_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 latter _Jews_ have been strangely conceited concerning the place
of burials, and are perswaded that if an _Israelite_ be 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 him _hollow
passages_, under the earth, thorow which his body by a continual
volutation and rolling, may be brought into the land of _Canaan_.
The ground hereof is taken from the charge of _Jacob_ unto his son
_Joseph_, that he should not bury him in the land of _Egypt_, but in
_Canaan_. 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 the _Egyptians_ might not idolatrously worship him.
[709] _Solom. Jarchi. Gen. 47. 29._
They made a feast at their burials, which is stiled _The bread of men_,
_Ezek. 14. 17._ And a _cup of consolation_, _Jer. 16. 7._ because
it was administred to comfort those that were sad of heart. It much
resembled the _Roman Silicernium_.
From those two places last quoted, we may observe, that at the burial
of their friends, they used these ceremonies which follow; some to
_testifie_, some to _augment_ their grief. 1. _Cutting themselves_,
that is, wounding or cutting any part of their body, with any kind
of Instrument. This practice was learned from the _Heathens_,[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 their superstitious
worship, and therefore it is forbid, _Deut. 14. 1._ _Secondly, making
themselves bald_,[711] which was done divers manner of ways; either
by _shaving their hair_, or _plucking it off_ with their hands, or by
_impoisoned 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 an _Heathenish_ custome, was likewise forbidden in
_Israel_, _Deut. 14. 1._ _Thirdly, going bare headed_, that they might
cast dust or ashes upon their heads, signifying thereby that they _were
unworthy the ground on which they went. Fourthly, going barefooted_
for 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 it _by 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 were _two sorts_: Some
playing on _pipes_, others sounding _trumpets_. At the funeral of
Noblemen, or old men, they used a _trumpet_: at the funeral of the
common people, or children, they used a _pipe_.[715] In this respect
it is said; _That Jesus, when he raised_ Jairus _his daughter, cast
out the Minstrels_, Mat. 9. 23. _Secondly_, women hired to sing at
burials for the same purpose, and likewise by outward significations
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 the _Romans_ called, _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._
CHAP. VI.
_Of their Oaths._
The manner of _swearing_ was sometimes by _lifting up their hands
towards heaven_; _Abraham_ said to the _King of Sodom_, _I have
lifted up my hand unto the Lord_; that is, I have _sworn_, 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 Oath _did put his hand under the others thigh_, which administred
the Oath. We read this manner of administration to have been used by
_Abraham_, _Gen. 24. 2._ and _Jacob_, _Gen. 47. 29._ Which ceremony
some[716] interpret to be as a _token of subjection_; others[717] as
a _mystery of circumcision_; the sign wherof they bore about that
place of their body: Others[718] more probably think it to be a
_mysterious signification of Christ the promised seed_, who was to
come out of _Abrahams loyns_, or _thigh_; as the like phrase is used,
_Gen. 46. 26._ the souls that came out of _Jacobs thigh_. Sometimes
also the manner of deposing, was to _stand before the Altar_, _1
Kings 8. 31._ Which was also the custome of the _Athenians_,[719] the
_Carthaginians_,[720] and the _Romans_.[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 to _confess unto God_, compare _Isa. 45.
23._ with _Rom. 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 of _Gods Omni-presence_, that he is present in
every place: of his _Omniscience_, that he knoweth all secrets: of
his _truth_, that he is _a maintainer of truth_, and _an avenger of
falshood_: of his _justice_, that he is willing; and his _omnipotency_,
that he is able to punish those that by swearing shall dishonour him,
And as the _object of a lawful oath_ was onely _God_: so it is implied,
that it was not rashly or unadvisedly to be undertaken, but by a kind
of necessity _imposed_; for the _Hebrew_ word נשבע is a Passive, and
signifieth _to be sworn_, rather than to _swear_.
In corrupter times they were wont to swear by the _creatures_,[722]
but the _Jews_ chiefly by _Jerusalem, by the Temple, by the gold of
the Temple, by the Altar, and the gift on the Altar_. This _gift_ in
_Hebrew_ was termed _Corban_,[723] and it was one of those oaths which
in our _Saviour Christs_ time the _Scribes_ and _Pharisees_ accounted
principally obligatory. If any swore _by the Altar_, it was nothing:
but if any swore by the _oblation of the Altar_, he was bound to
perform it, _Matth. 23. 18._ Yea, although _Gods law_ enjoyned honour,
and relief toward parents; yet if they had bound themselves by this
oath _Corban_, that they would not help or relieve their parents, they
taught they were discharged. Whence, saith their _Talmud_,[724] _Every
one ought to honour his father and mother, except he hath vowed the
contrary_. And it is evident[725] that the _Jews_ did often by solemn
vows and _oaths bind themselves, that they would never do good to
such, or such a man_. We must furthermore know that usually to their
oaths there was an _execration_, or _conditional curse_ annexed, 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._ Also _1 Kin. 20.
10._ Sometimes it is _understood_, 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, is _understood_ and maketh
the former part of the oath to sound negatively; as if _Abraham_ had
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 oath
_Corban_, _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 the _Pharisees_
by their traditions transgressed the Commandment of God. For God
commanded, saying, _Honour thy father and Mother._ But the _Scribes_
and _Pharisees_ said; 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 הזה ~per domicilium hoc~. Vide Drusium de tribus sectis l. 2.
cap. 17._
CHAP. VII.
_Of their Writing, Masorites, and their Work._
_Writing_ in 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] _Cadmus_ brought
the use of letters into _Greece_: others say,[728] _Palamedes_: some
say,[729] _Radamanthus_ brought them into _Assyria_: _Memnon_ into
_Egypt_: _Hercules_ into _Phrygia_: and _Carmenta_ into _Latium_.
Likewise some say the _Phœnicians_ had first the knowledge and use of
letters.
_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 the _Ethiopians_:[730] others the _Assyrians_.[731] But upon
better grounds it is thought,[732] that _Moses first taught the use of
letters to the Jews_, and that the _Phœnicians_ learned them from the
_Jews_, and the _Grecians_ from the _Phœnicians_.
[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 on _rinds of trees_, whence _Liber_, signifying
originally a _rinde of a tree_, is now used for _a book_:[733]
some wrote on _tile-stone_ with a _bone_ instead of a _pen_; some
on _Tables_; this last was chiefly in use among the _Jews_, the
_Decalogue_ was was written in two _tables_. Again, write these things
upon a _table_, _Esay. 30. 8._ ἐπὶ πυξίου, saith the _Septuagint_, as
if the writing-tables at that time were made of _Box-trees_. They used
not then _pens_ or _quills_, but a certain instrument or _punch_,
made of Iron or Steel, called _Stylus_, 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_, or _to 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 of _Paper_ or _Parchment_, which sometimes was _ten
cubits_ broad, and _twenty_ long, _Zac. 5. 2._ This they called מגלה
_Megilla_, in _Hebrew_, from _Galal_, _to roll_, _Volumen_ _in Latine_,
in _English a volumn_, from _volvo_, _to roll_. In the _volumn of the
book_ it is written, _Psal. 40. 7._ And _Christ closing_ the Book, gave
it to the Minister, _Luk. 4. 20._ the word is πτύξας, _complicans_
_folding_, or rolling it up: and _vers. 17._ ἀναπτύξας, _explicans_,
_unfolding_, or opening it.[735] These _volumns_ were written not with
one entire continued writing, but the writing was distinguished into
many _spaces_, _columns_ or _platforms_, like unto so many _Areæ_:
these _platforms_, filled with writing, were instead of so many _pages_
in a book: and thus we are to understand that _Jer. 36. 23._ When
_Jehudi_ had read three or four _leaves_, he cut it with a pen-knife,
_&c._ These _leaves_ were nothing else but such _spaces_, and platforms
in the _roll_. After this manner the _Jews_ reserve the Law written in
such _rolls_, and with such _spaces_, in their _Synagogues_ at this day.
[733] _Diogen. Laert. in vitæ Cleanthis._
[734] _Erasm. in Adag._
[735] _Buxtorf. institut. epist. p. 4._
It is much controversed, whether the _Jews_ did from the beginning
write with _vowels_ and _accents_, or whether they were added by the
_Masorites_; for the understanding of which, it will be needful,
_First_, to enquire who the _Masorites_ were: _Secondly_, what their
work was; and then to deliver in a proposition what may be probably
thought in this point.
First, concerning the _Masorites_, we are to know that מסר _Masar_
signifieth _tradere_, _to deliver_, and _Masor_ _a tradition_,
delivered from hand to hand to posterity without writing, as the
_Pythagoreans_ and _Druides_ were wont to do; but by the figure
_Synecdoche_, it signifieth those _critical notes_ or _Scholion_,
written in the margine of the Bible, and those that were the Authors
of those _critical observations_ were termed _Masoritæ_, _Masorites_.
Concerning these Authors, who they were there are two opinions.
Some[736] think that they were certain learned _Jews_ living in the
City _Tiberias_, they termed them _Sapientes Tiberiadis_, _the wise
men of Tiberias_. These _wise men_ are thought to have added these
_marginal notes_ unto the _Hebrew Bibles_[737] some time after the
finishing of the _Babylon Talmud_, which was about the year of our
_Lord_, 506. This opinion is unlikely for these two reasons. 1.[738]
Because we cannot find in Histories, the continuance of any Colledg or
School in _Tiberias_ so long, but rather that _degrees in learning_
ceased there within four hundred years after our _Saviour his birth_.
2.[739] In both _Talmuds_ mention is made of the _Masora_, and the
things contained therein. Others therefore more probably say,[740] that
the _Masorites_ were that _Ecclesiastical Senate_ or _Council_ held by
_Esra, Haggai, Zachary, Malachi_, and divers others assembled for the
reformation of the Church after their return from _Babylon_; they are
called _Viri Synagogæ magnæ_. This _Council_ continued at least forty
years: for _Simeon the just_, who went out in his _Priestly robes_,
to meet and pacifie _Alexander the Great_, coming in hostile manner
against _Jerusalem_,[741] was the last of that _Council_, and that was
above three hundred years before the birth of our _Saviour_. _Esra_ was
the _President_ or Chief of this _Council_; he was of such repute among
the _Jews_, that they parallel’d him with _Moses_, saying,[742] _Dignus
erat_ Esra, _quod data fuisset lex per manus ejus_ Israeli, _si non
præcessisset eum_ Moses.
[736] _Aben Esra vid. Buxt. commen. Masor. c. 3._
[737] _Elias Levita in præfat. tertia l. Masoreth hammasoreth._
[738] _Buxtorf. in comment. Masor. c. 7._
[739] _Buxtorf. in comment. Masor. c. 8._
[740] _R. Asarias. R. Gedalia. Buxtor. in comment. Masor. c. 11._
[741] _Pirke Aboth. c. 1._
[742] _Talmud. Sanhedrim. c. 2. fol. 21._
In the second place we are to consider the _work_, what the men of
this great _Synagogue_, being the true _Masorites_, did: their work
may be reduced to these particulars. 1. When this great _Council_ was
assembled, they, among whom _Ezra_ was chief (who was assisted with
the inspiration of _Gods Spirit_)[743] determined what _Books_ were
_Canonical_, what _spurious_ and _Apocryphal_. _Secondly_,[744] the
_authentick_ and _Canonical Books_, were purged by them, of all errors
crept into the Text in time of their captivity. _Thirdly_,[745] they
digested the _Old Testament_ into _twenty two books_, according to the
number of the _Hebrew letters_. _Fourthly_, they distinguisht it into
great _Sections_ and _Verses_; for though the Law was not so confusedly
written, without any space or note of distinction between word and word
that it seemed all one _continued verse_, or as the _Kabbalists_ speak,
תיבה אחת _Theba achath_, _one word_, until the time of the _Masorites_;
yet it was not so distinguisht into _Sections_ and _Verses_, as
now we have it. _Fifthly_, they added their censures and _critical
observations_, concerning the irregularity of many words, in respect
of the _vowels_ and _accents_. _Sixthly_, they numbered the _verses_,
_words_, and _letters_ of every Book, to prevent all possibility of
corrupting the Text in future times; for now they say, the gift of
Prophesie should cease. _Lastly_, they noted the _different writing_,
and _different reading_, for the understanding of which we must know,
that in the _Hebrew_ Text many words are written with more, many with
_fewer letters_, than they are pronounced; many words _written_ in the
Text which are not _pronounced, &c._[746] In the margin the difference
is expressed: whence the difference in the Text they term כתב _Cethib_,
_Scriptionem_, the writing; the difference in the margin they term קרי
_Keri_, _Lectionem_, the Reading: because they do read according to
that in the margin. This difference is thought by some[747] to be a
correction of the Bible, according to several copies after their return
from _Babylon_: but, that it is of _Divine Authority_, containing many
mysteries known to _Moses_, and the _Prophets_ successively (though
many of them unknown to our Age) and that it was not any correction,
but the difference it self primarily and purposely was intended by
the _Prophets_, and holy Penmen of the Scripture, evidently appeareth
by the diversity of readings in those books which were written by
_Haggai_, _Zachary_, _Malachi_, _Daniel_, and _Esra_: They being the
Authors of their own books, needed no _correction_ at that time,
themselves being present, yet in them this _different reading_ is used.
[743] _Buxtorf. in comment. Masor. c. 11._
[744] _Tertull. l. de habit. muliebr. Chrysost. hom. 8. ad
Hebræos. Irenæus adver. hæres. lib. 3. c. 25. August. de mirab.
sacræ, script. l. 2. circa finem._
[745] _Genebrard. l. 2. Chronolog._
[746] _Sunt octo voces quæ scriptæ sunt in textu, sed non
leguntur quas adducit. Masora, Ruth. 3. 12._
[747] _Contra hos disputat Elias Levita in præfat. 3. l.
masoreth hammasoreth._
In the third place, the Proposition followeth; namely, _Seeing
that the_ Masorites _passed their censure on many words for their
irregularity in their vowels and accents_; therefore, _the vowels
originally were not from the_ Masorites, _but of the same antiquity
with their words_; and in truth, otherwise they had been a _body or
carkass without a soul_.
CHAP. VIII.
_Of Israels pitching their Tents, or of their Camps._
Whiles the _Israelites_ wandred thorow the Wilderness, their _Church_
was a _Tabernacle_; and their _habitations_, _Tents_: so that their
whole _Camp_ might be termed a _moveable City_. It was divided into
three parts. In the centre or middle of all was the _Tabernacle_ it
self, with its _Courts_, this they termed the _Camp of the Divine
Majesty_. Next round about, pitcht the _Priests_ and _Levites_, to whom
the charge of the _Tabernacle_ belonged, (and therefore the nearest
adjoyning place of habitation might be the convenientest for them) this
was called the _camp of Levi_. In the utter parts, round about _Levi_,
the _twelve Tribes_ pitcht their Tents; this they termed the _Camp of
Israel_. The first _Camp_ resembled a great _Cathedral Church_, with
its _Church-yard_. The _second_ a Priviledg-place _about the Church_,
as it were for _Colledges_ for the habitation of the _Clergy_. The
_third_, the _body of a City_, wherein the _Towns-men_ or _Laity_
dwelt. The form of the whole, is probably thought to be _four-square_,
some say _twelve miles long_, and _twelve miles broad_.[748]
[748] _Uziel. Num. 2. 3._
In the Eastern part pitched these three Tribes, _Judah_, _Issachar_,
and _Zebulon_. On the South-side, _Reuben_, _Simeon_, and _Gad_. On
the West, _Ephraim_, _Manasses_, and _Benjamin_. On the North, _Dan_,
_Asher_, and _Napthali_: and these made up the _outward Camp_, termed
the _Camp of Israel_. Between each Tribe, in every one of those four
quarters, there were distant spaces like Streets, where there was
buying and selling as in a market, and tradesmen in their shops in
manner of a City leading to and fro.[749] This _Camp_ is thought[750]
to be round a _mile distant_ from the _Tabernacle_, that is _a Sabbath
daies journey_; and this is gathered from _Josh. 3. 4._ where the
distance between the _People_ and the _Ark_ is commanded to be _two
thousand cubits_.
[749] _Οὐδενί τε ἄλλῳ ἢ πόλει μετανισταμένῃ καὶ καθιδρυμένῃ
ἐῴκει. Joseph. l. 3. Antiq. c. 11. p. 97._
[750] _Tradunt Hebræi, filios Israelita castrametatos fuisse
in circuitu tabernaculi ut unum milliare interfuerit (~i.~)
spacium mille passuum, & hoc erat iter Sabbati. P. Fag. Num. 2.
3._
After this, pitched the _Camp of Levi_: in the Eastern part _Moses_,
_Aaron_, and the _Priests_; in the South the _Cohathites_; in the West
the _Gershonites_; in the North the _Merarites_.
In the _middle_ was the _Camp of the Divine Majesty_. Unto this _David_
alludeth: God is in the middest of her, she shall not be moved, _Psal.
46. 5._
After the same manner the parts of the City _Jerusalem_ were
distinguished, when the Commonwealth was setled.[751] From the _gate of
Jerusalem, to the mountain of the Temple_, was the _Camp of Israel_;
from the _gate of the mountain of the Temple, to the gate of the Court_
(which was otherwise called _Nicanors gate_) was the _Camp of Levi_:
from the _gate of the Court_, and forward, was the _Camp of the Divine
Majesty_.
[751] _Maimon. in Bethhabchirab. c. 7. sect. 11._