EATING. The ancient Hebrews did not eat indifferently with all sorts of Persons; they should have polluted and dishonoured themselves in their own opinion, if they had eaten with people of another Religion, or of a Profession that was odious and in disrepute. In the Patriarch Joseph’s time, Gen. xiii. 31. John iv. 9.they neither eat with the Egyptians, nor the Egyptians with them. In our Saviour’s time they did not eat with the Samaritans: For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And the Jews were very much scandalized to see that Jesus Christ made no scruple of eating with Publicans and Sinners: Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? As there were several sorts of Matth. ix. 11.meats, the use whereof was not allowed them, they could not conveniently eat with those who partook of them, for fear of contracting some pollution by touching them, or lest by accident any part of them should fall upon them.
It is observed likewise, that the ancient Hebrews at their meals had each his separate table by himself. Joseph entertaining his brethren in Egypt, seated every one of them separately at his particular table, and he himself sat down separately from the Egyptians, who eat with him: and to each of his brethren he sent what was proper for them to be served with, out of the Provisions Gen. xliii. 31, & seq. 1 Sam. i. 4, 5. Homer. Odyss. xiv.which were spread before him. Elkanah, Samuel’s father, who had two wives, in like manner distributed their portions to them separately. In Homer, every one of the persons invited had his little table apart; and the master of the feast made a distribution of meat to every one of them. We are assured that the same thing is still practised at this day in China; and there are many in the Indies who never eat out of the same dish, nor upon the same table, and they Renaudot, Notes sur le Voyage des deux Arabes a la Chine, p. 123, 124.believe they cannot do so without sin. And this custom they observe, not only in their own country, but likewise when they are travelling, and are in any foreign land.
The antique manners which we see in Homer, may be remarked likewise in the Scripture with regard to eating, drinking, and entertainments. We find there great plenty, but little delicacy; great respect for the guests, making the honours they pay them to consist in serving them with what they eat and drank after a more plentiful manner. In the repast which Abraham made for the three Angels, whom he received in his tent, he served them with a fatted calf intire, with milk, butter, and bread baked under the ashes, in making of which there were used three measures of fine meal, each whereof held more than eight and twenty pints. Joseph help’d his brother Benjamin to five times a larger portion of meat than the rest of his brethren. Samuel set a whole quarter of a calf before Saul. Regularly the women did not appear at table in entertainments with men. This would have been then among these people, as it is at this day in Italy, Spain, and throughout all the East, an indecency which no one would have approved.
Their seasonings were salt, honey, oil, and cream. The generality of the spices we make use of, were unknown to them. They were acquainted with anise, ginger, saffron, and some other herbs, which are named frequently in Scripture, and there is no doubt but they made use of them in sauces. Honey is still at this day used very commonly in the ragoûts made by the people of Palestine. At their solemn Entertainments there was always singing and musick. Amos reproaches Amos vi. 5. John xii. Luke vii. 37. Gen. xliii. 25.the Debauchées of Ephraim with diverting themselves at their meals with the sound of Instruments, as if they understood as well how to play on them as David. Perfumes and sweet odours were in use at all their feasts. The woman, who in the Gospel is said to have been a sinner, poured perfumed oil upon the feet of Jesus. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, did the same. The general hour for meals, was noon. At this time, Joseph provided dinner for his brethren. The Judges of Babylon, who attempted to seduce Susannah, retired to their houses about noon, to eat. The Jewish Doctors teach, that upon Dan. xiii. 7, 8. Vide Hammond. ad Matth. xii. 8. Tract. de Sabbat. Buxtorf. Synag.festival days it is not lawful to eat before noon, at which time the ceremonies were over. The Talmud assigns eleven a-clock in the morning, as the most proper time for taking nourishment, which if longer delay’d may, they think, occasion some inconveniencies; and they believe that if the body be then denied necessary food, it preys upon itself, and feeds upon its own substance, like Bears in winter.
The Hebrews of old sat at table as we do now; afterwards they imitated the Persians and Chaldæans, who lay down upon table-beds while they were Eating: some footsteps of these are nevertheless observed in the Proverbs of Solomon, in Amos, Ezekiel, and Tobit; but the Amos vi. 4, 7. Ezek. xxiii. 47.use of such beds was not general. We see some expressions in the sacred Authors of those very times, which prove, that they too sat at table. At Ahasuerus’s banquet, the company lay on Esth. i. 6.beds, and at that which Esther gave the King and Haman; our Saviour in like manner lay at table when Magdalen anointed his feet with a Matth. xxvi. 7.precious perfume; and when St. John the Evangelist at the last Supper rested his head upon his bosom.
We shall take notice in another place, of the distinction of meats observed by the Hebrews at their meals. They are rigid observers of the Law, which forbids the use of blood and fat, and of the sinew of the animal’s thigh. The old Hebrew Doctors prohibited the use of flesh and fish at the same meal; but at present they are above these regulations, and eat indifferently of them, provided the fish, and animals be such as Moses has permitted. This Legislator forbids the Levit. xi. 9, 12.seething a Kid or Lamb in the milk of its dam. This the Jews explain as a prohibition to eat Exod. xxiii. 19. xxiv. 26.milk, butter, or cheese with meat, and they very religiously observe it.
Before they sit down to table, they are very careful to wash their hands; they speak of this practice as a ceremony that is essential and strictly obliging. After meals they wash them again. As soon as they have washed their hands, they sit down to table, and the master of the house, or the person of best quality in the company, taking the bread, breaks it, but does not divide it; then putting his hand upon it, he recites See Buxtorf’s Synag. and Leo of Modena, part. 2. c. 10.this blessing; Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, the King of the world, who producest the bread of the earth. To which they who are present answer, Amen. Then having distributed the bread among the guests, he takes the vessel which contains the wine, and lifting it up with his right hand, he says, Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, who hast produced the fruit of the vine. This done, they repeat the xxiiid Psalm, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, &c. Buxtorf and Leo of Modena, who have been very particular in their account of the Jewish Ceremonies, differ in some circumstances from one another; but the reason of this is, Buxtorf wrote principally the Ceremonies of the German Jews, and Leo of Modena, the practices of the Italian Jews.
They take care, that after meals there shall be a piece of bread remaining on the table; the master of the house orders a glass to be washed, fills it with wine, and elevating it, says, Gentlemen, let us bless him of whose benefits we have been partaking: to which the rest answer, Blessed be he, who has heaped his favours on us, and by his goodness has now fed us. Then the master recites a pretty long prayer, wherein he returns thanks to God for the many benefits which he has vouchsafed to Israel; beseeches him to have pity on Jerusalem and his Temple, to restore the throne of David, to send Elias and the Messiah, to deliver them out of their long captivity, that they may be no more under a necessity of begging alms, and borrowing of Christians, against whom they denounce maledictions under the name of carnal people, and cursed creatures. All who are present, answer, Amen. After which they recite these words of the xxxivth Psalm, ver. 9,10. Fear the Lord, O ye that are his saints, &c. Then giving the glass with the little wine in it to be drunk round, he takes off what is left, and so the table is intirely cleared.