religious and charitable contributions, and falls within our present scope only in
offering and their drink offerings' (Num 6:14,15). The Rabbis explain, that the 'unleavened bread,' to accompany 'the peace-offerings,' was to be made of sixtenth deals and two-thirds of a tenth deal of flour, which were to be baked into ten unleavened cakes and ten unleavened wafers, all anointed with the fourth part of a log of oil; and that all this 'bread' was to be offered in one vessel, or 'basket.' The sin-offering was first brought, then the burnt-, and last of all the peace-offering. In the Court of the Women there was a special Nazarite's chamber. After the various sacrifices had been offered by the priest, the Nazarite retired to this chamber, where he boiled the flesh of his peace-offerings, cut off his hair, and threw it in the fire under the caldron. If he had already cut off his hair before coming to Jerusalem, he must still bring it with him, and cast it in the fire under the caldron; so that whether or not we understand Acts 18:18 as stating that Paul himself had taken a vow, he might have cut off his hair at Cenchrea (Acts 18:18), and brought it with him to Jerusalem. After that the priest waved the offering, as detailed in Numbers 6:19, 20,202 and the fat was salted, and burned upon the altar.
The breast, the fore-leg, the boiled shoulder, and the waved cake and wafer, belonged to the priests—the remaining bread and meat were eaten by the Nazarite. Lastly, the expression, 'besides that that his hand shall get,' after mention of the other offerings (Num 6:21), seems to imply that the Nazarites were also wont to bring free-will offerings.
Scripture mentions three Nazarites for life: Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist, to which Christian tradition adds the name of James the Just, 'the brother of the Lord,' who presided over the Church at Jerusalem when Paul joined in the Nazarite-offering (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. ii. 23. 3). In this respect it is noteworthy that, among those who urged upon Paul to 'be at charges' with the four Christian Nazarites, James himself is not specially mentioned (Acts 21:20-25).
Offering the Firstfruits
2. Properly speaking, the offering of the firstfruits belonged to the class of religious and charitable contributions, and falls within our present scope only in so far as certain of them had to be presented in the Temple at Jerusalem. Two of these firstfruit offerings were public and national; viz. the first omer, on the second day of the Passover, and the wave-loaves at Pentecost. The other two kinds of 'firstfruits'—or Reshith, 'the first, the beginning'—were offered on the part of each family and of every individual who had possession in Israel,
according to the Divine directions in Exodus 22:29; 23:19; 34:26; Numbers 15:20, 21; 18:12, 13; Deuteronomy 18:4; and Deuteronomy 26:2-11, where the ceremonial to be observed in the Sanctuary is also described. Authorities distinguish between the Biccurim (primitiva), or firstfruits offered in their natural state, and the Terumoth (primitiae), brought not as raw products, but in a prepared state,—as flour, oil, wine, etc.203
The distinction is convenient, but not strictly correct, since the Terumoth also included vegetables and garden produce (Ter. ii. 5; iii. 1; x. 5). Still less accurate is the statement of modern writers that the Greek term Protogennemata corresponds to Biccurim, and Aparchai to Terumoth, an assertion not even supported by the use of those words in the version of the Septuagint, which is so deeply tinged with traditionalism.
The Biccurim and Terumoth
Adopting, however, the distinction of the terms, for convenience sake, we find that the Biccurim (primitiva) were only to be brought while there was a national Sanctuary (Exo 23:19; Deut 26:2; Neh 10:35). Similarly, they must be the produce of the Holy Land itself, in which, according to tradition, were included the ancient territories of Og and Sihon, as well as that part of Syria which David had subjugated. On the other hand, both the tithes204 and the Terumoth were also obligatory on Jews in Egypt, Babylon, Ammon, and Moab.
The Biccurim were only presented in the Temple, and belonged to the priesthood there officiating at the time, while the Terumoth might be given to any priest in any part of the land. The Mishnah holds that, as according to Deuteronomy 8:8 only the following seven were to be regarded as the produce of the Holy Land, from them alone Biccurim were due: viz. wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.205
If the distance of the offerer from Jerusalem was too great, the figs and grapes might be brought in a dried state.
The amount of the Biccurim was not fixed in the Divine Law, any more than of the wheat which was to be left in the corners of the fields in order to be gleaned by the poor.206
But according to the Rabbis in both these cases one-sixtieth was to be considered as the minimum. From Exodus 23:16 and Leviticus 23:16, 17, it was argued that the Biccurim were not to be brought to Jerusalem before Pentecost;
nor yet were they to be offered later than the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple. If given at any other time than between Pentecost and the 25th Kislev, the regular service was not gone through at their presentation. Before describing this, we add a few particulars about the Terumoth. In regard to them it was said that 'a fine eye' (a liberal man) 'gives one-fortieth,' 'an evil eye' (a covetous person) 'one-sixtieth,' while the average rate of contribution—'a middling eye'— was to give one-fiftieth, or two per cent. The same proportion we may probably also set down as that of the Biccurim. Indeed, the Rabbis have derived from this the word Terumah, as it were Terei Mimeah, 'two out of a hundred.'
In the class Terumoth we may also include the Reshith or 'first of the fleece' (Deut 18:11); which, according to the Mishnah (Chol. xi. 1, 2), had to be given by every one who possessed at least five sheep, and amounted, without dust or dirt, as a minimum, to five Judean, or ten Galilean, shekel weight of pure wool (one Judean, or sacred shekel = to under two hundred and seventy-four Parisian grains); and, further, the Reshith Challah, or 'first of the dough' (Num 15:1821),207 which, if the dough was used for private consumption, was fixed by the Rabbis at one-twenty-fourth, if for sale at oneforty-eighth, while if it were made for non-Israelites, it was not taxed at all. The Rabbis have it that the 'first of the dough' was only due from wheat, barley, casmin, oats, and rye, but not if the dough has been made of other esculents, such as rice, etc.
Of course, neither tithes, nor Biccurim, nor Terumoth, were to be given of what already belonged to the Lord, nor of what was not fairly the property of a person. Thus if only the trees, but not the land in which they grew, belonged to a man, he would not give firstfruits. If proselytes, stewards, women, or slaves brought firstfruits, the regular service was not gone through, since such could not have truthfully said either one or other of these verses (Deut 26:3,10): 'I am come to the country which the Lord sware to our fathers to give us'; or, 'I have brought the firstfruits of the land which Thou, O Lord, hast given me.' According to Leviticus 19:23-25, for three years the fruits of a newly-planted tree were to remain unused, while in the fourth year they were, according to the Rabbis, to be eaten in Jerusalem.
Biccurim, Terumoth, and what was to be left in the 'corners' of the fields for the poor were always set apart before the tithing was made. If the offering of 'firstfruits' had been neglected, one-fifth was to be added when they were brought. Thus the prescribed religious contributions of every Jewish layman at the time of the second Temple were as follows: Biccurim and Terumoth, say two
percent; from the 'first of the fleece,' at least five shekels' weight; from the 'first of the dough,' say four per cent; 'corners of the fields' for the poor, say two per cent; the first, or Levitical tithe, ten per cent; the second, or festival tithe, to be used at the feasts in Jerusalem, and in the third and sixth years to be the 'poor's tithe,' ten per cent; the firstling of all animals, either in kind or money-value; five shekels for every first-born son, provided he were the first child of his mother, and free of blemish; and the half-shekel of the Temple-tribute. Together, these amounted to certainly more than the fourth of the return which an agricultural population would have. And it is remarkable, that the Law seems to regard Israel as intended to be only an agricultural people—no contribution being provided for from trade or merchandise. Besides these prescribed, there were, of course, all manner of voluntary offerings, pious works, and, above all, the various sacrifices which each, according to his circumstances or piety, would bring in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Biccurim in the Temple
Having thus explained the nature of the various religious contributions, it only remains to describe the mode in which the Biccurim or 'firstfruits,' were ordinarily set apart, and the ceremonial with which they were brought to Jerusalem, and offered in the Temple. Strictly speaking, the presentation of the firstfruits was an act of family religion. As in the first omer at the Passover, and by the Pentecostal loaves, Israel as a nation owned their God and King, so each family, and every individual separately acknowledged, by the yearly presentation of the firstfruits, a living relationship between them and God, in virtue of which they gratefully received at His hands all they had or enjoyed, and solemnly dedicated both it and themselves to the Lord. They owned Him as the Giver and real Lord of all, and themselves as the recipients of His bounty, the dependents on His blessing, and the stewards of His property. Their daily bread they would seek and receive only at His hand, use it with thanksgiving, and employ it in His service; and this, their dependence upon God, was their joyous freedom, in which Israel declared itself the redeemed people of the Lord.
As a family feast the presentation of the firstfruits would enter more than any other rite into family religion and family life. Not a child in Israel—at least of those who inhabited the Holy Land—could have been ignorant of all connected with this service, and that even though it had never been taken to the beautiful 'city of the Great King,' nor gazed with marvel and awe at the Temple
of Jehovah. For scarcely had a brief Eastern spring merged into early summer, when with the first appearance of ripening fruit, whether on the ground or on trees, each household would prepare for this service. The head of the family—if we may follow the sketch in the harvest-picture of the household of the Shunammite—accompanied by his child, would go into his field and mark off certain portions from among the most promising of the crop. For only the best might be presented to the Lord, and it was set apart before it was yet ripe, the solemn dedication being, however, afterwards renewed, when it was actually cut. Thus, each time any one would go into the field, he would be reminded of the ownership of Jehovah, till the reapers cut down the golden harvest. So, also, the head of the house would go into his vineyards, his groves of broad-leaved figtrees, of splendid pomegranates, rich olives and stately palms, and, stopping short at each best tree, carefully select what seemed the most promising fruit, tie a rush round the stem, and say: 'Lo, these are the firstfruits.' Thus he renewed his covenant-relationship to God each year as 'the winter was past, the rain over and gone, the flowers appeared on the earth, the time of the singing of birds was come, and the voice of the turtle was heard in the land, the fig-tree put forth his green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes gave a good smell.' And as these fruits gradually ripened, the ceremonies connected first with setting them apart, and then with actually offering them, must have continued in every Israelitish household during the greater portion of the year, from early spring till winter, when the latest presentation might be made in the Temple on the 25th Kislev (corresponding to our December).
Songs of Ascent
Of course every family could not always have sent its representatives to Jerusalem. But this difficulty was provided for. It will be remembered that as the priests and the Levites, so all Israel, were divided into twenty-four courses, who were represented in the Sanctuary by the so-called 'standing men,' or 'men of the station.' This implied a corresponding division of the land into twenty-four districts or circuits. In the capital of each district assembled those who were to go up with the firstfruits to the Temple. Though all Israel were brethren, and especially at such times would have been welcomed with the warmest hospitality each home could offer, yet none might at that season avail himself of it. For they must camp at night in the open air, and not spend it in any house, lest some accidental defilement from the dead, or otherwise, might render them unfit for service, or their oblation unclean. The journey was always to be made slowly, for
the pilgrimage was to be a joy and a privilege, not a toil or weariness. In the morning, as the golden sunlight tipped the mountains of Moab, the stationary man of the district, who was the leader, summoned the ranks of the procession in the words of Jeremiah 31:6: 'Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, and unto Jehovah our God.' To which the people replied, as they formed and moved onwards, in the appropriate language of Psalm 122: 'I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of Jehovah.' First went one who played the pipe; then followed a sacrificial bullock, destined for a peace-offering, his horns gilt and garlanded with olive-branches; next came the multitude, some carrying the baskets with the firstfruits, others singing the Psalms, which many writers suppose to have been specially destined for that service, and hence to have been called 'the Songs of Ascent'; in our Authorised Version 'the Psalms of Degrees.' The poorer brought their gifts in wicker baskets, which afterwards belonged to the officiating priests; the richer theirs in baskets of silver or of gold, which were given to the Temple treasury. In each basket was arranged, with vine-leaves between them, first the barley, then the wheat, then the olives; next the dates, then the pomegranates, then the figs; while above them all clustered, in luscious beauty, the rich swelling grapes.
And so they passed through the length and breadth of the land, everywhere wakening the echoes of praise. As they entered the city, they sang Psalm 122:2: 'Our feet stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.' A messenger had preceded them to announce their approach, and a deputation from the Temple, consisting of priests, Levites, and treasurers, varying in numbers according to the importance of the place from which the procession came, had gone out to receive them. In the streets of Jerusalem each one came out to welcome them, with shouts of, 'Brethren of such a place' (naming it), 'ye come to peace; welcome! Ye come in peace, ye bring peace, and peace be unto you!'
As they reached the Temple Mount, each one, whatever his rank or condition, took one of the baskets on his shoulder, and they ascended, singing that appropriate hymn (Psa 150), 'Praise ye Jehovah! praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power,' etc. As they entered the courts of the Temple itself, the Levites intoned Psalm 30: 'I will extol Thee, O Jehovah; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me,' etc. Then the young pigeons and turtle-doves which hung from the baskets were presented for burnt-offerings. After that, each one, as he presented his gifts, repeated this solemn confession (Deut 26:3): 'I profess this day unto Jehovah thy
God, that I am come unto the country that Jehovah sware unto our fathers for to give us.' At these words, he took the basket from his shoulder, and the priest put his hands under it and waved it, the offerer continuing: 'A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation—great, mighty, and populous.' Then reciting in the words of inspiration the narrative of the Lord's marvellous dealings, he closed with the dedicatory language of verse 10: 'And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which Thou, O Jehovah, hast given me.' So saying, he placed the basket at the side of the altar, cast himself on his face to worship, and departed. The contents of the baskets belonged to the officiating priests, and the offerers themselves were to spend the night at Jerusalem.
The Word 'Firstfruits' in the New Testament
Turning from this to what may be called its higher application, under the Christian dispensation, we find that the word rendered 'firstfruits' occurs just seven times in the New Testament. These seven passages are: Romans 8:13; Romans 11:16; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; 1 Corinthians 16:15; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4. If we group these texts appropriately, one sentence of explanation may suffice in each case. First, we have (1 Cor 15:20,23), as the commencement of the new harvest, the Lord Jesus Himself, risen from the dead, the 'firstfruits'—the first sheaf waved before the Lord on the second Paschal day, just as Christ actually burst the bonds of death at that very time. Then, in fulfilment of the Pentecostal type of the first loaves, we read of the primal outpouring of the Holy Spirit, dispensed on the day of Pentecost. The presentation of the firstfruits is explained by its application to such instances as Romans 16:5, and 1 Corinthians 16:15 (in the former of which passages the reading should be Asia, and not Achaia), while the character of these firstfruits is shown in James 1:18. The allusion in Romans 11:16 is undoubtedly to the 'first of the dough,' and so explains an otherwise difficult passage. The apostle argues, that if God chose and set apart the fathers—if He took the first of the dough, then the whole lump (the whole people) is in reality sanctified to Him; and therefore God cannot, and 'hath not cast away His people which He foreknew.' Finally, in Revelation 14:4, the scene is transferred to heaven, where we see the full application of this symbol to the Church of the first-born. But to us all, in our labour, in our faith, and in our hope, there remain these words, pointing beyond time and the present dispensation: 'Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body' (Rom 8:23).
'Glory to God on account of all things.'—St. Chrysostom
-end-
ENDNOTES
p1 Quite a different estimate must be formed of the Gemara (which in a general way may be described as a twofold commentary—the Jerusalem and Babylonian Gemara—upon the Mishnah), not only from its much later date, but also from the strange and heterogeneous congeries which are found in the many folios of the Talmud. Judaism was, at the time of its compilation, already thoroughly ossified; and the trustworthiness of tradition greatly impaired not merely by the long interval of time that had elapsed, but by dogmatic predilections and prejudices, and by the not unnatural wish to foist comparatively recent views, practices, and prayers upon Temple-times. Indeed, the work wants in its greatest part even the local colouring of the Mishnah—an element of such importance in Eastern traditions, where, so to speak, the colours are so fast, that, for example, to this day the modern Arab designations of places and localities have preserved the original Palestinian names, and not those more recent Greek or Roman with which successive conquerors had overlaid them.
p2 Thus Chapters 1 and 2, which give a description of ancient Jerusalem and of the structure and arrangements of the Temple, may not interest some readers, yet it could neither be left out, nor put in a different part of the book. Those for whom this subject has no attractions may, therefore, begin with Chapter 3.
1 'By the longer footpath it is 1,310 yards, and by the main camel road perhaps a little farther.' Josephus calculates the distance from the city evidently to the top of Mount Olivet at 1,010 yards, or 5 furlongs. See City of the Great King, p. 59.
2 R. Jochanan ben Saccai, who was at the head of the Sanhedrim immediately before and after the destruction of Jerusalem.
3 Mr. Fergusson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, i. p. 1025, controverts these numbers, on the ground of the population of modern cities within a given area. But two millions represent not the ordinary population, only the festive throngs at the Passover. Taking into consideration Eastern habits—the sleeping on the roof, and possibly the camping out—the computation is not extravagant. Besides, however untruthful Josephus was, he may, as a general rule, be trusted where official numbers, capable of verification, are concerned. In fact, taking into account this extraordinary influx, the Rabbis distinctly state, that during the feasts—except on the first night—the people might camp outside Jerusalem, but
within the limits of a sabbath-day's journey. This, as Otho well remarks (Lex. Rabb. p. 195), also explains how, on such occasions, our Lord so often retired to the Mount of Olives.
4 The third, largest, and strongest wall, which enclosed Bezetha, or the New Town, was built by Herod Agrippa, twelve years after the date of the crucifixion.
5 For particulars of these forts, see Josephus' Wars, v. 4, 3.
6 Barclay suggest that the Xystus had originally been the heathen gymnasium built by the infamous high-priest Jason. (City of the Great King, p. 101)
7 In the chamber above this gate two standard measures were kept, avowedly for the use of the workmen employed in the Temple. (Chel. 17. 9.)
8 Jewish tradition mentions the following five as the outer gates of the Temple: that of Shushan to the east, of Tedi to the north, of Copponus to the west, and the two Huldah gates to the south. The Shushan gate was said to have been lower than the others, so that the priests at the end of the 'heifer-bridge' might look over it into the Temple. In a chamber above the Shushan gate, the standard measures of the 'cubit' were kept.
9 Many modern writers have computed the Temple area at only 606 feet, while Jewish authorities make it much larger than we have stated it. The computation in the text is based on the latest and most trustworthy investigations, and fully borne out by the excavations made on the spot by Capts. Wilson and Warren.
10 According to Mr. Lewin, however (Siege of Jerusalem, p. 270), this celebrated 'ascent' to the house of the Lord went up by a double subterranean passage, 250 feet long and 62 feet wide, by a flight of steps from the new palace of Solomon, afterwards occupied by the 'Royal Porch,' right into the inner court of the Temple.
11 We have adopted this name as in common use, though Relandus (Antiq. p. 78) rightly objects that the only term for it used in Jewish writings is the 'mountain of the house.'
12 The allusion is all the more pointed, when we bear in mind that each of these trumpets had a mark to tell its special object. It seems strange that this interpretation should not have occurred to any of the commentators, who have
always found the allusion such a crux interpretum. An article in the Bible Educator has since substantially adopted this view, adding that trumpets were blown when the alms were collected. But for the latter statement there is no historical authority whatever, and it would contravene the religious spirit of the times.
13 It is very strange what mistakes are made about the localisation of the rooms and courts connected with the Temple. Thus the writer of the article 'Sanhedrim' in Kitto's Encycl., vol. iii. p. 766, says that the hall of the Sanhedrim 'was situate in the centre of the south side of the Temple-court, the northern part extending to the Court of the Priests, and the southern part to the Court of the Israelites.' But the Court of Israel and that of the Priests did not lie north and south, but east and west, as a glance at the Temple plan will show! The hall of the Sanhedrim extended indeed south, though certainly not to the Court of Israel, but to the Chel or terrace. The authorities quoted in the article 'Sanhedrim' do not bear out the writer's conclusions. It ought to be remarked that about the time of Christ the Sanhedrim removed its sittings from the Hall of Square Stones to another on the east of the Temple-court.
14 We know that the two priestly guard-chambers above the Water-gate and Nitzutz opened also upon the terrace. This may explain how the Talmud sometimes speaks of six and sometimes of eight gates opening from the Priests' Court upon the terrace, or else gates 7 and 8 may have been those which opened from the terrace north and south into the Court of the Women.
15 They were 'whitened' twice a year. Once in seven years the high-priest was to inspect the Most Holy Place, through an opening made from the room above. If repairs were required, the workmen were let down through the ceiling in a sort of cage, so as not to see anything but what they were to work at.
16 The three exceptions to this are specially mentioned in the Talmud. The high-priest both ascended and descended by the right.
17 Also a receptacle for such sin-offerings of birds as had become spoiled. This inclined plane was kept covered with salt, to prevent the priests, who were barefooted, from slipping.
18 There was also a small wicket gate by which he entered who opened the large doors from within.
19 The Rabbis speak of two veils, and say that the high-priest went in by the
southern edge of the first veil, then walked along till he reached the northern corner of the second veil, by which he entered the Most Holy Place.
20 The Talmud expressly calls attention to this, and mentions as another point of preeminence, that whereas the first Temple stood 410, the second lasted 420 years.
21 The following five are mentioned by the Rabbis as wanting in the last Temple: the ark, the holy fire, the Shechinah, the spirit of prophecy, and the Urim and Thummim.
22 This class would include the following four cases: the cleansed leper, a person who had had an issue, a woman that had been in her separation, and one who had just borne a child. Further explanations of each case are given in subsequent chapters.
23 Further details belong to the criminal jurisprudence of the Sanhedrim.
24 See Edinburgh Review for January, 1873, p. 18. We may here insert another architectural comparison from the same interesting article, which, however, is unfortunately defaced by many and serious mistakes on other points. 'The length of the eastern wall of the sanctuary,' writes the reviewer, 'was more than double that of the side of the Great Pyramid; its height nearly one-third of the Egyptian structure from the foundation. If to this great height of 152 feet of solid wall you add the descent of 114 feet to the bed of the Kedron, and the further elevation of 160 feet attained by the pinnacle, we have a total of 426 feet, which is only 59 feet less than the Great Pyramid.'
25 Inferring from the present usage in the Synagogue, Saalschutz (Gesch. d. Musik bei d. Hebr.)
26 The flute was used in Alexandria to accompany the hymns at the love feasts of the early Christians, up to the year 190, when Clement of Alexandria introduced the harp in its place.
27 This root-meaning (through the Arabic) of the Hebrew word for priest, as one intervening, explains its occasional though very rare application to others than priests, as, for example, to the sons of David (2 Sam 8:18), a mode of expression which is thus correctly paraphrased in 1 Chronicles 18:17: 'And the sons of David were at the hand of the king.'
28 Curiously enough, here also the analogy between Rabbinism and Roman
Catholicism holds good. Each claims for its teaching and practices the so-called principle of catholicity—'semper, ubique, ab omnibus' ('always, everywhere, by all'), and each invents the most curious historical fables in support of it!
29 Apparently it numbered 24,000, out of a total of 38,000 Levites.
30 This is also confirmed by their foreign names (Ezra 2:43-58). The total number of Nethinim who returned from Babylon was 612—392 with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:58; Neh 7:60), and 220 with Ezra (Ezra 8:20).
31 According to the Rabbis, he was appointed by the Sanhedrim.
32 It is thus we reconcile Numbers 4:3 with 8:24, 25. In point of fact, these two reasons are expressly mentioned in 1 Chronicles 23:24-27, as influencing David still further to lower the age of entrance to twenty.
33 When Josephus speaks of a triple crown worn by the high-priest, this may have been introduced by the Asmoneans when they united the temporal monarchy with the priesthood. Compare Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, i. 807a.
34 The Rabbis speak of a high-priest ordained 'for war,' who accompanied the people to battle, but no historical trace of a distinct office of this kind can be discovered.
35 To prevent mistakes, we may state that the term 'Therumoth' is, in a general way, used to designate the prepared produce, such as oil, flour, wine; and 'Biccurim,' the natural product of the soil, such as corn, fruits, etc.
36 The Rabbis speak of the so-called 'salt of Sodom,' probably rock salt from the southern end of the Dead Sea, as used in the sacrifices.
37 'The birds' used at the purification of the leper (Lev 14:4) cannot be regarded as sacrifices.
38 The reason of this is obscure. Was it that the north was regarded as the symbolical region of cold and darkness? Or was it because during the wilderness-journey the Most Holy Place probably faced north—towards Palestine?
39 If the offerer stood outside the Court of the Priests, on the topmost of the fifteen Levitical steps, or within the gate of Nicanor, his hands at least must be within the Great Court, or the rite was not valid.
40 Children, the blind, the deaf, those out of their minds, and non-Israelites, were not allowed to 'lay on hands.'
41 The Hebrew term used for sacrificial slaying is never applied to the ordinary killing of animals.
42 In the case of birds there was no laying on of hands.
43 The Rabbis mention five mistakes which might render a sacrifice invalid, none of them the least interesting, except, perhaps, that the gullet might never be wholly severed.
44 Whatever was laid upon the altar was regarded as 'sanctified' by it, and could not be again removed, even though it should have become defiled. This explains the words of Christ in Matthew 23:19.
45 Compare the article in Herzog's Encyc. vol. x. p. 633. Some of the sacrifices were burned on the altar of burnt-offering, and some outside the gate; while in certain less holy sacrifices it was allowed to burn what was left anywhere within the city.
46 Except those for the whole people and for the high-priest, which had to be burned outside the gate.
47 Because the Hebrew word for 'man' (Gever) is used in the Talmud for 'a cock,' and 'white,' with reference to Isaiah 1:18.
48 It has been matter of controversy whether or not, in the first years after the destruction of the Temple, solitary attempts were made by enthusiasts to offer sacrifices. My own conviction is, that no such instance can be historically established.
49 In the historical books the term Olah is, however, used in a more general sense to denote other sacrifices also.
50 The 'sinew of the thigh' was neither allowed to be eaten nor to be sacrificed.
51 If they brought a 'peace-offering,' it was to be treated as a burnt-offering, and that for the obvious reason that there was no one to eat the sacrificial meal. Of course, there was no imposition of hands in that case.
52 They also mention 248 affirmative precepts, or in all 613, according to the
supposed number of members in the human body.
53 According to the Talmud, if doves were brought as a sin-offering, the carcases were not burned, but went to the priests.
54 It is not very easy to understand why goats should have been chosen in preference for sin-offerings, unless it were that their flesh was the most unpalatable of meat.
55 The 'horns' symbolized, as it were, the outstanding height and strength of the altar.
56 Seven was the symbolical number of the covenant.
57 Leviticus 5:15; 6:2; 19:20 (in these three cases the offering was a ram); and Leviticus 14:12 and Numbers 6:12 (where the offering was a he-lamb). The Word of God considers every wrong done to another, as also a wrong done against the Lord (Psa 51:4), and hence, as needing a trespass-offering.
58 Hence the leper was banished from the congregation.
59 It always followed all the other sacrifices.
60 The pieces were laid on the hands as follows: the feet, and then the breast, the right
shoulder, the kidneys, the caul of the liver, and, in the case of a thankoffering, the bread upon it all.
61 The 'heave' is, in reality, only the technical term for the priest's 'taking' his portion.
62 See Relandus, p. 353. This, however, only when the feast fell on a Sabbath.
63 The subjoined Rabbinical table may be of use: Meat-Offerings— Requiring the addition of oil and frankincense: Of fine flour unbaken; baken in a pan; baken in a frying-pan; baken in the oven; the 'wafers'; the high-priest's daily and the priest's consecration offering; the flour from the 'sheaf' offered on the second day of the Passover. Requiring oil without frankincense: all meatofferings, accompanying a burntor a peace-offering. Requiring frankincense without oil: The shew bread. Requiring neither oil nor frankincense: The two loaves at Pentecost; the jealousy-offering; and that in substitution for a sin-
offering.
64 Except in the meat-offering of the high-priest, and of priests at their consecration; the exception in both cases for the obvious reason already referred to in explaining sacrificial meals. Similarly, the meat-offerings connected with burnt-sacrifices were wholly consumed on the altar.
65 This is not the place for further critical discussions. Though the arguments in support of our view are only inferential, they seem to us none the less conclusive. It is not only that the name of John (given also to the son of the priest Zacharias) reappears among the kindred of the high-priest (Acts 4:6), nor that his priestly descent would account for that acquaintance with the high-priest (John 18:15,16) which gave him access apparently into the council-chamber itself, while Peter, for whom he had gained admittance to the palace, was in 'the porch'; nor yet that, though residing in Galilee, the house of 'his own' to which he took the mother of Jesus (John 19:27) was probably at Jerusalem, like that of other priests—notably of the Levite family of Barnabas (Acts 12:12)—a supposition confirmed by his apparent entertainment of Peter, when Mary Magdalene found them together on the morning of the resurrection (John 20:2). But it seems highly improbable that a book so full of liturgical allusions as the Book of Revelation—and these, many of them, not to great or important points, but to minutia—could have been written by any other than a priest, and one who had at one time been in actual service in the Temple itself, and thus become so intimately conversant with its details, that they came to him naturally, as part of the imagery he employed.
66 Rabbi Elieser ben Jacob. See Middoth, i. 2.
67 The Rabbinical statement about a correspondence between that service and 'the burning of the yet unconsumed fat and flesh' of the sacrifices (which must have lasted all night) is so far-fetched that we wonder to see it in Kitto's Cyclopaedia, third edition (art. Synagogue), while Gratz's assertion that it corresponded to the closing of the Temple gates (Gesch, vol. iii. p. 97) is quite unsupported.
68 Sunset was calculated as on an average at 6 o'clock p.m. For a full discussion and many speculations on the whole subject, see Herzfeld, Gesch. d. V. Is, vol, iii. Excurs
69 Accordingly the Rabbis laid down the principle that evening prayers (of
course, out of the Temple) might be lawfully said at any time after 12:30 p.m. This explains how 'Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the sixth hour,' or about 12 o'clock (Acts 10:9)—or to what was really 'evening prayer.' Comp. Kitto's Cycl. iii. p. 904.
70 Those who, being declared physically unfit, discharged only menial functions, wore not the priestly dress. They on whom no lot had fallen for daily ministration put off their priestly garments—all save the linen breeches—and also performed subordinate functions. But, according to some, it was lawful for priests while in the Temple to wear their peculiar dress—all but the girdle, worn always and only on sacrificial duty.
71 Probably this had also been the arrangement in the first Temple. See 2 Kings 11:9; 2 Chronicles 23:8. Herzfeld, u.s. p. 185.
72 The partaking of sacred things by priests who had been ceremonially unclean is expressly stated by the Rabbis as 'when the stars shone out.'
73 The Therumoth, such as oil, flour, etc., in opposition to those au naturel, such as corn, fruits, etc., called the Biccurim.
74 Of these there were four kinds, respectively bearing the words 'male,' when the sacrifice was a ram; 'sinner,' when it was a sin-offering; and for other offerings, 'calf,' or 'kid.'
75 The watch at some of the gates seems at one time to have been hereditary in certain families. For this, see Herzfeld, vol. i. p. 419; ii. p. 57.
76 Compare Matthew 14:25. See, however, the discussion in Jer. Ber. i. 1.
77 The part built out on the Chel; for it was not lawful for any but the king to sit down anywhere within the enclosure of the 'Priests' Court.'
78 Or Gazith, where also the Sanhedrim met. The sittings were, in that part, built out on the Chel.
79 For the three great festivals, in the fist watch; for the Day of Atonement, at midnight. See also Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. p. 1135.
80 In Hebrew, Tamid, the constant sacrifice, sacrificium juge.
81 Such language as that of Psalm 27:4 seems also to point to the absence of any liturgy: 'to behold the beauty of the Lord.'
82 The Rabbis ascribe the origin of the morning prayers to Abraham, that of the afternoon prayers to Isaac, and of the evening prayers to Jacob. In each case supposed Scriptural evidence for it is dragged in by some artificial mode of interpretation.
83 It must always be kept in mind that such expressions as 'Our Father,' 'Thy kingdom come,' and others like them, meant in the mouth of the Rabbis a predominance of the narrowest Judaism; in fact, the subjection of all the world to Rabbinical ordinances, and the carnal glory of Israel.
84 Thus the words in our Authorised Version, Matthew 6:13, 'For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,' which are wanting in all the most ancient MSS, are only the common Temple-formula of response, and as such may have found their way into the text. The word 'Amen' was in reality a solemn asseveration or a mode of oath.
85 Perhaps this might therefore be appropriately described as washing 'the feet only,' (John 13:10).
86 The sacrifice was always offered against the sun.
87 This in the case of burnt-, sin-, or trespass-offerings. The skins of the other offerings belonged to the offerers themselves.
88 The words here and afterwards within square brackets are regarded by Jost (Gesch. d. Jud.) as a later addition.
89 So named from the first word, Shema, 'Hear,' viz. 'O Israel,' etc. By one of the strangest mistakes, Lightfoot confounds the contents of the 'Shema' with those of the phylacteries.
90 The practice of folding the hands together in prayer dates from the fifth century of our era, and is of purely Saxon origin. See Holemann, Bibel St. i. p. 150, quoted by Delitzsch, u.s.
91 According to Tamid, vi. 3, the incensing priest 'bowed down,' or prayed, on withdrawing backwards from the Holy Place.
92 A few details for those who wish fuller information. Tradition has preserved two kinds of fragments from the ancient Jewish liturgy in the times of the Temple. The one is called the 'Tephillah,' or Prayer, the other the 'Eulogies,' or Benedictions. Of the latter there are eighteen, of which the three first and the
three last are the oldest, though four, five, six, eight, and nine are also of considerable antiquity. Of the ancient Tephilloth four have been preserved—two used before and two (in the morning, one) after the Shema. The first morning and the last evening Tephillah are strictly morning and evening prayers. They were not used in the Temple service. The second Tephillah before the Shema was said by the priests in the 'Hall of Polished Stones,' and the first Tephillah after the Shema by priests and people during the burning of incense. This was followed by the three last of the eighteen Eulogies. Is it not a fair inference, then, that while the priests said their prayers in 'the hall,' the people repeated the three first Eulogies, which are of equal antiquity with the three last, which we know to have been repeated during the burning of incense?
93 Now follow in the text the three last 'Eulogies.'
94 According to Maimonides, it was at this part of the service, and not before, that the sound of the Magrephah summoned the priests to worship, the Levites to their song, and the 'stationary men' to their duties.
95 The high-priest lifted his hands no higher than the golden plate on his mitre. It is well know that, in pronouncing the priestly blessing in the synagogue, the priests join their two outspread hands, by making the tip of the first fingers touch each other. At the same time, the first and second, and the third and fourth fingers in each hand are knit together, while a division is made between those fingers by spreading them apart. A rude representation of this may be seen in Jewish cemeteries on the gravestones of priests.
96 Dr. Geiger has an interesting argument to show that in olden times the pronunciation of the so-called ineffable name 'Jehovah,' which now is never spoken, was allowed even in ordinary life. See Urschrift u. Uebers d. Bibel, p. 259, etc.
97 It is a curious coincidence that of the two families named in the Talmud as admitted to this service, one—that of Tsippariah—should have been 'from Emmaus' (Luke 24:13).
98 The Talmud discusses the question whether Psalm 92 bears reference to the Sabbath of creation, or to that final Messianic Sabbath of the Kingdom— according to Rabbi Akibah, 'the day which is wholly a Sabbath.' (See Delitzsch on the Psalm.) It is a curiously uncritical remark of some Rabbis to ascribe the authorship of this Psalm to Adam, and its composition to the beginning of the
first Sabbath—Adam having fallen just before its commencement, and been driven from Paradise, but not killed, because God would not execute the punishment of death on the Sabbath.
99 The term 'Sabbath' is also applied to 'a week,' as in Leviticus 23:15; 25:8; and, for example, in Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1. This seems to indicate that the Sabbath was not to be regarded as separate from, but as giving its character to the rest of the week, and to its secular engagements. So to speak, the week closes and is completed in the Sabbath.
100 By depositing a meal of meat at the end of a Sabbath-day's journey to make it, by a legal fiction, a man's domicile, from which he might start on a fresh Sabbath-day's journey. The Mishnic tractate Eruvin treats of the connecting of houses, courts, etc., to render lawful the carrying out of food, etc. On the other hand, such an isolated expression occurs (Mechilta, ed. Weiss, p. 110 a): 'The Sabbath is given to you, not you to the Sabbath.' If we might regard this as a current theological saying, it would give a fresh meaning to the words of our Lord, Mark 2:27.
101 Sepphoris, the Dio-Caesarea of the Romans, was near Nazareth. It is often referred to by Josephus, and, after the destruction of Jerusalem, became for a time the seat of the Sanhedrim. (See Robinson's Researches in Pal. vol. ii. p. 345.)
102 The expression, Luke 6:1, rendered in our version 'the second Sabbath after the first,' really means, 'the first Sabbath after the second' day of the Passover, on which the first ripe sheaf was presented, the Jews calculating the weeks from that day to Pentecost.
103 The altar was whitened twice a year, before the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. But no tool of iron was used in this.
104 This must have been the case on the Thursday of Christ's betrayal.
105 The table on the Arch of Titus seems only one cubit high. We know that it was placed by the victor in the Temple of Peace; was carried about the middle of the fifth century to Africa, by the Vandals under Genseric, and that Belisarius brought it back in 520 to Constantinople, whence it was sent to Jerusalem.
106 We have been thus particular on account of the inaccuracies in so many articles on this subject. It ought to be stated that another Mishnic authority than
that we have followed seems to have calculated the cubit at ten handbreadths, and accordingly gives different measurements for the 'shewbread'; but the result is substantially the same.
107 According to other authorities, however, the incense of the shewbread was burned along with the morning sacrifice on the Sabbath.
108 The year of Jubilee began on the 10th of Tishri, being the Day of Atonement.
109 Idleness is quite as much contrary to the Sabbath law as labour: 'not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words' (Isa 58:13).
110 The manumission of Jewish slaves took place in the seventh year of their bondage, whenever that might be, and bears no reference to the Sabbatical year, with which, indeed, some of its provisions could not easily have been compatible (Deut 15:14).
111 These are: the first and the seventh days of the 'Feast of Unleavened Bread,' Pentecost, New Year's Day, the Day of Atonement, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and its Octave.
112 The term is rendered in the Authorised Version, 'Sabbath of rest,' Leviticus 16:31; 23:32.
113 Because on a Thursday Moses had gone up to Mount Sinai, and came down on a Monday, when he received for the second time the Tables of the Law.
114 The only public offerings, with 'imposition of hands,' were the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement, and the bullock when the congregation had sinned through ignorance.
115 This happened therefore on eighteen days of the year. These will be specified in a subsequent chapter.
116 Tradition has it, that neither high-priest nor king ever took part in these deliberations, the former because he might object to a leap-year as throwing the Day of Atonement later into the cold season; the king, because he might wish for thirteen months, in order to get thirteen months' revenue in one year!
117 The Megillath Taanith ('roll of fasts'), probably the oldest Aramean postbiblical record preserved (though containing later admixtures), enumerates
thirty-five days in the year when fasting, and mostly also public mourning, are not allowed. One of these is the day of Herod's death! This interesting historical relic has been critically examined of late by such writers as Derenbourg and Gratz. After their exile the ten tribes, or at least their descendants, seem to have dated from that event (696 BC). This appears from inscriptions on tombstones of the Crimean Jews, who have been shown to have descended from the ten tribes. (Comp. Davidson in Kitto's Cycl. iii. 1173.)
118 Abib is the month of 'sprouting' or of 'green ears.' Esther 3:7; Nehemiah 2:1.
119 These computations, being derived from official documents, can scarcely have been much exaggerated. Indeed, Josephus expressly guards himself against this charge.
120 It is deeply interesting that the Talmud (Pes. 53) specially mentions Bethphage and Bethany as celebrated for their hospitality towards the festive pilgrims.
121 The article in Kitto's Cyc. (3rd edition), vol. iii. p. 425, calls this day, 'the preparation for the Passover,' and confounds it with John 19:14. But from the evening of the 14th to that of the 15th is never called in Jewish writings 'the preparation for,' but 'the eve of, the Passover.' Moreover, the period described in John 19:14 was after, not before, the Passover. Dean Alford's notes on this passage, and on Matthew 26:17, suggest a number of needless difficulties, and contain inaccuracies, due to a want of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew authorities. In attempting an accurate chronology of these days, it must always be remembered that the Passover was sacrificed between the evenings of the 14th and the 15th of Nisan; that is, before the close of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th. The Paschal Supper, however, took place on the 15th itself (that is, according to Jewish reckoning—the day beginning as the first stars became visible). 'The preparation' in John 19:14 means, as in verse 31, the preparationday for the Sabbath, and the 'Passover,' as in 18:39, the whole Paschal week.
122 According to the Talmud, 'the daily (evening) sacrifice precedes that of the Paschal lamb; the Paschal lamb the burning of the incense, the incense the trimming of the lamps' (for the night).
123 The words of the Mishnah (Pes. x. 3) are: 'While the Sanctuary stood, they brought before him his body of (or for) the Passover.' The term 'body' also
sometimes means 'substance.'
124 The same root as employed in Exodus 13:8—'And thou shalt show thy son in that day,' and from this the term 'Haggadah' has unquestionably been derived.
125 The Karaites are alone in not admitting women to the Paschal Supper.
126 Every reader of the Bible knows how symbolically significant alike the vine and its fruit are throughout Scripture. Over the entrance to the Sanctuary a golden vine of immense proportions was suspended.
127 Of this there cannot be the slightest doubt. Indeed, the following quotation from the Mishnah (Pes. vii. 13) might even induce one to believe that warm water was mixed with the wine: 'If two companies eat (the Passover) in the same house, the one turns its face to one side, the other to the other, and the kettle (warming kettle) stands between them.'
128 Such, according to the best criticism, were the words of this prayer at the time of Christ. But I must repeat that in regard to many of these prayers I cannot help suspecting that they rather indicate the spirit and direction of a prayer than embody the ipsissima verba.
129 The modern practice of the Jews slightly differs form the ancient here, and in some other little matters of detail.
130 The distinction is also interesting as explaining Mark 7:3. For when water was poured on the hands, they had to be lifted, yet so that the water should neither run up above the wrist, nor back again upon the hand; best, therefore, by doubling the fingers into a fist. Hence (as Lightfoot rightly remarks) Mark 7:3, which should be translated: 'For the Pharisees...except they wash their hands with the fist, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.' The rendering of our Authorised Version, 'except they wash oft,' has evidently no meaning.
131 It is a curious circumstance that the Mishnah seems to contemplate the same painful case of drunkenness at the Paschal Supper, which, as we know, actually occurred in the church at Corinth, that so closely imitated the Jewish practice. The Mishnah does not, indeed, speak in so many words of drunkenness, but it lays down this rule: 'Does any one sleep at the Passover meal and wake again, he may not eat again after he is awaked.'
132 Exceptionally a fifth cup was drunk, and over it 'the great Hallel' was
said, comprising Psalms 120-137.
133 In this, as in many other particulars, the teaching of Shammai differed from that of Hillel. We have followed Hillel, whose authority is generally recognised.
134 We derive our account from all the four Gospels. The language of St. John (18:3,12) leaves no doubt that a detachment of Roman soldiers accompanied such of the elders and priests as went out with the Temple guard to take Jesus. Thee was no need to apply for Pilate's permission (as Lange supposes) before securing the aid of the soldiers.
135 We cannot here enter on the evidence; the fact is generally admitted even by Jewish writers.
136 The evidence that the expression in John 18:28, 'They went not into the judgment-hall...that they might eat the Passover,' refers not to the Paschal lamb, but to the Chagigah, is exceedingly strong, in fact, such as to have even convinced an eminent but impartial Jewish writer (Saalschutz, Mos. Recht, p. 414). It does seem strange that it should be either unknown to, or ignored by, 'Christian' writers.
137 This would not necessarily disclose a view of the Most Holy Place if, as the Rabbis assert, there were two veils between the Holy and the Most Holy Place.
138 The field was to be ploughed in the autumn, and sowed seventy days before the Passover.
139 There was a controversy on this point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The article in Kitto's Cycl. erroneously names the afternoon of the 16th of Nisan as that on which the sheaf was cut. It was really done after sunset on the 15th, which was the beginning of the 16th of Nisan.
140 The term is difficult to define. The Mishnah (Men. ii. 2) says, 'He stretcheth the fingers over the flat of the hand.' I suppose, bending them inwards.
141 Owing to the peculiarity of the Jewish calendar, Pentecost did not always take place exactly on the 6th Sivan. Care was taken that it should not occur on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. (Reland. p. 430.)
142 The completion of the wheat harvest throughout the land is computed by
the Rabbis at about a month later. See Relandus, Antiq. p. 428.
143 This offering, accompanying the wave-loaves, has by some been confounded with the festive sacrifices of the day, as enumerated in Numbers 28:27. But the two are manifestly quite distinct.
144 In the case of the first omer it had been thirteen sieves; but both specifications may be regarded as Rabbinical fancifulness.
145 These numbers are sufficiently accurate for general computation. By actual experiment I find that a pint of flour weighs about three-quarters of a pound and two ounces, and that 3 3/4 lbs. of flour, with half a teacup of barm and an ounce of salt, yield 5 3/4 pounds of dough and 5 1/4 lbs. of bread.
146 The Rabbinical statement is, that the whole offering was to be waved together by a priest; but that if each loaf, with one breast and shoulder of lamb, was waved separately, it was valid. From the weight of the mass, this must have been the common practice.
147 Quite another picture is drawn in Hosea 9, which seems also to refer to the Feast of Tabernacles (see specially verse 5). Indeed, it is remarkable how many allusions to this feast occur in the writings of the prophets, as if its types were the goal of all their desires.
148 Of course, one or other of these two views is open, either, that the words of Isaiah were based on the ceremony of water-pouring, or that this ceremony was derived from the words of Isaiah. In either case, however, our inference from it holds good. It is only fair to add, that by some the expression 'water' in Isaiah 12:3 is applied to the 'law.' But this in no way vitiates our conclusion, as the Jews expected the general conversion of the Gentiles to be a conversion to Judaism.
149 In later times only certain portions were read, the law as a whole being sufficiently known from the weekly prelections in the synagogues.
150 There is a curious and somewhat blasphemous Haggadah, or story, in the Talmud on this subject. It appears that at first the sun and moon had been created of equal size, but that when the moon wished to be sole 'ruler' to the exclusion of the sun, her jealousy was punished by diminution. In reply to her arguments and importunity, God had then tried to comfort the moon, that the three righteous men, Jacob, Samuel, and David, were likewise to be small—and when even thus
the moon had the better of the reasoning, God had directed that a 'sin-offering' should be brought on the new moon, because He had made the moon smaller and less important than the sun!
151 The Talmud has this curious story in explanation of the custom that women abstain from work on New Moons—that the women had refused to give their earrings for the golden calf, while the men gave theirs, whereas, on the other hand, the Jewish females contributed their ornaments for the Tabernacle.
152 In another place we have adopted the common, modern view, that this distinction only dates from the return from Babylon. But it must be admitted that the weight of authority is all on the other side. The Jews hold that the world was created in the month Tishri.
153 The two principal passages are Psalm 69:28, and Exodus 32:32; the former is thus explained: 'Let them be blotted out of the book,' which means the book of the wicked, while the expression 'of the living' refers to that of the righteous, so that the next clause, 'and not be written with the righteous,' is supposed to indicate the existence of a third or intermediate book!
154 In opposition to this, Luther annotates as follows: 'They were to blow with the horn in order to call God and His wondrous works to remembrance; how He had redeemed them—as it were to preach about it, and to thank Him for it, just as among us Christ and His redemption is remembered and preached by the Gospel'; to which the Weimar Glossary adds: 'Instead of the horn and trumpets we have bells.' See Lundius, Jud. Heiligth. p. 1024, col. ii. Buxtorf applies Amos 3:16 to the blowing of the horn.
155 From the text of Rosh ha Sh. iv. 7, it distinctly appears that they were intended to be used in the synagogues. Of course, this leaves the question open, whether or not something like them was also said in the Temple. The Mishnah mentions altogether nine of these 'benedictions.'
156 But in the synagogues out of Jerusalem, the horn, not trumpets, was blown on New Year's Day.
157 In that case we should translate Hebrews 7:27, 'Who needeth not on each day (viz. of atonement), as those high-priests, to offer up his sacrifices,' etc.
158 According to the Jewish view, it was also the day on which Adam had both sinned and repented; that on which Abraham was circumcised; and that on
which Moses returned from the mount and made atonement for the sin of the golden calf.
159 May not the 'sprinkling of the ashes of an heifer' in Hebrews 9:13 refer to this? The whole section bears on the Day of Atonement.
160 The only interesting point here is the Scriptural argument on which the Sadducees based their view. They appealed to Leviticus 16:2, and explained the expression, 'I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat,' in a rationalistic sense as applying to the cloud of incense, not to that of the Divine Presence, while the Pharisees appealed to verse 13.
161 In case of age or infirmity, the bath was allowed to be heated, either by adding warm water, or by putting hot irons into it.
162 The high-priest did not on that day wash in the ordinary laver, but in a golden vessel specially provided for the purpose.
163 Possibly some readers may not know that the Jews never pronounce the word Jehovah, but always substitute for it 'Lord' (printed in capitals in the Authorised Version). Indeed, the right pronunciation of the word has been lost, and is matter of dispute, all that we have in the Hebrew being the letters I. H. V. H.—forming the so-called tetragrammaton, or 'four-lettered word.'
164 We give the prayer in its simplest form from the Talmud. But we cannot help feeling that its form savours of later than Temple-times. Probably only its substance dates from those days, and each high-priest may have been at liberty to formulate it according to his own views.
165 Who might pray against the fall of rain. It must be remembered that the autumn rains, on which the fruitfulness of the land depended, were just due.
166 This on account of the situation of that valley, which was threatened either by sudden floods or by dangerous landslips.
167 The Talmud has it, that the foreign Jews present used to burst into words and deeds of impatience, that the 'sin-bearer' might be gone.
168 May there be here also a reference to the doctrine of Christ's descent into Hades?
169 We have generally adopted the rendering of Dean Alford, where the reader will perceive any divergence from the Authorised Version.
170 But this was not strictly necessary; he might in this part of the service have even officiated in his ordinary layman's dress.
171 Hebrews 9:7 states that the high-priest went 'once in every year,' that is, on one day in every year, not on one occasion during that day.
172 The Talmud repeatedly states the fact and gives the song. Nevertheless we have some doubt on the subject, though the reporter in the Mishnah is said to be none other than Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, Paul's teacher.
173 Only woollen socks are to be used—the only exception is, where there is fear of serpents or scorpions.
174 Kings and brides within thirty days of their wedding are allowed to wash their faces; the use of a towel which has been dipped the previous day in water is also conceded.
175 For high-handed, purposed sins, the law provided no sacrifice (Heb 10:26), and it is even doubtful whether they are included in the declaration Leviticus 16:21, wide as it is. Thank God, we know that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin,' without exception.
176 The learned Jost (Gesch. d. Judenth., i. 42, note 1) suggests that these '85 elders' were really the commencement of 'the great synagogue,' to which so many of the Jewish ordinances were traced in later times. The number was afterwards, as Jost thinks, arbitrarily increased to 120, which is that assigned by tradition to 'the great synagogue.' 'The great synagogue' may be regarded as the 'constituent' Jewish authority on all questions of ritual after the return from Babylon. Lastly, Jost suggests that the original 85 were the signatories to 'the covenant,' named in Nehemiah 10:1-27.
177 In point of fact, the three are so compared in 2 Maccabees x. 6, and even the same name applied to them, i. 9, 18.
178 According to tradition, the first candlestick in that Temple was of iron, tinned over; the second of silver, and then only a golden one was procured.
179 Our account is based on the Mishnah (Taan. ii). But we have not given the Psalms in the order there mentioned, nor yet reproduced the prayers and 'benedictions,' because they seem mostly, if not entirely, to be of later date. In general, each of the latter bases the hope of being heard on some Scriptural example of deliverance in answer to prayer, such as that of Abraham on Mount
Moriah, of Israel when passing through the Red Sea, of Joshua at Gilgal, of Samuel at Mizpah, of Elijah on Mount Carmel, of Jonah in the whale's belly, and of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. Certain relaxations of the fast were allowed to the priests when actually on their ministry.
180 See the very interesting description of details in Taan. ii. 5.
181 Of the three sects or schools the Pharisees were here the strictest, being in this also at the opposite pole from the Sadducees. The fasts of the Essenes were indeed even more stringent, and almost constant, but they were intended not to procure merit, but to set the soul free from the bondage of the body, which was regarded as the seat of all sin. Besides the above-mentioned fast, and one of all the firstborn on the eve of every Passover, such of the 'men of the station' as went not up to Jerusalem with their company fasted on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in their respective synagogues, and prayed for a blessing on their brethren and on the people. They connected their fasts and prayers with the section in Genesis 1, which they read on those days—praying on the Monday (Gen 1:9) for those at sea; on the Tuesday (v 11,12) for all on a journey; on the Wednesday (v 14) on account of the supposed dangerous influence of sun and moon, against diseases of children; and on the Thursday (v 20) for women labouring with child and for infants.
Further particulars would lead us from a description of the Temple-services to those of the synagogue. But it is interesting to note how closely the Roman Church has adopted the practices of the synagogue. In imitation of the four Jewish fasts mentioned in Zechariah 8:19, the year was divided into four seasons —Quatember—each marked by a fast—three of these being traced by tradition to Bishop Callistus (223), and the fourth to Pope Leo I (44). In 1095, Urban II fixed these four fasts on the Wednesdays after Ash-Wednesday, Whit-Sunday, the Exaltation of the Cross, and the Feast of S. Lucia (13th December). The early Church substituted for the two weekly Jewish fast-days— Monday and Thursday —the so-called 'dies stationum,' 'guard or watch-days' of the Christian soldier, or Christian fast-days—Wednesday and Friday, on which the Saviour had been respectively betrayed and crucified.
182 According to the Mishnah (Beehor. viii. 7) 'of Tyrian weight' = 10 to 12 shillings of our money. The Rabbis lay it down that redemption-money was only paid for a son who was the first-born of his mother, and who was 'suitable for the priesthood,' that is, had no disqualifying bodily blemishes.
183 According to Jewish tradition, a dead body, however deeply buried, communicated defilement all the way up to the surface, unless indeed it were vaulted in, or vaulted over, to cut off contact with the earth above.
184 The Authorised Version translates, without any reason: 'It is a purification for sin.'
185 The only other instance in which this is enjoined is Deuteronomy 21:3, though we read of it again in 1 Samuel 6:7.
186 Hence the high-priest was prohibited from offering the red heifer.
187 The Hebrew (Piel) form for 'purge from sin' has no English equivalent, unless we were to coin the word 'unsin' or 'unguilt' me—remove my sin.
188 Or Gihon. According to Jewish tradition, the kings were always anointed at Siloam (1 Kings 1:33,38).
189 It might be purchased even from non-Israelites, and the Talmud relates a curious story, showing at the same time the reward of filial piety, and the fabulous amount which it is supposed such a red heifer might fetch.
190 Philo erroneously states that the high-priest was sprinkled with it each time before ministering at the altar. The truth is, he was only so sprinkled in preparation for the Day of Atonement, in case he might have been unwittingly defiled. Is the Romish use of 'holy water' derived from Jewish purifications, or from the Greek heathen practice of sprinkling on entering a temple?
191 The other three classes are the blind, the poor, and those who have no children.
192 All popular writers on typology have fallen into this error. Even the learned Lightfoot has committed it. It is also adopted by Mr. Poole in Smith's Dict. of the Bible (ii. p. 94), and curiously accounted for by the altogether unfounded hypothesis that the law 'imposed segregation' only 'while the disease manifested activity'!
193 Even the modified view of Keil, which is substantially adopted in Kitto's Encycl. (3rd edit.), p. 812, that the state described in Leviticus 13:12, 13, 'was regarded as indicative of the crisis, as the whole evil matter thus brought to the surface formed itself into a scale, which dried and peeled off,' does not meet the requirements of the text.
194 May not our Saviour refer to this when He speaks of 'sparrows' as of marketable value: 'Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing' (Matt 10:29)?
195 The Mishnah and all commentators apply this to conjugal intercourse.
196 The significance of anointing the head with oil is sufficiently known.
197 The tractate Sotah enters into every possible detail, with prurient casuistry—the tendency, as always in Jewish criminal law, being in favour of the accused.
198 According to Rabbinical law adulteresses only suffered death if they persisted in the actual crime after having been warned of the consequences by two witnesses. It is evident that this canon must have rendered the infliction of the death penalty the rarest exception—indeed, almost inconceivable.
199 The Mishnah declares that this scale was only applicable, if express reference had been made to it in the vow; otherwise the price of redemption was, what the person would have fetched if sold in the market as a slave.
200 In general the later legislation of the Rabbis was intended to discourage vows, on account of their frequent abuse (Nedar, i., iii., ix.). It was declared that only evil-doers bound themselves in this manner, while the pious gave of their own free-will. Where a vow affected the interests of others, every endeavour was to be made, to get him who had made it to seek absolution from its obligations, which might be had from one 'sage,' or from three persons, in the presence of him who had been affected by the vow. Further particulars are beyond our present scope.
201 The learned writer of the article 'Nazarite' in Kitto's Encycl. regards the meaning 'diadem' as the fundamental one, following in this the somewhat unsafe critical guidance of Saalschutz, Mos. Recht. p. 158. In proof, he appeals to the circumstance that the 'undressed vine' of the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year is designated by the term 'Nazir' in Leviticus 25:5, 11. But evidently the uncut, untrimmed vine of those years derived its designation from the Nazarite with his untrimmed hair, and not vice versa. Some of the Rabbis have imagined that the vine had grown in Paradise, and that somehow the Nazarite's abstinence from its fruit was connected with the paradisiacal state, and with our fall.
202 This part of the service was the same as at the consecration of the priests (Lev 8:26).
203 In our Authorised Version 'Terumah' is generally rendered by 'heaveoffering,' as in Exodus 29:27; Leviticus 7:14, 32, 34; Numbers 15:19; 18:8, 11; 31:41; and sometimes simply by 'offering,' as in Exodus 25:2; 30:13; 35:5; 36:3, 6: Leviticus 22:12; Numbers 5:9.
204 The Mishnah (Bicc. i. 10) expressly mentions 'the olive-trees beyond Jordan,' although R. Joses declared that Biccurim were not brought from east of Jordan, since it was not a land flowing with milk and honey (Deut 26:15)!
205 The expression 'honey' in Deuteronomy 8:8 must refer to the produce of the date-palm.
206 The Mishnah enumerates five things of which the amount is not fixed in the Law (Peah, i. 1): the corners of the field for the poor; the Biccurim; the sacrifices on coming up to the feasts; pious works, on which, however, not mo re than one-fifth of one's property was to be spent; and the study of the Law (Josh 1:8). Similarly, 'these are the things of which a man eats the fruit in this world, but their possession passes into the next world (literally, "the capital continueth for the next," as in this world we only enjoy the interest): to honour father and mother, pious works, peacemaking between a man and his neighbour, and the study of the Law, which is equivalent to them all.' In Shab. 127, a, six such things are mentioned.
207 The Mishnah lays down varying rules as to the amount of the Challah in different places outside Palestine (Chal. iv. 8).