Artificial day so also it is once put for the beginning of the Jews Ceremonial day or for the Sun-set Evening in Deut. 16. 4. as I have opened the matter more at large in Chap. 5. These places do plainly evidence that the Jews had a double Morning and a double Morrow as they had a double year answerable to the Natural Day and to their Ceremonial Day Object 2. Though I am willing to grant that all purified persons did It is disputed by some that the Sun-set Evening is not fully come until it be full Twilight or somewhat past or else they confess it cannot be proved that Christ lay three daies in his grave begin the date of their new Day at the Sun-set Evening yet learned men do affirm that the Sun is not set as soon as the Body of the Sun is gone out of our sight They say that as long as there doth remain any light in the Skie the Sun is the cause of it and hence they assert That the
to their Ceremonial date from those duties that belonged to the date of the naturall day They knew that the Baptised person must begin his new day at Sun-set and that all Evening Sacrifices must be finished before Sun-set and yet in respect of the time of Feasting they knew that the same Natural day did still continue till mid-night Maymony saith That the Priests must eat the Peace-offerings of the Congregation in the same Day and in half the Night See Ains in Lev. 23. 20. Hence you may see that the Hebrew Doctors whom Maymony follows did hold that the same day in the case of Feasting did continue till mid-night and indeed this time was sufficient for the accomplishment of all their religious Feasts in like sort Solomon cals the Twilight evening of the night the same day wherein the Sacrifice was slain Prov. 7. 9. but it was not the same Ceremonial day for at Sun set the Jews began their next day or their morrow but for a fuller answer see my answer in Ch. 5. to Obj. 8. 14. 17. CHAP. V. Proving that the Passeover did begin and end according to the Natural Evening from mid-day to mid-night I Have shewed in Cha. 2. and Sect. 2. that the natural Evening was divided into two equal parts and now I shall shew you that the Passeover was solemnized in both the parts of that Evening First All the Passeovers and all the Peace-offerings that were annexed thereunto were all sacrificed in the time of the first Evening and it was utterly unlawful to sacrifice any Passeover either before this evening began or after this evening was ended which did ever begin at Mid-day and end at Sun-set Secondly All the Passeovers of Canaan must be feasted on with Religious solemnity in the time of the latter evening But first I will speak of the time of Sacrificing all their Passeovers and that was between the two evenings namely it was between the beginning of the first and the beginning of the latter evening this was the precise limited time for this work 1 God commanded them to kill all their Passeovers in Aegypt between the two evenings Exod. 12. 6. 2 God commanded them to kill all their Passeovers in the Wildernesse between the two evenings Numb 9. 3. 5. 11. 3 God commanded them to kill all their Passeovers in Canaan between the two evenings Levit. 23. 4 5. This space of time is called the appointed season thereof Numb 9. 2. Levit. 23. 4. Solomon Jarchi expounds the two evenings thus From the sixth hour which is at Mid-day and forwards it is called between the two Evenings for that the Sun declineth towards his going down c. between the evening of the day and the evening of the night the evening of the Day is from the beginning of the seventh hour and the evening of the Night is when the night begins See Ains in Numb 9. 3. 2 Maymony saith thus The killing of the Passeover is after Mid-day and if they kill it before it is not allowable and they kill it not but after the daily evening Sacrifice and burning of Incense and after they have trimmed the Lamps then they begin to kill the Paschal Lamb until the end of the day See Ains in Exod. 12. 6. Till the end of the day was till the Sun-set evening for after Sun-set saith Maymony the blood of all Sacrifices became unlawfull See Ains in Lev. 1. 9. Lev. 6. 9. Lev. 7. 18. Hence we see that the Hebrew Doctors held it as a Canon among them that no Passeover was allowable if it were killed either before Mid-day or after Sun-set but all the time between was Gods appointed season Num. 9. 2. Lev. 23. 4. Ordinarily they began to kill their Passeovers at half an hour after two a Clock but if the Passeover day fell out to be the * Some think of no other Evening belonging to the Jews Sabbath but the evening before the Sabbath but they are grosly mistaken for that was no otherwise the evening of the Sabbath but in relation to the new day to the purified person but the evening of the Sabbath if self began and ended as the Passeover evening did from mid-day to mid-night evening of the Sabbath namely that evening of the Sabbath which began at Mid-day then they began to kill their Passeover sonner But still this must be remembred which Maymony often noteth that they never kild any Passeover till after the daily evening Sacrifice and some other services that did ever accompany it See Ains in Numb 28. 4. But say the Hebrew Doctors God setteth no particular hour neither for the killing of the daily evening Sacrifice nor yet for the killing of the Passeover but in general he commanded them to be killed between the two evenings Hence it follows That if they killed the daily evening Sacrifice or the Passeover or the Peace-offerings in any part of the after-noon between the time of Mid-day and the Sun-set evening they were allowable and according to Gods own limited time But because God requires that all his Worship in all the Circumstances of it should be done decently and in order both in regard of time place and persons therefore the chief Rulers of the people thought it their duty to suit all the particular businesses about the Passeover and the daily evening Sacrifice to certain particular hours in the evening so as all things might be done with the best conveniency decency and order that one duty might not shoulder out another The Hebrew Doctors in the Babylonian Thalmud say thus the daily evening Sacrifice was killed at the eighth hour and a half and it was offered at the ninth hour and a half that is to say at half an hour after three a Clock But in the evening of the Passover it was killed at the seventh hour and a half and offered at the eighth hour and a half that is to say at half an hour after two a Clock But if the evening of the Passeover did fall out to be upon the evening of the Sabbath then it was killed at the sixth hour and a half that is to say at half an hour after twelve a Clock and it was offered at seven and a half See Ains in Exod. 12. 6. Buxtorfius also in his Hebrew Lexicon upon the word Gnarbaiim doth from the Hebrew Doctors shew that if the Passeover evening fell upon the Sabbath evening that then they began to kill the daily evening Sacrifice at half an hour after twelve a Clock because of the manifold businesses that belonged to the Sabbath besides the killing of their Passeovers therefore that the doing of one duty might not thrust out another their Wise-men did set an order of time when they should begin to kill the daily evening Sacrifice which in all the days of the year was deferred to the last place except on the Passeover evening and then it was ever preferred to the first place and when ever the Passeover evening fell
they came to Pilate was at the Sun-set Evening for that was their next day or it was their morrow as I have opened 1 Sam. 30. 17. and Lev. 27. 15. All these considerations laid together make it evident that the time ere Christ was inclosed in the heart of the earth was when the Sabbath began to lighten with stars Object 13. How can you call their Festival Supper the proper Feast that doth most properly belong to the first day of Vnleavened-bread had they not a Festival Dinner belonging to this High Sabbath as well as a Festival Supper Ans I grant they had a Festival Dinner belonging to this day as well as a Festival Supper but my meaning is that their Festival Dinner was not intirely made of the sacrifices of this day as their Festival Supper was for part of their Festival Dinner at least was made of the Remainder of those Peace-offerings which were sacrificed in the former day with the Lamb-Passeover and so by that means their festival Dinner did partake of the Sacrifices of the fourteenth day but their Festival Supper was made intirely of the Sacrifices of the fifteenth day and yet this Sabbath-Feast was kept in the night after the date of the Ceremonial beginning of the sixteenth day in which none of the flesh of their Chagigah-Passeover might remain for that had been to keep the holy flesh within the third day which was plainly prohibited by the letter of the Law Hence it followes that all the flesh of their Chagigah-Passeover must be eaten at Dinner or else if any of it did remain untill the beginning of the sixteenth day it must be burnt Lev. 7. 17. and therefore it follows that this high Sabbath-Supper was intirely made of the Sacrifices of the fifteenth day and in that respect it was the most proper solemn Feast of this High Sabbath Object 14. It seems to me that Moses doth allow the flesh of the Chagigah-Passeover to remain unto the morning of the third day in Deu. 16. 4. and that is a longer time than you speak of from Lev. 7. 17. Boker the morning is put for the beginning of the Jews Ceremonial day at Sun-set Ans Boker the morning in Deu. 16. 4. must not be taken in a proper sense either for the beginning of the natural day or of the morning of the Artificial day but in this place it must be taken figuratively for the beginning of the Jews Ceremonial day at Sun-set for as Boker the morning is properly put for the beginning of the Natural day or of the Artificial day so also it is figuratively put for the beginning of any other thing as in Chap. 3. I have given several instances and accordingly in this place it is figuratively put for the beginning of the Ceremonial day at Sun-set for Moses in Deut. 16. 4. might not give a contrary Law to what he had before given in Lev. 7. 17. There he doth expresly say that none of the flesh of the voluntary Peace-offerings shall remain untill the third day if any thing thereof remain untill the third day it shall be burnt Hence it follows by necessary consequence that Boker the morning in Deu. 16. 4. must be taken in a figurative sense for the beginning of their Ceremonial day at Sun-set and therefore none of the flesh of the Chagigah-Passeover Moses doth not speak of the Lamb-Passeover in Deut. 16. 2. but of the Cagigah-Passeover of Sheep and Oxen which were sacrificed in the fourteenth day with the Paschal Lamb none of this flesh might remain untill the beginning or untill the morning of the sixteenth day at Sun-set for then the flesh would have remained untill the third day after it was sacrificed and then might not be eaten but it must be burnt Secondly The Hebrew Doctors testifie that the flesh of their voluntary Peace-offerings must remain but one whole night after it was sacrificed and so consequently but one natural morning Maymony saith thus By word of mouth we have learned that this is a prohibition for leaving the flesh of the Cagigah of the fourteenth day unto the sixteenth day as it said unto the morning that is till the morning of the second day See Ains in Deu. 16. 4. their meanings that it should not be kept untill the beginning or untill the morning of the sixteenth day which begins at Sun-set in these words Moses doth truly though figuratively call the Sun-set Evening the morning in Deut. 16. 4. This is a mystery that belongs peculiarly to the Ceremonial Law which the inexpert cannot presently perceive the like mystery it is to call the beginning of the Jews Ceremonial day the morrow as it is three times over called in Lev. 23. 11 15 16. and once more in 1 Sam. 30. 17. as it is explained in Chap. 4. and it is called their next day in Mat. 27. 62. And it is a further mystery also that the Jews Ceremonial day should begin six hours before the Natural day is ended As for example The fifteenth day of Nishan was the first day of Unleavened bread and a high Sabbath and by their Ceremonial custome it began before the Evening of the fourteenth day was ended for the Passeover of the fourteenth day was not feasted on till after Sun-set namely not till after the fifteenth day by their Ceremonial account was begun according to the date of the person purified These are Riddles to such as are not studious in the Jews customes They could not keep their Religious Festival Suppers in the same Ceremonial day for then they must have kept them the night before their Sacrifices were offered which was impossible therefore the night after their Festival Sabbaths was the proper night of the Sabbaths by Creation though not by Ceremony for the Ceremonial day in which the polluted person must be purified against their festival Sabbaths must needs begin the date of their new day before hand and yet they must also keep the Festival Supper appertaining to the Sabbath in the night after and so by this means the Ceremonial day was interwoven with the Natural day for the several respects already named and therefore this phrase It shall be eaten in the same day in which the Sacrifice was offered Lev. 7. 15. and Lev. 22. 30. must not nor cannot be understood of the same Ceremonial day but it may and must be understood of the same Natural day Object 15. What need had they to keep their Religious Feasts in the night after the Sabbath was not the whole day from Sun-set to Sun-set sufficient Ans It was not sufficient because they must feast upon their Evening sacrifices as well as upon their Morning sacrifices but they could not feast upon their Evening sacrifices untill after Sun-set because many times the Evening sacrifices were not finished till Sun-set 2 Chron. 35. 14. therefore they must of necessity have the night after as the appointed season for the solemnity of their Religious Suppers and therefore the Sun-set
Mar. 14. 17. and when he was come he did not sit down to eat until the appointed hour was come Luk. 22. 14. this hour in general was the latter evening at Sun-set but the particular hour of their feasting was not by the Hebrew Doctors Canons untill three Stars did appear after Sun-set See Ains in Lev. 22. 9. 2 It is evident that our Saviour did not begin to Feast on his Passeover untill the said evening was come and it is evident also that he finished all his religious exercises and solemnities within the space of this latter evening from sun-set till mid-night as I have opened the matter more in my answer to the sixteenth objection Object 17. How can you prove that the Passeover-Supper was celebrated in the night of the fourteenth day seeing you confesse that the fifteenth day began that night at Sun-set and the Hebrew Doctors affirm that the flesh of the Paschal Lamb was eaten in the fifteenth night how then can that night appertain both to the fourteenth and to the fifteenth day Ans It was the fifteenth night according to the date of the person purified as I have opened the matter in chap. 4. and otherwhere but in regard of the Feast it did still properly appertain to the fourteenth day As for example if a Iew were defiled on the Passeover day by any of the lighter sorts of uncleanesses what course must he take that he might not be deprived of the Passeover Feast the answer is he must bathe or baptise himself in Water at the looking forth of the evening that is to say in the after-noon And what then might hee then carry his Lamb to the Temple to be sacrificed No he might not yet go himself to the Temple because his clensing was not fully compleat but yet he might joyn with others and cause others to kill the Passeover for him because he was now in his first degree of cleansing and then as soon as the Sun was fully gone down upon him he was fully clean and then he began the date of his day of cleanenesse and then as soon as three Stars appeared after Sun-set he might sit down with the rest of that Society to eat the Passeover See Ains in Num. 9. 10. And thus the Sun-set evening was the fifteenth day to the Person purified and yet it was properly the fourteenth day still in respect of feasting on the Sacrifices and thus these two actions of Feasting and Purifying may wel bear the date of two severall days thus enter-woven together without any confusion or disorder 1 It was necessary that the Person purified should begin the date of his new day as soon as his Ceremonial cleanenesse was perfected by the setting of the Sun upon him after his Baptising as I have opened the matter in chap. 4. 2 It was also as necessary that the solemn act of feasting upon the flesh of their Sacrifices should bear the date of the same day with the said Sacrifices 1 Because the act of Feasting received no new degree of cleanenesse at Sun-set as the person purified did 2. Because the act of feasting in the latter evening after Sun-set had a necessary dependence upon the act of Sacrificing in the former evening for the act of feasting on the Holy flesh in the latter evening was but to help on the Spiritual application of that document that was typified and exhibited by the sacrifice in the former evening therefore seeing the act of feasting had such a necessary dependence upon the act of sacrificing I see no reason why this continued Sacramental Passeover should bear the date of two several proper Natural days I see no reason why the act of feasting should bear the date of the fifteenth day except it be only in relation to the date of the person purified and thus Maymony above cited must be understood that the flesh of the Paschal Lamb was eaten on the fifteenth night namely according to the date of the person purified though in regard of the Feast it self it was but the fourteenth night still as in my next answer at fifthly I have cited his words Obj. 18. I desire to see yet further how you can prove that the latter evening at Sun-set was a true part of the fourteenth day in the case of their religious Feasting upon the Passeover Ans 1. I prove it by Exod. 12. 6 8 14. verses compared together the sixth verse commanded them to kill all their Passeovers between the two evenings this was the allowed season for the sacrificing of all their Passeovers in Aegypt 2. The eighth verse sets out the allowed season for the time of feasting they shall eat the flesh in that Night namely in that night that doth properly belong to the fourteenth day and then 3. In verse fourteen he doth unite these two solemnâ— actions together in these words This day shall be to you for a memorial yee shall festivally keep it for a feast unto Jehovah mark this phrase This day and yee shall festivally keep it what day doth he mean else but the fourteenth day afore spoken of and yee shall festivally kâ—ep iâ— and yet the Feast was kept after Sun-set Hence it follows that the time of feasting on the Paschal Lamb after Sun-set was a true part of the fourteenth day by Creation though it was the beginning of the fifteenth day to the person purified 2 It is evident that the Sun-set evening is a true part of the same fourteenth day by Creation by Numb 9. 11. In the second Month in the fourteenth day of the Month between the two evenings they shall do it with unleavened Cakes and bitter Herbs shall they eat it In this text Moses doth speak of a Two-fold action to be done in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month He speaks of doing it namely according to the Command that is to say of sacrificing it between the two evenings Secondly He speaks of the act of feasting with unleavened Cakes and bitter Herbs Moses doth not distribute these two Sacramental actions unto two severall Natural days but commands them both to bee done in the same fourteenth day of the month 3 It is evident by Jos 10. 3. that they kept the Feast of the Paschal Lamb on the fourteenth day of the Month at Even Joshuae names only the time of Feasting though the time of Sacrificing must be understood he saith plainly that it must be feasted on in the fourteenth day of the Month at even I cannot see how any man that loves plain truth can deny the Sun-set evening to be a true part of the former day 4 It is evident that the latter evening was a true part of the fourteenth day because the seven days of unleavened Bread have seven latter evenings belonging to them besides the latter evening of the fourteenth day so that they observed eight festival Evenings together and so Josephus doth number them in Antiq. lib. 2. ch 5. and hence it follows that the
Festival Supper which belonged to the last day of unleavened Bread which was the one and twentieth day of the Month did also bear the date of the two and twentieth day to the person purified and this latter evening was the allowed season for all their Holy Festival Suppers and often-times it was little enough for they must boyl and rost all the flesh of their Peace-offerings which were of the greater kind as sheep and Oxen for no Fowls were allowed for Peace-offerings See Ains in Lev. 3. 6. this did much increase the quantity of their Provisions and therefore it required the longer time both to Cook it and to feast on it and all these days of Feasting were commanded to be done with great solemnity especially the first and the last and with many relations of Gods goodnesse for their deliverance out of Aegypt and with Songs and Psalms of praise Deut. 16. 15. Exod. 23. 15. Deut. 27. 7. See Ains in Exod. 12. 8. and in this respect the latter evening was a competent time for these religious Solemnities and to continue the time of feasting longer was a transgression for it is expresly commanded in Lev. 7. 15. that the holy flesh must be eaten in the same day in which it was sacrificed But if the Sun-set evening had been the true beginning of the Natural day then this Holy flesh could not have been eaten the same day as I have noted the reason thereof formerly and then God by Moses had commanded us to do that which is not possible to be done therefore the Sun-set evening is a true part of the same Natural day wherein the flesh was sacrificed Maymony saith as I noted in objection sixteen that the Priests did eat the two Loaves which were presented to the Lord with the Meat-offering of the Congregation on the day of Penticost in the same day and in half the night as the flesh of the most holy things were See Ains in Levit. 23. 20. so then in the judgement of the ancient Hebrew Doctors for Maymony doth but record their judgement the latter evening till mid-night was a true part of the same Natural day in which the Sacrifices were offered though yet notwithstanding the purified person began the date of his new day at the Sun-set afore 5 Thus saith Maymony after he had related divers circumstances about the Passeover then is brought in a Table furnished with bitter Herbs unleavened Bread and the Body of the Paschal Lamb and the flesh Chagigah which is saith he for the fourteenth day of the Month he doth not say which is for the fifteenth day of the Month though otherwise he doth call this time the fifteenth day of the Month both are true in a right sense namely in the sense formerly given and in another place Maymony saith thus The evening of the fourteenth of Nâ—shan is not like the evening of other Festival days because in it are the Feast and the killing of Sacrifices See Ains in Lev. 23. 5. He makes the time of feasting to belong to the fourteenth day and secondly he preferres this evening to the evening of the Festival Sabbaths and therefore prescribes a greater punishment for servile work done on this evening than for working in the evening before the Festival Sabbaths for so is the comparison to be made as I have noted it elsewhere because in this evening was solemnized the proper Feast of the fourteenth day but the evening before was but in way of preparation to the Sabbath it self Thirdly Maymony saith thus They searched out Leaven in the beginning of the night of the fourteenth day Maymony calls the night before the Feast of the unleavened Bread the fourteenth night and yet in another place he calleth it the fifteenth day Thus have I proved not only by Scripture but also by the consent of the Hebrew Doctors that the Sun-set evening is a true part of the former day though it be also the beginning of a new day to the person purified by a Ceremonial institution CHAP. VI. Proving that the Day of Reconciliation was an extraordinary long Sabbath and an extraordinary long Fasting-day and therefore the beginning of this day ought not to be alleged as an exemplary Pattern neither for the beginning of any other Fasting-day nor yet for the beginning of the Lords Day THe Law saith thus in Lev. 23. 32. yee shall afflict your Souls in the ninth day of the Month in the evening from evening to evening you shal rest your Sabbath This Sabbath was singular from other Sabbaths in two regards 1 No other Sabbath was like it for the services of it 2 No other Sabbath was like it for the length of it 1 No other Sabbath was like it for the services of it For 1. All the Sacrifices of this day were commanded to be done by the High Priest only but on other Sabbaths they might be done by any other Priest as well as by the High Priest 2 There were more Burnt-offerings commanded to be offered for the publick on this Sabbath than on any other Sabbath 3 More Incense must be offered on this day than on any other day 4 There was more often sprinkling of blood on this day than on any other day 5 The High Priest did oftener wash on this day than on any other day 6 He used more sorts of Priestly garments on this day than on any other day 7 He did more often change his Garments on this day than on any other day 8 The High Priest did enter into the Holy of Holies on this day and on no day else all the yeer long and thus no day was like this Sabbath in the services of it 2 No day was like this day for the length of it neither in respect of the fast nor in respect of holy Rest of it For though it was commanded to bâ— observed in the tenth day of the seventh month Lev. 23. 27. yet it was also commanded to begin in the Evening of the ninth day Lev. 23. 32. This Evening of the ninth day hath a double interpretation 1 Some understand it of the sacrifice-Evening of the ninth day 2 Some understand it of the Evening at the end of the ninth day where the tenth day begins 1 In the first sense Maymony saith They began to afflict their souls in the Evening of the ninth day next before the tenth day and so they tarried in their affliction a little in the night after the tenth day In these words you see that Maymony doth not hold this fast to begin with the tenth day at the Sun-set Evening according to the date of the new day of the person purified but in the evening of the ninth day next before the tenth day And Maymony saith moreover That they must abide in their affliction a little in the night after the tenth day This early beginning and this late ending of this fasting-day doth increase the length of this day beyond the length of any other fasting-day or
of any other Sabbath day 2 This clause In the ninth day of the month in the Evening is thus read by the Greek Interpreters From the ninth of the month from the Evening and thus they vary the Preposition from In to From and their Translation agreeth fitly to the next clause from Even unto Even you shall Rest your Sabbath and by this reading we may see that the Seventy do make the latter Evening of the ninth day to be a true part of the ninth day though it were also the beginning of the tenth day according to the date of the person purified 3 Hence it is also evident that Moses did not hold the naturall beginning of the tenth day to begin at the Sun-set evening of the ninth day for then Moses words should have run thus From the tenth of the month from the Evening but Moses doth not say so but from the ninth of the month from the Evening either he must mean it to begin from the Sacrifice-Evening of the ninth day as Maymony expounds it or secondly from the latter Evening of the ninth day as a true part of the ninth day as the Seventy understand it or thirdly from the Ceremonial beginning of the ninth day which begins at the Sun-set Evening before the ninth day But then 4 If you will take this phrase from Even to Even to be from the Evening of the ninth day according to the date of the person purified then all the ninth day must be a fasting day as well as the tenth day for the Evening of the ninth day is the beginning of the ninth day according to the date of the person purified but if you desire to avoid this grosse absurdity then you must grant that the natural Evening of the ninth day did not begin but end the ninth day as the Seventy Interpreters do carry it 5 They that do place the natural Evening at the beginning of the ninth day and yet do allow the Sacrifice Evening to be placed at the end of the ninth day they do thereby place the natural morning of the ninth day between the two Evenings of the ninth day and so they do make the morning Sacrifice to be killed between the two Evenings but when men will not receive the truth in the love of it it is just with God to let them run into such absurd consequences as these 6 This fasting-day was longer than any other fasting-day for No fasting-day among the Jews was so long as the Fast on the day of Attonement was all other publick fasting dayes were left to the Elders of the Sanhedrim to be appointed whensoever they were in any distress which were proclamed to be observed in all the Synagogues of the Land as well as at the Temple But they did not injoyn them to begin those fasting dayes in the Evening before with such a strict abstinence as they did the day of Reconciliation for the Hebrew Doctors say That it was lawfull for them to eat in the night when the feast was on the morrow See Ains in Nu. 9. 10. By this testimony of Maymony it is evident that they began all their other solemn fasting-dayes in the morning and not in the evening before except the day of Reconciliation only therfore no other publick fasting-day was of such a length as this yeerly fasting-day was 7 Neither was any other Sabbath of such a length for strict Rest as this fasting-Sabbath was for they must begin the strict Rest of this day either in the Sacrifice Evening of the ninth day or at the beginning of the latter Evening of the ninth But they did not begin the strict Rest neither of their festival Sabbaths nor of the Sabbath or seventh day in the Evening before as they did this yeerly fasting-Sabbath For Maymony saith Such works as may be done on the Evening of a Feast-day they do not upon a Feast-day c. See Ain in 23. 7. By this testimony it is evident that they did not hold the Evening before their festival-Sabbaths to be as holy as the day it self 2 Maymony saith It is unlawful to do works in the Evening of the festival Sabbaths from the time of the Evening Sacrifice and forwards Even as on the Evenings of the Sabbaths and who so doth work in them shall never see a sign of a Bessing and he is to be rebuked and to be made to leave off by force though he is not for it to be scourged or excommunicated except in the Evening of the Passeover after Mid-day whoso doth work therein after Mid-day is to be scourged or excommunicated with the Niddui for the Evening of the fourteenth day of Nishan is not like the Evening of other festival dayes because in it are the Feast and the killing of Sacrifices See Ains in Lev. 23. 5. Two things are observable from this Record of Maymony 1 That the Jews did make some kind of preparation both to their festival-Sabbaths and to their Sabbath or seventh day from the time of the Evening Sacrifice and forwards 2 Hence it is evident that the Hebrew Doctors did not esteem any part of the Evening before their Sabbaths to be as holy as the day following because they did neither scourge nor excommunicate any man for working in the Evening before their Sabbaths as they did for working in the Passeover Evening and the reason is plain because they esteemed both the parts of the Passeover-Evening to be the very day of the Passeover it self but it seems they did not esteem the Evening before the Sabbath to be any true part of the Sabbath it self for doubtlesse if they had esteemed it as a true part of the Sabbath it self they would not onely have scourged and excommunicated such persons that did presume to work in the Evening before the Sabbath but also they would have stoned them to death if they had presumptuously broken the rest of the holy Sabbath Numb 15. 35. And as Maymony makes the Evening of the Passeover not like the Evening that went before their festival Sabbaths nor like the Evening that went before their weekly Sabbath So I may say of the Evening that went before the day of Attonement that it was more strict for holy rest than the Evening that went before any of the other Sabbaths From all the Premises I conclude that no day in all the yeer was commanded to be of such a length for strict Rest as this day was for the strict Rest of this day and the strict Fast of this day began in the Sacrifice Evening or else at the beginning of the latter Evening of the ninth day and it continued not onely till a little after the Sun-set Evening of the tenth day as Maymony saith But also it continued longer for some of the holy duties of the tenth day could not be finished till Mid-night after for 1 The Priests must eat their part of the publick Sin-offering Num. 29. 11. which must be eaten in the same day in
which it was offered Lev. 6. 26. as other Sacrifices were Lev. 7. 15 18. and yet the Priests could not eat the holy flesh of this publick Sin-offering till after Sun-set for the fasâ— of this day was not fully ended till after Sun-set and therefore also they might not begin to Cook that holy flesh untill the Fast was fully ended Hence it follows that the same day did still continue till after Sun-set yea untill it was Mid-night 2 The Priests had another work to do within the limits of this tenth day namely they must burn all the fats and peeces of all the publick Evening-sacrifices of this day which were many and some of their Evening-sacrifices were also offered neer unto Sun-set and therefore this work and duty of burning would require not only the more diligence but also the more time to finish this sweet savor upon the Lords Altar in its own proper day as I have noted the commanded season thereof more at large in Lev. 6. 9. 3 It appears that some of the works which appertained to the morning-sacrifice of this tenth day must begin at Mid-night and that some of the works which must be done about the Evening-sacrifice were such as could not be ended untill the Mid-night after For the first work that must be done on this day in preparation to the Morning-sacrifice was the taking away the ashes from the Altar and these ashes they must begin to take away at Mid-night as Maymony saith See Ains in Lev. 6. 10. And in an other place he saith they took away the ashes at Mid-night and ordered the wood c. and at the break of day they began to kill the daily Morning-sacrifice See Ains in Lev. 16. 4. In like sort they could not finish the burning of all the Evening-sacrifices of this day till Mid-night as I have shewed above from Lev. 6. 9. and yet over and above this full day from Mid-night to Mid-night they began their strict Fast and their strict Rest in the Evening of the ninth day which did increase the length of this day to be an extraordinary long Fasting-Sabbath Hence I conclude That the beginning of this day cannot be alleged as an exemplary pattern neither for the beginning of any other Fasting-day nor yet for the beginning of our Lords day as it is intended by those that allege it for the beginning and ending of the Jews weekly Sabbath from Even to Even CHAP. VII Answering their Opinion more particularly that hold the Lords day to begin at Evening And four Objections are Answered Object 1. IT is objected that our Lords day is come in the place of the Jewish Sabbath which began at Evening and for the proof of this they allege the Example of Nehemiah he is said to shut up the Gates of Jerusalem when it began to be dark before the Sabbath Neh. 13. 19. they expound the word Before and the word Dark in favour of their opinion thus 1. The word Before the Sabbath they say doth mean just before the face or present beginning of the Sabbath 2. The word Dark they say doth mean when it was full Twilight namely when the darknesse in the Skie was somewhat more than the light in the Skie for as long as the light in the Skie is more than darknesse they say the Sun is the cause of it and hence they conclude that the Sun cannot be said to be set till the darknesse in the Skie be more in quantity than the light in the Skie and this they make to be the punctual time of the Sun-set evening when the Jews Sabbath began namely when a Man could not see to read or a Woman to sew Ans This exposition of the beginning of the Sun-set evening and of the beginning of the Sabbath is a new-found devise I have already shewed the vanity of it in Chapter 4. in my answer to Obj. 2. That the Sun-set evening is truly come as soon as ever the Body of the Sun is gone out of fight and that Darknesse is then begun because the shining of the Sun is gone from off the face of the earth and Darknesse is said to begin at the going down of the Sun in Gen. 15. 17. and then the Jews began to set their Night-watches and then the purified person began the date of the day of his cleanenesse and therefore if the Sabbath it self did begin in the evening at all it began then namely according to the date of the day of the purified person which began as soon as ever the Body of the Sun was gone out of sight as I have shewed in chap. 4. and then if Nehemiah did not set a Watch at the Gates of Jerusalem till the darknesse in the Skie was more than the light in the Skie he did not that which was sufficient to preserve the Holy rest of the Holy Sabbath especially seeing they began to make some preparation to the observation of the Sabbath from the time of the Evening Sacrifice before as I have observed from the Hebrew Doctors But I perceive that such as hold the Sabbath it self to begin in Such as hold the Sabbath to begin â—t the Sun set evening can never prove that Christ lay three days in his Grave the evening are necessitated to seek out such odde expositions as this of the time of the Sun-set evening because else they see that they can never prove that Christ lay three days inclosed in the heart of the earth Mat. 12. 40. and they know that Christ rose from the Dead on the first day of the Week Joh. 20. 19. Hence it follows that he must be inclosed in the heart of the earth in the very self-same Friday in which he was Crucified for the first day of the Week in which he arose from the Dead is called the third Day after 1 Cor. 15. 4. and in these respects it is of necessary consequence to describe the precise time both of his Burial and also of his Resurrection or else a doubting Conscience cannot be rightly established in the truth of his three days lying in the Grave But such as hold the Sabbath to begin at the Sun-set evening can never prove it unlesse they can prove that Christ was inclosed in the heart of the earth some distinct time before Sun-set but Luke saith that the time of Christs Burial was when it began to be Star-light Luk. 23. 54. that is not possible to be done for Luke saith that the Sabbath began to lighten with Star-light when he was inclosed in his Grave Luk. 23. 54. Master Broughton Mr. Weames and the Syriac do render the Translation so and the Seventy use the same Greek word in Job 25. 5. for the light of the Moon and it may as well be used for the light of the Stars for they are called Stars of light Gen. 1. 14 16. Psal 148. 3. Let all the circumstances of time about the burial of Christ bee cast up and laid together and then it will put