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joined other officers, who had the care of the poor, and collected the alms; and these were called parnasim, that is, pastors and rectors. As to the reading of the law in the synagogues, it was always done in Hebrew; and this made it necessary, as soon as that language ceased to be their mother tongue, to establish an interpreter, whom the Jews call targumista. And by this means the doctor, who explained the law in Hebrew, came to have an interpreter always by him, in whose ear he softly whispered what he said, and this interpreter repeated aloud to the people what had been thus whispered to him. This Lightfoot plainly proves in his Hora Talmudice; and this JESUS CHRIST had in view when he said to His disciples, What ye hear in the ear that proclaim ye upon the housetops. But the synagogues were not only places set apart for prayer, they were also schools where the young were taught. The sages, for so the masters were called, sat upon benches, and the young men sat at their feet; which is the reason

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rior officer, whose business was to take care of the books, and other utensils; a sort of deacon, such as the Parnasim are here said to be. And to such a one as is called a minister our SAVIOUR gave the book, when He had done reading in the synagogue. Luke iv. 20. Connec. P. i. B. 6. Under the year 444, p. 306, 307 of the folio edition.

"Of the manner of reading the Scripture in the synagogues, see Prid. Conn. P. i. B. 6. Under the year 444, p. 306 of the folio edition; and see particularly the Tables subjoined to my Commentary on Deuteronomy, where the subject is considered in all its variety and detail.

Matt. x. 27.

St. Paul says he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel. We shall now add an account of such as distinguished themselves from the people by the holiness of their lives: and such were,

4thly, The Nazarites, or as some call them Nuzareans, which is a Hebrew word, and signifies separated. GOD Himself is the Author of this kind of life. From the moment they devoted themselves to it they abstained from all sorts of liquors that could intoxicate; and never cut their hair afterwards till the day their vow ended. And of these there were two sorts: 1st, Nazarites by birth, as were Samson, and John the Baptist; and, 2dly, Nazarites by vow and engagement. The latter followed this kind of life only for a time, after which they cut off their hair at the door of the tabernacle. Maimonides observes, that there were sometimes some zealous persons, who voluntarily defrayed the expenses which were necessary for cutting off the hair of one or more Nazarites after they had offered the necessary sacrifices, when the time of their vows was expired; which may serve to explain that passage in the twenty-first chapter of the Acts which some persons misunderstand in thinking that St. Paul is there spoken of as having made a vow to become a Nazarite. But the true sense of the chapter is this: the apostles advise St. Paul to bear the necessary expenses of four Naza

Acts xxii. 3.

"In the sixth chapter of Numbers we have an account of the qualifications of the Nazarites and their austerities.

In his treatise of the Nazarcate.

rites, in order to remove the opinion the people had received of him, that he despised the law of Moses. Now they that bore these expenses were obliged to purify themselves: and therefore St. Paul appointed a day whereon he would, after the time the vow was past, pay the money that was necessary to buy the victims that were to be offered up on this occasion; in order thereby to undeceive the Jews concerning the reports that had been spread about him.a

5thly, Rechabites, like the Nazarites, separated themselves from the rest of the Jews, in order to lead a more holy life. Jeremiah describes the life and customs of the Rechabites in the thirty-fifth chapter of his prophecy, ver. 5-7, thus: I set, says he, before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups; and I said, Drink ye wine. But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons, for ever. Neither shall

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"Not that this is so to be understood with Petit, as to imply that St. Paul had no vow upon himself: it is to me very evident from Acts xviii. 18, that he had a vow upon himself (which he made at Cenchrea, and therefore shaved himself there, by way of initiation into it, as all those who made vows, or were Na、 zarites did,) as well as assisted the others in defraying the expenses of their vows. See Lamy de Tabern. lib. vii. c. 3. s. 2. The Rechabites' manner of living was not only a matter of religion, but also a civil ordinance grounded upon a national custom. They were Kenites, or Midianites, in tents, as the Arabians still do. Hab. iii. 7.

e

p. 127.

who used to live

Mede's Works,

ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any. This Rechab the father of Jonadab lived under Jehu king of Israel, in the time of the prophet Elisha. These Rechabites lived in tents, and flourished about a hundred and fourscore years. But after the captivity they were dispersed, unless the Essenes, of whom we have before spoken, succeeded them. It is certain that they followed the same kind of life.

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6thly, Among the number of sacred persons we may likewise put the Patriarchs. Such were Adam, Noah, Abraham, and the rest; since they did the offices of priest, offered sacrifices, and taught religion at home and abroad, in proportion to the light they received from God.

7thly, The prophets are also of this number; and were raised up in an extraordinary manner for the performance of the most holy functions. They were at first called Seers: they discovered future things, they declared the will of GoD, and spoke to both kings and people with a surprising confidence and freedom. Prophecy was not always annexed to the priesthood; there were prophets of all the tribes, and sometimes even among the Gentiles: and the office of a prophet was not only to foretell what should afterwards come to pass, it was their business likewise to instruct the people, and they interpreted the law of GOD; insomuch that the word prophet sometimes signifies an interpreter

12 Kings x. 15, Numb. xi.

• See page 214,

or teacher. But of both patriarchs and prophets we have already spoken. See pages 7-20, and page 140.

CHAP. VI.

The Jewish Confession of Faith-Doctrine of original Sin-Opinion of the Messiah's Kingdom.

NOTHING more facilitates the understanding of an author than the knowing what ends he proposed to himself in writing; and we can never well understand what these views were unless we know what were the dispositions, sentiments, and customs, of those for whom he wrote. For an author always adapts his discourse to all these things; he either touches transiently upon them, or he maintains them, or he refutes them. And from hence it is easy to perceive how useful it is, in order to understand the Gospel and apostolical epistles, to know what were the opinions and usages of the Jews at the time when the authors of the New Testament wrote. By Jewish opinions I do not mean the precepts and doctrines of the law, but certain traditions which they pretend were left them by their fathers, which are now found in the Talmud, and which the Jews, who are strict adher

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