Chapter XVII (continued, part 3)
Hycranus left five sons. To the oldest of them, Aristobulus (in Hebew Jehudah),he bequeathed the Pontificate, but appointed his own widow to succeed him in thesecular government. But Aristobulus cast his mother into prison, where she soon afterwards perished, as the story went, by hunger. The only one of his brothers whom he had left at large, and who, indeed, was his favourite, soon fell also a victim to his jealous suspicions. Happily his reign lasted only one year (105-104 B.C.). He is described as openly favouring the Grecian party, although, on conquering Ituraea, a district east of Lake of Galilee, [1 By a curious mistake,Schurer locates Ituraea north
instead of east of the Lake of Galilee, and speaks of 'Jewish tradition' as drawing such a dark picture of Aristobulus. Dr. S. must refer to Josephus, since Jewish tratition never named Aristobulus (Neuest. Zeitg. p. 118).] he obliged its inhabitants to submit to circumcision.
On the death of Aristobulus. I., his widow, Alexandra Solome, release his brothers from prison, and apparently married the eldest to them, Alexander Jannaeus government. The thre periods of his reign (104-78 B.C.) seem indicated in the varying inscriptions on his coins. [2 For the coins of that reign comp. Madden, u.s. pp. 83-93. I have however arranged them somewhat differently.] The first period, which lasted eight or ten years, was that in whichjannai was engaged in those wars of conquests, while added the cities on the maritime coast to his possessions. [3 According, on the second series of coins, which date from his return to Jerusalem, and breach with the Pharisees, we have on the reverse the device of an anchor with two cross-bars.] During the time Salome seems to have managed internal affairs. As she was devoted to the Pharisaic party, indeedone of their leaders, Simeon ben Shetach, is said to have been her brother (Ber.18 a), this was the time of their ascendency. Accordingly, the coins of that period bear the inscription, 'Jonathan the High-Priest and the Chebher of the Jews.' But on his return to Jerusalem he found the arogance of the Pharisaic party ill accordant with his own views and tastes. The king now joined the Sadducees, and Simeon ben Shetach had to speak safety in flight (Jer. Ber. vii. 2 p. 11 b). Butothers of his party met a worse fate. A terrible tragedy was enacted in the Temple itself. At the Feast of Tabernacles Jannai, offciating as High-Priest, set the Pharisaic custom at open defiance by pouring the water out of the sacred vessel on the ground instead of upon the altar. Such a high-handed breach of what was regarded as most sacred, excited the feelings of the worshippers to thehighest pitch of frenzy. They pelted him with the festive Ethrogs (citrons), which they carried in their hands, and loudly reproached him with his descent from 'a captive.' The king called in his foreign mercenaries, and no fewer than 6,000 ofthe people fell under their swords. This was an injury which could neither be forgiven nor atoned for be conquests. One insurrection followed after the other,and 5,000 of the people are said to have fallen in these contests. Weary of the strife, Jannai asked the Pharisaic party to name their conditios of peace, to which they caustically replied, 'Thy death' (Jos. Ant. xiii. 13. 5). Indeed, such was the embitterment that they actually called in, and joined the Syrians against him. But the success of the foreigner produced a popular revulsion in his favour, of which Jannai profited to take terrible vengeance of his opponents. No fever than 800 of them were nailed to the cross, their sufferings being intensified by seeing their wives and children butchered before their eyes, while the degrerate Pontiff lay feasting whith abandoned women. A general flight of the Pharisees ensued. This closes the second period of his reign, marked on the coin by the significant absence of the words 'Chebher of the Jews.' the words being on one side in Hebrew, 'Jonathan the king,' and on the other in Greek, 'Alexander the King.'
The third period is marked by coins which bear the inscription 'Jehonathan the High-Priest and the Jews.' It was a period of outward military success, and of reconciliation with the Pharisees, or at least of their recall, notable of Simeon ben Shetach, and then of his friends, probably at the instigation of the queen (Ber. 48 a; Jer. vii. 2). Jannai died in his fiftieth year, after a reign of twenty-seven years, bequeathing the government to his wife Salome. On his death-bed he is said to have advised her to promote the Pharisees, or rather such of them as made not their religiousness a mere pretext intrigue: 'Be not afraid of the Pharisees, nor of those of Zimri, and seek the reward of Phinehas' ('Sot. 22 b). But of chief interest to us is, that this period of the recall of the Pharisees marks a great internal change, indicated even in the coins. For the first time we
now meet the designation 'Sanhedrin.' The Chebher, or eldership, had ceased as aruling power, and become transformed into a Sanhedrin, or ecclesiastical authority although the latter endeavoured, with more or less success, to arrogate to itself civil jurisdiction, at least in ecclesiastical matters. [1 Jewish tradition, of course, vindicates a much earlier orgin for the Sanhedrin, and assumes its existence not only in the time of Moses, David, and Solomon, but even in that or Mordecai! (Comp. Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Talmud col. 1514.)]
The nine years of Queen Alexandra's (in Hebrew Salome) reign were the Golden Age of the Pharisees, when heaven itself smiled on a land that was whollysubject to their religious sway. In the extravagant language of the Talmud (Tann. 23 a, second line from top): 'In the days of Simeon ben Shetach, the rains came down in the nights of fourth days, [2 In quoting this passage, Derenbourg (u.s. p 111) and Schurer leave leave out these words. [They are ommitted in the corresponding account of this story in Vayy. R. 35, ed. Warsh. p. 54 a; in Siphre, ed. Friedmann, p. 80 a; also in Siphra, ed. Weiss, p. 110 d, where the whole connected is very much as in Vavy. R.] Yet the words are, in one sense, most significant, since these fertilising rains, descending on these two nights when it was specially forbidden to go out, since on them innumerable demons haunted on the air (Pes. 112 b, line 10 from th bottom), indicated an exceptional blessing. The reason why these two nights are singled out as dangerous is, that Chanina b. Dosa, of whom Rabbinic tradition has so many miracles to relate, conceded them to the hurtful sway of Agrath bath Machlath and her 18 myriads of Angels. See App. xiii. In view of this, M. Derenbourg's explanatory note would seem to require to be modified. But, in general, rain even on the night before the Sabbath was regarded as a curse (Vayy. R. 35), and it has been ingeniously suggested that the in the Midrash must be taken in the sense in which that word is explained in Taan. 6 a, viz. as the ordinary time of rain. Why the night before Wednesday and Friday night are represented as left in the power of hurtful demons might open an interesting field for speculation.] and on those of the Sabbaths, so that the grains of corn became like kidneys, those of barley the stones of olives, and lentils like gold dinars, and they preserved a specimen (dogma) of them for future generations to show them what disatrous result may follow upon sin.' That periodof miraculous blessing was compared to the equally miraculous dispensation of heaven during the time that the Temple of Herod was building, when rain only fell at night, while the morning wind and heat dried all, so that the builders could continue their work without delay. [1 This notice is followed by the somewhat blasphemous story ot the achievements of Choni (Onias) hammeagel, to which reference will be made in the sequel.] Queen Salome had appointed her eldest son, Hyrcanus II., a weak prince, to the Poltificate. But, as Josephus puts it (Am. xiii. 16. 2), although Salome had the title, the Pharisees held the real rule of the country, and they administered it with the harshness, insolence, and recklessness of a fanatical religious party which suddenly obtains umlimited power. The lead was, of course, taken by Simeon ben Shetach, whom even the Talmud characterises as having 'hot hands' (Jer. Sanh. vi. 5, [2 Chammumoth.] p. 23 b). First, all who were suspected of SadducBan leaning were removed by intrigue or violence form the Sanhedrin. Next,previous ordinances differing from Pharisaical views were abrogated, and others breathing their spirit substituted. So sweeping an thorough was the change wrought, that tha Sadduces never recovered the blow, and whatever they might teach, yet those in office were obligated in all time coming to comform to Pharisaic practice (Jos. Ant. xviii. 1.4; Tos Yoma i. 8).
But the Pharisaic party were not content with dogmatical victories, even thoughthey celebrated each of them by the insertion in the Calendar of a commemorativefeast-day. Partly, 'to
discourage the Sadducees,' partly from the supposed 'necessitites of the time, and to teach others' (to make an axample; Siphre on Deut.), they carried their principles even beyond their utmost inferences, and were guilty of such injustice and cruelty, that, according to tradition, Simeon even condemned his own innocent son to death, for the sake of logical consitency. [3 Comp. also Sanh. 46 a.] On the other hand, the Pharisaic party knew how how to flatter the queen, by introducing a series of ordinancies whith trotected the rights of married women and rendered divorce more difficult. [4 Comp. Derenbourg, pp. 108, 109.] The only ordinance of Simeon ben Shetach, which deserves permanent record, is that which enjoined regular school attendance by all children, although it may have been primarily intended to place the education ofthe country in the hands of the Pharisees. The general discontent caused by the tyranny of the Pharisees must have rallied most of the higher classes to the party of the Sadducees. It led at last to remonstate with the queen, and was probably the first occasion of that revolt of Aristobulus, the younger son of Salome, which darkened the last days of her reign.
Salome died (in the beginning of 69 B.C.) before the measures proposed against Aristobulus could be carried out. Although Hyrcanus II. now united the royal office with the Pontificate, his claims were disputed by his brother AristobulusII., who conqured , and obliged his brother to abdicate in his favour his twofold dignity. To cerment their reconciliation, Alexander the son of Arisobulus married Alexandra the daughter of Hycranus. They little thought how ill-fated that union would prove. For already another power was intriguing to interpose in Jewish affairs, with which it was henceforth to be identified. Alexander Hannai had appointed one Antipas, or Antipater, of whose origin the most divergent accounts are given[1 According to some (Ant. xiv. 1. 3), he was of noble Jewish, according to others, or heathen and slave descent. The truth lies probably between these extremes.], to the governorship of Idumaea. He was succedded by a son of the same name. The dissension between the two Asmonaeans seemed to offer the opportunity for realising his ambitious schemes. Of course, he took the part of the week Hyrcanus as against the warlike Aristobulus, and persuaded the former that he was in danger of his life. Ultimately he prevailed on him to fly to Aretas, King of Arabia, who, in consideration of liberal promises, undertook to reinstate Hycranus in the government. The Arab army proved successful, and was joined by a large proportion of the troops of Aristobulus, who was not shut up within the fortified Temple-buildings. To add to the horros of war, a long famine desolated the land.It was during its prevalence that Onias, reputed for his omnipotence in prayer, achieved what procured for him the designation 'hammeaggel', the 'circle drawer.' [2 It almost seems as if this repugnament story were a sort of Jewish Imitation of the circle which Popilius Laenas drew around Antiochus Epiphanes, bidding him decide, ere he left it, whether or not he would comply with the demand of the Romans.] When his prayer for rain remained unanswered, he drew a circlue around him, declaring his determination not to leave it till the Almighty had granted rain, and that not in drops, nor yet in desolating floods (which successively happened), but in copious, refreshing showers. It could serve no good purpose to reproduce the realistic manner in which this supposed power of the Rabbi with God is described(Taan. 23 a). But it were difficult to say whether this is more repugnant to feelings of reverence, or the reported reproof of Simeon ben Shetach, who forbore to pronounce the ban upon him because he was like a spoilt child who might ask anything of his father, and would obtain it. But this supposed power ultimatelu proved fatal to Onian during the siege of Jerusalem by Hyrcanus and Aretas. [3 Both Josephus and the Talmud (Sotah 49 b) give an account, though in different version, of the manner in which the besieged sought a supply of
sacrifices from the besiegers.] Refusing to intercede either for one or the other of the rival brothers, he was stoned to death (Ant. xiv. 2. 1).
But already another power had appeared on the scene. Pompey was on his victorious march through Asia when both parties appeadl to him for help. Scaurus, whom Pompey detached to Syria, was, indeed, bought by Aristobulus, and Aretas was ordered to raise the siege of Jerusalem. But Pompey quickley discovered that Hycranus might, under the tutelage of the cunning Idumaean, Antipater, prove an instrument more likely to serve his ulterior purposes than Aristobulus. Three deputations appeared before Pompey at Damascus, those of the two brothers, and one independent of both, which craved the abolition of the Asmonaean rule and the restoration of the former mode of government, as we understand it, by the 'Chebher' or Eldership under the presidency of the High-Priest. It need scarcely be said that such a demand would find no response. The consideration of the rival claimsof the Asmonawans Pompey postponed. The conduct of Aristobulus not only confirmed the unfavourable impression which the insolent bearing of his deputieshad made on Pompey, but sealed his own fate and that of the Jewish people. Pompey laid siege to Jerusalem. The adherents of Hyrcanus surrendered the City, but those of Aristobulus retired into the Temple. At last the sacred precincts were taken by storm amidst fearful carnage. The priests, who were engaged in their sacred functions, [1 According to Josephus, it was on the Day of Atonement; according to Dio Cassius, apparently on a Sabbath. Comp. the remarks of Derenbourg on these conflicting statements (u. s. p. 117, note).] and who continued them during this terrible scene, were cut down at the altar. No fewer than 12,000 Jews are said to have perished. With the taking of Jerusalem by Pompey (63 B.C.) the history of the Maccabees as a reigning family, and, indeed, that of the real independence of Palestine, came to an end. So truly did Jewish tradition realise this, that it has left us not a single notice either of this capture of Jerusalem or of all the subsequent sadevents to the time of Herod. It is as if their silence meant that for them Judaea, in its then state, had no further history. Still, the Roman conquerer had as yet dealt gently with his prostrate victim. Pomey had, indeed, penetrated into the most Holy Place in contemptuous outrage of the most sacred feelings of Israel; but heleft the treasure of the Temple untouched, and even made provision for the continuance of its services. Those who had caused the resistance of Jerusalem were executed, and the country made tributary to Rome. But Judaea not only became subject to the Toman Governor of Syria, its boundaries were also narrowed. All the Grecian cities had their independence restored; Samaria was freed from Jewish supremacy; and the districts comprised within the so-called Decapolis (or 'ten cities') again obtained self-government. It was a sadly curtailed land over which Hyrcanus II., as High-Priest, was left Governor, wihtout being allowed to wear the diadem (Ant. xx. 10). Aristobulus II. had to adorn as captive the triumphal entry of the conquerer into Rome. [2 The captives then brought to Rome and sold as slaves becams the nucleus of the Jewish community in the imperial city.]
The civil rule of Hycranus as Ethnarch must from the first have been very limited. It was still more contracted when, during the Proconsulate of Ganinius (57-55 B.C.), [3 Comp. the masterly survey of the state of matters in Syria and Judaea in Marquardt, Handb. d. Rom. Alterth., vol. iv. pp. 247-260.] Alexander, a son of Aristobulus,who had escaped from captivity, tried to possess himself of the government of Judaea (Ant. xiv. 5. 2-4). The office of Hyrcanus was now limited to the Temple, and the Jewish territory, divided into five districts, was apportioned among five principal cities, ruled by a council of local notables. Thus, for a short time, monarchical gave place to aristocratic government in Palestine. The renewed attempts of Aristobulus or of his family
to recover power only led to fresh torubles, which were sadly diversified by therapacity and severity of the Romans. The Triumvir Crassus, who succeeded Gabinius (55-53 B.C.), plundered the Temple not only of its treasures but of itsprecious vessels. A new but not much happier era began with Julius Caessar. If Aristobulus and his son Alexander had not fallen victims to the party of Pompey,the prospects of Hyrcanus and Antipater might now have been very unpromising. But their death and that of Pompey (whom they had supported) changed the aspect of matters. Antipater not only espoused the cause of the victor of Pharsalus, but made himself eminently useful to Caesar. In reward, Hycranus was confirmed as Pontiff and Ethnarch of Judaea, while Antipater was made a Roman citizen and nominated Epitrophos, or (Roman) administrator of the country. Of course, the real power was in the hands of the Idumaean, who continued to hold it, despite the attempts of Antigonus, the only surviving son of Aristobulus. And from henceforth Caesar made it part of his policy to favour the Jews (comp. the decrees in their favour, Ant. xiv. 10).
Meantime Antipater had, in prusuance of his ambitious plans, appointed his son Phasael Governor of Jerusalem, and Herod Governor of Galilee. The latter, although only twenty-five years of age, soon displayed the vigour and sterness which characterised his after-career. He quelled what probably was a 'nationalist' rising in Galilee, in the blood of Ezekias, its leader, and of hischief associates. This indeed secured him the favour of Sextus Caesar, the Governor ofSyria, a relative of the great Imperator. But in Jerusalem, and among the extreme Pharisaic party, it excited the utmost indignation. The foresaw the advent of a foe most dangerous to their interests and liberty, and vainly sought to ridthemselves of him. It was argued that the government of the country was in the hands of the High-Priest, and that Herod, as Governor of Galilee, appointed by aforeign administrator, had no right to pronounce capital punishment without a sentence of the Sanhedrin. Hycranus yielded to the clamour; but Herod appeared before the Sanhedrin, not as a criminal, but arrayed in purple, surrounded by a body-guard, and supported by the express command of Sextus Caesar to acquit him. The story which is related, though in different version, and with differentnames), in the Talmud (Sanh. 19 a), and by Josephus (Ant. xiv. 9. 3-5), presentsa vivd picture of what passed in the Sanhedrin. The appearance of Herod had so terrified that learned body that none ventured to speak, till their president, Shemajah (Sameas), by his bold speech, rallied thier courage. Most truly did he foretell the fate which overtook them ten years later, when Herod ruled in the Holy City. But Hyrcanus adjourned the meeting of the Sanhedrin, and persuaded Herod to withdraw from Jerusalem. His was, however, only a temporary humiliation. Sextus Caesar named Herod Governor of Coele-Syria, and he soon appeared with an army before Jerusalem, to take vengeance on Hycranus and the Sanhedrin. The entreaties of his father and brother induced him, indeed, to desist for the time, but ten years late alike Hyrcanus and the members of the Sanhedrin fell victims to his revenge.
Another turn of affairs seemed imminent when Caesar fell under the daggers of the conspirators (15 March, 44), and Cassius occupied Syria. But Antipater and Herod proved as willing and able to serve him as formerly Caesar. Antipater, indeed, perished through a courtor perhaps a 'Nationalist' plot, but his murderers soon experienced the same fate at the hands of those whom Herod had hired for the purpose. And still the star of Herod seemed in the ascendant. Not only did he repel attempted inroads by Antigonus, but when Antonius and Octavianus (in 42B.C.) took the place of Brutus and Cassius, he succeeded once more in ingratiating himself with the former, on whom the government of Asis devolved. The accusations made by Jewish deputation had no influence on Antony. Indeed, he went beyond his predecessors in appointing Phasael and
Herod tetrarchs of Judaea. Thus the civil power was now nominally as well as really in their hands. But the restless Antigonus was determined not to forego his claim. When the power of Antony was fast waning, in consequence of his reckless indulgences, Antigonusseized the opportunity of the incursion of the Parthians into Asia Minor to attend the great object of his ambition. In Jerusalem the adherents of the two parties were engaged in daily conflicts, when a Parthian division appeared. By treacheryPhasael and Hycranus were lured into the Parthian camp, and finally handed over to Antigonus. Herod, warned in time, had escaped from Jerusalem with his family and armed adherents. Of his other opponents Antigonus made sure. To unfit Hyrcanus for the Pontificate his ears were cut off, while Phasael destroyed himself in prison. Antigonus was now undisputed High-Priest and king. His brief reignof three years (40-37 B.C.) is marked by coins which bear in Hebrew the device: Matthatjah the High-Priest, and in Greek: King Antigonus.
The only hope of Herod lay in Roman help. He found Antony in Rome. What difficulties there were, were removed by gold, and when Octavian gave his consent, a decree of the Senate declared Antigonus the enemy of Rome, and at thesame time appointed Herod King of Judaea (40 B.C.). Early in the year 39 B.C. Herod was in Palestine to conquer his new kingdom by help of theRomans. But their aid was at first tary and reluctant, and it was 38, or more probably 37, before herod could gain possession of Jerusalem itself. Before that he had wedded the beautiful and unhappy Mariamme, the daughter of Alexander and granddaughter of Hyrcanus, to whom he had been betrothed five years before. His conquered capital was desolate indeed, and its people improverished by exactions. But Herod had reached the goal of his ambition. All opposition was put down, all rivalry rendered impossible. Antigonus was beheaded, as Herod had wished; the feeble and aged Hyrcanus was permanently disqualified for the Pontificate; and any youthful descendants of the maccabees left were absolutely in the conqueror's power. The long struggle for power had ended, and the Asmonaean family was virtually destroyed. Their sway had lasted about 130 years.
Looking back on the rapid rise and decline of the Maccabees, on their speedy degeneration, on the deeds of cruelty with which their history soon became stained, on the selfishness and reckless ambition which characterized them, and especially on the profoundly anti-nationalist and anti-Pharisaic, we had almost said anti-Jewish, tendency which marked their sway, we can understand the bitter hatred with which Jewish tradition had followed their memory. The mention of them is of the scantiest. No universal acclamation glorifies even the deeds of Judas the Maccabee; no Talmudic tractate is devoted to that 'feast of the dedication' which celebreated the purging of the Temple and the restoration of Jewish worship. In fact such was the feeling, that the priestly course of Joiarib, to which the Asmonaeans belonged, is said to have been on service when the first and the second Temple were destroyed, because 'guilt was to be punished on the guilty.' More than that, 'R. Levi saith: Yehoyaribh ["Jehovah will contend"], the man [the name of the man or family]; Meron ["rebellion," evidently a play upon Modin, the birthplace of the Maccabees], the town; Mesarbey ["the rebels," evidently a playupon Makkabey], (masar beitha) He hath given up the Temple to the enemies.' Rabbi Berachjah saith: 'Yah heribh [Jehoiarib], God contended with His children,because they revolted and rebelled aginst Him' (Jer. Taan. iv. 8, p. 68 d, line 35 from bottom). [1 Comp. Geiger, Urschrift, p. 204; Derenbourg, p. 119, note.] Indeed, the opprobrious designation of rebellion, and Sarbaney El, rebels against God, bnecame in course of time so identified with the Maccabees. that it was used when its meaning was no longer understood. Thus Origen (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25) speaks of the (Apocryphal) books of the
maccabees as 'inscribed Sarbeth Sarbane El', the disobedience, or rebellion (resistance) of the disobedient, or rebels, against God. [2 Comp. Geiger, u. s. p. 205, Note,Hamburger, u. s. p. 367. Various strange and most unsatisfactory explanations have been proposed of these mysterious words, which yet, on consideration, seem so easy of understanding. Comp. the curious explanations of Grimm, Ewald, and others, in Grimm's Exeget. hand. zu d. Apokryphen, 3te Lief. p. xvii. Derenbourg (Hist. de la Palest. pp. 450-452) regards as a corruption for, and would render the whole by 'Book of the family of the Chier of the people of God.'] So thoroughly had these terms become identified in popular parlance, that even the tyranny and cruelty of a Herod could not procure a milder judgment on the sway of the Asmonaeans.
RABBINIC THEOLOGY AND LITERATURE
APPENDIX V
(Vol. i. Book I. ch. viii.)
1. The Traditional Law., The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplementedby a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation.
In the first class, or 'Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [1 The numbers given by Maimonides, in his Preface to the Mishnah, and their arrangement, are somewhat different, but I prefer the more critical (sometimes even hypercritical) enumeration of Herzfeld. They are also enumerated in Peiser's Nachlath Shimoni, Part I. pp. 47-49 b.] which may be thus designaterd: religio-agrarian,four; [2 Peah ii. 6; Yad. iv. 3; Tos. Peah iii. 2; Orlah iii. 9.] ritual, including questions about 'clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [3 Erub. 4 a; Nidd. 72 b; Ab. d. R. N. 19, 25; Tos. Chall. i. 6; Shabb 70 a; Bekh. 16 a; Naz. 28 b; Chull. 27 a, 28 a; 42 a, 43 a; Moed Q 3 b. Of these, the most interesting to the Christian reader are about the 11 ingredients of the sacred incensed (Ker. 6 b); about the 26 kinds of work prohibited on the Sabbath (Shabb. 70 a); that the father, but not the mother, might dedicate a child under age to the Nazirate (Naz. 28 b); the 7 rules as to slaughtering animals; to cut the neck; to cut through the trachea, and, in the case of four-footed animals, also through the gullet; not to pause while slaughtering; to use a knife perfectly free of all notches, and quite sharp; not to strike with the knife; not to cut too near the head; and not to stick, the knife into the throat; certain determinations about the Feast o Tabernacles, such as about the pouring out of the water, &c.] concerning women and intercourse between the sexes, three; [4 Ab. Z. 36 b; Niddah 45 a. 72 b] concerning formalities to be observed in the copying, fastening, &c., of the Law and the phylacteries, eighteen; [5 Jer. Meg. i. 9; Shabb. 28 b; Men. 32 a; 35 a.] exegetical, four; [6 Ned. 37 b. These four Halakhoth are: as to the authoritative pronunciation of certain words in the Bible; as to the Itur Sopherim, or syntactic and stylistic emendation in the following five passages: Gen xviii. 5, xxiv. 55; Numb. xxxi. 2; Ps. 1xviii. 22 (A.V. 21); xxxvi. 7 (A.V. 6); about the Qeri velo Kethibh, words read but not written in the text; and the Kethibh velo Qeri, words written but not read in the text.] purely superstitious, one; [7 Pes. 110 b. Not to eat two (even
numbers) of an egg, a nut, or cucumber, &c.] not otherwise included, two. [8 Eduty. viii. 7; Tanch. 60 a. The first of these Halakhoth speaks of the activity of Elijah in preparation for the coming of the Messiah (Mal. iii. 23, 24, A.V. iv. 5, 6), as directed to restore those of pure Israelitish descent who had been improperly extruded, and to extrude those who had been improperly admitted.] Eighteen ordinances are ascribed to Joshua, of which only one is ritual, the other seventeen being agrarian and police regulations. [9 Baba K. 81 a; Tos. Baba M. 11; Jer. Baba K. iii. 2. Among the police regulations is this curious one, that all were allowed to fish in the Lake of Galilee, but not to lay down nets, so as not to impede the navigation.] The other traditions can only bebriefly noted. Boaz, or else 'the tribunal of Samuel,' fixed, that Deut. xxiii. 3 did not apply to alliances with Ammonite and Moabite women. Two ordinances are ascribed to David, two to Solomon, one to Jehoshaphat, and one to Jehoida. The period of Isaiah and of Hezekiah is described as of immense Rabbinic activity. To the prophets at Jerusalem three ritual ordinances are ascribed. Daniel is represented as having prohibited the bread, wine and oil of the hethen (Dan. i. 5). Two ritual determinations are ascribed to the prophets of the Exile.
After the return from Babylon traditionalism rapidly expanded, and its peculiarcharacter more and more clearly developed. No fewer than twelve traditions are traced back to the three prophets who flourished at that period, while four other important legal determinations are attributed to the prophet Haggai individually. It will readily be understood that Ezra occupied a high place in tradition. Fifteen ordinances are ascribed to him, of which some are titual. Three of his supposed ordinances have a general interest. They enjoin the general education of children, and the exclusion of Samaritans from admission into the Synagogue and from social intercourse. If only one legal determination is assigned to Nehemiah, 'the men of the great Synagogue' are credited with fifteen, of which six bear on important critical and exegetical points connected with the text of the Scriptures, the others chiefly on questions connected with ritual and worship. Among the 'pairs' (Zugoth) which succeeded the 'Great Synagogue,' three 'alleviating' ordinances (of a very punctilious character) are ascribed to Jose, the son of Joezer, [1 According to tradition (Sot. 47 a and b) the Eshkoloth, or 'bunches of grapes,' ceased with Jose. The expression refers to the Rabbis, and Herzfield ingeniously suggests this explanation of the designation, that after Jos they were no longer undivided in their opinions. For other explanations comp. Deren'ourg, u s pp. 88, 456-458.] and two, intended render all contact with heathens impossible, to him and his colleague. Under the Maccabees the feast of the dedication of the Temple was introduced. To Joshua the son of Perachya, one punctilious legal determination is ascribed. Of the decrees of the Maccabean High-Priest Jochanan we have already spoken in another place; similarly, of those of Simon the son of Shetach and of his learned colleague. Four legal determinations of their successors Shemayah and Abhtalion are mentioned. Next in order comes the prohibition of Greek during the war between the Maccabean brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. This brings us to the time of Hillel and Shammai, that is, to the period of Jesus, to which further reference will have to be made in another place.
2. The Canon of Scripture., Reference has been made in the text (vol. i. p. 107) to the position taken by Traditionalism in reference to the written as compared with what was regarded as the oral Revelation. Still, nominally, the Scriptures were appealed to by the Palestinians as of supreme authority. The views which Josephus expresses in this respect, although in a popular and Grecianised form, were substantially those entertained by the Rabbis and by his countrymen generally (comp. Ag. Apion, i. 7, 8). [2 For a detailed account of the views of Josephus on the
Canon and on Inspiration, I take leave to refer to my article in 'Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography,' vol. iii pp 453, 454.] A sharp distinction was made between canonical and non-canonical books. The test of the former was inspiration, which had ceased in the time of Artaxerxes, that is, with the prophet Malachi. Accordingly, the work of the elder Jesus the son of Sirach (Jeshua ben Sira, ben Eliezer) was excluded from the Canon, although it is not unfrequently referred to by Rabbinicauthorities in terms with which ordinarily only Biblical quotations are introduced. [3 Comp. Zunz, Gottesd Vortr. pp. 101, 102, and c. Seligmann, d Buch d Weish d. Jesus Sirach. The Talmudic quotations from the work of the elder Jesus have been repeatedly collated I may here take leave to refer to my collection translation of them in Append. II. to the 'History of the Jewish Nation.'] According to the view propounded by Josephus, not only were the very words inspired in which a prediction was uttered, but the prophets were unconscious and passive vehicles of the Divine message (Ant. iv. 6. 5, comp generally, Ant ii. 8. 1; vi. 8, 2; viii. 13, 3; ix. 3, 2, 8, 6; x. 2, 2; 4, 3). Although pre-eminence in this respect was assigned to Moses (Ant. iv. 8, 49), yet Divine authority equally attached tothe sayings of the prophets, and even, though perhaps in a still inferior degree, tothe 'Hymns,' as the Hagiographa generally were called from the circumstance that thePsalter stood at the head of them (comp. Philo, De Vita contempl., ed. Mangey, voi. ii. p. 475; St. Luke xxiv. 44). Thus the division of the Bible into three sections, the Law, the Prophets, and the other 'Writings', which already occurs in the prologue to the work of Jesus the son of Sirach, [1 Comp. also Macc. ii. 13, 14.] seems to have been current at the time. And here it is of great interest, in connection with modern controversies,that Josephus seems to attach special importance to the prophecies of Daniel asstill awaiting fulfilment (Ant. x 10. 4; 11. 7).
That the Rabbis entertained the same views of inspiration, appears not only from the distinctive name of 'Holy Writings' given to the Scriptures, but also from the directions that their touch defiled the hands, [2 The general statement that this decree was intended to prevent a common or profane use of the Scripture does not explain its origin. The latter seems to have been as follows: At first the priests in the Temple were wont to deposit the Terumah near the copy of the Law there kept (Shabb 14 a). But as mice were thereby attracted, and damage to the Sacred roll was apprehended, it was enacted that the Sacred Roll in the Temple rendered all meat that touched it unclean. This decree gave rise to another, by way of further precaution, that even the hands which touched the Sacred Roll, or any other part of the Bible became unclean (so that, having touched the latterm they could not touch the Terumah). Then followed (in the course of development) a third decree, that such touch defiled also outside the Temple. Finally, the first decree was modified to the effect that the Sacred Roll in the Temple did not defile the hands., while all other Scriptures (anywhere else) defiled them (Chel xv. 6) The explanation offered to the Sadducees by R. Jochanan b. Zakkai is evidently intended to mislead (Yad iv. 6), Comp. Levy, Neuhebr Worterb. vol. ii. pp. 163, 164.] and that it was duty on the Sabbath to save them from conflagration, and to gather them up if accidentally scattered, and that it was not lawful for heirs to make division of a sacred roll (Comp. Shabb. xvi. 1; Erub. x. 3; Kel. xv. 6; Yad. iii. 2-5; iv. 5 [where special reference is made to daniel] 6). From what we know of the state of feeling, we might have inferred, even if direct evidence had not existed that a distinctive and superior place would be ascribed to the Books of Moses. In point of fact, the no amount of ingenuity can conciliate the Maccabean application of Da. ix. 24-27with the chronology of that period, [1 This is admitted even by Mr. Drummond ('Jewish Messiah,h pp. 246, 245-257, 260). Mr. Drummond's book is quoted as representing the advocacy by a distinguished English scholar of Maccabean
theory of the authorship of Daniel.] while the messianic interpretation fits in with it, [2 Drummond, u. s. p. 261.] other, and seemingly insuperable difficulties are in the way of the theroy impugned. It implies, that the Book of Daniel was not an Appocryphal, but a Pseudepigraphic work; that of all such works it alone has come down to us in its Hebrews of Chaldee original; that a Pseudepigraphic work, nealy contemporarywith the oldest portion of the Book of Enoch, should not only be so different from it, but that it should find admission into the Canon, while Enoch was excluded; that a Pseudepigraphon younger that Jesus the Son of Sirach should have been on the Khethubhim; and, finally, that it should have passed the repeated revision of different Rabbinic 'Colleges', and that at times of considerable theological activity, without the suspicion being even raised that its authorship dated fromso late a periods as a century an a half before Christ. And we have evidence that since the Babylonish exile, at least four revisions of the Canon took placewithin periods sufficiently distant from each other.
The question hitherto treated has been exculusively of the date of the composition of the Bood of Daniel, without reference to who may have been its author, whether its present it sexctly the same as its original form, and finally, whether it ever belonged to those books whose right to canonicity, though nor their age,was in controversy, that is, whether it belonged, so to speak, to the Old Testament As this is not the place for a detailed discussion of the canonicity of the Book of Daniel, or, indeed, of any other in the Old Testament canon, we shall only add, to prevent misunderstanding, that no opinion is here expressed as to possible, greater or less, interpolations on the Book of Daniel, or in any otherpart of the Old Testament. We must here bear in mind that the moral view taken of such interpolations, as we would call them, was entirely different in those times from ours; and it may perhaps be an historically and critically no unwarranted proposition, that such interpolations were, to speak moderately, not all unusual in ancient documents. In each case the question must be separately critically examined in the light of internal and (if possible) external evidence. But it would be a very different thing to suggest that there may be an interpolation, or, it may be, a re-arrangement in a document (althoug at present we make no assertions on the subject, one way or the other), and to pronounce a whole document a fabrication dating from a much later period. The one would, at any rate, be quite in the spirit of those times; the other implies, beside insuperable critical difficulties, a deliberate regilious fraud, to which no unprejudiced student could seriously regard the so-called Pseudepigrapha as forming any real analogon.
But as regards the Book of Daniel, it is an important fact that the right of the Book of Daniel to cononicity was never called in question in the ancient Synagogue. The fact that it was distinguish as 'versions' (Chezyonoth) from the other 'prophecies' has, of course, no bearing on the question, any more than the circumstance that later Rabbinism, which, naturally enough, could not find its way through the Messianic prophecies of the book, declare that even Daniel was mistaken in, and could not make anything of the predictions concerning the 'latter days' (Ber. R. 98). [1 And yet there are frequent indications that Rabbinism sought guidence on these very subjects in the prophecies of Daniel. Thus, in the Pirqe de R. Eliezer there are repeated references ot the four monarchies, the Persian, Median, Macedonian, and Roman, when, in the time of the fifth monarchy, that of the children of Ishmael, after a terrible war against Rome, the Messiah would come (comp. Pirqe de R. El. 19, and especially 28, 30, and 48).] On the other hand, Daniel was elevated to almost the same pinnacle as Moses, while it was said that, as compared with heathen sages, if they were all placed in one scale,a nd Daniel in the other, he would outweigh them all. We canreadily
understand that, in times of national sorrow or excitement, these prophecies would be eagerly resorted to, as pointing to a glorious future. But although the Book of Daniel was not among the Antilegomena, doubts were raised, not indeed about the age, but about the right to canonicity of certain other portions of the Bible. Thus, certain expressions in the prophecies of Ezekiel were questioned as apparently incompatible with statements in the Pentateuch [2 Among them the following may be mentioned (Chull. 37 b): Ezek. iv. 14 &c., and (Mop 45 a), Ezek. xiv. 31 were regarded as auggesting that these prohibitious applied only to priest; (Moed. K. 5 a) Ezek. xiiv. 19, seemed to imply that an ordinary Israelite might perform sacrifical service, while Ezek. xiv. 18 appeared to enjoin a sacrifice nowhere mentioned in the Pentateuch.] (men. 45 a), and although a celebrated Rabbi, Chananyah, the son of Chizkuyah, the son of Garon (about the time of Christ), with immense labour, sought to conncilate them, and thus preserved the Book of Ezekiel (or, at least, part of it) from being relegated among the Appocrypha, it was deemed safest to leave the final exposition of the meaning of Ezekiel, 'till Elijah come,' as the restorer of allthings.
The other objections to canonicity apply exculsively to the third division of the Old Testament, the Kethubhim of Hagiorgrapha. Here even the Book of Proverbs seems at one time to have been called in question (Ab. R. Nathan 1), partly on the ground of its secular contents, and partly as containing 'supposed contradictory statements' [3 For ex. pro. xxvi. 4, 5.] (Shabb. 30 b). Very strong doubts were raised on the Book of Eccelsiates (Yad. iii. 5; Eduy. v. 3), first, on that ground ot its contradiction of some ofthe Psalms [4 As for ex. Ps. cxv. 17 compared with Eccl. iv. 2 and ix. 4.] (Sabb. 30 a); secondly, on that of its inconsistencies [5 For Eccel. ii. 2 comp. with vii. 3; and again, vii 15, or iv. 2 comp. with ix. 4] (Shabb. 30 b); and thirdly, because ot seemed to countenance the denial of another life, and, as in Eccl. xi 1, 3, 9, other heretical views (Vayyikra R. 28, at the beginning). [6 The school of Shammai was against, that of Hillel in favour of the Canonicity of Ecclesiasted (Eduy. v. 3). In Tos. Yad. ii. Ecclesiates is said to be uninspirited, and to contain only the wisdon of Solomon.] But these objections were finally answered by great ingenuity, while an appeal to Eccl. xii. 12, 13, was regarded as removing the difficulty about another life and future rewards and punishments. And as the contradictions in Ecclesiastes had been concilitated, it hopefully argued deeper study would equally remove those in the Book of Proverbs (Shabb. 30 b). [7 But it must be admitted that some of these conciliations are sufficiently curious.] Still, the controversy about the canonicity of Ecclesiastes contiune so late as the second century of our era (comp. Yad. iii. 5). That grave doubts also existed about the Song of Solomon, appears even from the terms in which it canonicity is insisted upon (Yad. u. s.), not tospeak of express statements in opposition to it (Ab. de. R. Nathan 1). Even whenby an allegorical interpretation it was shown to be the 'wisdon of all wisdom, the most precious gem, the holy of holies, tradition still ascribed its composition to to the early years of Solomon (Shir haSh. R. 1). It had been his first work, addwas followed by Provided, and finally by Ecclesiastes. [8 But on this subject opinion differ very widely (see Shir haSh. R. 1, ed Warshan, pp. 3 b and 4 a) the only point on which all are agreed being that he wrote Ecclesiastes last, Rabbi Jonathan irreverntly remarking that when a man is old he utters dibhre hadhalim, vain words!] But perhaps the greatest objections were those taken to the Book of Esther (Meg. 7 a). It excited the enmity of other nations against Israel, and it was outside the canon. Grave doubts prevailed whether it was canonical or inspired by the Holy Spirit (Meg. u. s.; Yoma 29 a). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were anciently regarded as one, the name of the latter author being kept back on account of his tendency to self-exaltation (Shanh. 93 b). Lastly, the genealogical parts of the Book of Chronicles were made the subject of very elaborate secret commentation (Pes. 62 b).
Two points still require brief mention. Even from a comparison of the LXX. Version with our Hebrew text, it is evident that there were not only many variations, but that spurious additions (as Daniel) were eliminated. This critical activity, which commenced with Ezra, whose copy of the Pentateuch was, according to tradition, placed in the Temple, that the people might correct their copies by it, must have continued for many centuries. [1 In Jer. Tann. 68 a we read three codices of the Pentateuch. respectively named after one word in each codex. the reading of which was either rejected or adopted on comparison with the others.] There is abundant evidence fo frequent divergences, though perhaps minute, and although later Rabbinsim laid down the most painfully minute directions about the mode of writing and copying the rolls of the Law, there is such discrepancy, even where least it might be expected, [2 Thus, we have different notices about the number of verses in the Bible, the arrangement of the psalter, the medial latter and medial word in the Pentateuch, and the number of its sections and chapters (Kidd. 30 a; Yalkut i 855). But the sum total of verses in the Bible (23,199) differs by 99 from that in our present text. Similarity, one of the most learned Rabbinic critics of the third century declares himself at a loss about the exact medial letter, word, and verse of the Pentateuch, while in Palestine that Pentateuch seems to have been arranged into 1,085, in babalonia into 378 chpters (comp. Furst, Kultur-u. Liter. Gesch. p. 62)] as to show that the purification of the text was by no means settled. Considering the want of exegetical knowledge and historical conscientiousness, and keeping in view how often the Rabbis, for Haggadic puroposes, alter letters, andthus change the meaning of words, we may well doubt the satisfactory character of their critical labours. Lastly, as certain omissions were made, and as the Canon underwent (as will be shown) repeated revision, it may have been certain portions were added as well as left out, and words changes as well as restored.
For, ancient tradition ascribes a peculiar activity to certain 'College', as they are termed, in regard to the Canon. In general, the well-known Baraita (Baba B. 14 b, 15 a) bears, that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the book (Prophecies?) ofbalaam, and Job; Joshua the work that bears his name, and the last eight verses of Deuteronomy; [3 But comp. and opinion, perviously quoted, about the last verses in Deut.] Samuel the corresponding books, Judges and Ruth;David with the 'ten Elders,' Adam, Melchisedek, Abraham, Moses, Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah, the Psalter; Jermiah wrote his prophecies, Lamentations, and Kings; King Hezekiah and his Sanhedrin compiled, or edited, the Prophecies of Isaiah, Proverbs, the Song, and Ecclesiastes; and the men of the 'Great Synagogue' the Prophecies of Ezekiel, of the twelve Minor Prophets, and the books of Daniel and Esther; Ezra wrote his own book and Chronicles, the work being completed by Nehemia, the son of Chakaliah. The last verse of Joshua were written by Eleazar and Phinehas; the laster chapters of Samuel by Gad and Nathan. [4 'History of the Jewish Nation,' p. 418.]
Loose and uncritical as these statements may appear, they so far help our investigations as to show that, according to tradition, certain portions of Scripture were compiled or edited by one or another Rabbinin 'College,' and that there were several 'College' which successively busied themselves with the codification andrevision of the Canon. By these 'College,' we are not to understand gatherings of certain members, who discussed and decided a question at one or more of theirmeetings. They rather indicate the learned activity of the authorities during a certain period, which are respectively designed by the generic names of 'the Sanhedrin of Hezekiah,' 'The men of the Synagogue,' the 'Legal Court of the Maccabees,' and finally, 'Chananayah and his College,' We have thus somewhat firmer historical ground. If in Prov. xxv. 1, we read of the activity about the
Canon of 'the Men of Hezekiah,' and bear in mind the Scriptural account of the regilious revival of that reign (for ex. 2 Chron. xxix. 25-30; 2 Chron. xxx. 1), we scarely required the frequent and elaborate glorification of tradition to lead us to infer that, if the collection of the Book of Proverbs was due to their activity, they must have equally collated the other protions of Scripture then existing, and fixed the Canon as their time. Again, if we are to credit the statement that they equally collected and edited the Prophecies of Isaiah, we are obliged to infer that the contiunance of that College was not limited to the life of Hazekiah, since the latter died before isaiah (Tos. Baba Bathra; Yeb. 49 b).
What has just been indicated is fully confirmated by what we know of the activity of Ezra (Ezra vii. 6, 10), and of his successors in the great Synagogue. If we are to attach credit to the notice in 2 Macc. ii. 13, [1 The expression 'the epistles of the kings concerning the holy gifts' must refer ot the official Persian documents concerning gifts to the Temple, &c.] it points to such literary activity as tradition indicates. That the revision and determination of the Canon must have been among the main occupations of Ezra and his successors of 'the Great Synagogue', whatever precise meaning may be attached to that institution, seems scarcely to requre proof. The same remark applies to another period of regilious reformation, that of the so-called Asmonaean College. Even if we had not the evidence of their exclusion of such works as those of Ben Sirach and others,there could be no rational doubt that in their time the Canon, as presently existing, was firmly fixed, and that no work of comparatively late date could have found admission into it. The period of their activity is sufficiently known, andtoo near what may be called the historical times of Rabbinism, for any attempt in that direction, without leaving traces of it. Lastly, we come to the indications of acritical revision of the text by 'Chananyah and his College,' [2 Shabb. 13 b; Chag. 13 a; Men. 45 a.] shortly before the time of our Lord. Thus we have, in all, a record of four critical revisions of the Canon up to time of Christ.
3. Any attempt to set forth in his place a detailed exposition of the Exegetical Canon of the Rabbis, or of their application, would manifestly be impossible. Itwould required almost a treatise of its own; and a cursory survey would neither be satisfactory to the writer nor instructive to the general reader. Besides, on all subjects connected with Rabbinic exagesis, a sufficient number of learned treatises exists, which are easily accessible to students, while the general reader can only be interested in such general results as have been frequently indicated throughtoutthese vloumes. Lastly, the treatment of certain branches of the subject, such asa criticism of the Targumim, really belongs to what is known as the science of 'Introduction,' either to the Old Testament, in manuals of which, as well as in special treaties, all such subjects are fully discussed. Besides these thestudent may be referred, for a general summary, to the labours of Dr. Hamburger (Real-Encycl.). Special works on various branches of the subject cannot here be named, since this would involve an analysis and critical disquisition. But for aknowledge of the Rabbinic statements in regard to the Codices and the text of the Old Testement, reference may here be made to the short but masterly analysis of Professor Strack (Prolegomena Critica), in which, first, the various codices of the Old Testament, and then the text and existing in Talmudical times, are discussed, and the literature of the subject fully and cirtically given. The various passage are also mentioned in which the Biblical quotations in the Mishanah and Gemara differ from our present text. [1 there are the Mishanah sixteen variations: Lev. xi. 33; xxv. 36; Numb. xxviii. 5; xxxii. 22; Deut. xxiv. 19; Josh. viii. 33; 2 Sam.xv. 6; Is. x. 13; Exek. xlvi. 21; Amos ix. 14: Mal. iii. 16, 23 (A. V. iv. 5); Ps. lxviii. 27; Job i. 1; Prov. xxii. 28; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. In the Talmud 105 such variations occur,
viz., Gen. vii 8; 23; xv. 2; xxv. 6, xxxv. 18; Ex. xii. 3, 6; xiii. 16; xxiv. 5; xxv. 13 xxxi. 1; Lev. iv. 25, 30, 34; x. 12; xv. 10; xviii. 18; Numb. v. 19; xviii. 16; Deut. vi. 7, 9, 20; xxiii. 1; xxv. 7; xxxiii. 27; xxxiv 6; Josh. iii. 17; x. 11; xiv. 7, 10; xvi. 6; xxiii. 15; Judg. xv. 20; xvi. 31; 1Sam. ii 24; 2 Sam. iii. 25; xxiv. 15; 2 Kings xvii. 31; xxiii. 17; Is ii. 3; xxxviii. 16; xlii, 5; liviii. 7; Jer. iii 22; xxix. 11; Ezek. x1. 48; xliv. 9; xlvii. 1; Hos. iv. 11; Amos. iv. 6; viii. 11; ix. 14; Hag. ii 8; Mich. iv. 2; Zech. xii. 10; Mal. ii. 12; Ps. v. 5; xvi. 10 (where the difference is important); xxvi. 5, 6; xxxvii. 32; lvi. 11; lxii. 12; lxviii. 21; xcv. 5; xcvii. 7; cxxvii. 5; cxxxix. 5; 6; 8; xiii. 4 xiv. 16; xxxvi. 5, 11; Ruth, iii. 15; iv. 11; Eccl. ix. 14, 15; x. 5; Dan. ii. 29; iv. 14; vi. 18; x. 13; Ezr. iv. 3; Neh. iv. 16; viii. 8 (bis), 15, 17; 1 Chron. iii. 17; iv. 10; v. 24; xvl. 5; xvii. 9; xxvi. 8, 23; xxvii. 34; 2 Chron. xxvi. 2; xxxi. 5, 13] Most of them are, however, of no exegetical importance. On the exegessis of the Rabbis generally, I would take leave to refer to sketch of it given in the 'History of the Jewish Nation,' ch. xi., and especially in App. V., on 'Rabbinical Exegesis,' where all its canons are enumerated. Some brief notices connected with Rabbinic Commentaries quoted in this work will be found at the beginning of vol. i.
4 Somewhat similar observations must be made in regard to the mystical Theologyof the Synagogue, or the so-called Kabbalah. Its commencement must certainly be traced to, an before, the times described in these volumes. For a discussion of its origin and doctrines I must once more take leave to refer to the account given in the 'History of the Jewish Nation' (pp. 435, &c.). The whole modern literature of the subject, besides much illustrative matter, is given in the Italian text annexed to David Castelli's edition of Sabbatai Donnolo's Hebrew Commentary on the Book Yetsirah, or the Book of Creation. For, the Kabbalah busies itself with these two subject: the History of the Cration (Yetsirah, perhaps rather 'formation' than Creation), and the 'Merkabhah,' or the Divine apparition as described by Exekiel. Bkoth refer to the great question, underlying all theosophic speculation: that of God's connection with His creature. They treat of the mystery of Nature and of Providence, with especial bearing on Revelation; and the question, how the Infinite God can have any connection or intercourse with finite creatures, is attempted to be answered. Of the two points raised, that of Creation is of course the first in the order of thinking as well as of time, and the bookYetsirah is the oldest Kabbalistic document.
The Sepher Yetsirah is properly a monologue on the part of Abraham, in which, by the contemplation of all that is around him, he ultimately arrives at the conviction of the Unity of God.
We distinguish the substance and the fom of creation; that which is, and the mode in which it is. We have already indicated that the original of all that exists is Divine. 1st, We have God; 2nd, God manifest, or the Divine entering into form; 3rd, That Divine in its form, from which in turn all original realities are afterwards derived. In the Sepher Yetsirah, these Divine realities (the substance) are represented by the ten numerals, and their form by the twenty-two letters which constitute the Hebrew alphabet, language being viewed as the medium of connection between the spiritual and the material; as the form in which the spiritual appears. At the same time, number and language indicate also the arrangement and the mode of creation, and, in general, its boundaries. "By thirty-two wounderful paths," so begins the Sepher Yetsirah, "the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the Living God, the King of the World, the merciful and gracious God,the glorious One, He that inhabiteth eternity, Whose Name is high and holy, has created the world." But these ten numerals are in reality the ten Sephiroth, or Divine emanations, arranged in triads, each tirad consisting of two opposites (flowing or emanating from a superior triad until the Divine
Unity is reached), and being reconciled in a middle point of connection. These ten Sephiroth, in the above arrangement, recure everywhere, and the sacred number ten is that of prefection. Each of these Sephiroth flows from its predecessor, and in this manner the Divine gradually evolves. This emanation of the ten Sephiroth then constitutes the substance of word; we may add, it constitutes everything else. In God, in the world, in man, everhwhere we meet these ten Sephiroth, at the head of which is God manifest, or the Memra (Logos, the Word). If the ten Sephiroth give the Substance, the twenty-two letters are the form of creation and of revelation. "By giving them form and shape,. and by interchanging them, God has made the soul ofeverything that has been made, or shall be made." "Upon those letters, also, hasthe Holy One, Whose Name be praised, founded His holy and glorious Name." These letters are next subdivided, and their application in all the departments of nature is shown. In the unit creation, the triad; world, time and man are found.Abobe all these is the Lord. Such is a very brief outline of the rational exposition of theCreation, attempted by the Sepher Yetsirah.' [1 'History of the Jewish Nation,' pp. 435, 436.]
We subjoin a translation of the book Yetsirah, only adding that much, not only as regards the meaning of the expressions but even their translation, is in controversy. Hence, not unfrequently, our rendering must be regarded rather as our interpertation of the mysterious original.
PEREQ. I
THE BOOK YETSIRAH
Mishanah 1. In thirty-two wonderful paths of wisdom, Jah, Jehovah Tsebhaoth, the God of Israel, the Living God, and King of the World, God merciful and gracious, High and Exalted, Who dwelleth to Eternity, high and holy is His Name,hath ordered [established, created?] (the world)by three Sepharim [books]: by Sepher [the written Word], Sephar [number, numeral] and Sippur [spoken word]. Others, pointing the worlds differently, render these mysterious terms: Number, Word, Writing; others Number, Numberer, Numbered; while still other see in it a reference to the threefold division of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, of which more afterwards.
Mishanah 2. Ten Sephiroth [emanations] belimah [1 The expression occurs alreadyin Job xxvi. 7.] [without anything, i.e. before these, the sole elements out of which all else evolved], twenty-two letters of foundation (these constitute the Hebrew Alphabet, and the meaning seems that theSephiroth manifest themselves in that which is uttered): there mothers (Aleph, the first letter of Avveyr, air; Mem, the first letter of Mayim, water; and Shin, the last letter of Esh, fire, although this may represent only one mystical aspect of themeaning of the term 'mothers,' as applied to these letters), seven duplex [2 Probably 'twofold' might best express the meaning] (Prounced 'soft' or 'hard,' viz. Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph, Pe, Resh, Tau, which are, or where in Hebrew capable of modification by a Dagesh, but this also must be mystically understood) and twelve simple ones [3 Mark also the symbolical significance of the numbers 3, 7, 12 as the manifestation of God, the Archetype of all else.] (the simple letters of the Hebrew Alphabet).
Mishnah 3. Ten Sephiorth belimah (the analogy is now further traced in God and in man), the number of the ten fingers, five against five, and the covenant of the One Only (God) placed between them (the coventant relationship between God and man in the midts, even as it is symbolised in the person of man which is betweenthe twice five fingers) by the word of the tongue (this, the relation Godward) and by the word of sexualness [nuditas] (the relation earthwards, the one has become dual.)
Mishnah 4. Ten Sephiroth belimah, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven, be informed in wisdom, and be wise in information; examine in them, search out from them, and put the thing in its reality (certitude, proper state?), and place again the Creator in His place.
Mishnah 5. Ten Sephiroth belinmah, their measurement ten, which have no end (limitation): depth of beining (past) and depth of ending (future), depth of good and depth of evil, depth of height and depth of profundity (or, above and beneath), depth of east and depth of west, depth of north and depth of south, One only Lord, God, the true (approved) King, Who reigneth over all from His holy dwelling and unto all eternity.
Mishanah 6. Ten Sephiroth belimah, their appearance like the sheen of lightning(reference here to Ezek. i. 14), and their outgiongs (goal that they have no end, His word is in them (the Logos manifest in the Sephiroth), in running and in returning, and at His word like storm-wind they pursue (fellow), and before His throne theybend (in worship).
Mishanah 7. Ten Sephiroth belimah, their end is joined to their beginning, likethe flame that is bound up with the coal, for the Lord is One only, and there isno second to Him, and before him what countest thou?
Mishnah 8. Ten Sephiroth belimah, shut thy mouth, that is speak not, and thy heart, that it think not, and if thy heart run away, bring it back to its place,for on this account is it said (Ezek. i. 14) 'they run and return,' and on this condition has the Covenant been made.
Mishnah 9 and 10. Ten Sephiroth belimah, One: the Spirit ofthe living God, blessed and again blessed be the Name of Him Who liveth for ever, Voice and Spirit and Word, and this is the Holy Ghost.
Two: Wind (air, spirit?) from (out of) Spirit, thereby ordered and hewed He the twenty-two letters of foundation, three mothers, and 7 duplicate, and 12 simple ones, and one Spirit from (among) them. Throe: Water from beneath (wind), He designed and hewed in them tohu varohu, slime and during, designed them like a bed (a garden bed), hewed them like a wall, covered them like pavement. Four: Fire from water, He designed it and hewed in it the throne of glory, the Ophanim and Sepraphm, the sacred living creatures, and the angels of service, and of these three He founded His dwelling place, as it is said, He maketh His angels breaths (winds), and His ministers a flaming fire.
Mishnah 11. Five: Three letters from out the simple ones: He saled spirit on the three, and fastened them in His Great Name (Jehovah, of which these three letters are the abbrevitaion; what follows shows how the permutation of these three letters makes the vaired relationship of God to
creation in time and space, and at the same time, so to speak, the immance of His manifestation in it). And He sealed with them six outgoings (ends, terminations): He turned upwards, and He saled it with Six: He sealed below, turned downwards, and sealed it with Seven: He sealed eastward, He turned in front of Him, and sealed it with Eight: He sealed westward, and turned behind, and sealed it with Nine: He sealed southward, and turned to His right, and sealed it with Ten: He sealed northward, and turned to His left, and sealed it with
Mishnah 12. These are the Sephiroth belimah, one: Spirit of the living God, and wind (air, spirit? the word ruach means all these), water, and fire; and height above and below, east and west, north and south.
PEREQ. II.
Mishnah 1. Twenty-and-two letters of foundation: three mothers, seven duplex, and twelve simple ones, three mothers their foundation the scale of merit and the scale of guilt, and the tongue of statue trembling (deciding) between them. (This, to be mistically carried out, in its development, and application to all things: the elements, man, &c.)
Mishnah 2. Twenty-two letters of foundation: He drew them, hewed them, weighed them, and interchanged them, melted them together (showing how in the permutation of letters all words, viewed mystically as the designation of things, arose), He formed by them the nephesh of all that is formed (created), and the nephesh of everything that is to be formed (created).
Mishnah 3. Two-and-twenty letters of foundation: drawn in the voice, hewn in the wind (air, spirit?) fastened on the mouth in five places: (the gutturals among the Hebrew letters), (the labials), (the palatals), the linguals), (the dentals).
Mishanah 4. Twenty-two letters of foundation, fastened in a circle in 231 gates(marking how these letters are capbale of forming, by the permutation of two of them, in all 231 permutations); and the circle turns forwards and backwards, andthis is the indication of the matter: as regards what is good, there is anothinghigher than (oneg), 'delight,' and nothing lower than (negah), 'plague' (stroke). In such manner He weihed kthem an combined them, with them all, and them all with with them all, and them all with and thus the rest, so that it is found that all that is formed and all that is spoken proceeds from one Name (the name of God being, as it were, the fundamental origin of everything).
Mishnah 5. He formed from Tohu that which has substance, and made that which is not into being, and hewed great pillars from the air, which cannot be handled; and this is the indication: beholding and speaking He made all that is formed and all words by one Name, and the indication of the matter: twenty-two numbers and one body.
PEREQ III.
Mishnah 1. Three mothers,: their foundation, the scale of guilt and the scale of merit, and the tongue of the statue trembling (deciding) between them.
Mishnah 2. Three mothers, a great mystery, marvellous and hidden, and sealed with six signets, and from them go forth fire and water, and divide themselves into male and female. Three mothers, their foundation, and from them were born the fathers (rerum naturae semina), from which everything is created (fire is regarded as the male principle, water as the female principle, and air as combining the two: is the first letter of the Hebrew word for air, for that of water, the last for that of fire).
Mishnah 3. Three letters, in the world: air, water, fire; the heavens were created in the beginning from fire, and the earth was created from water, and the air trembles (the same word as that in regard to the tongue between the scales of the balance, indicating the intermediate, inclining to the one or the other) between the fire and the water.
Mishnah 4. Three mothers, in the year: fire, and water, and wind. Heat is created from fire, cold from water, and moderate from the wind (air) that is intermediate between them. Three mothers, in the nephesh: fire, water, and wind. The head was created from fire, and the belly from water, and the body from wind that is intermediate between them.
Mishnah 5. Three mothers, He drew them, and hewed them, and melted them together, and sealed with them the three mothers in the world, the three mothers in the year, and three mothers in the nephesh, male and female.
(Now follows a further mystical development and application.) The letter 'e made King in the Spirit, and bound upon him the crown (this refers to farthermystical signs indicated in the Kabbalistic figure drawn on p. 438 of the 'History of the Jewish Nation'), and melted them one with the other, and sealed with them: in the world the air, in the soul life, and in the nephesh (living thing) body, the male with, the female with. He made King in the waters, and bound on it the crown, and melted them one with the other, and sealed: in the world earth, and in the year cold, and in the nephesh the belly, male and feamle, male in, and female in. He made King in the fire, and bound on it the crown, and melted them one with the other, and sealed with it: in the upper world the heavens, in the year heat, in the nephesh the head, male and female.
PEREQ IV.
Mishnah 1. Seven duplex letters, (it will here be noticed that we now proceed from the numeral 3 to the further mystic numeral 7), accustomed (habituated, adapted, fitted) for two languages (correlate ideas); life, and peace, and wisdom, and riches, grace, and seed, and government (the mystic number 7 will here he noted), and accustomed (fitted) for two tongues (modes of pronunciation), the formation of soft and hard, the formation of strong and weak (the dual principle will here be observed); duplicate, because they areopposites: the opposites, life and death; the opposites, peace and evil; the opposites, wisdom and folly; the opposites, riches and poverty; the opposites, grace and ugliness; the opposites, fertility and desolation; the opposites, rule and servitude.
Mishnah 2. Seven duplex letters, corresponding to the seven out goings; from the seven outgoings: above and below, east and west, north and south, and the holy Temple in the middle, and it upbears the whole.
Mishnah 3. Seven duplex,; He drew them, and hewed them, and melted them, and from them, in the world the stars (the planets), in the year the days, in the nephest the issues, and with them He drew seven firmaments, andseven earths, and seven Sabbaths, therefore He loves the seventh under all heavens.