the East is accustomed to the yoke of Kings This being so many have admired why God took it ill that the Soveraign power was transferred from Samuel to a King since he had approved it before and said it should be according to the inclination of the holy people Maimonides answers learnedly that the divine Indignation arose from hence Because they desir'd a King by unfaithfull complaints and seditious murmurings not that they might comply with Gods design in the Law but out of a distast of the most holy Prophet Samuel to whom it was spoken by the voice of God They have not rejected thee but me Verily I am of this opinion and I doubt not to assert it that the Kingdom was given to Saul not out of Gods love and care of the Common-wealth but because he perceived his arrogance and cruelty hee meant to glorify Samuel by this unequall comparison and by such a successor make his vertue the more desirable The qualities seem but light and superficiall but they are of great moment which as the Holy Book in severall places hath it were considered by Samuel in the Kings election a gracefull look talness of body and such like which affect and draw the eyes and minds of all These are the things which the great Prophet in the midst of the Assembly commended when he spake these words 1 Sam. 10.24 Behold whom God hath chosen that there is none equall to him in all the people Wherefore it is not the property of Barbarians only but of the most civill men to think them capable of great atchievements whom nature hath graced with a goodly form and stately countenance No less a man than Aristotle hath pronounced thus If any personages are by nature framed so much more excellent than others as the images of Gods excell the images of men it seemeth meet that the rest should be servants unto such If this be true in the body much more in the soul but the souls form and beauty cannot be so easily discerned To leave this In the Holy Bible is mentioned a certain volume 1 Sam. 10.25 wherein Samuel wrote the sacred rights of the Kingdom and laid it up in the Tabernacle A text not well understood by Josephus who imagined all the evils which God foretold the people they should fear from an unjust King were comprehended in that volume We on the contrary believe there were in that Book the Laws which commanded the King to follow justice and equity and to govern the Common-wealth wisely for the peoples good also not to play the Prince in lusts and riots lastly to retain modesty in the greatness of his fortune a vertue well becomming the best of men and very pleasing unto God The matter is deliver'd in Deuteronomy thus Deut. 17.15 c. Thou shalt set him King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose One from among thy Brethren shalt thou set King over thee thou mayest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy Brother But he shall not multiply horses to himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt For as much as the Lord hath said unto you ye shall henceforth return no more that way Neither shall he multiply Wives to himself that his heart turn not away neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his Kingdom that he shall write him a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that which is before the Priests the Levites And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the dayes of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them That his heart be not lifted up above his Brethren These words of the Law are not obscure and they seem to contain the sum of that volume which the great Prophet laid up in the Sanctuary We said * Cap. 8. above the Jews had such a Common-wealth which in the Scripture is called a Priestly Kingdom Whence it follows that their Kings did not only govern in civill affairs and military but were Presidents of Religion and holy Ceremonies For they were sacred persons to whom Gods Commission and the voice of a Prophet gave Empire honour and authority Yet as the Over-sight of Sacred things the Soveraign power and judgment pertained unto them so the mystery and charge of the same things was of right claimed by the Levites that is the High Priest the rest of the Priests and their assistants It was their office to slay the Sacrifices to make expiations to rehearse the divine Laws before the people and to perform other services in the Temple The Talmudicall writers well observe how much the King excelled all both Priests and Prophets which we will relate out of * In Halucha Melachim cap. 2. Maimonides The words are to this effect It was a Statute that the chief Priest should reverence the King and yield him his place to sit in and himself stand when the King came to him But the King standeth not in the presence of the Priest unless when he consults the Urim after the solemn manner And such is the dignity of the King that even the Prophet himself as oft as he comes into his presence bows himself down to the earth as it is written Nathan the Prophet came before the King and to honour him fell upon his face to the ground Yet more David himself whom the Prophet formerly had anointed King so little feared to take upon him the honour of the High Priest that he put upon himself the Ephod and enquired of the Lord whether he should pursue the enemy The place is eminent in the Book of Samuel Cap. 30. v. 7. perverted by the late Interpreters men very learned but here they seem indiligent Let all men judge that have any skill in the originall whether the words translated by them Applicavit sibi Abiathar amiculum Davidis causa signify not the same I have said that David having put on the Ephod of Abiathar consulted the Oracle The English Bible reads it And Abiathar brought thither the Ephod to David Grotius de Imperio c. 6. reads it in this sense Abiathar made the Ephod to come near to David that as he stood before the high Priest which the King only did when he consulted Urim he might see whether the sparkling of the prectous stones would promise him good success Abiathar then had the Ephod upon him not David The Urim answered i. e. God by the Urim vide locum But let us give you some more of our Collections from the Rabbins Herein also consisted an high point of honour Mâ—im c. 2. in Hal. Mâ—l c. 7. Hal. Beth. Habb that the King only and no man else might sit in the Court of the Temple in any place only the King who was of Davids family That Court was divided by
at last arrived to that height that your enemies can complain of nothing but your greatness As I pray for the perpetuity of this Union whereby you are so happily advanced so when I consider your wisdom which hath shined forth in the greatest Tryals I am very confident the same will last as all good men would have it and remain for ever Yet I confess we are not so secure but that sometimes we reflect our thoughts upon the examples of former Ages Many of your subjects are already gone into sides and oppose each other with contrary opinions since here sprung up amongst them some unprofitable controversies about mysteries of Religion not understood by the most part of the people The multitude are carried severall wayes by their affections and every day the flame encreases Your selves understand most illustrious Lords how much it concerns you to apply and you do apply seasonable remedies to this distemper lest your flourishing affairs receive some detriment by this intestine malady more pernicious than forein War than Famine than Pestilence 'T is vain for me to speak more when I can propose nothing to you out of my deepest consideration which is not obvious to your own judgement Only my Petition to your Highness is that you would vouchsafe an intentive eye to this Common-wealth which I have here describ'd the most sacred and the best that ever was Here you shall find some things which Kings and Princes and the Moderators of publick affairs may select and lay up for their use And truly I was the more easily moved to offer these to you in contemplation of some excellent men sitting in your Senate whose learning is so exact that if I have brought any thing for the illustration of antiquity and of the best Authors they are able to pass a right judgement on it ERRATA PAge 17. l. 3. for two r. too p. 21. l. 7. for their r. there p. 122. l. 17. for mystery r. ministry p. 137. l. 3. for carried r. carved p. 150. l. 6. for good r. God p. 136. l. 23. for Susa â— Susac p. 137. l. 13. r. Salmanassar OF THE COMMON-WEALTH Of The HEBREWS CHAP. I. The Institution of the Hebrew Commonwealth Legislation The Vain-glory of the Grecians The seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah The design of Moses in his Laws and Ordinances IN this work we shall not be over curious in our method nor make any accurate search after materials but lay hold upon such things as freely and familiarly offer themselves to our consideration and as they come into our mind set down our discourses upon them all The Common-wealth of the Hebrews was founded by that excellent Man of God Moses the first Man that undertook a business of the greatest consequence in the World For amongst all the Actions of old which Fame hath left upon record this in my judgement is the most noble the constitution of Common-wealths and the ordering of humane Societies by good Laws Nothing is more acceptable to God the Almighty Governour of this Universe As the honour hereof is very great so many Nations have laid claim unto it The Grecians among the rest of the benefits wherewith they boast themselves to have obliged other Nations put Legislation in the Head of the Account Lycurgus Draco Solon and other Antients are names they glory in Their Glory is but vain For all the Brags of this blown and arrogant Nation are silenc'd by the Jew Flavius Josephus whose Apology extant against Apion an enemy to the Jews and a Man so famous for his eloquence that he was called Cymbalum Mundi is full of admirable learning Plin. praf There he shews that the Greek Legislators compar'd to Moses are but of yesterday for at what time their Father Homer liv'd they knew not the name of Laws nor is it extant in all his Poems Onely the people had in their mouth certain common sayings and sentences whereby they were govern'd to supply the defects whereof the unwritten Edicts of Princes were upon occasion added The truth is which Flavius hath well observed Moses Homer's Senior by many ages is the onely Man to whom this honour appertains which so many afterward were ambitious of He was the first writer and publisher of Laws teaching the people what was right or wrong just or unjust and by what Decrees that Common-wealth was to be established which the most high God had commanded to settle in Palestin Before the time of Moses no written Laws were known in the World for although mankind liv'd not altogether without Laws before yet were not those Laws consecrated and kept in any publick records or monuments Of this sort were those seven Precepts which the Talmudists say were given to the Sons of Noah concerning certain Rules of righteousness necessary for the life of Man Wherefore they were of so large extent that whosoever knew them not those the Israelites were commanded to destroy by War and deprive them of all Communion with mankind And justly For they that had received no Law seemed worse than beasts and as Aristotle hath divinely spoken injustice strengthened with Arms and Power is most cruell and intolerable Now the Arms wherewith nature hath surnished Man are Reason and Prudence things enabling him abundantly for mischief if they be not restrained and regulated by Laws But let us return to Moses In his institution of that Common-wealth the most holy upon earth he assigned the Supreme Power to God and when others find other names as the matter requires calling the Government Monarchy Oligarchy or Democracy he conceived none of these appellations suitable to the nature of so great an Empire Wherefore he ordained such a kind of Government which Flavius saith may very significantly be stil'd Theocracy that is a Common-wealth whose Ruler and President is God alone For he professed all affairs were managed by divine judgement and Authority And of this he gave an evident demonstration in as much as although he saw all matters depending upon him and had all the people at his devotion yet upon so fair an invitation he sought no power no wealth no honour for himself A thing whereby he shew'd himself more than Man For in all Men there is implanted a desire of Rule a desire inveterate more flagrant and eager than all other affections whatsoever Which I believe Moses had never been able to expectorate and extinguish had he not seen God himself present and president in all affairs with whom to seek a Partnership in the Government had been an extreme degree of madness Moreover He ordered that the Magistrates should not be Lords and Masters but Keepers of the Laws and Ministers An excellent Constitution for seeing even the best Men are sometimes transported by passion the Laws alone are they that alwaies speak with all persons in one and the same impartiall voice Which I conceive to be the meaning of that fine saying of Aristotle The Law is a Mind without Affection Lastly we
consider that which is not the least of all the eternall stability of Moses Laws whereto to adde where from to take ought away was a most high offence So that neither old Laws were abolished nor new brought in but the observation of the first was exacted of all with rigour even in the declination of that Common-wealth Which was not so in other Common wealths being both founded and overthrown by Law-making for as many of the Rulers affecting to bring in somewhat of their own have changed things before well ordered so many good Orders by desuetude more which is worse abolished by contempt gave security to vices This diversity we could never wonder at seeing the Laws of other Nations Inventions of humane Wit are enforced only by penalties that by time or through the sloath of Governours lose their terrour but the Jewish Ordinances being the Decrees of the eternall God not weakned either by continuance of time or softness of the Judges they remain still the same and when the Ax and Scourge are no longer feared Mens minds are nevertheless kept in awe by Religion CHAP. II. The prudence of the Lawgiver concerning Assignation of Lands That they ought not to have been the first Seizer's The Agrarian Law and its inestimable Utility The Redemption of lands The benefit of the Jubily and Solemnity thereof FLavius Josephus often cites Hecataeus of Abdera an Author of great Faith and integrity one that waited upon Alexander the great in his Wars Many Countries he viewed abounding with all kind of fruits but admired none so much as Palestine Of this he wrote a singular Book out of which Iosephus recites many things in favour of the Jews To our purpose he saith the Jews inhabited a very good Country and most fruitful conteining three hundred thousand Acres a seat whereinto as most fit for them the divine goodness transplanted the Hebrews out of Egypt For as formerly they had spent their lives in tillage of the ground and feeding of Cattel so here in a bounteous soil they might still inrich themselves and prosper by the same profession So soon as the holy people had by force of Arms possessed themselves of the promised Land the chief Captain Iosua presently put in execution the commands of Moses The whole Country he divided into twelve portions and gave it to be inhabited by the twelve Tribes Then he numbred the families in every Tribe and according to the number of persons gave to every family a certain proportion of Lands and prescrib'd their bounds By this means all were equally provided for which is the prime care of good Governours in every Common-wealth a care that the most Politick Nations the Greeks and Romans in after-times were not unmindfull of when they carried forth their Colonies Had every one made that his own upon which he first set his foot quarels and commotions among the people must needs have followed for so it usually comes to pass whilst every one seeks to get and appropriate to himself what was common Peace is lost Moreover Moses as it became a wise Man not only to order things at present but for the future ages too brought in a certain Law providing that the wealth of some might not tend to the oppression of the rest nor the people change their course and turn their minds from their innocent labours to any new and strange employment This was the Agrarian Law a Law whereby all possesors of Land were kept from transferring the full right and dominion of it unto any other person by sale or other contract whatsoever For both they that on constraint of poverty had sold their Land had a right granted them to redeem it at any time and they that did not redeem it receiv'd it freely again by this Law at the solemn feast of Jubily There is a great writer Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon he that in his divine work entitled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath happily collected all the Talmudicall doctrine except the trifles an Author above our highest commendation the only Man of that Nation who had the good fortune to understand what it is to write seriously and to the purpose We shall often make use of his Authority and now it will help us out in the matter we have in Hand He is much upon the benefit of the Jubily consisting saith he herein that all Lands returned to their antient Lords although they had passed through the Hands of a hundred buyers Neither are excepted by this most learned writer the Lands which came to any one by donation These could no more than other be retained from the first possessor It is a point of the Talmudicall Law and I make no question but 't is very right The same Rabbin from the same fountain declares that Redemption was permitted only to such as were recovered from their poverry and enabled by some gain or commodity that had befallen them The reason 's plain for to borrow money or to sell one piece of Land to redeem another was to frustrate the Law that appointed the unable and their Heirs to wait for the relief of Jubily Yet might the Kinsmen of the necessitous in the mean time buy off for their money what the poor owner without borrowing could not These Jubily-solemnities returned every fiftieth year beginning at the seaventh month Tisri No other time brought with it so much publick joy for besides the repossession of Lands that had been alienated liberty was given unto all servants Yet was nothing done before the tenth of that month a holy Fast and day of Expiation The nine preceding dayes were all spent in publick mirth and feasting like the Roman Saturnalia Hear how Maimonides relates it From the beginning of the year to the day of Expiations neither were the servants dismist nor did they serve their Masters What then The servants did eat and drink and make merry and every one of them set a Crown upon his Head After when the day of Expiations was come the Senators of the Sanhedrin sounded with their trumpets and forthwith the servants went away free and the old Lords took a repossession of their Lands CHAP. III. Again of the Agrarian Law The danger of two ample possessions The Roman Common-wealth Stolo 's Law How the Hebrews maintained themselves The Legislators providence Divine Laws of Agriculture and Pasturage BUt we have more to say of the utility intended by Moses in the Agrarian Law Certainly it was of great concernment to the Common-wealth as before we noted that the avarice of a few should not invade the possessions distributed with so fair equality It is not unusuall with rich men to thrust the poor out of his inheritance and deprive him of necessaries whilst they enlarge their own estate superfluously This produceth often a change of Government For the truth is That Common-wealth is full of enemies wherein the people many of them having lost their antient possessions with restless desires aspire to a better fortune
These men weary of the present study alterations and stay no longer than they needs must in an unpleasing condition Time was when at Rome the principall men drawing all unto themselves insomuch that one Citizen possessed Land enough for three hundred were confined by Stolo's Law to five hundred Acres a Man But that good order by fraud was quickly broken Stolo himself was the first to violate his own Sanction and was found guilty for holding a thousand Acres making use of his Sons name whom to that end he had emancipated And after by other arts many others eluded the sentence of the Law themselves possessing what was purchased by their Agents This abuse being perceiv'd by the wise Lelius friend to Scipio Africanus he endeavour'd to reinforce the Law but overborn by the adverse faction to prevent contention and discord he desisted So the way was open for licence and possessions were enlarged out of all measure till at last all Italy and the next provinces fell into a few Hands as their proper patrimony whereof it were very easy to allege testimonies but here is needless We touched also another reason of the Agrarian Law namely that Moses would not have the people languish and lose their vertue by want of exercise The most eminent of all their Ancestors having led a pastorall life and been good Husbands in the Field their posterity could not be better secured from the vices and incommodities that follow idleness than by being obliged to the same employments which are not only the means of getting riches but were used by the best Men even from the beginning of the World Indeed those Country employments would soon have been deserted had the Law permitted every one to purchase as much as he would and lay Field to Field Whereby it comes to pass that the Lords of so much Land disdain to perform those honest labours with their own Hands but commit the business of Husbandry to others such as are for the most part strangers hired or servants bought with money The inferiour people having no Heart to bestow their labour on Land that is not their own get out of the Fields into the Cities and their immure themselves and are corrupted with an idle kind of life supported by some soft and illiberall Art Verily after that the Roman Senators and those but few engrossed to themselves the Fields which formerly belong'd to many not the Citizens alone but all free men neglected and forgot the art of tillage The Country that had once seen such brave and gallant men as Curius Fabricius Cato was now fild with the noise of chained labourers and bondmen The magnanimous of-spring of Romulus as Varro complains did no longer exercise themselves in the Corn-Fields and Vineyards but in the Circ and Theater For they had now thrown away the Hook and Plow who of old saith he had so divided the year that every ninth day only they visited the City all the other dayes they attended their Country-affairs Thus did they decline from their Ancestors ways which while they observed they teaped a double benefit their Fields did abound with fruits and their minds with virtue For prevention of the many publick evils that arise from the fore-mentioned neglect Moses a Man excellent both in divine and humane wisdom providently decreed the privileges of Redemption and established the Law of Jubily A Law that had not the least shadow of injustice nor conteined any incommodity at all to the buyers of Land for in the sale an eye was ever cast upon the Jubily with respect unto the nearness or distance of it the price did either rise or fal This is that Lev. 25.14 c. which is at large set down in Leviticus in these words If thou sell ought unto thy Neighbour or buyest ought of thy Neighbours Hand ye shall not oppress or circumvent one another According to the number of years after the Jubily thou shalt buy of thy Neighbour and according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it for according to the number of the years shall he sell unto thee Ye shall not therefore oppress or deceive one another Now if the Seller desired to redeem his Lands before the Jubily it was also with great equity ordained that he should render back the price only retaining so much of the money as the buyer had receiv'd in profits By this means Restitution of Lands was made without any damage at all to either party and Agriculture their old honest employment kept up in esteem and practice amongst all the people What the nature and condition of that people was to whom Moses gave his Ordinances cannot be doubted for among so many Laws which he made as a great number concern Justice and Religion so the rest which pertain to their estates and matter of profit run all upon rules of Husbanry How carefully are the people taught when to give rest to their Land and to intermit their seeding what they must observe at Harvest and Vintage What years it was allowed to gather fruit of the Vine Farther with what severity are they forbidden to sow mingled seed in the same ground to mix divers kinds of Animals in generation or put them together under one Yoke The rest touching the breed of Cattle First Fruits and Tenths are almost infinite They are handled at full in the Talmud where they take up the sixt part of the whole or more Maimonides hath comprehended all in his Book that he cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherein are admirable secrets CHAP. IV. In what streight every seventh year brought the Jews The benefit granted to this Nation by Alexander the Great for a certain prophecy The Jews had little commerce with other people The Grecians ignorant of their affairs Aristotles opinion of the Jews Who are the best Common-wealths men Of Artificers SUch were the Laws given to the Hebrews all whose wealth lay in the Fields According to the encrease whereof they were in penury or abundance Hence it was that as oft as forein Kings imposed tribute on them every seventh year brought them into so great a streight that they were hardly able to raise the sum For their Law would not permit them to till the ground that year and to gather in the fruits thereof which yeelded all their money Alexander of Macedonia having learned at Jerusalem out of Daniels Book that a Grecian should overthrow the Persian Empire glad with the prophecy bad the Jews ask of him some royall favour They answered no greater benefit could be done them than the remission of the seventh years tribute It was granted The Samaritans when they said much for themselves to obtein the same indulgence were not heard But of all that can be said in this kind nothing is more luculent than that which
fall of one City it hath changed and perverted all things and brought to ruin the Common-wealth of the greatest people in the world Concerning other Towns of Judaea nothing memorable comes into our mind but that God appointed some of them for Cities of refuge that such as had unwittingly slain a man might find safety and protection there There did they endure a gentle banishment till the High-Priest dyed whose death set them all at liberty so that if happy any had deceased before yet their bones might then be carried into the Sepulchers of their Fathers These towns were six and three more shall be added to them say the Talmud-writers when the greatest of Kings Messias shall come upon the earth to which they refer that of Mâ—ses not spoken surely in vain When the Lord your God shall enlarge your borders Besides the six Cities the same privilege was granted to the two and forty towns of Levits but that the same writers deny those places to have been safe for them that understood not the benefit of the Law Other things which may be said of the Right of these Cities together with what the Jews comment upon some other towns we will therefore let pass because we cannot polish nor grace them by our handling CHAP. VIII What Palestin had above other Countries The Hebrew Common-wealth could not bee translated into other places Of the Babylonian Jews and their power Of the Scepter against Mâ—imon The Jâ—ws Common-wealth bound to Palestin No Temple to be built elsewhere THe Common-wealth of the Hebrews had it beginning then when the holy people was brought into the happy land of 〈◊〉 Before which time though in the Arabian deserts most wholesome Laws both ceremoniall and judiciall were given by Moses the man of God yet all their force pertained to that Country wherein as the severall Tribes should have severall Towns so there should be one City singularly appointed to be the Chamber of the Empire and sent of sacred rites In the last part of the Pentateuch the most wise Legislator repeating what he had given in charge before hath to our purpose added these express words again and again These are the precepts the Statutes and judgements which ye shall observe in the Land which is given you for an inheritance to possess Truly Palestin had this excellency above other Countries that the holy Nation and Common-wealth was affixed unto it alone Had any one led that people out of their proper seat and established the same Common-wealth by the same Laws neither would the Common-wealth have retained its sanctimony nor the people their Majesty Pertinent here and fit to be consider'd on our way is that saying of * Lib. 14. Mâ—sn in Hal. Mel. cap. 5. Maimonides As it is not lawfull for the Jews to move their seats out of Palestin so neither may they pass out of Babylon into other Countries Without the explication of this whosoever read the writings of the Hebrew Masters will meet with rubs The truth is Maimonides speaks not of all the Jews but of them only who were carryed away by the enemy beyond Euphrates and dwelt at Babylon and thereabout Some of these after 70. years returned into Palestin the rest moved by the beneficence of the Kings under whom they lived continued at Babylon and fixed their colonies there The multitude of them was very great and at last grew up into a Nation 'T is incredible what strength these exiles had for they did almost ofter both the Miter and the Diadem that is the Priesthood and the Kingdom to Hircanus hâ—stening out of Partâ—â—â— unto Hâ—rod and to them were committed the Arcanâ— of the Babylonian Empire which â—n Hebrew Priest kept in a greaâ— strong Tower at Eâ—bâ—tan of the Mâ—des These Jews were joyned in a very close alliance with those of Palâ—stâ—â— The same institutions the same course of life the same language was common to both sorts all things were the same Wherefore as God permitted them to dwell at Babylon far from their Country because they were free there from the contagion of any forein customs so were they denyed to proceed any farther and to go to any other habitation This is the meaning of Maimonides where he interprets that of Jeremy they shall be carried into Bâ—bylon and remain there There is no more question to be made of this matter That is very glorious which some wise men of the higher form approved and followed by Mâ—imonâ—â—i have conceived of these Babylonians Their opinion is after the fatall relapse and decay of the affairs and state of Jerusalem these Babylonian Jews are the only people upon whom was transfer'd the Imperiall dignity promised in that famous Oracle Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shall not depart from Juda nor a Law giver from between his feet untill Shiloh come We who reverence the excellent virtues of Maimonides make no scruple to reprehend his errours Certainly that most considering Author in this opinion whilst he too much favours his Country-mens conceits forsook his own judgement I am not ignorant that the Babylonian Jews had a Common-wealth among themselves and administred Justice to the â—est of their own Nation that were without Palestin Nor do we forget that some Peers descended from the house of David alwaies held the principality there Yet therefore follows not that which Rabbi Ben Maimon would have For the Scepter whereof the Oracle was is nothing else but the Jewish Common-wealth that is that Priestly Kingdom whereunto the Religions and Ceremonies were not an accession or prop but the very soul and spirit Besides the custody of Ceremonies and sacred Rites did not belong to every City but one wherein was the sanctuary the peculiar seat and habitation of the Deity That City first was Shiloh afterward Jerusalem in the midst of Palâ—stin If any schismatical Jew built a Temple or Altar in other Lands they offended against the Rights and inviolable Laws of the Common-wealth There is extant among the monuments of history the Epistle of Onias to Ptolomy and Cleopatra wherein he accuseth his Countrvmen because they had built sanctuaries in the Phenician Cities and elsewhere contrary to the Law being himself guilty of no less fault having built a Temple at Heliopolis pretending the Authority of the Prophet Isaiah to countenance his ambitions enterprize This could not be done without violation of the Ceremâ—nies It was amongst the decrees of the most antient Jews which Rabbi Moses Egyptius delivers thus L. 8. in Hal. Biath c. ult If one hath transgressed the Law and built an other house beside the sanctuary at Jerusalem it is not indeed to be accounted a temple of I dols but yet the Priest that hath served there can never sacrifice at the sanctuary of God which is at Jerusalem Yea the vessels which he hath used no man shall apply to the Ministries of the true sanctuary but they must be â—id CHAP. IX Criminall causes judged only in Palestin not by the Babylonian
Jews and others When the Common-weal was of all the Hebrews when of the Jews What the Scepter was The plausible opinion of Eusebius confuted Wherein consists and to whom belongs Imperiall Majesty WHat we have now said of the sanctuary is of great moment to the confuting of Mâ—â—monides but wee must produce other Arguments to prove that the Common-wealth of which old Jacob spake to Juda on his death Bed was no where seated but in Palestin We will not go far but cite Mâ—â—monides for a witness against himself How often doth he tell us the holy people without the bounds of the Holy Lâ—nd was loosed from many of the Mosaicall Laws He hath a notable * In Halacha sanhedrin d ssertation wherein he circumscribes with certain limits the power of the Judges both of Palestin and Babylon Certainly the greatest part of Mâ—ses Law is conversant about criminall causes The judgement hereof saith Maimâ—â— could be no where exercised by the Babylonian Jews no not in Palestin And the Jews of Palestin as by the Law they gave judgement to their own people in all causes within their own Country so without it they gave no sentence upon their Country-men unless by the permission of the Babylonian Peers or other heads of the exiled Jews Whence we gather that the Jews of Palestiâ—â— judged of crimes in their own Country alwaies by vertue of the Law sometimes out of their Country but by permission and leave of others the Babylonians no where judged of them not in their own dominion not in Palestin not by force of Law nor by permission And are these the men think you to whom was given the Jewish Scepter after the affairs of Palestin were broken and decayed Surely either the excellent writer knew not what was the dignity of the Scepter or he thought too well of some States of straw that do there boast themselves to be of Davids house But wee wonder not at this light mistake of Maimonides when we consider by what strange interpretations others have laboured for the sense of Jacobs divine speech I remember I had conference concerning this with the honourable Apollonius Scottus assessor of the supreme Senate at what time in his house at the Hague I sweetly spent the Vacation and with great ardor ran over the Luculent commentations of Rabbi Ben Maimon wherewith I was so taken that I crossed almost all my former notes concerning the Jewish State There did this Senator such is his learning and the exceeding vigor of his wit signifie more than once that in his judgment no other Text in the sacred Book is more examined by learned men and less understood Verily I was glad to find of my opinion a man whose authority and repute might encourage me to oppose the interpretations of any other whatsoever Wherefore by his incitement I think I shall not do amiss if in so great a multitude of conjectures I shall also publish what my judgment is about a prophecy so illustrious The Argument indeed is worthy wherein the wit of every man may exercise it self and shew its strength Although in this our Treatise we handle the affairs of Hebrews and Jews in common and without difference for the most part yet to secure the Reader from mistake we will once for all demonstrate that the sacred Common-wealth constituted by Moses according to Gods appointment was alwaies the same and founded on the same Laws but not alwaies of the same persons A long time it was of the Hebrews afterward by change of times it was only of the Jews And so the oracle of Jacob which is of Juda's Scepter pertaineth only to those later times The ignorance whereof is the cause why this admirable prophecy hath been hitherto misunderstood I will not mention here the miserable hallucinations of Origen Austin Epiphanius and others who thought the Jews were promised by those words of Jacob a perpetuall succession of Kings of the same tribe and the same linage even to the times of Messiah An opinion which led the followers of it into insuperable difficulties for they know not what to say nor whither to turn themselves when they saw from the death of Sedechiah to the times of Aristobulus the Kingdom of the Jews was none and after that untill Herods tyranny it was in the hands only of the Hasmonaei of the tribe of Levi. These things of late are discussed well and with good success in the exercitations against Baronius by the most learned man of our age I saack Casaubon who is pleased with the famous opinion of Eusebius extant in the eighth Book of his Evangelicall demonstrations We pretermit all things rightly said both by Eusebius and by Casaubon that we may not do what is done to our hand And we confess among all the Interpretations hitherto divulged that of Eusebius is far the best But because neither Eusebius nor that great Scholar that follows him seem to me to have understood what that Scepter is of which the old Prophet speaks to his Son a little before his death nor when it was given to the Jews this is needfull now to be cleared but not without a preface For it is no pleasure to us to dissent neither from Eusebius whom we have ever esteemed among the greatest writers nor from him whom we have above named the prime man of our age the follower of Eusebius to whom we owe so much reverence that no man is so great with us as He. For He it is by whose conduct these our times have made admirable proficiency toward the perfection of all learning But we are constrained by our ingenuous love of truth to lay aside affection and impartially inquire what is right The first error of Eùsebius is that the Scepter was given to Juda even from the time of Moses because this Tribe excelled alwaies among the rest with singular dignity and held a more honourable place both in the Camps and in the order of them that offered gifts in the Temple Which Argument moves me no more thaâ— if one should say the Majesty of the Scepter at Râ—â—â— or Athens was not in the Romaâ—â—â—â— Athenian people but in one 〈◊〉 which was more noble or flouâ—â—â—ing For truly it is manifest by the most constant affirmation of antient Authors that in Rome and Athens both were many and divers tribes some above the rest in dignity place and order What is it then Verily I suppose the Scepter to be nothing else but the Majesty of Empire Majesty I mean pertaining to the Common-wealth it self Wherfore whose is the Common-wealth theirs also is the Scepter Now the Hebrew Common-wealth from the age of Moses until the reign of Rehoboam was not of the Jews but of the twelve tribes Whence it follows that the Scepter all that space of time was of all the Israelites But of this Scepter which a long time was common to all the tribes the divine Patriarch spoke not in that celebrious oracle He had respect unto
the later times and the ages to come when the tribe of Juda the people being divided into contrary parts began to have a Common-wealth of their own a sunder from the Israelites a Common-wealth approved and favoured of God and called Judaicall from the name of Juda alone untill he should come who was designed for the King not of the Jews only but of all Nations And this Majesty of the Scepter from the time it once began to be the Jews continued theirs although the State of the Common-wealth was sometimes altered and the power was in the hand one while of the best men and the Priests other while of the Kings and Princes It is want of judgment in them that restrain the honour of this Title to Kings alone For what people soever enjoys a Common-wealth of their own and Laws of their own that people may justly glory in their Empire and in their Scepter It is recorded that in Jerusalem even at the time when the people were govern'd not by Princes but by the best in the midst of the Great Councill which they call Sanhedrin there hang'd a Scepter Which was no question a certain token of that Majesty which * In part orat Tully expresseth to be a certain greatness of a people in retaining that power and right which appears in Empire and all kind of Honour Not Kings not Princes but Consuls and Senators managed the Roman Common-wealth when that Law of confederation was given to the Etolians as Livy relates that they should well and truly conserve the Majesty of the Roman people And that the same was imposed upon all free people that were confederates but upon unequall terms and friends to the Romans the Lawyer * In l. 7. ff de captiv postlim reversis Proculus is a witness Neither is it materiall to us of what family or tribe they were who governed the Judaicall State For although the Hasmonaei of the tribe of Levi many years possessed the Kingdom nevertheless was the Common-wealth of the Jewish people Nero Caesars most wise * Sen. l. 1. de clementia Master told him The Common-wealth is not the Princes but the Prince the Common-weal's And Ulpian the Lawyer was just of the same opinion The crime of Majesty * L. 1. sect 1. ff ad logem Jul. Majest or Treason saith he is that which is committed against the Roman people or against the security thereof Ulpian lived in those times when neither the commands nor suffrages were in the people but the Caesars held the Empire and power of all yet he that is wont most accurately to define every thing ascribeth Majesty to the people CHAP. X. The twelve Tribes of the Hebrews was never called by the name of Jews The ten tribes carried captive by Salmanassar never returned into Palestin Two tribes served the Romans and no more in the time of Josephus EUsebius is not sufficiently confuted untill wee have made it plain how imprudently he drew himself into the snare L. 8. Demonst evan dem 1. In the forecited Book are extant these words Ever since the time of Moses the Governours of Israel if you look upon them in particular were chosen out of severall tribes but in generall the tribe of Juda was over the whole Nation Hitherto he agrees with himself and falls into no contradiction but he addes For example as in the Roman Empire the Governours of several Nations and Camp-masters and the Kings greater than all the rest were not all born at Rome nor descended from Romulus and Remus but sprung of many other Nations some of one some of another and yet as well all the Kings as the succeeding Governours and Leaders were called Romans and the power and authority said to be of the Romans not of any other name so must we think of the Hebrew State that one tribe of Juda gave an illustrious name to all the rest though the Rulers and Kings were created out of the severall tribes all honoured with the common appellation of Jews See whither incogitancy will bring a man Eusebius concludes contrary to what himself would have For affirming the Scepter was the Jews from Moses time he proves it by this reason because the Common-wealth the Empire and the whole people of twelve tribes had their appellation from the one name of Juda. With this argument twice or thrice in severall places he triumpheth and you shall hardly find any other proof of his opinion in the whole discourse But by his leave all this is nothing For neither did the Common-wealth nor the Empire begin to be called after Juda's name till after the greater part of the Israelites had made a defection drawn away by Jeroboam who shortly at Samaria strenthened his Kingdom by introducing a change of ceremonies and Religion I will make it good to Eusebius and to all that have any acquaintance with sacred story that this is so Eusebius often and with confidence affirms all the twelve tribes were called by the name of Jews and hath obtruded this groundless opinion upon unwary men nor have there been wanting some writers of greatest eminence to defend it We cannot yield unto it whether you respect the times antecedent to the seisure of the Kingdom or subsequent And we may conjecture that Eusebius although he doth not plainly express his mind thought it came to pass at the rise of the Empire when the Common-wealth was first setled in the Land of Canaan and it was debated by what name to call it But this hath no colour of truth wherefore that excellent man the Defender of Eusebius makes him think otherwise of the time and what he believes he thought himself approves and follows For saith he it was observed by Eusebius that the twelve tribes of Israel received appellation from the name of Juda and the appellation began to be used when the Kingly power which the tribe of Juda had lost in Sedechiah was by the High Priests transferred upon themselves And this saith he is a thing most worthy of admiration and fell out by speciall providence For seeing in Polybius his opinion 't was not without some great cause that the Acheians a little people of Greece once gave name to all the Grecians surely here also we must conceive some more sublime and weighty reason when after the return from captivity all the children of Abraham of all the tribes were called Jews This errour we neither can nor ought to excuse The truth is this When the Kingdom of the Israelites was rent and divided two tribes Levi and Benjamin joyned themselves with the Jews which tribes being but few in number and of mean estate were accounted but for an addition the Common-wealth was not named from them but they even lost their own name and at length the name of Jews was common to them all There is no doubt to be made of thus much But what or how this can concern the other ten tribes let them
consider that are pleased with the conceit Certainly after that those ten tribes of Israel were once carried away by Salmanassar the Assyrian and dispersed through Colchos Parthia India and Ethiopia they never came back again into their native soil nor were again conjoyned with the Jews but even to this day if there be any reliques of them under the command of barbarous Nations they suffer the grievous punishment of their Apostacy Wherefore to be in the Common-wealth of the Jews or to have the honour a name from the Jews was impossble for them who had no familiarity nothing to do with the Jews but were seated in another World far off and beheld a different Heaven different Stars It will be worth our pains and much to the present dispatch to examine a memorable place that is in Flavius Josephus * L. 11. c. 5. Antiquit. an Author of exquisit and unusuall diligence Flavius had spoken first concerning them who from every quarter out of the neighbouring places came to Babylon that they might return with Ezra to Jerusalem They all were Jews and their Associates of Levi and Benjamin And then concerning the Hebrews of other tribes he addes But all the people of Israel remained in their * Where they were carried by Salmanassar beyond Euphrates seats wherefore both in Asia and in Europe two tribes only fell under the dominion of the Romans the other ten do still continue on the other side of Euphrates being infinite in number and unknown Verily they were under a harder fate whom Salmanassar led into captivity than whom afterward Nebuchodonozor carried away For the Israelites were for ever restrained and kept back by the River Euphrates which they had once passed over But the Jews passed the same and repassed and came again at last into Palestin and when Palestin it self became either too narrow for them or less gratefull they enlarged and spred their habitations through Europe and Asia This is the reason why Josephus said only two tribes of the Hebrews were brought into subjection by the Romans For at that time the people of Rome although they had almost subdued the World and the Sun did both rise and set within the compass of their Empire being Lords of the East and West they had not yet extended their bounds beyond Euphrates Therefore that the ten tribes of Israel shut up in eternall prison by that River were not then under the Roman power was truly said by the most accurate Writer CHAP. XI Their Conjecture that say the Scepter of Juda was first given to David The prophecy concerning the Scepter not fulfilled till after times When the Scepter was taken away I Have ingenuously and freely spoken my opinion when the Scepter whereof Jacobs prophecy is extant was given to the Jews also what were the members of that Common-wealth which had its rise and beginning from the Secession of the common people These things Eusebius did not understand yet he alone among so many Interpreters hath rightly and almost divinely judged of that oracle The comments of other men I will not relate But what Eusebius affirms to have been done from the beginning of the Hebrew Common-wealth very many conjecture came to pass at that time when the royall power was devolved upon David descended of the tribe of Juda as the sacred History doth witness These men have already received such a solid and happy confutation from Eusebius that no place is left here for the industry of any other For he shews that Davids posterity possessed the Kingdom only for a small time untill the Babylonian captivity and the sundry Scriptures that speak of his eternall throne he hath well and wisely interpreted in relation to the Messias To adde more of this after Eusebius were to labour in vain for by his pains herein he hath eased every one It remains only that wee answer their doubt who wonder why the event came so far behind the prediction concerning the Jewish Common-wealth For we have said it began under Rehoboam and not before But we give them to understand this was very agreeable to the meaning of the prophetick Patriarch For the old Father before his death breathing forth his last words to his children saith he would tell them what should come to pass in the later dayes Besides in prophecies the times are not curiously to be insisted on for most of them are to be interpreted with very great latitude Observe in this very prophecy when it is said The Scepter shall not be taken away untill Shiloh come you would think 't were meant that presently upon the appearance of Messias the Scepter should be snatcht out of the hands of that Nation Which came not so to pass For the Jews lost not that honour till the City being destroyed and the Temple burnt they ceased to have any Common-wealth and to govern themselves by their own Laws Nevertheless the oracle was infallibly true For although the Saviour of the World had left the earth long before yet for certain these things hapned in the same age which was presignified by the Messias himself wher he speaks of the destruction of the City and Temple in these words Verily Mat. 24. this Generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled This is enough for the wise The rest that love to raise doubts and scruples every where we regard not For my part seeing men of great name fluctuating among uncertain errours I applyed my self to find out some firm ground to rest on which henceforth I might without danger constantly maintain For otherwise this matter would have often hindred our proceeding in this Treatise CHAP. XII Of Dictators and Judges Of the Senate Sanhedrin Of the initiation of Senators The imposition of hands and the solemn words Who were chosen into that Council and what was their jurisdiction Of the peoples assemblies WE have shewed that the Common-wealth of which we discourse was of all the Hebrews for a long time and then only of the Jews The stating whereof concern'd us much Now having past the trouble of that dispute let us declare who they were that ruled over the Holy Nation and what is to be thought of their judicature and of their Senate The Divine goodness granted not leave to Moses to behold in Palestin the beginnings of that Common-wealth whose Laws he had published in the wilderness That Grace was vouchsafed to his Successor Josuah the Captain General and Soveraign of the people for both at home and abroad in the War his word was a Law His Successors with equall power were they who for going in and out before the people and commanding them might well be called Praetors and Dictators but in the sacred Annals are for the like reason named Judges Flavius hath stil'd them Monarchs a name that the Greek writers gave also to Sylla Cinna Marius and other Roman Dictators These Judges in great commotions were created by necessity and experience witnessed that in
goodness of his cause After which time the twelve Tribes of Israel drunk with their sweet abominations reeled more and more from Jerusalem and refused as upon their Gods command to have any Communion with the Inhabitants thereof And now whatsoever cause of hostility there happened else the greatest reason alwaies seemed that which was taken from their different Religions Thus began the Kingdom of Israel divers from that of the Jews the seat whereof was at Jerusalem And here is the spring of all the calamities that came upon the Hebrews For being weakned by themselves and having drawn much blood from one another they were made a prey to forein Nations who before were invincible against all the world Now Susac the Egyptian spoiled the holy City and the Temple and by way of disgrace set Pillars in severall places upon which were carved 't is a sha me to speak the secrets of Women A fact which Herodotus ascribes unto Sesostris by mistake of the name as Flavius hath rightly judged A bitter calamity this but the things which a long time after were suffered both by the Jews and Israelites were far more grievous And first by Salmanassar the Assyrian was quite destroy'd and overthrown the Empire of the ten Tribes The whole Nation being carried into Media and Persia gave place to the prophane Hittites whom Esarhaddon soon after sent out of Persia into Palestin to inhabit the Land of Israel So do Kings according to their pleasure use to translate Nations like Cattle which Shepheards drive sometimes into their Winter sometimes into their Summer pasture For by this means people are tamed and softned and they that dare any thing at home are held under quiet subjection in a strange Land Never had the Israelites after that time the happiness to return into their own Country or to repair the ruins of their Common-wealth They had so highly offended God by their impious Idolatry that no length of time nor revolution of ages could pacify his wrath The Israelites being thus gone into their eternall exile the Jews remained to receive their due punishment likewise Which was inflicted on them as surely though more slowly In the reign of Zedekiah Nebuchodonozor with a mighty army subdued Egypt and Syria and burnt to ashes the City of Jerusalem and the Temple a place of infinite opulency In which time Himself upon news of Nabolassars death hastning home to take possession of the Kingdom left Commission with his Commanders to bring away the Jews to Babylon and the places thereabout There he assigned them their seats and Fields in the culture whereof this new Colony might spend their time and get their living Venerable monuments of antiquity remain of Berosus Annals wherein 't is written that Nebuchodonozor out of the spoils brought thence built a Temple to Belus enlarged Babylon according to the Majesty of his Empire and girt it with Walls of Brick Moreover made Gardens in the Air and pendent Woods in favour of his Wife who having been bred in the mountainous parts of Media delighted in the prospect of Woods growing in high places Whence appears the vanity of that which the Grecians have delivered with great consent that Semiramis raised those admired works For they are confuted by an Author in Flavius beyond all exception namely Berosus the Chaldean who as all men have believed is most antient and with very great Religion and truth hath consecrated the affairs of his own Nation to eternall memory But the Jews were not punishâ— so grievously by the hand of God nor so long as the Israelites They lived in a gentle and easy exile as in a Country of their own and after seventy years were gone about they were restor'd to Palestin rebuilt their City and Temple and established their Common-wealth again Here now was the state of things much different from what it was before For the Empire which before was in the House of David was now usurped by the Levits after a various manner These men having gotten into their hands the Supreme Power advanced the Common-wealth indeed to the height of riches and greatness but while they contend among themselves for power and honour they trod under foot both divine and humane things So little of piety and modesty did the most sacred name of Religion give to them whom God had selected for himself out of all the rest and separated so long ago that among the holy offices and ceremonies they should lead their lives far from ambition and vain glory CHAP. XVI The Priests have the Government Their evill behaviour Of the sons of Elisab The temple of Garizin built The wickedness of Onias The vertue of Matthias and of Judas Maccabaeus Alcimus his outrage Judea again under Kings Of Herod his cruelty and iniquity OF the Tribe of Levi after the restauration of the City and Temple first the High Priests ruled all without assuming the Title of Prince or King These enjoyed themselves or disposed of to others all favour wealth and power the rest were Plebeians without honour without authority Therefore they that were but Levites were competitors for so great a preferment and used all endeavour some by force some by fraud and fallacies few by the true way to attain unto it Nothing can be imagined more dishonourable than what the two Sons of the high Priest Elisab committed after their Father's death For both Jesus by the help of a barbarous Captain went about wickedly to deprive his Brother Jannes of the high Priesthood which he had received according to the Law and Jannes to retain his right became guilty of a greater wickedness for he slew the same Jesus with his own hand in the temple of God and sprinkled the altars with his Brothers Blood Jannes not long after had for his successor Jaddus Whose Pontificate likewise his Brother Manasses devoured in his hopes but having married against the Law a strange Woman the Daughter of Sanballet whence arose a tumult amongst the people he quickly perceived a necessity lying upon him either to lose his affinity with so potent a Father-law or else relinquish his hopes of the Priest-hood Here upon long deliberatioa with himself at last having communicated his Counsels to his Father-in-Law he conceived a notable enterprize which all posterity talks of none approves For he resolved to erect a Temple in Garizin the highest mountain of Samaria and shortly received power to doe so from Alexander by the mediation of Sanballet Thus he that was not capable of the most honourable office at Jerusalem because he had violated the Law became High-Priest as he could in another place and in the possession of it thought himself in Heaven See the heart of a most wicked man in whom you may doubt whether his ambition or impiety were the greater Yet was this but a small thing in comparison of what Onias the fourth did out of a desire of domination Being made High-Priest and seeing himself too weak for Jasons faction to get the
favour of Antiochus Epiphanes whose protection he needed he forswore the Mosaic Laws and instead of them admitted the Religions and rites of the Grecians And more that he might not bear in his Body the marks of Circumcision he renewed his fore-skin by Physicall Art and perswaded all his people to do the like Afterward Antiochus Epiphanes the High-Priest being his Minister impiously perverted all the institutions of the Jews And now nothing of the sound and the antient customs remained when Matthias the Hasmâ—naean the great restorer of the State having taken up Arms rendred to the Jews their Laws and received the Common-wealth under his Rule with the title of Prince Being deceased to him succeeded Judas in the Principality the same that is called Maccabaeus Yet was there great power and authority in the High-Priest Wherefore Antiochus Eupator after that time cunningly having got entrance into Jerusalem when he distrusted Onias upon whom he saw the people and the State affairs depended much placed Alcimus in his room But he being gotten into the holy chair was more depraved than his Predecessor for he went over to King Demetrius the Son of Seleucus with criminations against Judas whose principality he could not away with Impiety can be never quiet nor content with a single transgression Wherefore hee brought against his own Country the Kings Lieutenant Bacohides with an Army and after his return to the King without effecting the work he encreased the Companies left by Bacchides by the concourse of wicked men From every place were gathered unto Alcimus Murderers Sacrilegious Persons Adulterers whom their guilty consciences would not suffer to rest at home and he engaged them all to do him service by fair words and bountifull pay At the last this gallant Priest to adde more unto his glorious impiety prepared to throw down the Walls of the Sanctuary raised by the Prophets and the Hasidaeans But in the midst of his design death cut him off and in his place the people constituted in the most sacred office their Prince Judas the first of all the Jews that joynd the Miter and the Crown together and was both Prince and Priest The same was done after him by Jonathan Simon and Jannes untill Aristobulus the name of Prince being laid aside took upon him the title of King And so in the end long after the death of Zedekiah Kings again ruled over Judaea but they were of the Tribe of Levi the last of whom was Antigonus Antigonus being expelled and slain Herod held the Scepter which he had before received from the Romans a man not indeed descended of the Royall family no nor of the Sacerdotall but one of Idumaea an insititious Jew or Proselyte for the Idumaeans were not truly Jews but only accounted and called so since the time that Hircanus forced them to submit to the rites and ceremonies of the true God when before they worshipt I know not what good Gosan whose rites were kept by the Costobari a noble family in that Country Famous was that prophecy of Sameas who had long since foretold that Herod should bee given the Jews for a King but to be a Plague unto them Even so it came to pass This Idumaean presently put to death Aristobulus the High-Priest being very young and after him Hircanus allured out of Parthia and after him whatsoever remained of the Hasmonaean bloud he extinguished and left not any branch of the old stock Nor did the seventy Elders the Assessors of the Great Councill Sannedrin speed better Thus all being remov'd out of the way who might create him either fear or danger Herod grew up to his height and the greatness of his power gave him boldness to break forth into great licence for he altered the old customs of the Jews and brought in new and did many things contrary to the Laws Whereof let us hear Josephus speaking thus The antient discipline untainted before he weakned with Innovations whence in our following times we have had no small harm for all those things whereby the multitude was heretofore led unto piety are now neglected and despised CHAP. XVII Of Messias King of the Jews and all Nations The everlasting throne is his A word in Esay written mystically Balaams prophecy in the sense of the Jews The singular nature of Messia's Kingdom The reprehender of Maimonides censured Ezekiels obscure vision not to be curiously searched ANd in this manner after the Jews return out of Babylon they were in possession of the Empire that had no right unto it first the High-Priests then the Hasmonaean Princes being also Levites then Kings of the same tribe and lastly Herod the Idumaean He under whom was born Messias the King of Kings a branch of Davids family To him alone must be referr'd that promise God made to David that his throne should bee everlasting and his seed should sit therein Certainly it is not spoken of Salomon nor of any other of his race for the kingdom once lost they never recover'd after the Babylonian exile Wherefore unless wee will which were great impiety make the promise of God vain and false we must understand that Son of David to bee the Messias our Redeemer of whom the Angel hath pronounced that which is written in St. Luke Of his Kingdom there shall be no end The words are taken out of the ninth of Esaiah where Rabbi Jarchi notes It was subtilly disputed by the Scribes why in the midst of a word contrary to custom the letter Mem is closed A doubt not to be contemned Thereby is signified as the Talmudists are of opinion some great mystery not opened promiscuously unto all but close and reserved Amongst all the Oracles in Scripture concerning the greatest King Messias the Jews think none so worthy of admiration as that which Balaam uttered by divine instinct Num. 24. But the same Interpreters looking narrowly into the Prophets meaning sagely found the words are not all spoken of one King but the oracle is so to be divided that part may belong to David who first of Juda's race possest the Kingdom the rest to the Messias the last King indeed of the same race but greater and more potent than all the other Maimonides in the end of his Misna hath handled this exactly And the same excellent Master there refutes those that exspect in the Kingdom of Messias another face of nature and a new course of things going on perpetually For saith he they understood not the words of Esaiah in the 12. Chapter The dark sayings whereof doe signifie that all pious and good men shall have such quietness in the midst of the wicked that they need not fear Nor hath Rabbi Abraham the Son of David any just reason to reprehend Maimonides for this whose other reprehensions too for the most part are more sharp than solid they make a shew of reason but when they are examined come to nothing As oft as I survey the sacred places the rites and Religious solemnities described
their mind Whithersoever they turn themselves their night goes along too and overshadows them nor shall it be dispelled before they have throughly smarted for their ingratitude and their obstinacy and the hardness of their hearts FINIS Imprimatur Edm. Calamy THE Table Alphabeticall A. R. ABraham 155 Acheians 85 Agrarian Law 13 17 40 Agriculture 20 24 Agrippa's offence 50 Alcimus High-Priest 147 His impiety 148 Alexander M. his favour to the Jews 27 Alterations whence 18 Ambition 141 Anointing of Kings 127 Antigonns King 149 Antiochus Epiphanes 146 Apion cymbalum mundi 3 Apollonius Scotus praised 70 Aristobulus King 149 Aristotle 's opinion of the Jews 29 30 Arist cited 5 8 31 119 Arms of nature 15 Artificers none among the Jews 32 Avarice the hurt of it 17 Author 1 70 74 112 114 B. BAbylon enlarged by Nebuch 139 Babylonian Jews 62. Had not the Scepter 69 Balaam's prophecy expounded 154 Beginning of the Heb. Com. 59 Benefit of the Jubily 14 Berosus Annals 139 Bible some parts not to be read by Youth 159. Forbidden the Jews by Trajan 167 Not corrupted by the Jews 168 Buriall of the dead 55 C. CAbala 105 Capitall offenders 110 Casaubons exercit 73. His praise 74. His errour 85 Calendar corrected 112 Captivtty 137 Change of Laws 58 City-life 21 Cities of refuge 58 City what 110 Colonies 12 Commands three to be fulfild in Palestin 115 ommon-wealth founded by Moses 2. When full of enemies 18. The best 31. Affixt to Palestin 61 Consecration of Cities 44 Councils of the Jews 98 108 Country bred gollant men 21 Court of the Temple 125 D. DAvids Scepter 91. Everlasting throne 153 Day of expiation 16 Defection of the ten Tribes 136 Deformity 104 Desolation of Jerusalem 56 93 Dominion secured by change 113 E. EGyptians their idle life 35 Elders 107 Elisab's Sons 142 Ephod 124 Ephorus his errour 29 Equality 12 Eusebius confuted 74 82 Ezekiels obscure prophecy 156 Ezra 157 F. FAthers errour 72. Unskilfull in the Hebrew text 168 Field laid to field 20 Fire on the Altaer 129 Fortification 53 G. GAbinius abates the power of Sanhedrin 113 Gardons and Woods in Babylon 140 God the ruler of the Heb. Com. 6. Why angry at the desire of a King 117 Gospell common to all Nations 161 Grecians Law-givers Their ignorance of the Jews 29 H. HAsmoneans 79 Hebrews why hated by the Egyptians 34 Hecateus praised 10 Herod King 149. His cruelty 150 Herodotus errour 137 High Priest 104 Hillel 101 111. Hircanus 150 Holy of Holies 50 Holy ointment hid and lost with other things 128 Homer hath not the name of Laws 3 Houses in Cities redeemed 47 Husbandmen of Egypt lazy 38 Husbandry praised 22 I. JAcobs prophecy 64 Jarchi 153 Jeroboam 83. His policy 130. Turbulent 134. Idolatry punished 138 Idumaeans 150 Jerusalems sarstity 48. Privilege 54. The head City 55 Her fall 56 Jews had no commerce with other Nations 28. Spred abroad 88. Knew not their Messias 161. Cast off 162 Not without hope 163. Their dignity 164. Their baseness 165. Our relation to them 167. Our debt to them 168 Imperiall dignity 64 Impiety never quiet 147 Imposition of hands 100 Josephus against Apion praised 3. Jos cited 27 50 87 151. His errour 120 Joshua Captain Generall 96 Jubily the benefit of it 14. the 49 year 41. not kept after the captivity 41 Judas Maccabaeus 147 Prince and Priest 149 Juda 's Scepter 77 Judges of Palestin and Babylon 68 Juvenal cited 36 K. KEepers of the Laws 7 Kings 97 King created 116. Qualities of a King 118. Rules for him 120. Presidents of Religion 122. Dignity 123 King and Priest 126. Anointed 127 Kingdom of the Levites 149 Of the Messias 155 L. LAelius his wisdom 19 Law of Jubily 23 Laws none written before Moses 4. Impartiall 8. Stolo 's Law 18 Law-givers their honour 2 The Grecian 3 Levi and Benjamin called Jews 85 Levites portion 46. Office 122 Reign 141 Liberty pretended to enslave 134 M. MAgistrates 106 Majesty of the Empire 76. In the people of Rome 79 Maimonides praised 13. Cited 16 25 41 49 61 64 68 101 102 108 115 155 Manslanghter expiated 111 Manasses High-Priest 144 Matthias the Hasmonean 146 Masorites diligence and fidelity 169 Mem clausum 154 Merchants 30 Messias 93 153. Reign 157 Modesty in opinion 158 Monarchs the Judges and Dictators so stiled 96 Moses the first Law-giver 2 More than man 7. The stability of his Law 8 N. NEbuchadonozor 139 Nero petition'd by the Jews 50 Nilus fruitfull 39 Noahs seven precepts 5 O. ORdinances of the Jews 9 Opificers illiberall 33 Onias High-Priest 145. Renewed his fore-skin 146 P. PAlestin 9. Fruitfulness thereof 11 43. Divided by Joshua 16 Pastorall life 20 Paul interpreted 164. His charity to the Jews 168 Peace of Jerusalem 133 Peace lost by appropriating what was common 12 Personage goodly 119 Persecution of the Jews 167 Pharaohs policy 37 Plebeians single and in conjunction 106 Peoples Majesty 78. Jealous of Superiors 134 Possessions too ample 17 Priestly kingdom 122 Princes made by providence 131 Progress into science 160 Prophecies 92 Prophets not perish out of Jerusalem 105 Q. QUestion of Juda 's scepter discussed 71 Quiet of Common-wealths 132 R. REason and prudence 5 Redemption of Land 15 Of houses 47 Refuge 57 Religion keeps in awe 9. The soul of the Common-wealth 65. The cement 135. Politickly changed 136 Return of the Jews 141 Roman Common-wealth 21 Power 89 Royall Priest-hood 160 Rule the flagrant desire of it 7 S. SAmaria an imperiall seat 135 Sameas 101 150 Samuel 97 118 Sanballets enterprize 144 Sanhedrin 51 78 98 Saul 118 Scaliger mistaken 102 Scepter of Juda. 64 Schismaticall Jews 65 Scipio African 132 Secrets to be admired 159 Sedition brings ruin 135 Semiramis 140 Senators 98 126 Sepulchers 54 Servants released 16 Servitude dwarfs the mind 166 Sesostris 35 Seventh year 26 Shepheards active 36 Solemnity of Jubily 16 Soveraignty 97 State every state breeds diseases 133 Stolo violates his own Law 18 Subjection preferd before Liberty 116 Successoy 118 T. TAlmud quoted 14 25 48 102 154 Temple the voice there 55 Only at Jerusalem 66 Temple in Garizin 145 Ten tribes captive 86 137 Theocracy 6 Territories enlarged 57 Tiberius 166 Times ordered 111 Titus 167 Trade 28. Inherited 35 Translation of Nations 137 Tribute heavy an occasion of rebellion 131 Truth before affection 75 V. VArro cited 21 Vertue lost by want of exercise 20 Vicissitude 133 Urim and Thummim 51 124 W. VVAr 105 Wealth without oppression 13 X. XEnophanes his saying 158 Y. YEar of rest 42. The sixt years fruitfulness 43 Leap-year 111 Z. R. ZAcuth 112 129 167 FINIS
possession of his House again Thus the Talmudists In the Cities of the Levites it was not so but for their houses they had the benefit of the same Law which was establisht by Moses concerning the Fields and rurall possessions of all the Hebrews as hath been said Wherefore they might redeem them after the year was past and what was not before redeemed the Jubily restored Amongst all the Cities most eminent was Jerusalems sanctity and as the Talmud delivers it remain'd perpetuall ever since the Dedication by the most glorious King Salomon That Ezra consecrated it again was unnecessary for it was not capable to be prophan'd like other Cities by the hands of the Sacrilegious Whence it came to pass as the Talmud-tradition is that it was lawfull to sacrifise at Hierusalem and to feast upon the sacrifices even in the dust and ashes of the destroyed City But how great was the Religion of the place appeared by those Jews whom Hadrian the Emperour permitted once a year to visit the deformed reliques of the holy City and there to lament and deplore the misery of their Nation This City was not assigned by lot unto any one tribe but was common to them all Wherefore the Talmudists free it from that Law which commands the bloud secretly shed in the borders of the Tribes to be expiated by slaving of a Heifer This which follows is not from superstition but from the antient and approved custom of the Nation Maimonides relates if any had an upper room so high that it gave them a prospect to the Holy of Holies they might indeed once a week go up to see all safe but oftner or for other cause they might not Verily King Agrippa much offended his people when from a lofty room in his palace he took a frequent view of the Temple saw from on high what was done within it The Jews thinking this to be an unsufferable thing raised a high wall to cut off the Kings prospect and without delay sent unto Rome ten Legates with Ismael the High-Priest and Eleazar the Treasurer to Petition Nero for a confirmation of that which Religion had compell'd the people to do What Hecâ—taeus of Abdera saith in Flavius that Jerusalem was of 50. furlongs compass inhabited by one hundred twenty thousand persons were not very materiall for us to know but that there is something of singular note concerning the enlargement of their pomaeria which Maimonides hath declared out of the Talmudicall Books And this it is In the enlargement of the City the great Senate Sanhedrin and the King and one Prophet consulted the oracle called Urim and Thummim After that they had agreed among themselves about the interpretation of the divine answer the Senators of the Sanhedrin recited two Verses of thanksgiving and having taken two Loaves of leavened Bread and departing presently with instruments of Musick made a stand at the turning of every Sticet and at all Monuments erected in the City and pronounced these words I will extoll thee O Lord because thou hast lifted me up At last when they were come unto the place designed for consecration because it was to be the bound of their pomaeria they all stayed and there of the two Loaves taken with them after the Verses sung they eat one the other they burnt in the flames These things received from their Ancestors the Talmudicall writers have thus left upon record Nor are they improbable seeing the like and almost the same are exstant in the 12. Chapter of Nehemiahs commentaries Yet in after times the liberty of the Jews being opprest by the Romans this prolation of their pomaeria depended not upon the pleasure of the great Councill but of the Roman people Farther this is also deliver'd by Cornelius Tacitus that the Jews with a great sum of money purchased leave to fortify Whence it appears the Queen of Cities Jerusalem was in the same condition with all towns under the Roman power whose Walls could not be repair'd without the Authority of the Prince or Governour nor any thing joyned to them or set upon them as * L. 9. sect ff de rerum divis Ulpian the Lawyer saith And truly Claudius Caesar when he had received intelligence that they were enclosing Jerusalem with a mighty Wall admonished Agrippa of that new attempt and thereupon the King in obedience to the Emperour left off the work he had undertaken The Talmudicall writers say Jerusalem had this privilege above other Towns of Judaea that no house in the City after one year could be retained by the buyer They say also it was not lawfull to plant Orchards or gardens there affirming that of the whole City which Hecataeus hath written of the circuit of the Temple Dead bodies which were carried any whither were not admitted into that City out of a respect unto the Holiness thereof Only two Sepulchers were there of David and of Olda built they say by the old Prophets Yet were the Levits bound up with a more strict Religion being prohibited to bury the dead in their Cities and in the Field of their Suburbs too Wherefore by divine appointment they received from the other Tribes a parcell of ground without their own borders where they might lay the bones of their dead to rest In other Towns it was not unlawfull to bury provided seven honest men gave assent thereto but when once the Corps was carried forth of the gate it might not be received again within the walls although all the people should desire it Jerusalem as we said above was the head city the seat of Religion and holy rites Wherefore that being overthrown there fell with it the form of the Jewish Common-weal both Civill and sacred Truly what Flavius saith of a voice heard out of the Temple before the destruction of the City Let us go hence seemeth unto me to signifie nothing else but that the Common-weal was to be dissolved and the Scepter to be taken away which of old was given to the holy Nation For within a short time the orders and functions and rites and almost all their Laws ceased and there followed great confusion desolation and distraction First of all the most sacred College of the Hasideans that drew its Originall from the Prophets was now no more because their custom was to goe every day to the Temple and to bestow voluntary charges upon Sacrifices and upon the Porches and Walls of the Sanctuary And whereas Moses imposed upon strangers that should become Proselytes the oblation of some certain gift this upon the dissolution began to be deferred altogether till another time when the third sanctuary which they yet expect shall be built Nor doe they any more marry their Brothers Widows which have no Children And the solennity of the Passeover never since that time hath been rightly celebrated for the Law commanded it should be kept in that place wherein God had chosen the seat of his house Of so much consequence was the