MANASSEH’S CONTEMPORARIES
The Renaissance and the Reformation――John Sadler――Milton’s
belief in the Return――Edmund Bunny――Isaac _de_ La Peyrère
――Leibnitz――Thomas Brightman――James Durham――The pamphlet
“Doomes-Day”――Thomas Burnet――The pamphlet “The New _Jerusalem_”
――Thomas Drake――Edward Nicholas, John Sadler, Hugh Peters,
Henry Jesse, Isaac Vossius, Hugo Grotius, Rembrandt, Isaac
_da_ Fonseca Aboab, Dr. Ephraim Hezekiah Bueno, Dr. Abraham
Zacuto Lusitano, _H. H. R._ Yahacob Sasportas, _Haham_ Jacob
Jehudah Aryeh _de_ Leon [Templo]――Manasseh’s origin.
AS a result of the impulse given to Letters generally by the
Renaissance in the fifteenth century, and by the Reformation in
the sixteenth century, the knowledge of the _Hebrew_ language and
literature spread rapidly in the literary world, and particularly in
the first half of the seventeenth century. _Hebrew_ was a favourite
study with Puritan ministers, who dwelt much upon the Messianic hopes
and promises of the Scriptures and _Rabbinical_ works. A great stir
was caused among Jews as well as Christians by Montezinos’ report and
other rumours concerning the lost Ten Tribes. John Sadler (1615‒1674)
(Appendix xii), Town Clerk of London, a friend of Cromwell, and
probably also of Milton and Dury, stated that there was an old
prophecy which fixed the time of the Restoration at the year 5408 =
1648 A.D. Puritans and Sectarians began to take the greatest interest
in Jewish Messianic affairs just before King Charles I. (1600‒1649)
was executed, for most of them were looking forward to some new
reformed Commonwealth, some new communion of saints, some republic,
some peaceful kingdom of Truth and Justice, and they connected the
restoration of _Israel_ scripturally with its advent. That was one
reason why Sadler and Cromwell and others were favourably disposed
towards the Jews and inclined to let them come back to England, for
the idea prevailed that the Jews had first to be dispersed throughout
the whole world before the Lord would return to set up His millennial
Kingdom. Milton thought that the whole twelve tribes would return to
_Zion_;¹ and similar sympathetic views are expressed in an anonymous
romance published in London in 1648, entitled _Nova Solyma_ (Appendix
xiii), of which it has been claimed he was the author.
¹ Paradise | Regain’d. | A | Poem. | In iv. Books. | To which
is added | Samson Agonistes. | The Author | John Milton.
| London, | Printed by J. M. for _John Starkey_ at the |
_Mitre_ in _Fleet street_, near _Temple-Bar_ MDCLXXI (8º.
2 _ll._ + 111 + 101 + 1 _l._ ERRATA). “Licensed July 2,
1670.”
[Samson Agonistes was translated into _Hebrew_ by Joseph
Massel and published under the title of שמשון הגבור in
Manchester, in 1890. (8º. 3 _ll._ + 107 _pp._ + 3 _ll._)]
Joannis Miltoni Angli De Doctrina Christiani ...
Cantabrigiæ,... M.DCCC.XXV. (_4to._ 6 _ll._ + 544 _pp._ +
1 _l._)
Edmund Bunny (1540‒1619), a theological writer, devoted himself to
the work of an itinerant preacher, visiting towns and villages. His
doctrine was Calvinistic, but his warm attachment to the ideals of
ancient _Israel_ was a singular feature of his theological views.¹
¹ The | Scepter of | Ivdah: | Or, what maner of Government it
| _was, that unto the Common-wealth_ | or Church of Israel
was | _by the Law of God_ | appointed. | _By Edm. Bunny._ |
... _Imprinted at London by N. Newton,_ | and A. Hatfield,
for | _Iohn Wright._ | 1584. | (_Sm._ 8º. 4 _ll._ + 160
_pp._ + 31 _ll._ [B. M.]
The | Coronation of | _Dauid_: | Wherein out of that part of
the | _Historie of_ David, _that sheweth how_ | he came to
the Kingdome, wee have set | forth unto us what is like to
be the end | of these troubles that daylie arise | for the
Gospels sake. | By _Edm. Bunny._ | ... _Imprinted at London
by_ Thomas Orwin for | Thomas Gubbin and John Perin. | 1588.
| (_4to._ 6 _ll._ + 108 _pp._ [B. M.])
Of The | Head-Corner-Stone: | by Builders still overmuch
| omitted: ... By Edm. Bvnny, Batcheler | of Divinitie. |
... Printed by W. Iaggard, 1611. | (_Sm. Folio._ 11 _ll._
+ 577 _pp._ [B. M.])
The distinguished French-Huguenot scholar Isaac _de_ La Peyrère
(1594‒1676) of Bordeaux, probably of _marrano_ Jewish blood, author
of many works, wrote and published anonymously _Dv Rappel des Ivifs_,
M.DC.XLIII.¹ (Appendix xiv) which was intended to be part of a greater
work on the same subject.² He demands in this book the restoration of
_Israel_ to the Holy Land in an unconverted state, in the belief that
this restoration will lead to the final triumph of Christianity. He
expects France to carry out this idea, and appeals in this sense to
the Royal Dynasty in a somewhat strange homiletical manner.³ In 1644
he was appointed French Ambassador at Copenhagen. Being on intimate
terms with the eminent scholars Isaac [Vos] Vossius (Appendix xv)
(1618‒1689) and Hugo Grotius [Huig _van_ Groot]⁴ (1583‒1645) he became
acquainted with their mutual friend Manasseh and with Manasseh’s
friends, Caspar [_van_ Baerle] Barlaeus (1584‒1648), Simon Episcopius
(1583‒1643), Gerard John [Vos] Vossius (1577‒1649),⁵ Johannes [_van_
Meurs] Meursius (1579‒1639), David Blondel (1591‒1655), [Peter]
Petrus [Serrurier] Serrarius (_fl._ 1650‒1700) and Paulus Felgenhauer
(_circa_ 1625), who all supported similar ideas.
¹ “... the curious will be rather surprised to learn that the
Abbe [Henri] Grégoire (1750‒1831) and others have been under
a mistake in asserting that Peyreyra’s _Rappel des Juifs_
was printed during his life-time, upwards of 120 years: for
this singular book, as it appears from the learned Jesuit,
his friend, he could never obtain a license; but the fair
copy, which he deposited in a public library, only appeared
in print in Paris, after it became the pleasure of the head
of the French government to assemble a Jewish _Sanhedrin_ in
May, 1806, for reasons that are obvious....”
(_Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. lxxxii.,
November, 1812, _p._ 432.)
² _p._ 373: ADVIS AV LECTEVR. _Ce petit Traittè n’est qu’vn
Essay et un Extraict d’un plus grand Desseing que i’ay
conceu; intitulé_ SYNOPSIS DOCTRINÆ CHRISTIANÆ AD VSVM
IVDÆORVM ET GENTIVM.
³ “Ie fonde cette Cõiecture sur ce que cette grãde Deliurance
des Iuifs fut traittée & concluë dãs la ville Royale de
Susan: Svsan, qui signifie Le Lys. Ville Royale de Susun qui
est donc mesme chose que la ville Royale du Lys: and mesme
chose ville Royale de France.”
This appeal recalls another of a similar kind addressed
in 1672 by Baron G. W. _von_ Leibnitz (1646‒1716) during
his sojourn in Paris (1672‒1676) to Louis XIV. (1638‒1715)
about the conquest of Egypt. “Epistola ad regem Franciæ
de expeditione Egyptiaca.” This interesting appeal, which
contains also some references to _Jerusalem_ and Syria, was
discovered in Hanover during the first occupation by the
French and transmitted to the First Consul Bonaparte, who
wrote from Namur on the 4th August, 1803: “Mortier m’envoie
à l’instant même un manuscrit, en latin, de Leibnitz,
adressé à Louis XIV., pour lui proposer la conquête de
l’Egypte. Cet ouvrage est très-curieux.” M. de Hoffmann
published this document in a pamphlet which appeared in
French in 1840: “Mémoire de Leibnitz à Louis XIV. sur la
conquête de l’Egypte.”
⁴ Swedish Ambassador in Paris, 1635‒1645.
⁵ William Laud, Bishop of London (1628‒1633), presented Gerard
John Vossius to a canonry in Canterbury Cathedral in 1629.
His son, Dionysius Vossius (1612‒1633), translated the
_Conciliador_ (Pentateuch), Francofurti 1632 [I. S.] of
Manasseh Ben Israel into Latin. Francofurti, 1633 [I. S.]
and Amsterdami, 1633 [I. S.].
The Rev. Thomas Draxe¹ (_ob._ 1618), a theologian of great knowledge
and influence, demonstrated that “all the particular promises, such
as the land of Canaan, a certain form of government ... were proper
to the Jews...,” and “that we (Christians) must therefore acknowledge
ourselves debtors unto the Jews, and deeply engaged unto them, we must
be so far off from rendering or returning them evil for good....”²
¹ The History Of The Worthies Of England. Endeavoured by
Thomas Fuller, D.D., London,... MDCLXII., _pp._ 125‒126.
² The Worlde’s Resvrrection, or The gener’all calling of _the
Iewes..._ By Thomas Draxe, _Minister of the word of God_ ...
At London ... Anno 1608. (_4to._ 6 _ll._ + 124 _pp._ [B. M.])
Thomas Brightman (1562‒1607), a Puritan Divine and Bible exegete, in
his comment on:――
Illustration: _H. H. Reby_ YAHACOB ♦SAPORTAS
_P. van Gunst, sculp._
_From a line engraving (proof before all letters)
lent by Israel Solomons_
♦ “Saportas” shown elsewhere as “Sasportas”
“And the sixth [angel] poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof dried up, that the way of
the kings of the east might be prepared” (Revelation xvi. 12).
gives reasons why these “kings of the east” must mean the Jews, and
then says: “What! Shall they return to _Jerusalem_ again? There is
nothing more certain: the prophets do everywhere confirm it.”¹
¹ A Revelation Of Mr. Brightman’s Revelation, Whereon Is
shewed, how all that which Mr. _Brightman_, ... hath
fore-told ... hath beene fulfilled, and is yet a fulfilling,
... whereby it is manifest, that Mr. _Brightman_ was a true
Prophet.... Printed in the yeare of fulfilling it. 1641.
(_4to._ Eng. Front. + 1 _l._ + 37 _pp._ [B. M.]
The Rev. James Durham (1622‒1658) not only upholds, but gives solid
reasons for his belief in the Restoration of the Jews.¹
¹ A Commentary Upon the Book of Revelation.... Delivered in
several Lectures, by ... Mr. James Durham, Late Minister of
the Gospel in _Glasgow_.... Edinburgh.... 1680.
Mr. Vavasor Powel (1617‒1660) expounds with abundant references to
scriptural prophecy, the return and re-establishment of the Jews,
attended with many miracles and peculiar circumstances.¹
¹ A New and Useful Concordance to the Holy Bible.... Also a
Collection of those Scripture-Prophesies which relate to the
Call of the Jews, and the Glory that shall be in the latter
days.
Begun by the industrious Labours of Mr. Vavasor Powel, late
deceased:... London,... 1671.
An anonymous writer relates:――
“... the Jewes ... are ... assembling ... from out of all
countreys ... to regaine the holy land once more out of the
hand of the _Ottaman_:”¹ (Appendix xvi).
¹ Doomes-Day:... The gathering together of the Jews ... for
the conquering of the Holy Land.... London,... 1647.
Thomas Burnet (1635?‒1715), Master of the Charterhouse, a great
scholar and celebrated author in English and Latin, writes:――
_Deum nunquam deserturum esse finaliter populum suum
Israeliticum._
Secundò, _Nondum impleta esse promissa omnia Israelitis
data_.¹
¹ De Statu Mortuorum et Resurgentium Tractatus. Ajicitur
Appendix de Futurà Judærum Restauratione.
Autore Thoma Burnetio, S. T. P. Editio Secunda. Londini:...
M.DCC.XXXIII. (8º VIII. + 432 _pp._ [B. M.])
_p._ vi.: Editoris Præfatio.... Londini, ex Hospitio
Lincolniensi, mense Oct. A.D. 1727: _pp._ 315‒432: “Appendix
de Futura Judæorum Restauratione. Autore Thoma Burnetio,
S. T. P.”
Another anonymous theologian published in 1674, _A Paper, shewing that
the great ... Restauration of all |Israel| and |Judah| will be
fulfilled ... and that the |New Jerusalem| is most probably then to be
set up_ (Appendix xvii).
Among the Christian friends of Manasseh, the following distinguished
persons may be named: Edward Nicholas, the author of _An Apology
for the Honorable Nation of the Jews_, 1648 (Appendix xviii);
the above-mentioned John Sadler, who petitioned Richard Cromwell
(1626‒1712) for a pension for Manasseh’s widow; Hugh Peters
(1598‒1660), one of Oliver Cromwell’s army chaplains, and a strong
advocate for the unrestricted admission of the Jews (Appendix xix),
Isaac Vossius, the scholarly Protestant ecclesiastic, with whom he
was in correspondence.¹ Vossius, at one time a member of the Court
of Queen Christina of Sweden, was instrumental in bringing Manasseh
to her notice.² Dr. Nathanael Homes (1599‒1678), the famous Puritan
divine and author,³ and the great painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van
Ryn (1606(7)‒1669). The most notable of his Jewish friends were,
Isaac _da_ Fonseca Aboab (1605‒1693) (Appendix xx), _Haham_ of the
_Sephardi_ community at Amsterdam, on whose initiative the Great
Synagogue there was erected. Dr. Ephraim Hezekiah (_ob._ 1665) [_de_
Dr. Joseph⁴ (_ob._ 1641)] Bueno (Bonus), author of several liturgical
works⁵ and the subject of Rembrandt’s famous etching “The Jew Doctor”;
Dr. Abraham Zacuto Lusitano (1580‒1642) (Appendix xxi), one of the
most celebrated physicians of his age; Jacob Jehudah Aryeh _de_ Leon
[Templo] (1603‒1675), chiefly known as having designed models of the
Tabernacle and Temple and was called “Templo” for that reason, which
was assumed as a surname by his descendants. In anticipation of his
visit to England, to exhibit the models before Charles II. (1630‒1685)
and his Court, he published in Amsterdam a pamphlet in English
describing them (Appendix xxii): and _H. H. R._ Yahacob Sasportas
(1610‒1698), who accompanied Manasseh to England in 1655, was
appointed in the month of _Nisan_, 1664, _Haham_ of the _Sephardi_
community in London. He was the author of one of the treatises in
_Sepher Pene Rabah_ edited by Manasseh Ben Israel ... Amsterdam 5388,
and also wrote _Sepher Ohel Ya’acob_ and _Sepher Kizur Zizath Nobel
Zebi_, which were published together at Amsterdam 5497, against
the adherents of _Sabbatai Zebi_ (1626‒1676). His stay here was of
short duration――not quite two years. He left the country to escape
the plague which was then raging, and subsequently, in 1681, became
the Ecclesiastical Head of the _Sephardi_ Jews in Amsterdam. It is
noteworthy that two of these friends of Manasseh, Aboab and Sasportas,
were particularly interested in the Messianic hopes, though from
different points of view. Aboab, a _Cabbalist_, whose religious
poetry is remarkable for chaste diction and wealth of imagination, was
supposed to be a secret _Sabbatian_, while Sasportas, sober-minded and
a strict _Talmudist_, was strongly opposed to the mystical tendencies
of pseudo-Messianism, and hoped for the restoration in the traditional
way.
¹ Two of these letters have been published by _Heer_ J. M.
Hillesum, in his article “Menasseh Ben Israel,” in the
_Amsterdamsch Jaarboekje_, 1899, _pp._ 27‒56.
² Manasseh in her honour published in Portuguese:――Oracion
Panegirica a su Magestad la Reyna de Suedia. Amsterdam,
1642. _4to._
³ The Resurrection――Revealed Raised Above Doubts &
Difficulties. In Ten Exercitations.... By Doctor Nathanael
Homes.... London, Printed for the Author, A.D. 1661.
⁴ Wrote one of the “Aprovaciones” for “La primera parte del
Conciliador enel Pentateucho, 1632.” “Del excelente Señor
Doctor Joseph Bueno, Philosopho, y Medico preclaro.”: and
also a SONETO which appears on the ninth introductory leaf
of “Menasseh Ben Israel De La Resvrreccion De Los Mvertos,
... En Amsterdam, En casa, y à costa del Autor. Ano. 5396.
de la criacion del mundo.” (_12mo._ 12 _ll._ + 187 _pp._
+ 1 _l._ [I. S.]
⁵ At the joint expense of Ephraim Bueno and Jona Abrabanel
(who both contributed SONETOS to De La Resvrreccion De Los
Mvertos) the _Sepher Pene Rabah_ [I. S.] was issued at
Amsterdam in the year 5388. It was edited, re-arranged and
printed by Manasseh Ben Israel. Jona (_ob._ 1667) Abrabanel
was a poet, and son of Dr. Joseph (_ob._ 1620?) Abrabanel,
a physician in Amsterdam, whose sister Rachel was the wife
of Manasseh Ben Israel. Their father, Isaac Abrabanel,
a scientist (_ob._ 1573), lived and died in Ferrara,
Italy, and was on intimate terms with the famous _marrano_
physician, Juan Rodrigo _de_ Castel-Branco [Amatus Lusitanus]
(1511‒1568). He was the son of Joseph Abrabanel (1471‒1552),
a doctor of medicine, born at Lisbon and died at Ferrara,
whose father, _Don_ Isaac, was the illustrious Bible
commentator and statesman.
Illustration:
_Dr._ EPHRAIM H. BONUS _Dr._ ABRAHAM ZACUT
_H. H. R._ MANASSEH BEN-ISRAEL
_Haham_ J. J. A. _de_ LEON _H. H. R._ ISAAC ABOAB
[_Templo_] _da_ FONSECA
_From rare engravings lent by Israel Solomons_
In 1603 Joseph Ben-Israel, the father of Manasseh, and his wife Rachel
Soeiro, secretly left Lisbon. He had been a victim of the Inquisition,
which deprived him of his wealth, and on three distinct occasions had
been subjected to excruciating tortures, which undermined his health.
They apparently fled to La Rochelle, France, for it was here that
Manasseh was shortly afterwards born, in 1604, as is attested by
his marriage certificate, deposited in the Archives of the City of
Amsterdam (Puiboek, No. 669, _fo._ 95 _verso_, 15 Aug. 1623). Here
he was also baptized, as it was not until his parents arrived at
Amsterdam that they dared avow their faith in the God of _Israel_. In
a holograph letter¹ of Manasseh to an unknown correspondent (suggested
by Mr. E. N. Adler, the owner, to be Gerard John Vossius) he writes:
“... and the _Thesoro delos Dinim_ (Appendix xxiii) of our rites
and ceremonies, the last in my Portuguese mother tongue, for I am
a Lisbonian by patrimony....” He did not claim Lisbon as his own
birthplace, but as that of his father. Most of his connections were
with Spanish and Portuguese Jews, though he was opposed to any sort
of separation, condemning it in his writings, and emphasizing the
necessity of Jewish unity and brotherhood. It is noteworthy that
a hundred and twenty-six years later, when the father of Jewish
Rationalism, Moses Mendelssohn (1729‒1786), had to defend Judaism
and the Jewish people, he found no better apology than Manasseh’s
_Vindiciae Judæorum_ (1656), which was translated into German, and
for which he wrote the admirable _Vorrede_ (Appendix xxiv).
¹ AMSTERDAM, ultimo de Janʳᵒ, 1648.
Magᵉᵒ y muy docto Sʳ
_... y el Thesoro de los dinim de nuestros ritos y
ceremonias, este en mi lengua materna lusitana_, porq’ yo
_soy por patria Lixbonense_.... Con esto _me despide, hora
vale amantissimo_ S. EL HAHAM MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL.
_Jewish Quarterly Review_, No. 63, _p._ 569, vol. xvi.,
April, 1904.――_About Hebrew Manuscripts_, by Elkan Nathan
Adler ... London ... 1905, _pp._ 65‒77――_The Jewish
Historical Society of England Transactions_ ... Edinburgh
and London. 1908 ... _pp._ 177‒183.