of Judaism," was founded by Anan ben David about 800 A.D. With a
abnormal in the number or tense" (Farrar, History of Interpretation, p. 22). These rules naturally opened the way for all kinds of misinterpretations. For examples, cf. Farrar, History, p. 139 ff.; Gilbert, Interpretation of the Bible, pp. 44–54.
3. THE KARAITES. This sect, designated by Farrar "the Protestants of Judaism," was founded by Anan ben David about 800 A.D. With a view to their fundamental characteristic, they may be regarded as the spiritual descendants of the Sadducees. They represent a protest against Rabbinism that was partly influenced by Mohammedanism. The Hebrew form of the word "Karaites" is Beni Mikra—"Sons of reading." They were so called because their fundamental principle was to regard Scripture as the sole authority in matters of faith. This meant, on the one hand, a disregard of oral tradition and of rabbinical interpretation, and, on the other, a new and careful study of the text of Scripture. In order to refute them, the Rabbis undertook a similar study, and the outcome of this literary conflict was the Massoretic text. Their exegesis was, on the whole, far sounder than that of either the Palestinian or Alexandrian Jews.
4. THE CABBALISTS. The Cabbalist movement of the twelfth century was of a far different nature. It really represents the reductio ad absurdum of the method of interpretation employed by the Jews of Palestine, though it also employed the allegorical method of the Alexandrian Jews. They proceeded on the assumption that the whole Massorah, even down to the verses, words, letters, vowel-points and accents, was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai; and that the "numbers of the letters, every single letter, the transposition, the substitution, had a special, even a supernatural power." In their attempt to unlock the divine mysteries, they resorted to the following methods:
(a) Gematria, according to which they could substitute for a given biblical word another that had the same numerical value;