xliv. 19). Vows had often an impetratory character; they were offered in order to obtain some favour from Jehovah (Gen. xxviii. 20; 2 Sam. xv. 7, 8).

The vow of the Nazirite (= one separated) had two sides. He was (1) separated to the Lord, holy to the Lord, and (2) separated from (a) wine, strong drink, vinegar, every product of the grape vine; (b) the razor coming upon his head-his hair was to grow as the sign of the consecration of his God upon his head; (c) dead bodies. He was not to make himself unclean, even for his father, mother, brother, or sister. If by any accident he became unclean, then he must shave his head, offer two turtledoves as a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, and a lamb of the first year as a trespass-offering, and begin the period of his vow afresh. Certain prescribed offerings (Num. vi. 14, 15) and the shaving of the head (the hair being burnt with his peace-offering) marked the fulfilment of the days of his separation.

There are no rules laid down by the Law as to the length of the Nazirite's vow. It would be determined by himself, unless, as in the case of Samson and John the Baptist, his parents had consecrated him for all the days of his life. From the words of Num. vi. 2 we should gather that this institution did not owe its origin to, but merely received fresh regulations under, the Mosaic Law.

The first trace of the division of animals into clean and unclean is to be found at the time of the Flood. Two unclean, but seven clean, fowls and beasts were taken into the ark (Gen. vii. 2, 3). No indications of the line of division are given. All the clean animals were regarded as fit for sacrifice, for when Noah came out of the ark he took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar (Gen. viii. 20). The Mosaic Law laid down definite rules on the subject. The beasts which both chewed the cud and parted the hoof; the fishes with fins and scales; birds generally (with 21 exceptions, nearly all birds of prey); of creeping things the locust alone,-were clean (Lev. xi.; Deut. xiv.).

The cause of separation is stated to be primarily Jehovah's will. Even as He had separated Israel from the nations, so had He separated the clean animals from the unclean (Lev. xx. 24-26). The object of the law seemingly was to raise up a strong barrier between Israel and the other nations, so that it should be an unlawful thing for a man that was a Jew to join himself or come unto one of another nation." Nothing could serve this purpose better than distinctions of food. Like many other Mosaic laws it was ill kept before the Babylonian exile (Is. lxvi. 3, 17). But during the exile it helped to keep alive the national spirit, in the hearts of some at least (Daniel i. 8). When Antiochus Epiphanes tried to break down the Jewish nationality his method was to force them to eat swine's flesh. And when Jews and Gentiles were to be made one in Christ, it was revealed to St Peter in vision that the ceremonial law was abrogated, and that nothing was common or unclean (Acts x. 12, 14, 15).

There were two further restrictions in regard to the use of animals as food: (1) The blood might in no case be eaten. This restriction dates from the Flood. To Noah and his sons it was said, "Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat" (Gen. ix. 4). The Mosaic Law forbade the eating of any manner of blood, whether of fowl or beast, under penalty of death (Lev. vii. 26, 27). The law was binding not only on Israelites but on strangers sojourning in the land (Lev. xvii. 10, 11), not only in respect of sacrificial animals but of all animals which could be eaten (Lev. xvii. 13). From 1 Sam. xiv. 32-34 we gather that the breaking of this law, even in cases of extremity, was regarded as a heinous sin. It was one of the very few ceremonial laws which the council of Jerusalem imposed upon Gentile Christians (Acts xv. 29). The reason for the prohibition was twofold. (a) The blood was the life. (b) The blood being the life was set apart for the purpose of atonement for sin, i.e. for the good of the soul (Lev. xvii. 11). It is probable,

though there does not seem to be any direct historical evidence on the point, that eating blood was one of the idolatrous rites of the aboriginal Canaanites. So we gather from the context in Lev. xix. 26. Cf. also Ps. xvi. 4 and Ezek. xxxiii. 25. (2) The fat of sacrificial_animals might not be eaten. All the fat was the Lord's by a perpetual statute (Lev. iii. 16, 17), i.e. the fat of ox or sheep or goat or beasts which might be offered as a burnt-offering (Lev. vii. 23-25). The penalty of disobedience was death (Lev. vii. 25). The fat, as the best portion of the animal, was reserved for Jehovah (Lev. iii. 11, 16).

IDOLATROUS OBSERVANCES MENTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

Of the two great types of idolatrous worship practised in the heathen world, viz. hero worship and nature worship, the latter only is found in the Old Testament. The Israelites, it is plain, reverenced sufficiently the great men of their race, but never, so far as we are informed, desired to deify them. On the other hand the religions of the nations (Egyptians, Canaanites, &c.) with whom Israel in her earlier national life came in contact were essentially nature worships, and the various kinds of idolatry into which she fell were all of this type.

The narrative in Exodus describes a religious contest, between Jehovah and Egypt's gods and king (Ex. xii. 12). The Egyptian religion (supposed to have been originally monotheistic) was at this time an elaborate system of nature worship. The central object of worship was the sun in its various phases and under different forms. The moon and stars, the air, the earth, the Nile, the sacred animals (especially the bull) as incarnations of the deity, the ancient and even the reigning kings of Egypt as demi-gods, were also worshipped. Every town had its own sacred animal and its own god. In Egypt Israel seems to have acquired its fatal proneness to idolatry (Ex. xxxii. 4; Deut. xxix. 16, 17; Josh. xxiv. 14; Ezek. xx. 7, 8, xxiii. 3, 8). Of the Egyptian gods, Amon only is mentioned by name in the Bible (Nah. iii. 8; Jer. xlvi. 25). Amon, in later times the greatest of Egyptian gods, and identified with Ra the Sun-god, was the active power in creation, the giver of life, the preserver of good and the destroyer of evil.

The religions of the nations of Canaan and of W. Syria generally seem to have contained two elements: (1) Baal and Ashtoreth worship (common to all), and (2) a national cult. Each nation had its own peculiar god to whom it ascribed its prosperity and misfortunes (cf. Chemosh in Moabite Stone and Judg. xi. 24; see p. 112). (2) may have been only a local modification of (1). Both elements may be traced in the corrupt forms of the religion of the Israelites. Baal was the Sun-god and the male or generative principle in nature. The principal seat and source of his cult was Phoenicia (1 Kings xvi. 31). He was worshipped with different ideas and rites (cf. plural Baalim) in different places; by Moabites, &c. as Baal Peor (Num. xxv. 1-3, 17, 18); at Shechem as Baal Berith (Judg. viii. 33, ix. 4); at Ekron as Baalzebub (2 Kings i. 2). Baal is by some identified with Bel of Babylon and Zeus of Greece. The word Baal expresses the relation between lord and slave, &c. Innocent in itself (cf. Adonai = Lord) its occurrence in proper names is insufficient to prove idolatrous influence. It was applied to Jehovah Himself (Hos. ii. 16; Jer. xxxi. 32; 1 Chron. xii. 5, Bealiah). Becoming utterly abominable from its associations its use was abjured and Bosheth (shame) was substituted in names compounded with it. (Cf. Ishbosheth, Jerubbesheth Gideon.) The prophets call Baal The Shame (Jer. xi. 13; Hos. ix. 10). Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians and associated commonly with Baal in worship (1 Kings xi. 5; 2 Kings xxiii. 13), was the female or productive principle in nature. She is identified with Ishtar (Assyria) and Astarte (Greece and Rome). Sometimes she is regarded as the Moon-goddess (Baal-sun, cf. Gen. xiv. 5), sometimes as Venus the goddess of love. Her image (of wood, cf. Deut. xvi. 21; 2 Kings xxiii. 15) was called an Asherah (A. V. grove).

Baal (and Ashtoreth) worship was the Israelites' most common form of idolatry. Seduced into it first by the Moabites (Num. xxv. 3; see Rev. ii. 14), they relapsed into it again and again in the days of the Judges (Judg. ii. 11-13, &c.). Suppressed by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 3, 4), reintroduced by Solomon (1 Kings xi. 5), discountenanced ineffectually by pious kings, it became the national religion under the auspices of Jezebel and Athaliah, and a chief cause of the ruin of both kingdoms. After the exile it had no place in Israel.

Baal and Ashtoreth were worshipped with burntsacrifices (1 Kings xviii. 26), and gifts (Hos. ii. 8; Ezek. xvi. 19), with burning of incense (2 Kings xxiii. 5; Jer. vii. 9, xi. 13), with wild and cruel and immoral rites (1 Kings xiv. 23, 24, xviii. 28; 2 Kings xxiii. 7; Amos ii. 7; Ezek. xxii. 9, &c.), with obscene emblems (Ezek. xvi. 17), and with human sacrifices (Jer. xix. 5). Their temples or altars were decorated with rich hangings which women wove (2 Kings xxiii. 7; Ezek. xvi. 16), and were commonly built on high places (Num. xxii. 41; 2 Kings xvii. 10; Jer. xix. 5; Ezek. xx. 28), or on roofs of houses (Jer. xxxii. 29). The worshippers bowed the knee to or kissed the image of the god (1 Kings xix. 18), and wore vestments (2 Kings x. 22). The ministers of worship were numerous and consisted of both priests and prophets (1 Kings xviii, 19; 2 Kings x. 11, xxiii. 5).

Chemosh was the god of Moab (cf. Moabite Stone, 1 Kings xi. 7) and also of Ammon (Judg. xi. 24). Solomon built for him a high place (1 Kings xi. 7) on Mount Olivet which Josiah destroyed (2 Kings xxiii. 13). Chemosh was worshipped with human sacrifices (2 Kings iii. 27).

Dagon (the fish-god) was the god of the Philistines in the days of Samuel (Judg. xvi. 23; 1 Sam. v. 2) and the Maccabees (1 Macc. x. 84, xi. 4). There were temples of Dagon at Gaza and Ashdod (Judg. xvi. 23, 1 Sam. v. 2-5; 1 Macc. x. 84). The latter was destroyed by Jonathan Maccabæus.

Molech (or Milcom), the abomination of the children of Ammon (1 Kings xi. 5, 7; Jer. xlix. 1, 3), was the fire-god worshipped by passing children through (Deut. xviii. 10)--fire-baptism possibly-or burning children in (2 Chron. xxviii. 3), the fire. Molech worship was practised by the Canaanitish tribes (Ps. cvi. 37, 38; Deut. xii. 31), Israel in the wilderness (Amos v. 26?), Solomon (1 Kings xi. 7), the people of the Northern kingdom (2 Kings xvii. 17), and Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings xvi. 3, xxi. 6). The cult was very popular in the later days of the monarchy (Jer. vii. 31; Ezek. xx. 26, 31); its chief seat was Tophet in the valley of Hinnom (2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. vii.

31).

Asshur was the greatest of the Assyrian gods. He is their king and father and 'The god who created himself." To his power Assyrian kings ascribe all their great works. He had a famous temple at Nineveh.

Bel (Baal), Nebuchadnezzar's god (Dan. iv. 8), spoken of by Isaiah and Jeremiah (Is. xlvi. 1; Jer. lí. 44), was the younger Bel, Bel-Merodach, the patron god of Babylon, the firstborn son of the original gods. As god of Babylon he became preeminent among the gods, the highest titles are given him in the inscriptions (god of heaven and earth), and he is identified with the Greek Zeus. Cyrus was a very devout worshipper of Bel-Merodach.

Hadad was the Sun-god of Syria and Edom, from whom the Syrian kings of Damascus got their name Benhadad, and the Edomite kings Hadad (1 Kings xi. 14). See RIMMON.

Nisroch, in whose temple at Nineveh Sennache rib was slain (2 Kings xix. 37= Is. xxxvii. 38), is said by some to have been the Moon-god, by others the name is thought to be an epithet-one who hears.

Nebo, the son of Bel-Merodach and Zarpanit, was an important Babylonian deity (cf. Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonedus). He was the god of prophecy, science, and literature; the proclaimer of the wishes of Merodach.

lonians he was the god of the air, and the wind, and the thunder, and the rain.

Tammuz (=Greek Adonis) was the god of spring slain by summer heat, or the god of summer slain by winter's night and cold, after whom his bride Ishtar goes down into Hades. The women weeping for Tammuz (Ezek. viii. 14) were keeping a nature festival, they were bewailing the season's decline. Cf. also R. V. marg. on Is. xvii. 10. Tammuz was the Jewish name for the month June or July after the Captivity.

Gad and Meni, Syrian deities, were worshipped together in religious feasts (Is. lxv. 11). Gad was the star-god Jupiter, the greater fortune. Cf. the town Baal Gad (Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7). Meni was the star-god Venus, the lesser fortune.

Sun, Moon and Stars. Against this primitive kind of idolatry the Israelites were warned in the Law (Deut. iv. 15, 19, xvii. 3, 5), but no traces of it are to be found in the history till the later days of the two kingdoms, specially the days of Manasseh (2 Kings xvii. 16, xxi. 3, xxiii. 4; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3; Jer. viii. 2; Ezek. viii. 16). The women of the exiles in Egypt attributed all the national misfortunes to the neglect of the worship of the queen of heaven (Jer. xliv. 17-19, 25). The Sun was worshipped with sun-images (2 Chron. xxxiv. 4), by kissing the hand (Job xxxi. 27), turning towards the East (Ezek. viii. 16), burning incense (2 Kings xxiii. 5), gifts of horses and chariots (2 Kings xxiii. 11). The Moon was worshipped specially by women and with cakes (Jer. vii. 18, xliv. 19).

Before the Babylonian exile the popular religion of Israel did not conform to the rules of the Mosaic Law in many respects. Other gods were worshipped along with Jehovah. Jehovah was worshipped by means of sacrifices at unlawful shrines (see p. 151), and images, graven, molten, and teraphim (Judg. xvii. 4, 5, xviii. 14, 30; 1 Sam. xix. 13, and Kings everywhere). Ephods were used as oracles (Judg. viii. 27, xviii. 14). Incense was offered to the brazen serpent (2 Kings xviii. 4).

The religion of the Northern kingdom, as established by Jeroboam, was a worship of Jehovah at unauthorized shrines and with idolatrous rites. Egyptian experience and possibly Aaron's example (cf. I Kings xií. 28 with Ex. xxxii. 4, 8) suggested the form of the graven image (calf). The Mosaic Law was in part adopted (Amos iv. 4, viii. 5), and in part adapted to the circumstances of the Northern kingdom (1 Kings xiii. 32). The priests were taken from the people at large (1 Kings xii. 31, R. V.). Calf-worship is regarded by the prophets as a virtual apostatizing from Jehovah. It was retained by all the Northern kings, and apparently [Micah i. 13; 2 Kings xvi. 3(?)] spread into the kingdom of Judah.

The colonists of Samaria from Babylon, &c. (2 Kings xvii. 24) worshipped along with Jehovah (v. 33) various deities (vv. 30, 31), of whom only two have been identified, viz. Succoth Benoth = Zarpanit (goddess of wisdom, the lady of the deep, and wife of Bel-Merodach), and Nergal (originally the king of Hades, and afterwards the champion of the gods and identified with the planet Mars). Nergal was the god of Cutha (so the inscriptions and 2 Kings xvii. 30). The Samaritans worshipped their gods with graven images and child sacrifices on high places. After the exile the Samaritans were anxious to be considered of the same religion as the Jews (Ezra iv. 2), and seem to have given up the worship of idols. The worship on Mount Gerizim was schismatical but otherwise in strict conformity with the Law of Moses. Nevertheless in the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes the Samaritans readily consented to his idolatrous decrees, and asked that the temple on Gerizim might be dedicated to Jupiter the defender of strangers (2 Macc. vi. 2).

to worship the true God in a corrupt manner. They seem to have been of the nature of household gods. The Israelites and Semitic races generally were less given to magical superstitions than other races of mankind. No prayers for deliverance from the sorcerers' power are to be found in the Bible. Nevertheless the chosen people lived amongst races who systematically practised various magical arts. In Egypt and Babylon there were organizations for such purposes. In Egypt these are called magicians, wise men, interpreters of dreams (Gen. xli. 8; Ex. vii. 11, viii. 7), and they are the chief advisers of the Pharaoh of the Exodus (cf. also ancient Egyptian inscriptions). In Babylon we find magicians, wise men, astrologers, Chaldæans, soothsayers (Dan. ii. 2, 12, iv. 7, v. 7, 11). Ezekiel (xxi. 21) mentions the various kinds of divination used by the king of Babylon (cf. also Babylonian inscriptions). The various kinds of divination practised by the Canaanites (Deut. xviii. 10, 11) were utterly forbidden to the Israelites, for whom legitimate means of ascertaining God's will were provided (the priests by Urim and Thummim, and the prophets, Deut. xviii.

2. SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS.

19-22). The history of Balaam gives us a vivid idea of the common belief in the power of the sorcerer to make or mar a nation (Num. xxii. 6, 7).

Saul in his last days (1 Sam. xxviii, 3, 7, &c.) and the Jews under the misfortunes of the last days of the kingdom (2 Kings xvii. 17; Is. viii, 19, xxix. 4), were driven to the use of the black art. Divination prevailed amongst Jew and Gentile alike in the years preceding the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. (Acts viii. 9, xiii. 6, 8, xvi. 16, xix. 13, 19; Jos. De Bel. Jud. VI. v. § 2, 3). The methods adopted were various. Divination was made through cups (Gen. xliv. 5), familiar spirits (1 Sam. xxviii. 7; Is. viii. 19; Acts xvi. 16), witches and wizards (Deut. xviii. 10, 11), the spirits of the dead (1 Sam. xxviii. 8; Is. xxix. 4, lxv. 4), shaking arrows (Ezek. xxi. 21), the fall of staves or trees (Hos. iv. 12; Eccl. xi. 3), inspecting entrails (Ezek. xxi. 21), auguries, observance of times or clouds (Is. ii. 6; Jer. x. 2), interpretation of dreams (Jer. xxiii. 32; Zech. x. 2), teraphím (Zech. x. 2; Ezek. xxi. 21), enchantments or spells (Ex. viii. 7; Num, xxiv. 1; Deut. xviii. 11), oracles (2 Kings i. 6; Is. xli, 21–24).

Schools of the Prophets is the name given to the bands of prophets or sons of prophets whom we find living together for instruction and worship under Samuel and under Elijah and Elisha. They seem to be so numerous and important in the times of these great prophets, that it is reasonable to suppose they continuously existed during the intermediate period. It is probable Samuel was their founder. In his days they are an established institution with wellknown characteristics (1 Sam. x. 11); before his time there are no traces of them. They perform their sacred duties under his eye at Naioth in Ramah, and he is their appointed head (1 Sam. xix. 19, 20). In the days of Elijah and Elisha, and under their direction, bands of sons of the prophets are found at Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and on the Jordan banks (2 Kings ii. 3, 5, iv. 38, vi. 1). The connexion between the schools of the prophets and the supernatural gift of prophecy is difficult to determine. Not all prophets were trained in the schools, Amos was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son (vii. 14). Few of those trained in the schools even though they prophesied (1 Sam. x. 5, 6, xix. 20, 24; 1 Kings xviii. 4) can have had any supernatural gift. Nevertheless the training of the prophetic schools would tend to call forth and regulate and develop spiritual gifts, and would produce a body of teachers to whom the name prophets could rightly be given, even though no direct communication was made to them by God.

Instruction was the function of the Synagogues as sacrifice was of the Temple. They were meetingplaces for religious instruction and more especially for instruction in the Law. Their origin is lost in obscurity. We find them in every village of Judæa and Galilee and in many centres of population in Gentile countries in our Lord's time. The synagogue was then no new institution, for S. James says, "Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day" (Acts xv. 21). Nevertheless we have few traces of synagogues before our Lord's time. In the days of Samuel there were meetings of bands of prophets for praise and prophesyings (1 Sam. x. 5, xix. 20). Pious Israelites, we may presume, would attend these. In the days of the kings the faithful were wont to resort to the prophet of the time for instruction on the new moons and sabbaths (2 Kings iv. 23). But if we may apply the Jewish saying that where there is no book of the Law there can be no synagogue we must infer that there were no synagogues when copies of the book of the Law were so rare and ignorance of its contents so universal as in

Josiah's time (2 Kings xxii. 11-13). In one passage in the Old Testament only have we any reference to religious meeting-places other than places of sacrifice, and that is in a Psalm (lxxiv. 8) which may refer to the Maccabean times. The establishment of synagogues is one of the many works ascribed by Jewish tradition to Ezra and the men of the Great Synagogue. Nevertheless we have no clear mention of synagogues in any of the books of the Apocrypha or in the history of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, which from its nature and methods, we should imagine, would have been directed specially against them.

There was nothing special about the construction of a synagogue; but it was so placed that the worshippers in it prayed (standing) with their faces towards Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings viii. 48; Dan. vi. 10). At its Jerusalem end and on a platform stood the ark in which were placed the roll of the Law and the other sacred books. In front of the ark was a lamp with eight branches, the desk at which the reader or preacher stood, and the chief seats facing the people which the Scribes and Pharisees desired (Matt. xxiii. 6; Luke xi. 43). The men and women sat on different sides of the building, the more distinguished in front.

The sites of synagogues were by preference elevated ground, outside towns, near rivers or the sea shore. (Cf. Talmud; Acts xvi. 13, 16; Jos. Ant. XIV, x. 23.) Sometimes they were built without roofs. No distinction can be safely drawn between a proseuche (a place of prayer) and a synagogue.

The chief parts of the synagogue service were (1) The recital of the Shema (as a sort of Creed), i.e. the three passages Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21, Num. xv. 37-41, together with certain benedictions. The Shema was to be said twice a day by every adult male Israelite. Josephus ascribes the custom to Moses (Ant. IV. viii. 13). (2) The Prayers. These were fixed in form, and the most important of them were the Shemoneh Esreh or 18 prayers. Rabbi Gamaliel added a nineteenth against the heretics (= Christians). All Israelites (women, children, slaves) were bound to repeat these prayers three times a day. (3) The reading and expounding of the Scriptures (see p. 141). (4) The blessing of the Priest.

The Synagogue Services were held on the 2nd and 5th days of the week, the Sabbath, and on the feasts and fasts, at the hours of prayer, viz. the 3rd and 9th hours and between dark and dawn.

The synagogue in each place was under the general

control of the elders. The permanent officials were (1) the rulers of the synagogue who had the special care and management of the synagogue worship (Mark v. 22); (2) the almoners who collected the alms; (3) the minister or Chazzan-the sexton of the synagogue. He had the charge of the Holy Scriptures, and to him our Lord gave the roll of the prophets when He sat down (Luke iv. 20). For the services of the synagogue no permanent officers were appointed. Members of the congregation led the prayers, read, interpreted from Hebrew into Aramaic, and expounded the Scriptures, in turn or as appointed by the ruler (Acts xiii. 15). Priests and Levites had precedence. He who said the prayer in the name of the congregation was called the angel or messenger of the church. As ten men were required to make up a legal congregation, 'the ten men of leisure' are often referred to by the Rabbins in connexion with the synagogue. These were not officials but men hired to make up the number (10) of a legal congregation.

The synagogue was the local Jewish ecclesiastical tribunal, and the authorities of the synagogue exercised judicial functions (Luke xii. 11, xxi. 12). They had the power of excommunication (John ix. 22, xii. 42, xvi. 2: of this there were two kinds, (1) temporary exclusion from the Congregation, (2) permanent exclusion with anathema), and scourging (Matt. x. 17). This jurisdiction was exercised (sometimes) even in foreign lands (Acts ix. 2). It was subordinate to that of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin (Acts ix. 2).

The Sanhedrin was the Jewish Senate-the highest native court in both civil and ecclesiastical matters. Under the presidency of the High Priest it regulated the whole internal affairs of the Jewish nation. is first definitely mentioned in the days of Antiochus the Great (Jos. Ant. XII. iii. 3), but it may date from a somewhat earlier period. No historical connexion can be established between it and Moses' Council of 70 elders. It consisted of 71 members and had an aristocratic character, being drawn from the three classes of chief priests, scribes, and elders. In the time of our Lord the Pharisees had the predominating influence upon it (Jos. Ant. XVIII. i. 4; Acts v. 34, 40), but there were Sadducean elements (chief priests, Acts v. 17, scribes, xxiii. 6, 9). The powers of the Sanhedrin were extensive, for the Greek and Roman masters of the Jews granted them a considerable amount of self-government. From the N. T. we gather that it was the Supreme Court of Justice in all cases, and that it had officers of its own, who arrested accused persons and carried out its sentences and decrees. Questions involving life and death were removed from its cognizance 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. Talmud and John xviii. 31; the stoning of S. Stephen cannot be regarded as a judicial execution), and the Roman authorities could remove a prisoner from its jurisdiction (so. S. Paul, Acts xxiii. ).

The extent of the legal jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin varied at different times. Herod, when Governor of Galilee (B. C. 47), was summoned before it (Jos. Ant. XIV. ix. 4). At the time of our Lord its jurisdiction was restricted to Judæa proper. In Galilee, e.g., Christ was beyond its power (Joh. vii. 1). Its decisions were nevertheless regarded as morally binding all over the Judæan world. Thus we find it issuing letters to the synagogue of Damascus, ordering the arrest and removal to Jerusalem of the Christians of that place. Besides the supreme national Sanhedrin of Jerusalem there were inferior local courts in all the Jewish cities. To these the name Sanhedrin was given (Matt. x. 17).

The instruction of the chosen people in the Law was committed by Moses to the Priests and Levites (Deut. xxxiii. 10. Cf. also Lev, x. 11). No method of instruction was prescribed by him, except only the command that the Levites should read the Law in the hearing of all the people at the feast of Tabernacles in the Sabbatical year. Josephus and later Jewish teachers say that he commanded the Jews to come together every sabbath to hear the Law and learn it accurately (Jos. c. Apion. II. 18). From the history

of Israel in the O.T. it seems that the tribe of Levi failed to do the work of instruction intrusted to it. On one occasion only before the exile (in Jehoshaphat's reign, 2 Chron. xvii. 7-9; cf. also 2 Chron. xxxv. 3) do we find the Levites acting as teachers of the Law. The extreme ignorance which existed concerning it in Josiah's reign and the habitual violation of some of its precepts throughout the history before the exile, sufficiently prove that the Levitical work of instruction was as a whole left undone. After the exile a great change took place, and the whole nation seems to have been animated with zeal for the Law. The Priests and Levites were at first its teachers (cf. Ezra's work and Neh. viii.). Judging from Malachi's solemn rebuke (ch. ii.), the priests as a body were still remiss in the work of instruction, and later in the history we find that it slipped out of their hands. The Great Synagogue is said to have been a succession of Jewish teachers between the prophets and the scribes (430-300 B. C.). Nehemiah was according to tradition its founder, Simon the Just the last of its members, who numbered 120 in all. The enforcement of the stipulations of the covenant of Neh. x., the completion of the Canon of Scripture, the writing of the book Esther, the compilation of a service for the synagogues, the establishment of schools for the teaching of the Law, are the principal works attributed to the men of the Great Synagogue in the Talmudic writers. The writers of the Apocry phal books, and Philo and Josephus, make no mention of them.

The Scribes succeeded to the men of the Great Synagogue. We read indeed of scribes who were busy about the book of the law of the Lord in Jeremiah (viii. 8), and also in Chronicles, but the first great scribe in name and work is Ezra (vii. 10, 21, &c.), and the period of the scribes is reckoned to begin after the days of Simon the Just. The scribes' work referred primarily and mainly to the Law. They were at once legislators, doctors and judges. Legislators. They developed the principles of the Law in detail and applied them to the circumstances of their time. Doctors. Like the men of the Great Synagogue it was their object to make many disciples. Their method was oral and catechetical; they proposed questions to their pupils and vice versa (Luke ii. 46). The essential thing both for teacher and pupil was to remember and produce accurately the words of the wise; a scribe never taught upon his own authority (Matt. vii. 29). There seem to have been special places of instruction called houses of teaching. In Jerusalem the temple courts were used (Luke ii. 46, and cf our Lord's practice). The pupils sat on the ground (Luke ii. 46; Acts xxii. 3). Judges. The scribes' knowledge of the Law pointed them out as the fittest persons to fill the office of judge (Matt. xxiii. 2), and they formed an influential part in the Supreme Court of the Sanhedrin. The labours of the scribes extended to all parts of Holy Scripture. They were the guardians of its text, they explained and developed its teaching, they exhorted the people in the synagogues to obedience to its commands.

The scribes as teachers of the Law were Israel's most honoured sons. Rabbi (my Master) was the title usually given them from the time of our Lord. Rabboni was an intensified form of Rabbi. The N. T. shews that they claimed for themselves the chief places in all public ceremonies. As a body they were Pharisees, and in the N. T. scribes and Pharisees invariably act together. Nevertheless the mention of scribes which were of the Pharisees' party (Mark ii. 16, R. V.; Acts xxiii. 9) implies that there were Sadducean scribes. In theory at least the scribes received no pay for their work, but gained their livelihood by the practice of some trade or handicraft. They were cautioned not to make trade the great work of their life. From our Lord's denunciations we gather that they did not in His days commonly do their work without reward and in a disinterested spirit. Nevertheless it is certain that the Law was at that time most carefully and diligently taught and learned, and children from their earliest youth received instruction in it (Jos. c. Ap.