1 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 coloring of the Mishnah - an element of such importance in Eastern traditions, where, so to speak, the colors 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.

2 Thus Chaps. i and ii., 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 Chap. iii.

1 Ber. R.

2 Psalm 48:2, 12, 13. The psalm was probably written during the reign of Jehoshaphat.

3 See the "Songs of Degrees," or rather "Psalms of Ascent" (to the feasts), specially Psalm 122.

4 In fact, the valley of Hinnom and the glen of Kedron were really one. For this and other topographical details the reader is referred to The Recovery of Jerusalem, by Capts. Wilson and Warren, R.E.

5 Psalm 122:2, 3. The allusion is to the various hills which, "like companions," are joined together to form "the city."

6 See the glowing description in Stanley's Sinai and Palestine

7 "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.

8 R. Jochanan ben Saccai, who was at the head of the Sanhedrim immediately before and after the destruction of Jerusalem.

9 Mr. Fergusson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, i.p. 1O25, 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.

10 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

11 For particulars of these forts, see Josephus's Wars, v. 4, 3.

12 Barclay suggests that the Xystus had originally been the heathen gymnasium built by the infamous high-priest Jason.{City of the Great King, p. 101.)

13 In the chamber above this gate two standard measures were kept, avowedly for the use of the workmen employed in the Temple. (Chel. xvii. 9.)

14 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.

15 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.

16 Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 185.

1 1 Kings 10:5. According to Mr. Lewin, however (Siege of Jerusalem, p. 270), this celebrated "ascent" to thse 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.

2 The suggestion is that of Dr. Barclay, in his City of the Great King.

3 Mr. Fergusson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. iii.p. 1462.

4 Professor Porter has calculated it at 440 feet,

5 Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 9.

6 According to Succ. iv., benches or seats were placed there.

7 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."

8 Matthew 21:12; John 2:14. Compare also especially Jer. Chag. 78 a..

9 It was probably into one of these that the poor widow dropped her "two mites" (Luke 21:2).

10 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.

11 Jost (Gesch. d. Jud., vol. i.p. 142) calls the Nicanor the gate of Corinthian brass. On the origin of the name see Herzfeldt, Gesch. d. V. Isr., vol. i.p. 344.

12 The Talmud (Yoma 19, a) expresses a doubt as to its exact localization.

13 It is very strange what mistakes are made about the localization 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 center 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 "Sanhedrin" 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 Watergate 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 See Barclay, City of the Great King, pp. 292-336.

19 There was also a small wicket gate by which he entered who opened the large doors from within.

20 Matthew 27:51. 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.

21 The first mention occurs in the Babylon Talmud, and then neither gratefully nor graciously.{Taan. 23 a.; Baba. B. 3, b.; 4 a.; Succ. 51b.)

22 Bartlett, Jerusalem Revisited, p. 115.

1 The Talmud expressly calls attention to this, and mentions as another point of pre-eminence, that whereas the first Temple stood 410, the second lasted 420 years.

2 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.

3 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.

4 On the reverence due in prayer, see a subsequent chapter.

5 Further details belong to the criminal jurisprudence of the Sanhedrim.

6 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."

7 The history of the Temple treasury would form an interesting subject, on which for the present we cannot enter.

8 Shek. iv.

9 Matthew 23:14. On the other hand, there are not a few passages in the Mishnah inveighing against vows, and showing how absolution from them may be obtained. A full treatment of the subject belongs to Jewish antiquities and Rabbinical jurisprudence.

10 The subject of "Vows" will be again and more fully treated in a subsequent chapter.

11 Shek. i. 3.

12 Shek. i.5.

13 See Winer, Real-Worterb. ii. 589.

14 Ersch's Encycl. (Art. Juden, p. 31) computes it at one-fifth; Zunz (Zur Gesch. u. Litt., p. 539) at one-third of a denar. We have adopted the view of Winer.

15 These are mentioned in Shek. i.7. Our deduction is very liberal.

16 See Michaelis, Mos. Recht, vol. iii. pp. 150, etc., and Saalschutz, Das Mos. Recht, p. 292.

17 Ketuv. cvi.

18 Inferring from the present usage in the Synagogue, Saalschutz (Gesh. d. Musik bei d. Hebr.) has thus marked them

19 All these regulations are stated in Mishnah,.Succah, v.5. Further details about Temple hymns and Temple music are given in the description of the daily service, and in that of the Sabbath and the various feast-days.

20 For particulars on all points connected with Jewish art, poetry and science I must refer to my History of the Jewish Nation.

21 The opposite is the generally received opinion. But see the article "Music," by Leyrer, in Herzog's Encycl.

22 Jos., Ant. v.5, 6.

23 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. See Leyrer u.s.

1 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 examples to the sons of David (2 Samuel 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."

2 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!

3 Apparently it numbered 24,000, out of a total of 38,000 Levites.

4 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; Nehemiah 7:60), and 220 with Ezra (Ezra 8:20).

5 So in many passages of the Talmud.

6 See Maimonides, Yad ha Chas. Biath. Mikd. iv. 9, etc.

7 Some have imagined that every "course" was arranged into six, or else into seven "families," but the view in the text expresses most likely the correct tradition.

8 Comp. Relandus, Antiq. p. 169.

9 According to the Rabbis, he was appointed by the Sanhedrim.

10 Talmud Jer. Ioma, I.

11 This, of course, does not include the period before the first Temple was built.

12 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.

13 Revelation 15:6, "clothed in pure and shining linen."

14 So literally.

15 Zebach, xix.a. 6. See Jost, Gesch. d. Judenth. vol. ii. p. 309.

16 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.

17 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.

18 We may here at once dismiss the theory that the Sagan was the elected successor of the high-priest.

19 Thus in Bamidbar Rabba (sect. 14, fol. 271a), Korah is described as Katholicus to the King of Egypt, who "had the keys of his treasures." Compare Buxtorff in vocem.

20 The Rabbis also enumerate fifteen functions which were peculiar to the priest's service. But as each of them will find its place in subsequent chapters we do not recount them here. The curious reader is to , Antiq. pp. , 177.

21 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.

22 A term meaning "defiled Therumoth."

1 We specially refer to Dr. A. Geiger, one of the ablest Rabbinical writers of Germany, who makes this argument the substance of Lect. v. in his Judenth. u.s. Gesch. (Judaism and its History).

2 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.

3 "The birds" used at the purification of the leper (Leviticus 14:4) cannot be regarded as sacrifices.

4 When the congregation had sinned through ignorance (Leviticus 4:13; Numbers 15:24-26).

5 The Paschal lamb, and the high-priest's bullock for a sin-offering and ram for a burnt-offering on the Day of Atonement.

6 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?

7 There is, however, one dissentient opinion on this point. See Relandus, Ant. p. 277.

8 If the offerer stood outside the Court of the Priests, on the top most 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.

9 Children, the blind, the deaf, those out of their mind, and non-Israelites, were not allowed to "lay on hands."

10 On the ground of 2 Chronicles 29:23

11 The Hebrew term used for sacrificial slaying is never applied to the ordinary killing of animals.

12 In the case of birds there was no laying on of hands.

13 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.

14 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.

15 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.

16 Except those for the whole people and for the high-priest, which had to be burned outside the gate.

17 David de Pomis. On the whole subject see Wunsche's interesting tractate, Die Leiden des Messias, where the quotations are given at length.

18 Because the Hebrew word for "man" (Gever) is used in the Talmud for "a cock," and "white," with reference to Isaiah 1:18.

1 See Wunsche, u.s. p. 28. 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. See Derenbourg, Essai sur l'Hist. de la Pal. pp. 480-482.

2 Wunsche, p. 35.

3 Whatever date may be assigned to these Targumin, in their present recension. there can be no doubt that they embody the elements of the very earliest Jewish Biblical interpretation. For particulars must take leave to refer to my History of the Jewish Nation, chap. xi. Theological Science and Religious Belief in Palestine, p. 407, etc.

4 According to the English edition of David Levi, this prayer applies to "the true Messiah." See Wunsche, p. 28, etc.

5 Deuteronomy 33:10; in Psalm 51:19 literally rendered "whole burnt-offering."

6 In the historical books the term Olah is, however, used in a more general sense to denote other sacrifices also.

7 Genesis 32:32. The "sinew of the thigh" was neither allowed to be eaten nor to be sacrificed.

8 Philo, De Sacred. Honor. p. 833.

9 It they brought a "peace-offering," it was to be treated as a burnt-offerings 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.

10 Oehler (in Herzog's. Encycl. X. p. 643) applies the section Leviticus 5:1-13 to sin-offerings, the word "trespass" being taken in a general sense. The distinction between them and the ordinary trespass-offerings appears from ver. 14, etc.

11 On the trespass-offering of the leper (Leviticus 14:12), and of the Nazarite whose vow had been interrupted (Numbers 6:12), see below.

12 They also mention 248 affirmative precepts, or in all 613, according to the supposed number of members in the human body.

13 According to the Talmud, if doves were brought as a sin-offering, the carcasses were not burned, but went to the priests.

14 Leviticus 4:13. The Rabbis apply this to erroneous decisions on the part of the Sanhedrim.

15 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.

16 The "horns" symbolized, as it were, the outstanding height and strength of the altar.

17 Seven was the symbolical number of the covenant.

18 De Vict. 13.

19 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 (Psalm 51:4), and hence, as needing a trespass-offering.

20 Hence the leper was banished from the congregation,

21 It always followed all the other sacrifices.

22 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 thank-offering, the bread upon it all.

23 The "heave" is, in reality, only the technical term for the priest's "taking" his portion.

24 See Relandus, p. 353. This, however, only when the feast fell on a Sabbath.

25 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 meat-offerings, accompanying a or a peace-offering. Requiring frankincense without oil: The shewbread. Requiring neither oil nor frankincense: The two loaves at Pentecost; the jealousy-offering; and that in substitution for a sin-offering.

26 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.

1 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 minutiae - 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.

2 See the account of this remarkable discovery by M. Clermont- Ganneau in his letter to the Athenaeum, reprinted in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund for August,1871, pp. 132, 133.

3 Rabbi Elieser ben Jacob. See Middoth, i. 2.

4 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,

5 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. xxiv. par. 2.

6 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.

7 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.

8 Ant 20: 9, 6.

9 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.

10 The question of evening prayers in the Temple is involved in some difficulty. The curious reader will find it discussed by Herzfeld with almost confusing minuteness.

11 The partaking of sacred things by priests who had been ceremonially unclean is expressly stated by the Rabbis as "when the stars shone out."

12 The Therumoth, such as oil, flour, etc., in opposition to those au naturel,such as corn, fruits, etc., called the Biccurim.

13 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."

14 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.

15 Compare Matthew 14:25. See, however, the discussion in Jer. Ber. i. 1.

16 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.

17 Mishnah, Tamid. i. 1, 2.

18 Except under one circumstance.

19 John 13:10. The peculiarities of our Lord's washing the feet of the disciples are pointed out in Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. p. 1094.

20 Leviticus 6:12-16, according to the Rabbinical interpretation of the law.

21 Or Gazith, where also the Sanhedrim met. The sittings were in that part, built out on the Chel.

22 Maimonides, Yad ha Chazakah, the tractate on the daily sacrifice, ch. I. par. 2.

23 For the three great festivals, in the first watch; for the Day of Atonement, at midnight. See also Lightfoot,.Hor. Heb. p. 1135.

1 In Hebrew, Tamid, the constant sacrifice, sacrificium juge.

2 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."

3 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.

4 We here specially refer to the classical work of Zunz, Die Gottesd. Vortr: d. Juden, Berlin, 1832.

5 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.

6 Thus the words in our Authorized 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!

7 See Lightfoot, De Minist. Templi, ch. 10 sect. 10.

8 We regret not to enter more full on the subject of prayer among the Hebrews or on an analyszs of the remnants of prayers in Temple-times preserved to us. But this is not the place for such discussions. See, however, a note farther on in this chapter.

9 Delitzsch, Bibl. Com. uber Is. p. 45 note.

10 Pressel, in Herzog's Encycl vol. iv. p. 680.

11 The Ohel Moed., "tabernacle of meeting" - not "of the congregation," as in our A.V. See Bahr's Symbol vol. i., and Keil's Arch. vol. i., on this and kindred subjects.

12 It has, however, been suggested that the correct reading of Luke 1:39 is not "a city of Judah," but 'the city of Juttah." Compare Josh. 21:16.

13 Perhaps this might therefore be appropriately described as washing "the feet only," John 13:10.

14 It is impossible in this place to enter into full details either about the laver, the altar of burnt-offering, or indeed any of the vessels of the ministry. These and similar topics belong to Biblical archeology.

15 The sacrifice was always offered against the sun.

16 This was a point in dispute between the orthodox and the heterodox. See Maimonides, Yad ha Chaz., Tr. On the Daily Sacr. chap. i. 9.

17 See the notices in the Mishnah, and Maimonides, and the articles in the Encycl. specially those of Herzog and Winer.

18 Jos.Jewish War, v. 5, s.

19 Here also all details are beyond our present province. But it may be remarked that the expression in Hebrews 9:4, rendered in our Authorized Version "which had the golden censer," implies no more than that the censer belonged to the "Holiest of all" ("having the golden censer "), not that the censer ordinarily stood in the Most Holy Place.

20 These rules are so detailed that the priests, on any of whom the lot might at any time fall for this service, must have undergone very careful previous training.

21 To this the Rabbis add somewhat needlessly: the blood of sprinkling and the wood for the fire!

22 This in the case of ,, and trespass-offerings. The skins of the other offerings belonged to the offerers themselves.

23 Compare the very full discussion of the subject in Zunz, Gottesd Vortr. pp. 369 and following. Still, the matter is not quite clear of critical difficulties.

24 The words here and afterwards within square brackets are regarded by Jost (Gesch. d. Jud.) as a later addition.

25 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.

26 The description of the daily sacrifice is given at length in the Mishnic tractate Tamid. See specially sect. v.

27 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.

28 Revelation 5:8. It is a curious inconsistency on the part of Maimonides, to assign this rationalistic object for the use of incense in the Temple - that it counteracted the effluvia from the sacrifices!

29 Revelation 8:1, 3, 4. According to Tamid, vi. 3, the incensing priest "bowed down," or prayed, on withdrawing backwards from the Holy Place.

30 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!

31 Now follow in the text the three last "Eulogies."

32 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.

33 The high-priest lifted his hands no higher than the golden plate on his mitre. It is well known that, in pronouncing the priestly blessing in the synagogue, the priests join their two outspread hands, by making the tips 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.

34 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.

35 Perhaps there may be an allusion to this in Revelation 6:9, 10.

36 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).

37 Tamid sect. vii., and Maimonides in Tamid.

1 Psalm 92. 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.

2 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.

3 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 afresh meaning to the words of our Lord, Mark 2:27.

4 Shabb. i.5, 6, etc.

5 Jos. Ant. xii. 6, 2; xiv. 4, 2.

6 Compare Jewish Wars, ii.19, 2, but, on the other hand, Antiq,xiv. 4, 2.

7 There is a special Mishnic tractate on the subject.

8 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.)

9 Mark 15:42; John 19:31. 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.

10 See the disquisition in Mishnah, Shab. iv., as to what substances are lawful for the purpose, and what not.

11 Perhaps from the so-called "tectum Sabbathi," or "Sabbath roof," which Rhenferdius (Op. Phil. p. 770) identifies 'with the "Sabbath covert," 2 Kings 16:18. See Geodwin, Moses et Aaron (ed. Hottinger), pp; 518, 519.

12 Jos. Ant. xvi.6, 2.

13 Seneca, ep. 95.

14 The altar was whitened twice a year, before the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. But no tool of iron was used in this.

15 Mish. Men. Xi. 2.

16 See Oehler in Herzog's Real-Encycl. xiii. p. 202.

17 This must have been the case on the Thursday of Christ's betrayal.

18 The articles in Kitto's Cycl. and in Smith's Dict. are meager and unsatisfactory. Even Winer (Real-Worterb. ii. p. 401, etc.) is not so accurate as usual.

19 The curious explanation of the Rabbis (Mish. Men. 11:4) that it was called "Bread of the Faces" because it was equally baked all round, as it were, all "faces," needs no refutation.

20 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.

21 Ant xii. 2,8

22 Winer has, on other grounds, thrown doubt on the account of Josephus.

23 We cannot here enter into the discussion, which the reader will find in Relandus, Antiq., pp. 39, 41.

24 Menach. xi. 5.

25 LXX Leviticus 24:7; Philo 2:151

26 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.

27 1 Chronicles. 9:32; Mish. Shekal. ..

28 Men. xi. .

29 According to other authorities, however, the incense of the shewbread was burned along with the morning sacrifice on the Sabbath.

30 Nehemiah 10:31; 1 Macc. 6:49, 53; Jos. Antiq. 13:8,; 14:10, 6; xv. 1, 2; Jew. Wars, i. 2-4.

31 Antiq.xi. 8, 6.

32 Mish. Shev. vi. i.

33 The year of Jubilee began on the 10th of Tishri, being the Day of Atonement.

34 Idleness is quite as much contrary to the Sabbath law as labor: "not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words" (Isaiah 58:13).

35 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 (Deuteronomy 15:14).

36 Mish. Shev., sec. x.

37 Mish Sotah, vii. 8, where a curious story is also told, to show how deeply King Agrippa was affected when performing this service.

38 Relandus suggests that the expression (Matthew 24:20), "Pray that your flight be not on the sabbath," may apply to the Sabbatical year, as one in which the fugitives would find it difficult to secure needful support.

39 Compare also the remarks by Oehler in Herzog's Encycl. xii. p. 211.

40 For an account of the Sabbatical years, mentioned by tradition, see Wieseler, Chron. Synopse, p. 204.

1 Further particulars are given in the chapter on the Feast of Tabernacles.

2 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.

3 The term is rendered in the Authorized version, "Sabbath of rest," Leviticus 16:31; 23:32.

4 Because on a Thursday Moses had gone up to Mount Sinai, and came down on a Mondays when he received for the second time the Tables of the Law.

5 Taan. Iv. 2.

6 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.

7 This happened therefore on eighteen days of the year. These will be specified in a subsequent chapter.

8 Tradition has it, that neither high-priest nor king ever took part in these deliberations, the former because he might object to a leap-yearas 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!

9 The formula used by the Sanhedrim upon declaring the new moon was, "It is sacred!"

10 The Megillath Taanith ("roll of fasts"), probably the oldest Aramean post-biblical 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 B.C.). 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.)

1 Antiq. ii 15, 1 but comp. iii. 10, 5; ix. 13, 3.

2 Abib is the month of "sprouting" or of "green ears." Esther 3:7; Nehemiah 2:1

3 Jew Wars, vi. 9, 3.

4 Pes. Ix. 5.

5 Tos. Pes. viii.

6 Jos. Wars, vi. 9-3; and Mishnah Pes. Ix. 4, for ex.

7 Jew. Wars, vi. 9, 3; ii. 14, 3. These computations, being derived from official documents, can scarcely have been much exaggerated. Indeed, Josephus expressly guards himself against this charge.

8 It is deeply interesting that the Talmud (Pes. 53) specially mentions Bethphage and Bethany as celebrated for their hospitality towards the festive pilgrims.

9 Chag. ii.l; vi. 2.

10 Pes. vi. 4.

11 Succah v. 7.

12 The article in Kitto's Cycl. (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 preparation-day for the Sabbath, and the "Passover," as in 18:39, the whole Paschal week.

13 Pes. i.5.

14 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).

1 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."

2 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.

3 This could certainly have borne no reference to the haste of theExodus.

4 The Karaites are alone in not admitting women to the Paschal Supper.

5 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.

6 Pes x. 1. 7 Pes. x. 15.

8 Pes. x. 1.

9 Pes. ii. 6.

10 Pes. x. 3.

11 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."

12 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.

13 The modern practice of the Jews slightly differs from the ancient here, and in some other little matters of detail.

14 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 Authorized Version, "except they wash oft," has evidently no meaning.

15 Mishnah, Pes. x. 4.

16 Berac. 51, 1.

17 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 somany 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."

18 Exceptionally a fifth cup was drunk, and over it "the great Hallel" saw said, comprising Psalm 120-137..

19 For the evidence that the "Lord's Supper" took place on the Paschal night, see the Appendix.

1 In this, as in many other particulars, the teaching of Shammai differed from that of Hillel. We have followed Hillel, whose authority is generally recognized.

2 It is strange that the differences between the Chagigah of the 14th and that of the 15th Nisan should have been so entirely overlooked in Kitto's Cycl. iii. 428. They are well pointed out in Relandus' Antiq. pp. 404, 405. See also the very full statements of Saalschutz, mos. Recht, pp. 414, 415.

3 On this subject also Shammai and Hillel differed. See on the whole Mishnah, Chag. i. and ii.

4 Mishnah, Chag. i. and ii.

5 Pes. vi. 3

6 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 eiders and priests as went out with the Temple guard to take Jesus. There was no need to apply for Pilate's permission (as Lange supposes) before securing the aid of the soldiers.

7 We cannot here enter on the evidence; the fact is generally admitted even by Jewish writers.

8 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.

9 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.

10 Antiq. iii. 10,5,6.

11 Op. ii. 294.

12 Mishnah, Menach. viii. 1, 2. The field was to be ploughed in the autumn, and sowed seventy days before the Passover.

13 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.

14 Men. vi. 6, 7.

15 Men. viii. 2.

16 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.

17 The assertion (Kitto's Cycl. iii. p. 429), that on these days lesser was recited, and not the great is incorrect. Indeed, it is inconsistent with the account of the given by the same writer in another part of the Cycl. The great was never on ordinary occasions recited in the Temple at all, and "the lesser (?) certainly not during "Moed Katon" of the Passover week.

18 Pes. ix. 3.

19 Exodus 19:10-16. 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.)

20 More Neb, quoted in Kitto's Cycl. iii. p. 468.

21 Jos. Jew. Wars, ii. 3, 1

22 Jos. Antiq. xiv. 13, 4; xvii. 10, 2

23 The Completion of the wheat harvest throughout the land is computed by the Rabbis at about a month late,:. See Relandus, Antiq. p. 428.

24 Leviticus 23:19. 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.

25 In the case of the first omer it had been thirteen sieves; but both specifications may be regarded as Rabbinical fancifulness.

26 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 lbs. of flour, with half a teacup of barm and an ounce of salt, yield pounds of[dough and 5 1/4 lbs. of bread.

27 Men. v. 1.

28 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.

1 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.

2 So correctly in the margin.

3 Succ. ii.4.

4 Succ. ii. 8.

5 Succ. i. 4.

6 Succ. iii. 3:8.

7 See the Art. by Pressel in Herzog's . vol. viii.

8 Isaiah 12:3. 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.

9 Succah v. 2, 3, 4.

10 Deuteronomy 31:l0-13. In later times only certain portions were read, the law as a whole being sufficiently known from the weekly prelections in the synagogues.

1 (Mish. Rosh ha Sh i. 9; iii. 2)

2 (u.s.i. 8)

3 (u.s. ii. 5)

4 (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!

5 This even by Buxtorf, in his Lex. Rabb., and also by Dr. Ginsburg in Kitto's Cycl. vol. iii. In general, articles on the "New Moon" and "New Year," notwithstanding their ability, do not display sufficient critical discernment on the part of their author. That the "Hallel" was not sung in the Temple on New Moons is shown by Jost., Gesch, d. Judenth. i. 184.

6 The article "New Moon" in Kitto's Cycl. erroneously states that not only this prayer, but even the much later superstitious addition was "during the period of the second Temple offered up by every Israelite." But comp. Jost., Gesch. d. Judenth. ii. 265, 266, where the time of their origin is traced.

7 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.

8 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.

9 Chiefly toprevent possiblemistakes.

10 The two principal passages are Psalms 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!

11 Sheb. i. 4, 5.

12 Maimonides, Moreh Nev iii. 43. 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 its 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, Jiid. Heiligth. p. 1024, Colossians 2. Buxtorf applies Amos 3:16 to the blowing of the horn.

13 Rosh ha Sh. iii. 8.

14 Rosh ha Sh. iv. 5, etc.

15 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."

16 But in the synagogues out of Jerusalem, the horn, not trumpets, was blown on New Year's Day.

17 Moreh Nev. iii. c. 43.

18 Comp. Goodwin, Moses et Aaron (ed. Hottinger), p.601.

1 Hebrews 7:19; see marginal rendering.

2 Rendered "Sabbath of rest" in Authorized Version.

3 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.

4 See ch. xiv. So also Keil, Oehler, Kurtz, Hupfeld, and almost all writers on the subject.

5 Leviticus 25:9. 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.

6 This appears from the Hebrews terms.

7 According to Yoma, iii. 7, the High Priest wore in the morning white raiments of Pelusian, and "between the evenings" of Indian stuff - respectively valued (no doubt, extravagantly) at about

8 Special references would here be too numerous, and we must in general refer to Mish.. Yoma, and to the tractates of Maimonides on the order of that service, which latter we follow very closely.

9 Comp. Jost. Gesch. d. Judenth. vol. i. p. 164.

10 The reader will readily distinguish what is derived from Scripture and what merely from tradition.

11 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.

12 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.

13 For special Levitical reasons.

14 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.

15 The high-priest did not on that day wash in the ordinary laver, but in a golden vessel specially provided for the purpose.

16 In support of this benediction, reference is made to Deuteronomy 32:3.

17 Rabbi Tryphon in the Jeterus. Talm. 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 Authorized Version). Indeed the right pronunciation of the word has been lost, and is matter of dispute, all that we have in the Hebrews being the letters Y H V H, - forming the so-called tetragrammaton, or four-lettered word.'

18 There is no need for here entering on the legends connected this so-called 'foundation-stone.'

19 We give the prayer in its simplest form from the Talmud. But cannot help feeling that its form savors of later than Temple-times. Probably only its substance dates from those days, and each high-pries; have been at liberty to formulate it according to his own views.

20 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.

21 This on account of the situation of that valley which was threatened either by sudden floods or by dangerous landslips.

22 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.

23 For a full discussion, we must refer to works on Biblical Antiquities, and on the Types of the Old Testament.

24 May there be here also a reference to the doctrine of Christ's descent into Hades?

25 Romans 3:25. We have generally adopted the rendering of Dean Alford, where the reader will perceive any divergence from the Authorized Version.

26 Thus the book Sifra paraphrases it: 'a rough place in the mountains.'

27 Lightfoot (De Minist. Templi) erroneously states that the high-priest immediately burnt them.

28 But this was not strictly necessary; he might in this part of the service have even officiated in his ordinary layman's dress.

29 Maimonides gives a curious Rabbinical reason for this.

30 In regard to these prayers we refer the reader to our remarks in a previous chapter. The view there expressed about the wording of the prayers holds also good in regard to those on the Day of Atonement.

31 One ram, Leviticus 16:3.

32 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.

33 Taan. 4:8.

34 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.

35 Mish. Yoma, viii.

36 Only woollen socks are to be used - the only exception is, Lwhere there is fear of serpents or scorpions.

37 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.

38 For high-handed, purposed sins, the law provided no sacrifice (Hebrews 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.

1 Jer. Megillah, 70 b. The learned Jost (Gesch. d. Judenth, 1:42, 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.

2 See Jost, vol. 1:p.265.

3 We have chiefly quoted from the Mishnic tractate Megillah, which, however, is more discursive even than the rest and alludes to many subjects besides the feast of Purim.

4 Megill. 4:1.

5 Antiq. 11:6, 13.

6 Antiq. 12:7, 7

7 In point of fact, the three are so compared in 2 Maccabees. 10:6, and even the same name applied to them, 1:9,18. Geiger (Urschr. u. Uebers, p. 227) has attempted an ingenious but unsatisfactory explanation of the latter circumstance.

8 John 2:19. See 'Christmas a Festival of Jewish Origins' in the Leisure Hour for Dec., 1873.

9 Antiq. 12:7, 7.

10 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.

11 Gesch. d. Volkes Isr., vol. 2:p. 271.

12 Taan., 2:1o.

13 Moed Katon, 3:9. Accordingly, the statement in Kitto's Encycl. 1p 653 that 'mourning' for any 'bereavement' was not permitted, must be corrected, or at least modified.

14 Mish. Taan. 4.; Jos, Jew. Wars, 2:17, 6.

15 By a mistake, our copies of Josephus make him fix the 14th as the date of this feast.

16 Ezra 2.; see Herzfeld, vol. 1:469; 2:144.

17 Comp. Herzfeld, vol 2:p. 144, note 33.

18 See Taanith, 2:1-6.

19 Psalms 102; 120; 121; 130; Our account is based on: the Mishnah (Taan. 2). 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.

20 See the very interesting description of details in Taan. 2:5.

21 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 (Genesis 1:9) for those at sea; on the Tuesday (vers. 11,12) for all on a journey; on the Wednesday (ver. 14) on account of the supposed dangerous influences of sun and moon against diseases of children; and on the Thursday (ver. 20) for women laboring 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. (440). 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), according to this monkish distich: - 'Post Luciam, cineres, post sanctum pneuma, crucemque Tempora dat quatuor feria quarta sequens.' The early Church substituted for the two weekly Jewish fast-days - Monday and Thursday the so-called 'dies stationurn,' 'guard or watch-days' of the Christian soldier, or Christian fast-days - Wednesday and Friday, on which the Savior had been respectively betrayed and crucified. See the article 'Pasten,' in Herzog';s Encycl vol. 3: pp. 334- 339.

1 So it is literally called in the Talmud.

2 According to the Mishnah (Beehor. 8:7) '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 firstborn of his mother, and who was 'suitable for the priesthood,' that is, had no disqualifying bodily blemishes.

3 See Jost, vol. 2:p. 264.

4 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.

5 The expression is fully discussed by Saalschutz, Mos. Recht..p. 341-342.

6 By Sommers, in his Bibl. Abh. vol. 1:p. 201, etc.

7 Numbers 9:17. The Authorized Version translates, without any reason: 'It is a purification for sin.' It seems strange indeed, that Professor Fairbairn should have reproduced this rendering without note or comment in his Typology, vol. 2:p. 376.

8 The only other instance in which this is enjoined is Deuteronomy 21:3, though we read of it again in I Samuel 6:7.

9 Hence the high-priest was prohibited from offering the red heifer.

10 Keil, Bibl ,Archaeol. vol. 1:p. 283.

11 The Hebrews (Piel) form for 'purge from sin' has no 'English equivalent, unless we were to coin the word 'unsin' or 'unguilt' me remove my sin.

12 It is impossible here fully to explain our views. All the more we bespeak for them a calm and candid examination. Christian writers in this country, whether theological or popular, have either passed over the subject, or (like Fairbairn, Typology, vol. 2:p. 376) taken too superficial a view to require special notice.

13 Parah, 1,2.

14 Parah, 3,4.

15 Parah. 3:2-5.

16 Or Gihon. According to Jewish tradition the kings were always anointed at Siloam (l Kings 1:33, 38).

17 Parah, 11:9.

18 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.

19 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?

20 The other three classes are the blind, the poor, and those who have no children.

21 Negaim, 13:12.

22 Negaim, 1:4; 3:2

23 Negaim 2:2, 3, 5

24 Negaim 3:1

25 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 (2. p. 94), and curiously accounted for by the altogether unfounded hypothesis that the law 'imposed segregation' only 'while the disease manifested activity'!

26 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.

27 Negaim, 13:

28 May not our Savior refer to this when He speaks of 'sparrows' as of marketable value: 'Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing' (Matthew 10:29)?

29 The Mishnah and all commentators apply this to conjugal intercourse.

30 Negaim, 14:4.

31 The significance of anointing the head with oil is sufficiently known.

32 Negaim, 14:7 etc.

33 The tractate Sotah enters into every possible detail, with prurient casuistry - the tendency, as always in Jewish criminal law, being in favor of the accused.

34 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.

35 The Mishnah defines particularly the cases in which the trial by bitter waters was inapplicable.

36 Not, as Dr. Farrar states (The Life of Christ, 3:65), long before it. He regards the decay of morals at the time of Christ as so universal and great, that among the accusers of the woman taken in adultery there was not one 'free from the taint of this class of sins.' I am thankful to say, that so sweeping a charge is not in anywise borne out by historical evidence.

37 Sotah, 9:9-15.

1 This is undoubtedly the meaning of the expression 'price of a dog' in Deuteronomy 23:18:18

2 The Mishnah declares that this scale was only applicable, if express reference had been made to it in the vow; other, wise the price of redemption was, what the person would have fetched if sold in the market as a slave.

3 In general the later legislation of the Rabbis was intended to discourage vows, on account of their frequent abuse (Nedar. 1, 3, 9.). 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 endeavor 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.

4 See the Talmudical story in Jost vol. 1: pp. 171, 172.

5 Jos. Antiq. 19:6, 1

6 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.

7 Tractate Nazir. We again omit such details, which, thoughimportant as legal determinations, would not advance our knowledge as to the mode in which the Nazarite was discharged of his vow in the Temple.

8 Naz. 2:5-6

9 Naz. 6

10 Naz. 6:3

11 Naz 9:1

12 Comp. the quotations from Maimonides in the article 'Nazarite,' In Kitto's Cycl.

13 This part of the service was the same as at the consecration of the priests (Leviticus 8:26).

14 Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2:23.3.

15 In our Authorized Version 'Terumah' is generally rendered by 'heave-offering, ' 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.

16 The Mishnah (Bicc. 1:10) 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 (Deuteronomy 26:15)!

17 The expression 'honey' in Deuteronomy 8:8 must refer to the produce of the date-palm.

18 The Mishnah enumerates five things of which the amount is not fixed in the Law (Peah, 1:1): the corners of the field for the poor; the Biccurim; the sacrifices on coming up to the feasts; pious work, on which, however not more than one-fifth of one's property was to be spent; and the study of the Law (Joshua 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 honor father and mother, pious works, peacemaking between a man and his neighbor, and the study of the Laws which is equivalent to them all.' In Shab, 127, a, six such things are mentioned.

19 Chol 11:1,2

20 Numbers 15:18-21. The Mishnah lays doom varying rules as to the amount of the Challah in different places outside Palestine (Chal. 4:8).

21 See the Mishnah, Tract. Biccurim and the Gemaras, also Maimonides. The rites have also been described by Jost (vol. 1 pp. 172- 173), Saalschutz (Mos. Recht), and in other,similar works.

1 Excursus 10

2 Vol. 2. pp. 474-483.

3 Dr. Farrar rightly shrinks from the conclusions of Caspari (Chron.Geogr. Einl. in d. Leben Jesu, p. 164, etc.), who regards it as what hecalls 'a Mazzoth-meal' without a Paschal lamb. The suggestion iswholly destitute of foundation.

4 Life of Christ: 2:p. 482

5 See the chapter on the Paschal Rites.'

6 Mos. Recht, p. 414. The argument and quotations from the Talmud arealso given in Relandus, Antiq. p. 426. For a full treatment of thequestion see Lightfoot, Horae Hebr Rebr. p. 1121.

7 Horae Hebr., p. 1121, etc.

8 Horae Hebr., p.400

9 It should not be overlooked that these supposed inconsistencies appearin the accounts of the Synoptists who, according to Dr. Farrar, wishedto convey that Christ was crucified on the 15th Nisan. If reallyinconsistencies, they are very gross, and could scarcely have escapedthe writers.

10 I have not been able to verify Dr. Farrar's references to Mishnah Sanh.6:2 and 10:4. But I agree with Gratz (Gesch. d. Juden. 3:p. 242, note),that much in Sanh. 7: bears, though unexpressed, reference to theproceedings of the Sanhedrim against Christ.

11 Excursus, ii.p. 452.

12 Gesch. d. Judenth. 1:p. 405.

13 Chronol Geogr. Einl in d. Leben Jesu Christi, p. 164.

14 Chronolog. Synopse der 4 Evang., p. 333, etc.

15 This argument is already mentioned by Lightfoot, u.s.

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