Jews

JEWS; in Latin, Judæi. The Israelites who returned from the Captivity of Babylon, were then and ever after called by this name. Judæi comes from Juda, because then the Tribe of Judah was not only the most powerful, but almost the only one, which made any figure, and appeared with any splendor. After the Captivity, the Jews multiplied and grew so strong, that in our Saviour’s time, and forty years after, when they declared war against the Romans, they were one of the most powerful nations in the East.

They set about rebuilding the Temple, and the holy City, under Ezra and Nehemiah, as we see in the Books which bear the names of these two pious Persons. From this time they were more zealous in the observance of their Laws, more faithful in Alcoran, c. Arof.the practice of their Duties, and more averse to Idolatry than they had before appeared to be. The Israelites of the ten Tribes, who returned at different times from the Captivity, were confounded with those of Judah, and were called Jews, perhaps upon political views, because the permission granted by Cyrus to the Hebrew captives, of returning to their own country, was granted expressly to those only of the Kingdom of Judah; or because all the Hebrews being after the Captivity united under one and the same Monarchy, and there being no longer any distinction in this sense between Judah and Israel, they all took the name of Judah, as being the most considerable part, and that wherein the Head of their Religion resided; that is to say, the High-Priest who resided at Jerusalem, and the Prince of the country, who was always of the Tribe of Judah, subordinate to the Governour sent by the Kings of Persia.

In the year of the World 3495, before J. C. 505.Under the reign of these Kings they enjoyed great peace, and had leisure to settle themselves quietly in their country, to rebuild their cities, and cultivate their lands, which had been so long forsaken. During this interval, they who dwelt beyond the Euphrates were in great danger by reason of Haman’s ambition, and Mordecai’s resolution, who could not persuade himself to pay him those honours, which were not due to him. But Esther had credit enough to prevail for the revocation of the Edict, which the King of Persia had published against the Jews, and Mordecai was advanced to great honours, being placed in those stations at Court and in the State, which Haman had possessed before him: the Jews hereupon revenged themselves upon their enemies, and became terrible to those who had despised them.

When Alexander the Great undertook the war against Darius Codomannus, the last King of Persia, the Jews continued firm in their duty to Darius, who was their lawful Sovereign, and refused Alexander the succours he demanded for the siege of Tyre, about which he was employed. This Prince resolved to be revenged on them for their refusal, and after he had taken the city, he marched against Jerusalem. But the High-Priest coming out to meet him at the Head of all his Clergy and the People, Alexander received him with respect, bestowed many In the year of the World 3672, before J. C. 328.favours on the Jewish nation, and granted them an exemption from tribute every seventh year; a favour which he would not grant to the Samaritans.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Jews were subject sometimes to the Kings of Egypt, and sometimes to those of Syria, according as these Princes were more or less powerful, or extended their conquests more or less over one another.

Under Ptolemy Philopator King of Egypt, they suffered a cruel persecution in their dominions; this Prince would have had In the year of the World 3787, before J. C. 213. In the year of the World 3834, before J. C. 166.them crushed to death under Elephants feet, but God rescued them from this danger, by a miraculous effect of his protection.

A division arising among their Priests, and Jason purchasing the High-Priesthood of Antiochus Epiphanes, this Prince took from hence an opportunity to persecute the Jews, and undertook to make them abandon their Religion, to embrace that of the Greeks. There were no torments which he did not inflict on them, in order to overcome their constancy; he met with an inflexible resistance from the Maccabees, and a great number of honest Israelites who joined them, and maintained the true Religion with prodigies of valour, and at last restored their country to its liberty. The Asmonæans or Maccabees, after having for some time exercised the High-Priesthood under the Empire of the Syrian Kings, at length delivered themselves from their dependance, and annexed the Principality or temporal Sovereignty to the Dignity of the Priesthood. Hircanus was the person who intirely shook off the Syrian yoke a; but Aristobulus his son and successor was the first who assumed the title of King¹. The Kingdom continued in his family till the time of Herod the son of Antipater the Idumæan².

There was however some interruption; for Gabinius Governor of Syria, entring Judea at the head of a powerful army, not long after Pompey’s leaving it, reduced Alexander the eldest son of Aristobulus under his obedience, who had escaped from Pompey, restored Hircanus to the High-Priesthood, and changed almost intirely the civil State of the country: from being Monarchical, he made it Aristocratical; suppressed In the year of the World 3947, before J. C. 53.the title of King, and instead of the Great Sanhedrim, and the common Courts where Justice was administred in Jerusalem, and other cities, he settled five different Courts in Judea, every one whereof was independent on the rest, and exercised a sovereign Authority within its district. The first was fixed at Jerusalem; the second at Jericho; the third at Gadara; the fourth at Amathur; the fifth at Sephoris. The whole country was divided into five Provinces or Jurisdictions, and each Province was obliged to have recourse for Justice to one of the Courts which was assigned it, and where affairs were terminated without appeal.

In the year of the World 3957, before J. C. 43.Some years after, Julius Cæsar coming from Egypt to Palestine in his way to Syria, Antigonus the son of Aristobulus, last King of the Jews, waited on him, and threw himself at his feet, desiring to be restored to the Principality of his father; complaining at the same time of Hircanus and Antipater. But the latter of these, to whom Cæsar had great obligations, for services performed during the war in Egypt, justified his own conduct and that of Hircanus, so well, that Antigonus was dismissed as a turbulent and seditious man, and Cæsar appointed Hircanus to continue High-Priest and Prince of Judæa, giving Antipater at the same time the Office of Procurator of Judea under Hircanus. The Aristocracy settled by Gabinius was abolished, and the Government restored upon the same footing upon which it stood before.

Antigonus the son of Aristobulus having given the Parthians large sums of money, to the end that they might assist him in recovering the throne of his Ancestors, found means to defeat the forces of Hircanus, who was supported by Herod and his brethren; after which, Herod retired into Italy; Antigonus took Hircanus, had his ears cut off, in order to render him for the future incapable of the High-Priesthood, delivered him to the Parthians, who carried him into their country, and possessed himself of the Pontificate and Principality of the Jews.

But Herod arriving at Rome, and laying In the year of the World 3964, before J. C. 36.before Antony the condition of affairs in Judea, Antony jointly with Octavian, surnamed afterwards Augustus, procured the crown of Judea for him, which he possessed until his death, and transmitted to his children. I run over all this very slightly, my design here being only to give a general Idea of the State and Government of the Jews, from the time of their return from the Captivity of Babylon to that of Herod.

After the death of this Prince, his Kingdom was divided among his sons. Archelaus had Judea, Idumea, and Samaria; Herod Antipas had Galilee and Peræa; and Philip the Auranitis, Trachonitis, Paneas, and the Batanæa³. Archelaus reigned ten years only in Judea. He was accused before Augustus by the Jews and Samaritans, and being unable to justify himself, was banished to Vienne in Gaul, and Judea was reduced into a Province. In this condition it was at the death of our Saviour.

From this time to the destruction of Jerusalem they had Roman Governours; a list of whom I have given in the Article GOVERNOURS. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Judea was comprehended under the Government of the Presidents of Syria, and the Jews made still a separate people, and continued in their own country subject to the Romans, till the reign of Adrian; then they revolted, and made war against the Romans: in this the generality of them perished miserably, and their nation was intirely dispersed⁴. See the Article BARCHOCHEBAS.

The Religion of the Jews may be considered in different views, with respect to the different conditions of their nation. Under the Patriarchs, natural Religion was that which they observed, being averse to Idolatry, and those crimes which are the consequences of Atheism; or the superstitious Worship of false Gods: using circumcision, which was the seal of that covenant which God had made with Abraham, and following the laws which reason, assisted by the lights of grace and faith, discovers to those who have honest hearts, and seriously seek after God, his righteousness, and truth, living in expectation of the Messiah, the desire of the Gentiles, who was to compleat their hopes and wishes, and fully to instruct and bless them. Such was the Religion of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Joseph, and the other Patriarchs, who kept up the worship of God in their families, and the tradition of the true Religion.

From Moses’s time the Religion of the Jews was more fixed, and set out more particularly. Natural Religion and the Laws of Nature were better explained. Before, every one honoured God according to the inclination of his heart, and in the manner which he thought proper. From Moses’s time, Ceremonies, Days, Feasts, Priest and Sacrifices were all determined with an infinite exactness. This Legislator described the very age, sex, and colour of hair required in certain Victims: he settled the number, qualities, and nature of them: at what hour, by whom, why, and on what occasions they were to offer them. He regulated the Tribe, the Family, the bodily Qualities, the Habits, Order, Rank, and Functions of the Priests and Levites. He specified the measures, metals, woods, and works which were to compose the Tabernacle, or portable Temple of the Lord; the dimensions, metal, and figure of the Altar, and its Utensils; in a word, he omitted nothing which concerned the worship of God, who is the first and principal, and, more properly speaking, the only Object of the Jewish Religion.

Hither may be referred likewise the several purifications made use of to dispose themselves for their approach to things Holy. The impurities which kept them at a distance from them, the ways of expiating their pollutions, of preventing and avoiding them; the continual care which the Jews must be in to hinder them from incurring some of these pollutions, which excluded them from civil society, from the use of things holy, from the camp, and from their own houses, according to the variety of circumstances: even some certain natural infirmities, certain diseases, and involuntary accidents required purifications. The bare touching of an animal which died of itself; the being present at funerals, the touching of an unclean person, were capable of polluting a man, and to put him under an obligation of purifying himself.

I will not inlarge here on the moral, judicial, and ceremonial Laws of the Jews; I have already treated of them in the Article LAWS. But I cannot forbear remarking the extreme rigour of that Law which condemned to death, for example, those, who violated the Sabbath; who contracted marriages within the prohibited degrees; who were guilty of adultery; who came near a woman at particular times when her usual infirmities were upon her; who committed sins against nature; solicited their brethren to idolatry; consulted Diviners and Magicians; blasphemed against God, or came near to things holy without being purified. A Lay-man, or even a Levite, who should have entred the Temple, that is to say, the Holy, or the Sanctuary; who should have touched the Ark of the Covenant, or seen it bare: these, and many other faults, were punished with death. Such was the spirit of the old Law, a spirit of fear, of bondage, and constraint. The Law was represented by Hagar, says St. Paul, who begat slaves Gal. iv. 24.only, gendering to bondage. The Gospel on the contrary produces free men: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, &c. Rom. viii. 15.

The long abode which the Hebrews made in Egypt, left a strange propensity in them to idolatry; neither the miracles which Moses wrought before their eyes, nor the precautions which he took to withdraw them from the worship of idols, nor the rigour of the laws which he published on this subject, nor the splendid marks of God’s presence in the Israelitish camp, were sufficient to overcome this unhappy inclination, nor to stop the course and effects of it. Have ye offered unto me Sacrifices and Offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? said the Lord by Amos. Ye Amos v. 25, 26.have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your God which ye made to yourselves. We know with what facility they fell into the adoration of the golden Calf, when they were scarce, as we may say, come out of the channel witnesses of this wonder, which had terrified all the neighbouring nations.

Deut. xii. 8, 9. Josh. v. 4, 5, 6, 7.Moses therefore gave his Laws in the wilderness, but they were not observed there. When ye shall enter into the land which the Lord your God shall give you, Ye shall not do after all the things which we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes: for ye are not as yet come to rest, and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. They did not circumcise the children which were born in the wilderness, as well because of the danger of death which children newly circumcised would have been exposed to, by the fatigue of journeys, and frequent decamping, as because the people of Israel not being mingled with other nations, were under no necessity to take that sign, which was instituted principally to distinguish them from other people.

During the wars which Joshua made with the Canaanites, and before the Ark of God was fixed in any certain and safe place, it was difficult to observe all the Laws of Moses; wherefore under Joshua and the Judges, and even in the reign of Saul, we see liberty enough in Israel with regard to the observance of many articles of the Law, which were much better observed under David, for example, and Solomon, when the Hebrews were at peace in their land, and there was a freer and more easy access to the place, where the Tabernacle was. Before they sacrificed in different places of the country, and the most religious observers of the Law made no scruple in this point, provided the Sacrifices were offered to the Lord. They were even obliged to tolerate many abuses, for want of necessary power and authority to suppress them. In those days, says the Scripture, there was no King in Israel, and every man did that Judg. xvii. 5, 6 xviii. 31. xxi. 24. Judg. xvii. 4. Judg. viii. 27. 1 Sam. ii. 12, 13, &c.which was right in his own eyes, or whatsoever seemed good to him. Hence Micah’s Ephod, which was removed to Laish; hence that which Gideon made in his family; hence the irregularities of the High-Priest Eli’s sons; hence the crime of the inhabitants of Gibeah, and the frequent idolatries of the Israelites, whereof there is mention made in the book of Judges. See Judg. ii. 1, 2, 3, and 11, 12. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers… and followed other Gods, of the Gods of the people that were round about them. stop to such inveterate disorders. The superstitions which they did not dare to exercise in publick, they practised still in private. They sacrificed upon the High-places: they consulted Diviners and Magicians. Solomon, whom God had chosen to build his Temple, was himself a stone of stumbling and offence to all Israel: he erected Altars to the false Gods of the 2 Sam. xi. 5, 6, 7.Phœnicians, Moabites, and Ammonites; and he not only permitted his wives to worship the Gods of their country, but he himself adored them. There were few among the Kings his successors, who did not shew in this respect like weaknesses. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, King of Israel, introduced the worship of the golden Calves in the kingdom of Israel; and this worship took such deep root there, that it never was intirely extirpated. There were from time to time some reformations in Judah, but they did but suspend the evil, they did not absolutely stop it, nor close the source of it.

Hosea iii. 4. Zeph. iii. 12.The Captivity of Babylon was a more effectual remedy. The Hebrews, borne down by the hand of God, and sinking under it, reflected upon themselves, and sincerely renounced idols. They never were more faithful, nor more exact in the observance of God’s Laws than after this period: and the children of Israel, after they had been a long time without a King, without a Prince, without a Sacrifice, without an Image, without an Ephod, and without Teraphim, returned at length unto the Lord their God, and sought him and David their King, and feared the Lord, &c. God reserved to himself an afflicted and poor people, who trusted in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel committed no more iniquity, neither was a deceitful tongue found in their mouth; they dwelt in peace, and no one disturbed them in their inheritance. The persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes served only to separate the straw from the wheat, and display the zeal, courage and firmness of the Maccabees. the most perfect, lived in retreat, and did not concern themselves with publick affairs. The Reader may see what we have said of these different Sects in their respective Articles.

Our Saviour found a great deal to reform in the doctrines and practices of the Pharisees. He declared loudly against their dangerous explanations of the Law; and thereby drew upon himself their hatred, which at last ended in his death. In his time the Law was known and observed, and it may be said, that perhaps so much zeal and punctuality was never seen in the outward observance of Moses’s Ordinances. But the Spirit of the Law, the practice of solid virtues, such as humility, simplicity, love of poverty, humiliations, and sufferings; the love of God, and of our neighbour, these were scarce so much as known. The Pharisees practised the Law only out of ostentation. They abounded with pride, envy, and avarice; and had changed the most important precepts by their erroneous explanations. Such was the Religion which Jesus Christ undertook to reform; and which he in reality did reform in the Gospel.

The whole Nation of the Jews, their Priesthood and their Kingdom, are, according to St. Austin’s remark, a prophecy of the Christian People, of the Priesthood and Kingdom of Jesus Christ⁵: whatever happened to them was figurative, says St. Paul⁶; their Bondage in Egypt, their miraculous Deliverance, their Passage thro’ the Red Sea, their Sojourning in the Wilderness, and their Entrance into the promised Land; their Circumcision, their Ceremonies, their Priests, and Sacrifices, were all figures of Christ’s coming, of the Establishment of Christianity, of the Duties and Privileges of Christians, of their Priesthood, Sacraments, and Excellency of the Gospel.

This Nation, which, as Moses first intended, was to live united, and collected together in one and the same country, was afterwards, by an effect of God’s Wisdom, dispersed into many places, that before the coming of the Messiah they might be known throughout the world, and that by the singularity of their Lives, their Manners, Religion, History, and Laws, strangers might be every where informed who the Jews were, and that this general knowledge might insensibly dispose them to receive the Gospel, and acknowledge the Messiah, whom the Jews expected, and of whom they told so many wonders. Wherefore when Jesus Christ appeared, all the East was in expectation of the birth of this Redeemer, of this Monarch who was to be the happiness, the hope, and salvation of all people. since the death of Jesus Christ, the Jews should be again dispersed into all places of the world, carrying every where the marks of their reprobation, and the punishment of the sin committed by their fathers against the person of Jesus Christ, their Messiah, and Deliverer, whom they rejected and crucified. We see them every where odious, despised, debased, and persecuted, yet continuing still obstinately fond of their ceremonies, and the traditions of their fore-fathers, though at such a distance from Jerusalem, and having neither Priests nor Temple, are unable to observe the generality of their ceremonial Laws. They expect continually the coming of the Messiah, who will not appear till the day of Judgment, to pronounce their doom, and take off the Veil which is spread over their eyes and hearts: Even unto this day the veil is upon their 2 Cor. iii. 15, 16.heart: nevertheless when it shall turn unto the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

They preserve, they carry about with them, they read and study the sacred Books of the Old Testament, without penetrating the sense of them; they know the letter of them, but do not see into the mysteries contained in them. They afford light for the use of others, and do not enlighten themselves, says St. Austin⁷. They carry our books, as servants do those of children, who go to school; they carry the books which instruct us in what we should believe⁸. Codicem portat Judæus, unde credat Christianus: librarii nostri facti sunt, quomodo solent servi post dominos codices ferre, ut illi portando deficiant, illi legendo proficiant. When we dispute with Pagans, Infidels, and the Incredulous, who receive not our testimony, we convince them by the sacred writings of the Jews, who certainly neither preserved nor composed them to oblige us. Of this use the Jews are to us, they contribute against their inclination to the advancement of Christianity: Nobis serviunt Judæi tanquam capsarii nostri sunt, studentibus nobis codices Aug. in Psalm. xl. p. 353.portant.

We have given the Reader in the course of this work almost the whole History of the Jews, by relating the Lives of those illustrious men who have appeared among them from the beginning of the world to the destruction of Jerusalem. He may likewise consult the chronological Table of the sacred History, prefixed to the first Tome of this Dictionary, and the geographical Map of Judæa, wherein the extent of this country may be seen, and the inheritance of each Tribe. We shall give a short account of their principal Laws under the Article LAWS, or under that of MOSES.

We have in particular Dissertations discoursed of their Chronology, Polity, Poetry, Punishments, Marriages, Divorces, Houses, Musick, Diet, Militia, Officers of their King’s Court, of their relation to the Spartans, the order and succession of their High-Priests, of their sacred Books, both in general and particular; of their Texts, Language, Translations; of their system of the World, Schools, and Habits. We have likewise treated in particular pieces of the different Sects which were among them; of Melchisedek, Enoch, and several other subjects, which relate to the Jewish Nation and Religion. These Dissertations may be seen in collections which have been separately made of them, or in our Comment upon the Books of the Old and New Testament. It would be impossible to treat of all these things here at any length, and several of them we have spoken of in this Dictionary, under their particular Articles.

Articles of Faith professed by the JEWS. See above the word FAITH.

Kings of the JEWS. See the Article KINGS.

High-Priests of the JEWS. See the Article PRIESTS.

Read this article in its place on the printed pages