they conclude the fceptre, mentioned by Jacob, is only to be found (F); fo that these princes of the captivity are, accord word mif-accented or fpelt, and other as palpable as unavoidable errors of the prefs, were to be brought in as fo many undeniable proofs of the Jewish hif torian's ignorance of the learned, languages; though had he but revifed his own fhort dialogue with half that critical accuracy, he must have obferved a much greater number of such inaccuracies, if not much more palpable blunders, than he hath been able to fpy out in that voluminous work. But for fuch a fevere and exaggerated examen of thofe errata, his cenfures against it would have appeared as impertinent and contemptible for their number as they are in their nature. And fuch we dare affirm every candid reader will believe, and all that will be at the pains to read will find them, at the firft fight; though much more, if they will be at the trouble of perufing the full and fatisfactory anfwers, which the learned author hath condefcended to give to each of them, in his preface to that new edition of his work; for which reason, we fhall dwell no longer upon that idle heap of impertinent cenfures, being no farther concerned with it than to justify what we had afferted in our antient hiftory, which was the very first point which that pretended Jew undertook to confute. The reader will eafily guess at the reft of his performance by this his firft coup d'Effay, and excufe us from following its author farther in it, especially, as nothing material hath come out from that or any other quarter against the work ing above-mentioned fince its author's full reply; but, on the contrary, a general approbation of the one, and encomium on the other. (F) Thefe accordingly quote a conceffion of Judah Hakkodefb, who is reported to have owned, that if Huna above-mentioned had come into Judea, he would have been obliged to have acknowleged him his fuperior, that Babylonish chief being of the feed of David by king Jebeakim, whereas he (Judah) was of the tribe of Benjamin, and only of the royal race by the females. But this paffage, fó derogatory to the Jews of Palestine, feems rather to have been inferted in the Jerusalem talmud long after the extinction of those patriarchs, and when the Babylonifh chiefs had got all the authority in their own hands. Neither is it credible, that Jehudah Hakkodesh, who was dead before Huna had been chofen to his dignity, or at least before he came to take poffeffion of it in Judea, could make him fuch a compliment before his election, especially as his progenitors were equally of the tribe of Judah, and of the Davidic race, as we fhall fhew from the very genę · alogies of the Jews. However that be, thofe chiefs have always diftinguished themfelves by the title of Rabona whereas they give the Jewish pontifs only that of Rabbies. They likewife affume the title of Naffi, or prince; on pretence that it is only with them that the royal race of David subsists in its full vigour; though that K 4 title age not ing to the Jewish tradition, affirmed to have been fet up in lieu of the royal dignity; and that they have the fame right with the ancient Jewish monarchs, over the whole nation wherefoever dispersed; and whether they pleased to affume or disclaim it (G). But here they grofly contradict themselves, merely to raise the authority of thofe Babylonish chiefs, who afterwards flourished a confiderable time, and in great fplendor there, above that of the patriarchs, who were more obfcure, and of fhorter duration, most probably to keep up the notion of the regal power being still extant in the former; and, to evade the objection which the Christians raise against them, of its having been long fince extinct; for their very genealoRoyal line- gies plainly fhew, that the elder Hillel, the chief of them, was of the tribe of Judah, and of the feed of David, being deconfined to fcended, according to them, from Shephathiah, the fon of them. Abitail, the fon of David (H). The western Jews pretend moreover, that fome of the most confiderable families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin went and fettled in Sepharad, or Spain; and that it is among them that the royal line is beft preferved, on which account they have looked upon the reft of their nation with a fingular contempt, and arrogate to themselves a fuperiority over them: though we should think, that if any could justly claim fuch a merit over the rest, it fhould be thofe, who, inftead of abandoning their native country to go and feek their fortune either in Spain or Babylon, preferred the living in it among the dreadful dilapida tions of their metropolis, and other cities, and with a view of calling the dispersed thither again, and raising it as much as was in their power out of its ruins. We shall leave it to the Jews to difpute these points among themfelves; and only title is often taken in a much (G) So fays the book intituled (H) We may further add, that this pretended retreat of the royal race into Babylon, is not only without foundation, but it appears, on the contrary, that they fubfifted still in Judea in the time of Adrian, particularly in feveral of the relations of Jefus Chrift, who never, that we can find, left their antient dwelling to go into Babylon; fo that it is a mere Jewish fiction, that they were all to be found in the lat ter, and none in the former. (11) Tract, de Regib, cap, iv. de Aixmalatarçba, add, add, that all this artifice of theirs will by no means prove what they defign by it, viz. the existence of the fceptre, or royal dignity, fince thofe Babylonifh chiefs were then fubjects to the kings of Perfia, and fo could have no pretence to either. We shall find a more proper place to speak of their pretended grandeur, pompous inftallation, and other particulars, related of them by the Jewish writers; and thus much shall fuffice to have premised concerning their fwollen and fabulous ftyle; their fondness for fublime fictions and miracles, in order to keep up the people's defponding expectation of a Meffiah, as well as to raise an implicit faith and fovereign regard for thofe doctors and their writings. By all which our readers will eafily fee, what dependence can be had upon hiftorians and mafters, whofe main authority is founded on heaps of the most abfurd miracles, as are only fit for a Jewish creed. We fhall therefore refume the thread of their history, and proceed to give an account of the most material events that have happened to that nation fince the deftruction of their metropolis. WE need not repeat here what we observed near the clofe Jews difof their hiftory, of the defolate condition to which both city perfed into and kingdom were reduced; or of the dreadful flavery to Gallilee, which the greatest part of the furviving Jews were condemned Egypt, by the conqueror (I). Those that furvived this fad cataftro, &C. phe, and escaped the fury of the Romans, retired, fome into Gallilee, and a much greater number into Egypt and Cyrene; (I) Were we to credit the exaggerated calculation which fome Chriftian authors have made of the number of inhabitants in Judea (12), amounting, according to it, to 66,240,000, one would hardly fuppofe it to have been fo far depopulated by the lofs of 13 or 14 hundred thoufand, which fofephus reckoned to have perished in this war; but that there would be ftill a fufficient number to have kept it from fuch an utter defolation as the Jewish hiftorian reprefents it. But if the former is vifibly wrong and exaggerated, the latter feems no lefs fo on the other fide; fince we find in Ju dea, about 60 years after, the (12) Vid. int. al. Villalpand, de vifion, Execb. explan, tom.`ü.p. 3. disput. xv. difput, iii. cap. 52, & alib, where where we shall find them again raifing new rebellions, committing horrid maflacres, and bringing again the victorious Romans against them. A learned countryman of our own, however hath imagined, that the Jewish fanhedrin was not immediately destroyed, but only removed to Jamnia, and thence to Tiberias, where it fubfifted till the death of Judah the faint; and that there were likewise academies fet up in whether other cities, whilft the nation was ftill governed by a patrifubfifting arch. But all this is faid on the bare authority of their after the tradition, which is little to be depended upon where the deftruction Jewish honour is concerned, and is eminently false in this (K); of Jerufa- for it doth not appear that that fupreme court had the least lem. Sanhedrin fhadow of power or authority left it by the Romans; but, on the contrary, that the whole nation was oppreffed all manner of ways, on account of their frequent and bloody revolts; infomuch that they were not even permitted any exercise of their religion, unless they paid the annual didrachma to the emperor's treasury (L), over and above the other heavy taxes formerly laid on them; and we find that Titus, who appropriated • LIGHTFOOT, op. pofthum. p. 70. (K) This tradition, founded on fome predictions of the Cabala, fays, that this tranflation was performed about forty years before the deftruction of Jerufalem; whereas it is plain that Chrift, St. Stephen, and St. Paul, appeared before, and were condemned by, that court fitting then in the metropolis; and fofephus informs us, that it fubfifted there ftill in the time of the Jewish war. Neither doth it appear from his whole history to have been removed to any other place. Thofe that fay, that Titus granted that favour to the Jews at the request of Jochanan, the then patriarch of it, not only contradict thofe which pretend it was removed forty years before, but even Jofephus, who would not have omitted fo fingular an inftance of that emperor's condefcenfion to that pontif, who, if any fuch there was, must have been dead before the fiege of that place. Laftly, it contradicts the common notion both of the Jews and Christians, who affirm, that that fupreme court had no power to fit in any other place but in Jerufalem, as we have had occafion to fhew in our ancient hiftory*; and our Saviour feems to hint as much when he faid (Luke xiii. 33.) that it could not be that a prophet should perish, or be condemned to death, out of Jerufalem; fince the fanhedrin alone had the power of paffing that fentence on him. (L) This was a yearly tax, which each Jew was formerly obliged to pay to the temple, and amounted to about 1 s. 3d, of our money; but which Titus, after the taking of Jerufalem, ordered to be paid to Jupiter (*) See ancient bift, vol. iii. R, p, 418, H. Vol, 195, Y. 376, M. Capitolinus propriated that tax to his own use, as well as his fucceffor Domitian, made them pay it with the utmost severity; infomuch that they stript men of all ages and conditions to discover whe- Jews opther they were circumcifed, in order to extort that tax from prefed them. And is it credible, that a people, become fo odious with and oppreffed, would be allowed to keep up fuch a fupreme taxes. court, and endowed with fuch an extenfive authority; or that, if Titus had made any fuch conceffion, Jofephus would not have taken notice of it, both for the honour of that emperor, and the credit of his own nation? And as to Domitian, he is known to have hated the Jews too much to have fufferred them to enjoy any fuch fignal privilege, and was rather a perfecutor, than a friend or benefactor to them: it muft therefore be under his fucceffor Nerva, who proved a much more favourable prince to them (M), that we must seek for the first appearance and Institution of these Jewish patriarchs, rather than in the two preceding reigns, during which they had met with nothing but cruelty and oppreffion; and therefore cannot be fupposed to have been able, under all those calamities, to have recovered themselves from their total difperfion; and to have been in a condition to obtain this new SUETON. lib. vii. Capitolinus (13); and was fo much the heavier and difgrace ful, because it obliged them to buy their liberty of religion with that very money which they used to contribute for the prefervation of it, and the fervice of the temple. (M) This emperor made three ordinances in favour of the Jews, viz. ft, That all thofe, that had been accused of impiety on account of their religion, fhould be releafed; and thofe that had been banished on that account, fhould be recalled; which fhews that if Domitian had had any fuch favourable defign towards them, as fome attribute to him, he had been affaffinated before he could accomplish it. zdly, He forbad the molesting of the Jews on account of their XIPHIL. in vefpas. religion: and 3dly, He ordered Calumnia fifci Judaici fublata. |