[149] Quite another picture is drawn in Hosea 9, which seems also to refer to the Feast of Tabernacles (see specially verse 5). Indeed, it is remarkable how many allusions to this feast occur in the writings of the prophets, as if its types were the goal of all their desires.

[150] Of course, one or other of these two views is open, either, that the words of Isaiah were based on the ceremony of water-pouring, or that this ceremony was derived from the words of Isaiah. In either case, however, our inference from it holds good. It is only fair to add, that by some the expression water' in Isaiah 12:3 is applied to the law.' But this in no way vitiates our conclusion, as the Jews expected the general conversion of the Gentiles to be a conversion to Judaism.

[151] In later times only certain portions were read, the law as a whole being sufficiently known from the weekly prelections in the synagogues.

[152] There is a curious and somewhat blasphemous Haggadah, or story, in the Talmud on this subject. It appears that at first the sun and moon had been created of equal size, but that when the moon wished to be sole ruler' to the exclusion of the sun, her jealousy was punished by diminution. In reply to her arguments and importunity, God had then tried to comfort the moon, that the three righteous men, Jacob, Samuel, and David, were likewise to be small--and when even thus the moon had the better of the reasoning, God had directed that a sin-offering' should be brought on the new moon, because He had made the moon smaller and less important than the sun!

[153] The Talmud has this curious story in explanation of the custom that women abstain from work on New Moons--that the women had refused to give their earrings for the golden calf, while the men gave theirs, whereas, on the other hand, the Jewish females contributed their ornaments for the Tabernacle.

[154] In another place we have adopted the common, modern view, that this distinction only dates from the return from Babylon. But it must be admitted that the weight of authority is all on the other side. The Jews hold that the world was created in the month Tishri.

[155] The two principal passages are Psalm 69:28, and Exodus 32:32; the former is thus explained: Let them be blotted out of the book,' which means the book of the wicked, while the expression of the living' refers to that of the righteous, so that the next clause, and not be written with the righteous,' is supposed to indicate the existence of a third or intermediate book!

[156] In opposition to this, Luther annotates as follows: They were to blow with the horn in order to call God and His wondrous works to remembrance; how He had redeemed them--as it were to preach about it, and to thank Him for it, just as among us Christ and His redemption is remembered and preached by the Gospel'; to which the Weimar Glossary adds: Instead of the horn and trumpets we have bells.' See Lundius, Jud. Heiligth. p. 1024, col. ii. Buxtorf applies Amos 3:16 to the blowing of the horn.

[157] From the text of Rosh ha Sh. iv. 7, it distinctly appears that they were intended to be used in the synagogues. Of course, this leaves the question open, whether or not something like them was also said in the Temple. The Mishnah mentions altogether nine of these benedictions.'

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

[159] In that case we should translate Hebrews 7:27, Who needeth not on each day (viz. of atonement), as those high-priests, to offer up his sacrifices,' etc.

[160] According to the Jewish view, it was also the day on which Adam had both sinned and repented; that on which Abraham was circumcised; and that on which Moses returned from the mount and made atonement for the sin of the golden calf.

[161] May not the sprinkling of the ashes of an heifer' in Hebrews 9:13 refer to this? The whole section bears on the Day of Atonement.

[162] The only interesting point here is the Scriptural argument on which the Sadducees based their view. They appealed to Leviticus 16:2, and explained the expression, I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat,' in a rationalistic sense as applying to the cloud of incense, not to that of the Divine Presence, while the Pharisees appealed to verse 13.

[163] In case of age or infirmity, the bath was allowed to be heated, either by adding warm water, or by putting hot irons into it.

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

[165] Possibly some readers may not know that the Jews never pronounce the word Jehovah, but always substitute for it Lord' (printed in capitals in the Authorised Version). Indeed, the right pronunciation of the word has been lost, and is matter of dispute, all that we have in the Hebrew being the letters I. H. V. H.--forming the so-called tetragrammaton, or four-lettered word.'

[166] We give the prayer in its simplest form from the Talmud. But we cannot help feeling that its form savours of later than Temple-times. Probably only its substance dates from those days, and each high-priest may have been at liberty to formulate it according to his own views.

[167] Who might pray against the fall of rain. It must be remembered that the autumn rains, on which the fruitfulness of the land depended, were just due.

[168] This on account of the situation of that valley, which was threatened either by sudden floods or by dangerous landslips.

[169] The Talmud has it, that the foreign Jews present used to burst into words and deeds of impatience, that the sin-bearer' might be gone.

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

[171] We have generally adopted the rendering of Dean Alford, where the reader will perceive any divergence from the Authorised Version.

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

[173] Hebrews 9:7 states that the high-priest went once in every year,' that is, on one day in every year, not on one occasion during that day.

[174] The Talmud repeatedly states the fact and gives the song. Nevertheless we have some doubt on the subject, though the reporter in the Mishnah is said to be none other than Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, Paul's teacher.

[175] Only woollen socks are to be used--the only exception is, where there is fear of serpents or scorpions.

[176] Kings and brides within thirty days of their wedding are allowed to wash their faces; the use of a towel which has been dipped the previous day in water is also conceded.

[177] For high-handed, purposed sins, the law provided no sacrifice (Heb 10:26), and it is even doubtful whether they are included in the declaration Leviticus 16:21, wide as it is. Thank God, we know that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin,' without exception.

[178] The learned Jost (Gesch. d. Judenth., i. 42, note 1) suggests that these 85 elders' were really the commencement of the great synagogue,' to which so many of the Jewish ordinances were traced in later times. The number was afterwards, as Jost thinks, arbitrarily increased to 120, which is that assigned by tradition to the great synagogue.' The great synagogue' may be regarded as the constituent' Jewish authority on all questions of ritual after the return from Babylon. Lastly, Jost suggests that the original 85 were the signatories to the covenant,' named in Nehemiah 10:1-27.

[179] In point of fact, the three are so compared in [LXX] 2 Maccabees x. 6, and even the same name applied to them, [LXX] 2 Maccabees i. 9, 18.

[180] According to tradition, the first candlestick in that Temple was of iron, tinned over; the second of silver, and then only a golden one was procured.

[181] Our account is based on the Mishnah (Taan. ii). But we have not given the Psalms in the order there mentioned, nor yet reproduced the prayers and benedictions,' because they seem mostly, if not entirely, to be of later date. In general, each of the latter bases the hope of being heard on some Scriptural example of deliverance in answer to prayer, such as that of Abraham on Mount Moriah, of Israel when passing through the Red Sea, of Joshua at Gilgal, of Samuel at Mizpah, of Elijah on Mount Carmel, of Jonah in the whale's belly, and of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. Certain relaxations of the fast were allowed to the priests when actually on their ministry.

[182] See the very interesting description of details in Taan. ii. 5.

[183] Of the three sects or schools the Pharisees were here the strictest, being in this also at the opposite pole from the Sadducees. The fasts of the Essenes were indeed even more stringent, and almost constant, but they were intended not to procure merit, but to set the soul free from the bondage of the body, which was regarded as the seat of all sin. Besides the above-mentioned fast, and one of all the firstborn on the eve of every Passover, such of the men of the station' as went not up to Jerusalem with their company fasted on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in their respective synagogues, and prayed for a blessing on their brethren and on the people. They connected their fasts and prayers with the section in Genesis 1, which they read on those days--praying on the Monday (Gen 1:9-20) for those at sea; on the Tuesday (v 11, 12) for all on a journey; on the Wednesday (v 14) on account of the supposed dangerous influence of sun and moon, against diseases of children; and on the Thursday (v 20) for women labouring with child and for infants. Further particulars would lead us from a description of the Temple-services to those of the synagogue. But it is interesting to note how closely the Roman Church has adopted the practices of the synagogue. In imitation of the four Jewish fasts mentioned in Zechariah 8:19, the year was divided into four seasons--Quatember--each marked by a fast--three of these being traced by tradition to Bishop Callistus (223), and the fourth to Pope Leo I (44). In 1095, Urban II fixed these four fasts on the Wednesdays after Ash-Wednesday, Whit-Sunday, the Exaltation of the Cross, and the Feast of S. Lucia (13th December). The early Church substituted for the two weekly Jewish fast-days--Monday and Thursday--the so-called dies stationum,' guard or watch-days' of the Christian soldier, or Christian fast-days--Wednesday and Friday, on which the Saviour had been respectively betrayed and crucified. ?

[184] According to the Mishnah (Beehor. viii. 7) of Tyrian weight' = 10 to 12 shillings of our money. The Rabbis lay it down that redemption-money was only paid for a son who was the first-born of his mother, and who was suitable for the priesthood,' that is, had no disqualifying bodily blemishes.

[185] According to Jewish tradition, a dead body, however deeply buried, communicated defilement all the way up to the surface, unless indeed it were vaulted in, or vaulted over, to cut off contact with the earth above.

[186] The Authorised Version translates, without any reason: It is a purification for sin.'

[187] The only other instance in which this is enjoined is Deuteronomy 21:3, though we read of it again in 1 Samuel 6:7.

[188] Hence the high-priest was prohibited from offering the red heifer.

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

[190] Or Gihon. According to Jewish tradition, the kings were always anointed at Siloam (1 Kings 1:33-38).

[191] It might be purchased even from non-Israelites, and the Talmud relates a curious story, showing at the same time the reward of filial piety, and the fabulous amount which it is supposed such a red heifer might fetch.

[192] Philo erroneously states that the high-priest was sprinkled with it each time before ministering at the altar. The truth is, he was only so sprinkled in preparation for the Day of Atonement, in case he might have been unwittingly defiled. Is the Romish use of holy water' derived from Jewish purifications, or from the Greek heathen practice of sprinkling on entering a temple?

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

[194] All popular writers on typology have fallen into this error. Even the learned Lightfoot has committed it. It is also adopted by Mr. Poole in Smith's Dict. of the Bible (ii. p. 94), and curiously accounted for by the altogether unfounded hypothesis that the law imposed segregation' only while the disease manifested activity'!

[195] Even the modified view of Keil, which is substantially adopted in Kitto's Encycl. (3rd edit.), p. 812, that the state described in Leviticus 13:12-13, was regarded as indicative of the crisis, as the whole evil matter thus brought to the surface formed itself into a scale, which dried and peeled off,' does not meet the requirements of the text.

[196] May not our Saviour refer to this when He speaks of sparrows' as of marketable value: Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing' (Matt 10:29)?

[197] The Mishnah and all commentators apply this to conjugal intercourse.

[198] The significance of anointing the head with oil is sufficiently known.

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

[200] According to Rabbinical law adulteresses only suffered death if they persisted in the actual crime after having been warned of the consequences by two witnesses. It is evident that this canon must have rendered the infliction of the death penalty the rarest exception--indeed, almost inconceivable.

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

[202] In general the later legislation of the Rabbis was intended to discourage vows, on account of their frequent abuse (Nedar, i., iii., ix.). It was declared that only evil-doers bound themselves in this manner, while the pious gave of their own free-will. Where a vow affected the interests of others, every endeavour was to be made, to get him who had made it to seek absolution from its obligations, which might be had from one sage,' or from three persons, in the presence of him who had been affected by the vow. Further particulars are beyond our present scope.

[203] The learned writer of the article Nazarite' in Kitto's Encycl. regards the meaning diadem' as the fundamental one, following in this the somewhat unsafe critical guidance of Saalschutz, Mos. Recht. p. 158. In proof, he appeals to the circumstance that the undressed vine' of the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year is designated by the term Nazir' in Leviticus 25:5, 11. But evidently the uncut, untrimmed vine of those years derived its designation from the Nazarite with his untrimmed hair, and not vice versa. Some of the Rabbis have imagined that the vine had grown in Paradise, and that somehow the Nazarite's abstinence from its fruit was connected with the paradisiacal state, and with our fall.

[204] This part of the service was the same as at the consecration of the priests (Lev 8:26).

[205] In our Authorised Version Terumah' is generally rendered by heave-offering,' as in Exodus 29:27; Leviticus 7:14, 32, 34; Numbers 15:19; 18:8, 11; 31:41; and sometimes simply by offering,' as in Exodus 25:2; 30:13; 35:5; 36:3, 6: Leviticus 22:12; Numbers 5:9.

[206] The Mishnah (Bicc. i. 10) expressly mentions the olive-trees beyond Jordan,' although R. Joses declared that Biccurim were not brought from east of Jordan, since it was not a land flowing with milk and honey (Deut 26:15)!

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

[208] The Mishnah enumerates five things of which the amount is not fixed in the Law (Peah, i. 1): the corners of the field for the poor; the Biccurim; the sacrifices on coming up to the feasts; pious works, on which, however, not more than one-fifth of one's property was to be spent; and the study of the Law (Josh 1:8). Similarly, these are the things of which a man eats the fruit in this world, but their possession passes into the next world (literally, "the capital continueth for the next, " as in this world we only enjoy the interest): to honour father and mother, pious works, peacemaking between a man and his neighbour, and the study of the Law, which is equivalent to them all.' In Shab. 127, a, six such things are mentioned.

[209] The Mishnah lays down varying rules as to the amount of the Challah in different places outside Palestine (Chal. iv. 8).