CHAP. V.Of their Burials.

[686]‎‏ספר כריתות‏‎ Græce βιβλίον ἀποστασίου.

[687]Maimon. de divort. c. 1. sect. 5.

[688]Hæc forma reperitur apud Mosem Kotsensem. fol. 133. Aliud exemplar ibidem habetur. It. in Mose Egyptio. part. 2. fol. 59. unde desumpta est hæc testium subscriptio quam opposuimus.

Thisbillwas written by aScrivener, orpublick Notary.[689]And furthermore,[690]a woman beingdivorced, or otherwise awidow, it was not lawful for her to marry again, till she hadtarried ninety days, besides the day of her divorce, or of her husbands death, and her last espousals: to the end it might be known, whether she were with child or no, & that there might be proof, whether it were the seed of her first husband, or of her second.

[689]Solomon Jarchi. Hos. c. 1. 10.

[690]Maimon. de divort. cap. 11. sect. 18.

It was a common custome among theRomans, about the time of ourSavioursbirth, even for the women todivorce their Husbands, and to marry again at their pleasure. Of this,HeathenAuthors speak:

——Sic fiunt octo mariti,Quinque per autumnos.Juvenal. Satyr 6. verse 230.

——Sic fiunt octo mariti,

Quinque per autumnos.

Juvenal. Satyr 6. verse 230.

Et nubet decimo jam Thelesina viro.Martial. lib. 8.

Et nubet decimo jam Thelesina viro.

Martial. lib. 8.

Non consulum, sed maritorum numero annos suos computant, &c.[691]The bill tendred by the woman, was termed[692]Γράμματα ἀπολείψεως,letters of forsaking;not letters of cutting off, or putting away. This same practise was in use also among theHebrews. Hence is that saying of our Saviour:If a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, &c. Mark 10. 12. Now although, at that time, humane laws forbad notmarriages renewed with others upon such divorce, yetGodslaw condemned both suchdivorces, & suchmarriages, and,before God, personsmarryingafter such divorcements were reputeddigamites, that is, to havetwo husbands, or two wives. For this reason, aMinisterabove others is commanded to be μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνὴρ;The husband of one wife,1 Tim. 3. 2.And thewomanshe is commanded to be ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνὴ,The wife of one husband,1 Tim. 5. 9.In which text,second marriages(in case of the Husbands or Wives death) are no more forbidden, than the Poet forbade them in the like phrase.

Unico gaudens mulier marito.Horat. Carmin. 3. 14.

Unico gaudens mulier marito.

Horat. Carmin. 3. 14.

[691]Senec. 3. de Benef. 16.

[692]Plutarch. in Alcibiade.

Note in the last place, that among theJewsthe Bride-woman also brought adowryto her husband; it was sometimesmore, sometimes less; it was called by theRabbins[693]‎‏נדוניא‏‎Nedunia:Raguel gave with his daughterSarahhalf his goods, servants and cattel, and money,Tob. 10. 10.

[693]Elias Thisbit. It. Solom. Jarchi. Gen. 31. 15.

At the time of a mans death, before his Burial, many ceremonies were observed.First, the next of the kin closed the eyes of the deceased body.Joseph shall put his hands upon thy eyes,Genes. 46. 4.This was likewise practised both by theRomansand theGræcians.

Ille meos oculos comprimat, Ille tuos.Ovid.

Ille meos oculos comprimat, Ille tuos.

Ovid.

ὄσσε καθαιρήσουσι θανόντι πέρ.Homer. Iliad. 11.

ὄσσε καθαιρήσουσι θανόντι πέρ.

Homer. Iliad. 11.

Secondly, they washed the body being dead.Tabitha died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper-chamber,Act. 9. 37.Thebaptizationorwashingat such a time was threefold. The first was βαπτισμὸς ἀπὸ νεκρῶν,Eccles. 34. 26.A washing from the pollution contracted by the touch of a dead carkass; that if haply any ignorantly and unawares became thus unclean, then was he by a kind of washing to be made clean again. The second was βαπτισμὸς τῶν νεκρῶν,a baptization or washing of the dead Corps it self. ThusTabithawaswashed: neither is the word βαπτισμὸς, unusually applied tocommon washings, asMar. 7. 4.we read of thewashing of cups, pots, vessels, tables, theGreek isβαπτισμὸς. Thefirstof these washings was proper to theJews: this second in use withJewsChristians,[694]andHeathens:[695]thethird(which was βαπτισμὸς ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν,a baptization for the dead,1 Cor. 15. 9.) proper to someamiss-led Christians. It may be demanded, what manner ofBaptismthis was? with submission of my judgment, I understand this place with S.Ambrose[696]of aSacramental washing, applied unto some living man in the name and behalf of his friend, dying withoutBaptism, out of a superstitious conceit, that the Sacrament thus conferred to one alive, in the name of the deceased, might be available for the other dyingunbaptized. As if the Apostle did wound those superstitiousCorinthianswith their own quills, and prove the Resurrection of the dead from their own erroneous practice, telling them in effect, that their superstitious custome ofbaptizingthe living for the dead, were vain and bootless, if there were no resurrection, and therefore the Apostle useth an emphaticaldistinction of the persons, in the next immediate verse, saying, why are we also in jeopardy every hour? he inferreth the resurrection by force of adoubleargument; thefirstdrawn from their superstitiousbaptizationfor the dead: thesecond, from the hourly jeopardy and peril wherein we, that is, himself and otherChristiansare. So that as thatFathernoteth, the Apostle doth not herebyapprovetheir doing, but evinceth their hope of the resurrection from their own practice, though erroneous. That there wasVicarium tale Baptisma(asTertullian[697]calleth it) in use among theMarcionites, is evident,yea, and among theCorinthians[698]also: the manner thereof is thus described:[699]When any Catechumenist died, some living person placed under the bed of the deceased, they came unto the deceased party, and asked him whether he would be baptized: then he replying nothing, the party under the bed answered for him, saying that he would be baptized: and thus they baptized him for the dead, as if they acted a play upon the Stage.

[694]Tertullian. Apolog. c. 47. It. Euseb. hist. lib. 7. c. 17.

[695]Corpusque lavant frigentis & ungunt Virg. lib. 6. Æneid.

[696]Ambros. 1 Cor. 16. 29.

[697]Tertul. lib. de resur. carnis.

[698]Epiphan. de Corinthian. hæres. 28.

[699]Chrysost. 1 Cor. 15.

Thethirdceremony used by theJewstowards the dead party, was theembalmingof the corps, which for the main thereof, it is probable they learned from theEgyptians, for we findJosephto be the first that practised it,Gen. 50. 2.TheEgyptianmanner ofembalmingwas thus:[700]they took out the bowels of the dead, they cleansed them and washed them with the wine of Dates, and after that again with odors: then filled they the bowels with pure Myrrh beaten, and Cassia, and other Odors (except Frankincense) and sewed them up. After this they seasoned the corps hidden in Nitre seventy days, not longer: after seventy days they washed the corps, and wrapped it in fine linnen cloth gummed, which gum the Egyptians often used instead of glew.TheGreekstermed this ταριχεύειν. And the use thereof was for thepreservationof the body, that it might not putrifie; and therefore when the Funeral Obsequies were not long delayed, they used another kind ofembalming, namely, an external and outward application of Spices and Odours, without the unbowelling of the corps. This theGreekstermed ἐνταφιάζειν.[701]This was used toward ourSaviour Christ,John 19. 40.

[700]Herodot. Euterp.

[701]Usurpatur tamen τὸ ἐνταφιάζειν in scripturis, lata significatione, ad denotandum utramque condituram. Imo ἔθαψαν. occurrit. Gen. 50. 26. pro eo, quod in Hebr. ‎‏ויחנטו‏‎ Et aromatibus condiverunt.

Sometimes they did use toburn the corps, preserving onely the bones in some urn or pitcher,Amos 6. 10.But commonly they interred the whole body, and buried it in the earth. The ancientJewsif theyreceived not from their Ancestors, then would they purchase aburial placethemselves, for the burial of them and their family. The form of that place was thus: It was avaulthewed out in a rock,[702]six cubits long, and four broad, in which eight other cells or lesser holes (or as some say, thirteen) were made, as so many distinct receptacles, ortombsfor the dead bodies to be laid in: as often as they buried any, they were wont toroll a great stone to the mouth of the cave. Thecaveorvaultit self they termed from the act of burial,Keber,[703]which signifieth a place of burial, or from its form,Magnara,[704]a den or cave. These several cells or receptacles in which the body was laid, they calledcucim,[705]graves, tombs: and thestonethey namedGolel,[706]a rolling stone. This giveth great light to that in theGospel.Josephtook the body ofChrist, and wrapped it in a clean linnen cloth, and put it in hisnew tomb, which he had hewen out in a rock, androlled a great stone to the door of the Sepulchre,Mat. 27. 59, 60.Thesecavesorvaultsthe wealthier sort wouldpaint,garnish, andbeautifieat the mouth or enterance of them: hence cometh that phrase,Sepulchra dealbata,painted tombs. As often as they had an occasion to mention or speak of any friend deceased, they used that in theProverbs,The memory of the just is blessed,Prov. 10. 7.Hence theRabbies,[707]in their quotations of any worthy Author deceased, usually subjoyn this honourable commemoration,N. Benedictæ memoriæ,N. such or such a one of blessed memory.

[702]‎‏ד אמות על שש‏‎ Talmud Seder. Nez. in Bavabathra. cap. 6.

[703]‎‏קבר‏‎

[704]‎‏מערה‏‎

[705]‎‏כוכים‏‎

[706]‎‏גלל‏‎

[707]‎‏זכר צדיק לברכה‏‎ Memoria ejus sit in benedictione.

But their usual Epitaph or inscription upon their Sepulchers, was,[708]Let this soul be bound up in the Garden of Eden, or in the bundle of the living, Amen, Amen, Amen, Selati.

[708]‎‏נשמתה תהא צרורה בגן עדן א א א סלת‏‎ Sheindler in ‎‏נדר‏‎

The latterJewshave been strangely conceited concerning the place of burials, and are perswaded that if anIsraelitebe buried in any strange country, out of the promised Land, he shall not be partaker so much as of Resurrection, except the Lord vouchsafe to make himhollow passages, under the earth, thorow which his body by a continual volutation and rolling, may be brought into the land ofCanaan. The ground hereof is taken from the charge ofJacobunto his sonJoseph, that he should not bury him in the land ofEgypt, but inCanaan. For which charge they assign three reasons.[709]First, because he foresaw by the spirit of Prophecy, that the dust of that land should afterward be turned into lice.Secondly, because those who died out of the holy Land should not rise again without a painful rolling and tumbling of their bodies thorow those hollow passages.Thirdly, that theEgyptiansmight not idolatrously worship him.

[709]Solom. Jarchi. Gen. 47. 29.

They made a feast at their burials, which is stiledThe bread of men,Ezek. 14. 17.And acup of consolation,Jer. 16. 7.because it was administred to comfort those that were sad of heart. It much resembled theRoman Silicernium.

From those two places last quoted, we may observe, that at the burial of their friends, they used these ceremonies which follow; some totestifie, some toaugmenttheir grief. 1.Cutting themselves, that is, wounding or cutting any part of their body, with any kind of Instrument. This practice was learned from theHeathens,[710]who were wont not only to scratch their face, but to punch and prick certain parts of their body with a needle, and then cover it over with ink, which they used as a special ceremony in theirsuperstitious worship, and therefore it is forbid,Deut. 14. 1.Secondly, making themselves bald,[711]which was done divers manner of ways; either byshaving their hair, orplucking it offwith their hands, or byimpoisoned plaister to make it fall off. Other Nations were wont to shave off the hair of their head, and to offer it in the behalf of the dead: they did sometimes shave their cheeks, sometimes their eye-lids: and this also, being anHeathenishcustome, was likewise forbidden inIsrael,Deut. 14. 1.Thirdly, going bare headed, that they might cast dust or ashes upon their heads, signifying thereby that theywere unworthy the ground on which they went. Fourthly, going barefootedfor their greater humiliation.Fifthly, the covering of their lips, for that was a special sign of sorrow and shame,The Seers shall be ashamed, &c. they shall all cover their lips, for they have no answer of God,Mich. 3. 7.If it be demanded, how they covered their lips? It is thought[712]they did itby casting the skirt of their cloak, or garment over them. Sixthly,[713]renting their cloaths. Seventhly, putting sackcloth about their loyns,Gen. 37. 34.These were general tokens of grief, used upon all extroardinary occasions of sorrow. Two other there were, more proper to burials, to augment their grief.First, Minstrels, who with their sad tunes inclined the affections of the people to mourning.[714]Of these there weretwo sorts: Some playing onpipes, others soundingtrumpets. At the funeral of Noblemen, or old men, they used atrumpet: at the funeral of the common people, or children, they used apipe.[715]In this respect it is said;That Jesus, when he raisedJairushis daughter, cast out the Minstrels, Mat. 9. 23.Secondly, women hired to sing at burials for the same purpose, and likewise by outwardsignifications of sorrow, to move the company, and more strongly to affect them,Call for the mourning women, &c.and send for skilful women,Jer. 9. 17.These theRomanscalled,Præficas, quasi in hoc ipsum præfectas,Chief or skilful mourners.

[710]Gentes, quasdam corporis partes acu vulnerabant, vel alias incidebant atramentumque superponebant, quod in cultum dæmonum suorum fiebat, præcipietur ergo ne ullo pacto sicut gentes ferirent carnes suas; quemadmodum sacerdotes Cybeles & deæ Sororum, ut refert Lucianus. P. Fag. Deut. 14. 1. Unguibus ora soror fædans & pectora pugnis. Virg. lib. 4. Æneid.

[711]Sectis fratri imposuere capillos. Ovid. Met. 3.

[712]D. Kimchi & Aben. Esra P. Fag. Lev. 14. 45.

[713]Scissâque Polyxena pallâ. Juvenal. Satyr. 10.

[714]Majoris ætatis funera ad tubam proferre solebant: minoris vero ætatis ad tibias. Servius. Æneid. lib. 5.

[715]Tibia cui teneros suetum deducere manes Lege Phrygum mesta. Statius. Theb. lib. 6, ver. 121.

The manner ofswearingwas sometimes bylifting up their hands towards heaven;Abrahamsaid to theKing of Sodom,I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord; that is, I havesworn, that I will not take from a thred, even to a shoe-latchet,Gen. 14. 22.Unto which custome the Psalmist seemeth to allude,Psal. 106. 26.He lifted up his hand, that is,he swore. Sometimes he that took the Oathdid put his hand under the others thigh, which administred the Oath. We read this manner of administration to have been used byAbraham,Gen. 24. 2.andJacob,Gen. 47. 29.Which ceremony some[716]interpret to be as atoken of subjection; others[717]as amystery of circumcision; the sign wherof they bore about that place of their body: Others[718]more probably think it to be amysterious signification of Christ the promised seed, who was to come out ofAbrahams loyns, orthigh; as the like phrase is used,Gen. 46. 26.the souls that came out ofJacobs thigh. Sometimes also the manner of deposing, was tostand before the Altar,1 Kings 8. 31.Which was also the custome of theAthenians,[719]theCarthaginians,[720]and theRomans.[721]

[716]Aben Esra. Gen. 24. 2.

[717]Solomon Jarchi, ibid.

[718]August. quæst. super Gen. 62.

[719]Alex. ab. Alex. lib. 5. cap. 10.

[720]Livius dec. 3. lib. 1. It. Valer. Max. l. 9. c. 3.

[721]Jures licet & Samothracum, & nostrorum aras. Juvenal. Satyr. 3.

The object of a lawful Oath was, and is,onely the Lord: whence he that took the Oath was said toconfess unto God, compareIsa. 45. 23.withRom. 14. 11.And the ancient form of imposing an Oath was this,Give glory to God,Josh. 7. 19.John. 9. 24.Now God was glorified by an Oath, because thereby there was a solemn confession and acknowledgement ofGods Omni-presence, that he is present in every place: of hisOmniscience, that he knoweth all secrets: of histruth, that he isa maintainer of truth, andan avenger of falshood: of hisjustice, that he is willing; and hisomnipotency, that he is able to punish those that by swearing shall dishonour him, And as theobject of a lawful oathwas onelyGod: so it is implied, that it was not rashly or unadvisedly to be undertaken, but by a kind of necessityimposed; for theHebrewword ‎‏נשבע‏‎ is a Passive, and signifiethto be sworn, rather than toswear.

In corrupter times they were wont to swear by thecreatures,[722]but theJewschiefly byJerusalem, by the Temple, by the gold of the Temple, by the Altar, and the gift on the Altar. ThisgiftinHebrewwas termedCorban,[723]and it was one of those oaths which in ourSaviour Christstime theScribesandPhariseesaccounted principally obligatory. If any sworeby the Altar, it was nothing: but if any swore by theoblation of the Altar, he was bound to perform it,Matth. 23. 18.Yea, althoughGods lawenjoyned honour, and relief toward parents; yet if they had bound themselves by this oathCorban, that they would not help or relieve their parents, they taught they were discharged. Whence, saith theirTalmud,[724]Every one ought to honour his father and mother, except he hath vowed the contrary. And it is evident[725]that theJewsdid often by solemn vows andoaths bind themselves, that they would never do good to such, or such a man. We must furthermore knowthat usually to their oaths there was anexecration, orconditional curseannexed, which sometimes was expressed, as,if I do not do thus and thus, then the Lord do so to me, and more also,1 Sam. 14. 44.Also1 Kin. 20. 10.Sometimes it isunderstood, as,I have sworn, if I take from a thred to a shoo-latchet,Gen. 14. 22.then let the Lord do so to me, and more also; this, or the like, isunderstoodand maketh the former part of the oath to sound negatively; as ifAbrahamhad said,I have sworn, I will not take from a thread to a shoo-latchet. In like manner,Psal. 95.I have sworn,if they shall enter into my rest; that is,They shall not enter into my rest,Heb. 3. 18.This helpeth the exposition of that difficult place,Mat. 15. 5.which we read,[726]By the gift that is offered by me thou maist have profit: but if we conceive it thus, according to the form of the oathCorban,By Corban if thou receive any profit by me, and understand the execration implyed:Then let God do thus, and much more to me; the sense will be thus;By Corban thou shalt receive no profit by me. This exposition is as agreeable to the scope of the place, as it is to their form of swearing, and plainly sheweth how thePhariseesby their traditions transgressed the Commandment of God. For God commanded, saying,Honour thy father and Mother.But theScribesandPhariseessaid; Whosoever should say to father or mother seeking relief,By Corban thou shalt receive no profit from me, he was discharged.

[722]Allium, porrum & cepas inter deos jure jurando habuerunt Egyptii, Plin. lib. 19. c. 6. Item. Juvenal. Sat. 15.

[723]ἐν οἷς μετά τινων ἄλλων καὶ τὸν καλούμενον ὅρκον Κορβάν καταριθμεῖ. Inter quæ sacramenta, cum quibusdam aliis etiam jusjurandum quod Corban appellatur, enumerat Joseph. contra Appion. l. 1. p. 147.

[724]Talmud. Hierosolymit. tract. de votis cap. 10.

[725]Ὅρκῳ πιστοῦνται, τῷ δεῖνι μὴ παρέξειν ὠφέλειαν τινα. Jurejurando se obstringunt huic vel illi homini nihil se commodi præstituros! Philo Jud. de specialibus legib. p. 595.

[726]Δῶρον, ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς, Per Corbam, si quicquam tibi prodero: interpretor ὃ ἐὰν, Si quicquam quemadmodum ὃς ἐὰν. Si quisquam, Mat. 10. 14. & Mat. 23. 18. Et execratione subaudita sensus emergat, Per Corbam nihil tibi prodero, Cæterum, si quis urgeat, quod in fonte sit κορβᾶν, non per Corban, vel ἐν κορβὰν, sciendum quod similis ellipsis in jurandi formulis non est inusitata, hinc ‎‏המעון הזה‏‎ valet ‎‏במעון הזה‏‎per domicilium hoc. Vide Drusium de tribus sectis l. 2. cap. 17.

Writingin no Nation came to its perfection on a sudden, but by degrees: The Opinions of the Ancients concerning the Authors and Inventers of letters are different. Some say[727]Cadmusbrought the use of letters intoGreece: others say,[728]Palamedes: some say,[729]Radamanthusbrought them intoAssyria:MemnonintoEgypt:HerculesintoPhrygia: andCarmentaintoLatium. Likewise some say thePhœnicianshad first the knowledge and use of letters.

Phœnices primi (famæ si credimus) ausiMansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris.Lucan.

Phœnices primi (famæ si credimus) ausi

Mansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris.

Lucan.

[727]Plin. l. 7. c. 56. Diodor. Sicul. l. 6. c. 5.

[728]Servius. lib. 2. Æneid.

[729]Alex. Genial. l. 1. c. 30.

Others say theEthiopians:[730]others theAssyrians.[731]But upon better grounds it is thought,[732]thatMoses first taught the use of letters to the Jews, and that thePhœnicianslearned them from theJews, and theGreciansfrom thePhœnicians.

[730]Diodor. Sicul. l. 4.

[731]Plin. l. 7. c. 56.

[732]Euseb. præpar. Evang. lib. 18.

In like manner, the matter upon which men wrote, in ruder times was different. Some wrote onrinds of trees, whenceLiber, signifying originally arinde of a tree, is now used fora book:[733]some wrote ontile-stonewith aboneinstead of apen; some onTables; this last was chiefly in use among theJews, theDecaloguewas was written in twotables. Again, write these things upon atable,Esay. 30. 8.ἐπὶ πυξίου, saith theSeptuagint, as if the writing-tables at that time were made ofBox-trees. They used not thenpensorquills, but a certain instrument orpunch, made of Iron or Steel, calledStylus, it was sharp at one end, for the more convenient indenting or carving of the characters, and broad at the other, for the scraping or blotting out what had been written: whence sprang that Proverbial speech:[734]Invertere stylum,to unsay what he had said, orto blot out what he hath written:Scribe stilo hominis:write with the pen of man,Esay. 8. 1.Afterward before they came to bind up books in manner as now we have them, they wrote in a roll ofPaperorParchment, which sometimes wasten cubitsbroad, andtwentylong,Zac. 5. 2.This they called ‎‏מגלה‏‎Megilla, inHebrew, fromGalal,to roll,Volumenin Latine, inEnglish a volumn, fromvolvo,to roll. In thevolumn of the bookit is written,Psal. 40. 7.AndChrist closingthe Book, gave it to the Minister,Luk. 4. 20.the word is πτύξας,complicansfolding, or rolling it up: andvers. 17.ἀναπτύξας,explicans,unfolding, or opening it.[735]Thesevolumnswere written not with one entire continued writing, but the writing was distinguished into manyspaces,columnsorplatforms, like unto so manyAreæ: theseplatforms, filled with writing, were instead of so manypagesin a book: and thus we are to understand thatJer. 36. 23.WhenJehudihad read three or fourleaves, he cut it with a pen-knife,&c.Theseleaveswere nothing else but suchspaces, and platforms in theroll. After this manner theJewsreserve the Law written in suchrolls, and with suchspaces, in theirSynagoguesat this day.

[733]Diogen. Laert. in vitæ Cleanthis.

[734]Erasm. in Adag.

[735]Buxtorf. institut. epist. p. 4.

It is much controversed, whether theJewsdid from the beginning write withvowelsandaccents, or whether they were added by theMasorites; for the understanding of which, it will be needful,First, toenquire who theMasoriteswere:Secondly, what their work was; and then to deliver in a proposition what may be probably thought in this point.

First, concerning theMasorites, we are to know that ‎‏מסר‏‎Masarsignifiethtradere,to deliver, andMasora tradition, delivered from hand to hand to posterity without writing, as thePythagoreansandDruideswere wont to do; but by the figureSynecdoche, it signifieth thosecritical notesorScholion, written in the margine of the Bible, and those that were the Authors of thosecritical observationswere termedMasoritæ,Masorites. Concerning these Authors, who they were there are two opinions. Some[736]think that they were certain learnedJewsliving in the CityTiberias, they termed themSapientes Tiberiadis,the wise men of Tiberias. Thesewise menare thought to have added thesemarginal notesunto theHebrew Bibles[737]some time after the finishing of theBabylon Talmud, which was about the year of ourLord, 506. This opinion is unlikely for these two reasons. 1.[738]Because we cannot find in Histories, the continuance of any Colledg or School inTiberiasso long, but rather thatdegrees in learningceased there within four hundred years after ourSaviour his birth. 2.[739]In bothTalmudsmention is made of theMasora, and the things contained therein. Others therefore more probably say,[740]that theMasoriteswere thatEcclesiastical SenateorCouncilheld byEsra, Haggai, Zachary, Malachi, and divers others assembled for the reformation of the Church after their return fromBabylon; they are calledViri Synagogæ magnæ. ThisCouncilcontinued at least forty years: forSimeon the just, who went out in hisPriestly robes, to meet and pacifieAlexander the Great, coming in hostile manneragainstJerusalem,[741]was the last of thatCouncil, and that was above three hundred years before the birth of ourSaviour.Esrawas thePresidentor Chief of thisCouncil; he was of such repute among theJews, that they parallel’d him withMoses, saying,[742]Dignus eratEsra,quod data fuisset lex per manus ejusIsraeli,si non præcessisset eumMoses.

Back to Index Next