Volume I, pages 796–808, 803–808 of the 1732 edition, from JES to IMP: everything printed on these pages, in order.
Continued from Jesus-Christ
observable. They confound the characters of the Messiah; some will have it that he has been come a long time, but lies concealed among men; others expect him, but curse those who compute the times of his coming. Others again maintain, that the coming of the Messiah is no article of faith. What infatuation! what knavery is this!
Euseb. in Isai. xviii. 1. Hieronym. ibid. Oecumen. in Ep. ad Rom.The Fathers inform us, that at the very beginning of Christianity, the Jews sent over all the world to defame Jesus Christ and his doctrine, and persuade people that his Disciples were impostors, who having privately stolen their master out of his grave, gave out publickly that he was risen again. St. Matthew relates how, after the Resurrection of our Saviour, the guards who had been set at his sepulchre, came and gave notice to the Chief Priests of what had happened; and that these having hereupon held a council among themselves, gave great sums of money to the soldiers, that thereby they might engage them to declare, that his Disciples carried away his body, while they were sleeping; and this the soldiers did not fail to publish.
Ahmed-ben-Cassem-Al-Andacousi, a Moor of Grenada, who lived in the year of Jesus Christ 1599, cites an Arabian Manuscript of St. Cæcilius Archbishop of Grenada, which was found in a grotto near the same city, with sixteen leaden plates engrav’d in Arabic characters. Don Petro de Castro y Quinones, Archbishop of the same place, has himself testified this matter. These leaden plates, which are called of Grenada, have been since carried to Rome, where after an examination, which lasted many years, they were at length condemned as Apocryphal, under the Pontificate of Alexander VII. They contain several fabulous Histories relating to the infancy and education of Jesus Christ, and the life of the blessed Virgin. Among other things it is said, that Jesus Christ while he was yet an infant, and learning the Arabic Alphabet at school, asked his master questions about the signification of every letter, and when he had learned of him the grammatical sense and signification of them, he taught him the Bibl. Orient. D. 73. Ahmed, &c. p. 312. col. 2.mystical meaning of each of them.
You may see the spurious Gospels, which have been published, relating to the life, infancy and preaching of Jesus Christ, under the Article GOSPEL.
A great deal has been written concerning the form, beauty, and stature of Jesus Christ. Some have asserted, that he was the handsomest of all the sons of men. Others have maintained, that there was no beauty, nor any graces in his outward appearance: some make him to have been of a very advantageous size; others say, Psal. xlv. 3.he was very small. It may be proper to produce here a short abstract of the reasons which are brought to support these different opinions.
Hieron. in Matt. ix. & in Matt. xxi. 12,13. & Ep. ad Principiam. Damasc. de fide orthodox. l. 4. c. 17.They who maintain that Jesus Christ was the most beautiful man that ever was, ground their belief principally upon these words of Scripture: Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips. Speciosus formâ præ filiis hominum, diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis. Besides he was of an excellent constitution; every thing that could contribute to beauty met in his conception, birth and education; and nothing that could make a man mishapen and deformed was any way concerned in it, no irregularity of imagination, none of the common ailments that attend being with child and lying-in, no excess in diet, no disorder in management and conduct. The body of our Saviour must have been the most perfect work, since he was conceived of a most pure and holy Virgin, and by the operation of the Holy Ghost.
The Fathers have not expressed themselves on this matter in an uniform manner. St. Jerom believes, that the lustre and majesty which shined about our Saviour’s face, were capable of winning all hearts: it was this that drew the generality of his Apostles with so much ease to him; it was this majesty that struck those down who came to seize him in the Olive-garden. St. John of Damascus relates, that Abgarus King of Edessa, having sent a Painter to Nicephor. Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 7.draw the picture of our Saviour, the man was so dazled with the splendor which glittered on his face, that he was obliged to give over his undertaking; and Jesus Christ, to satisfy the King’s devotion, took the Painter’s cloth, apply’d it to his face, and impress’d his Portrait on it, which he sent to King Abgarus.
Nicephorus is of opinion, that St. Luke drew the pictures of Jesus Christ, the blessed Virgin, and the Apostles, and that by this means their images represented to the life were scattered over all the earth. It is certain that there has been always a particular tradition in the Church, concerning the figure and stature of our Saviour and his Apostles. I will here describe our Lord to you after the images which are believed to have been painted by St. Luke. He was very beautiful in the face, and about seven Spithamas, or seven foot, high; his hair was inclining to be very fair, not thick, but a little curled; his eye-brows were black, and did not form exactly a semicircle. His eyes were large, lively, and something yellowish; his nose long, his beard black, and pretty short; but he wore his hair long: for the scissars had never been used upon his head, nor had the hand of
any one touched him, besides that of his Mother the Virgin, when he was as yet a child. His neck was not stiff nor his carriage lofty, or proud. He stooped a little with his head: his complexion was almost of the colour of wheat; his countenance neither round nor sharp; but like his mother’s, something longish, and pretty much upon the vermilion. Gravity, prudence, meekness and clemency were painted in his face; in a word, he resembled perfectly his divine Mother. Nicephor. Hist. Eccles. l. 2.. 43.
Isa. lii. 14, 15, &c. liii. 2, 3, &c. Bernard. Serm. 1. in festo omnium Sanct.St. Bernard says, that the people followed him, and were attached to his person by the allurement of the several graces which shined in him, by the sweetness of his conversation and discourses, and the lustre of his beauty. Adhærebant ei affatu pariter & aspectu delectati, cujus nimirum vox suavis, & facies decora. St. Chrysostom says, that the people Chrysost. in Psalm. xliv.were as it were nailed to our Saviour, and were never weary of seeing and admiring him. In the same place, explaining the following Idem. ibid. Isai. liii. 2.words of Isaiah, He hath no form nor comeliness; he says, Have a care how you misunderstand this passage, as if any deformity of body was meant by it; God forbid we should construe it in this sense; we understand by it, that contempt which he shewed of every thing which the world esteems, that meanness which he chose to appear in. We might heap together many other testimonies from modern Authors, and several plausible reasons to prove the beauty of our Saviour, which any one may see in the Authors who have written particularly on this subject.
We come now to what is alledged in the way of evidence to demonstrate, that Jesus Christ was not handsome. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of him in the manner following: He shall appear without glory among men, and without beauty amidst the sons of men. He shall grow up before the Lord as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; we have seen him, and there is nothing beautiful or amiable in him. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. We took him for one smitten of God, for a leper, and a man reduced to the lowest humiliation. He was wounded for our transgressions, &c. All the Commentators agree, that this passage is to be understood of the Messiah. St. Paul confirms what we have been reading, by saying, that Jesus Christ humbled Phil. ii. 7.himself in taking the form of a servant, and appearing in the likeness of men. The Evangelists have no where taken notice of his beauty.
The most ancient Fathers have acknowledged, that he was not at all handsome: Homo indecorus & passibilis, says St. Irenæus1. Celsus2 objected to the Christians, that Jesus Christ, as man, was little and ill made, and of mean and obscure birth: from hence he inferr’d, that Jesus Christ therefore was not God. Origen answered, that it was written indeed, that the body of Christ was not beautiful, but not that he was little, or of obscure birth. Clemens Alexandrinus3 owns in several places, that the body of Jesus Christ was not beautiful, his beauty lying in the soul; that he came without that handsomeness of body which is pleasing to the eyes, lest mankind being too much engaged by this external charm, should lose that relish and esteem of things spiritual which he recommended to them. St. Cyril of Alexandria4 expresses himself much after the same manner, and maintains, that the beauty ascribed to him in the Psalms, is to be understood of internal beauty, the beauty of the soul, and that he appeared in a form which had very little outward gracefulness.
The old Latin Fathers are as clearly for this opinion. Tertullian says plainly, that Jesus Christ was not handsome: Vultu & aspectu inglorius5; that his outward form had nothing that could attract consideration and respect6: Ne aspectu quidem honestus. Who would have dared to spit in his face, if the meanness of his appearance had not in some sort deserved it?7 An ausus esset aliquis ungue summo perstringere corpus novum, sputaminibus contaminare faciem non merentem? St. Austin confesses, that Jesus Christ, as man, was without beauty, and the advantages of person; but as God, he excelled in form all the sons of men:8 Ut homo non habebat speciem neque decorem, sed speciosus formâ ex eo quod est præ filiis hominum. The generality of the Ancients, such as Eusebius, St. Basil, Theodoret, St. Ambrose, St. Isidore of Pelusium, the Author of a Comment on the Psalms, printed in St. Jerom’s name, explain the passage in Psalm xliv. Fairer than the children of men, as relating to the beauty of Christ according to his Divinity.
From all that has been here produced, we may conclude, that the Christians of the primitive ages believed Jesus Christ to have been more ill-favoured than handsome, according to his human nature; that the contrary opinion is more modern;
that both may be maintained, and that neither the one nor the other is an Article of Faith. The Reader may consult those Authors who have written particularly on this matter, such as Rigaltius, Father Vassor, and the Dissertation which we have printed before our Comment on Isaiah. Abbot Boileau, Dean of the Holy Chapel at Paris, wrote a Dissertation, wherein he undertook to prove, that Jesus Christ was a little man: his principal reason for this assertion, is, that Zachæus being desirous of seeing him, got up into a tree, in order to distinguish him from the croud; Quiâ staturâ pusillus erat. He supposes these last words to relate to Jesus Christ, whereas they are generally understood of Zachæus.
II. JESUS, or Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, was the first High-Priest of the Jews, after they returned from the Babylonish captivity. We do not know very exactly how many years he exercised the High -Priesthood. His first care after his arrival at Jerusalem, was to restore the Sacrifices, to regulate the Offices and Order of the Priests and Levites; and, lastly, to rebuild the Ezra iv. 3, 8.Temple, as far as the condition, which the Jews were then in, would allow him to carry on such a work. The Prophets Haggai and Zechariah often mention Jesus the son of Jozadak. Haggai addresses himself Haggai i. 1, 2, &c.to him and Zerubbabel, exciting them to build the Temple after the death of Cyrus and Cambyses; and in the second year of Darius the son of Hystaspes, King of Persia, In the year of the World 3485, before J. C. 515, before the Vulgar Æra 519.the Spirit of the Lord animated Jesus and Zerubbabel, and Haggai prophesied to them by divine inspiration, that in a little time he would shake the heavens and the earth and the sea, the dry land, and all nations; that the desire of all nations should come into the world, and that the new House or new Temple which they raised, should be filled with glory.
Zech iii. 1.Zechariah relates, that the Lord shewed him the High-Priest Jeshua the son of Jozadak standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Angel of the Lord said to Satan, “ The Lord rebuke thee, “ even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem for his habitation, and hath, as “ we may say, pluck’d this brand out of “ the fire. Now Jeshua was clothed with “ filthy garments, and stood before the “ Angel, who said, Take away the filthy “ garments from him. And unto him, he “ said, Behold I have caused thine iniquity “ to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee “ with change of raiment.” At the same time he put a fair mitre upon his head, and the Angel said to him, “ If thou wilt “ walk in the ways of the Lord, thou “ shalt govern his House, and keep his “ Temple, and I will give thee an Angel “ to walk with thee.” Lastly, God promises him to send his servant the Branch, (See the Article BRANCH:) Adducam servum meum Orientem; that is to say, the Messiah, who accordingly appeared under the second Temple.
Zech iv. 2, 3, &c.The same Prophet having seen a vision of two Olive-trees, which were one on the right, the other on the left-hand of the golden Candlestick in the Temple, through which the oil ran into the lamps of this Candlestick, the Angel of the Lord told him, that these two Olive-trees were Jesus the son of Jozadak, and Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, who are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Zechary received likewise orders Zech. vi. 11. Vide Euseb. Demonstr. l. 4.from the Lord to take the gold which the principal of the Jews offered to God, make crowns of it to place upon the head of Jesus the son of Jozadak, and promise him that the man surnamed the Branch, that is to say, the Messiah, should come, who should indeed build a Temple to the Lord, and there be seated on his throne. This new Temple, which he was to build to God, is the Christian Church, which he hath established, and in it hath placed his throne. Some, by the word Branch or East, as the original may be translated, understand literally Zerubbabel, who was a Theodor. ad Zech. iii. & vi. & Hieron. ibidem.branch of David’s family: but Zerubbabel being contemporary with Jesus or Jeshua, to promise his coming was very vain. They both returned together from the Babylonish captivity. Jesus the son of Sirach, Author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, commends Ecclus. xlix. 14.Jesus the son of Josedec and Zerubbabel, as Signets on the Lord’s right hand, and as persons principally concerned in building the second Temple to God’s eternal Glory, when the Jews returned from the captivity of Babylon. Jesus the son of Josedec was succeeded in the High-Priesthood by his son Joachim, who was High-Priest in the reign of Xerxes. See Joseph. Antiq. l. xi. c. 5. initio.
Ch. l. 29 & li.III. JESUS, the son of Sirach, Author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, was, according to Genebrard, in his Chronicle, descended from the High-Priest Jesus the son of Jozadak. Some Greek copies make Eleazar the father of Sirach of Jerusalem, to have been his grandfather: but Jesus the son of Sirach, who speaks of himself in the fiftieth chapter and 29th verse, and throughout the fifty-first chapter, and in some other places of his Book of Ecclesiasticus, never says any thing either of his being himself a Priest, or that any of his Ancestors were so. He informs us only, that he was desirous of wisdom, that he begg’d it earnestly of God, while he lay prostrate before him in the Temple; that he had travelled much, in order to comcompleat
See Ecclus. xxxiv. 13. Ecclus. li. 5, 6, 7, 8. Ecclus. xxxiii. 16.his studies; that he studied hard, and had run through many dangers; that having been slandered to the King, he was in imminent danger of death; but by God’s mercy, was rescued from it. He says, he was the last of his nation who wrote moral Sentences. Lastly, Jesus his grandson, the translator of his work testifies that his grandfather was in great reputation for his wisdom. See the Preface to this Book. We do not know who Sirach was, the father of Jesus, nor can we tell certainly his name who was the father of Jesus, the Author’s grandson, and the translator of his work.
The Arabians9 are acquainted with this writer, and his works. They believe that he or his grandfather was Visier to Solomon; and they say he had a very virtuous wife, whose name was Fikia, and whose life has been written in Arabic. There is also an Arabian book intitled, The Sentences and Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach.
We have discoursed at large of the book of Ecclesiasticus in the Article ECCLESIASTICUS. What we have said of the Author, and his Book, of its Canonical Authority, of the Translator of it, and the time wherein they both lived, may be seen in the Article above mentioned. We shall say no See likewise M. Fabricius’s Bibl. Græc. t. 2. l. 3. p. 727.more of them in this place.
IV. JESUS, otherwise Jason, High-Priest of the Jews, illegally possessing the place of Onias III. See above JASON.
V. JESUS, the son of Phabis, High-Priest of the Jews, Ananel’s successor, and predecessor to Simon the son of Boëthus. He was High-Priest but for a short time. He was deposed by Herod the Great in the year of the World 3981, before Jesus Christ 19, before the Vulgar Æra 23. We know nothing particularly of his Life.
VI. JESUS, the son of Sias, High-Priest of the Jews, succeeded Eleazar, and was himself succeeded by Joazas, in the reign of Archelaus the son of Herod. This Jesus the son of Sias, held the Pontificate but four years; he was deposed in 4009, and his predecessor was appointed to this dignity in 4004.
VII. JESUS, the son of Damnæus, High-Priest of the Jews, was so created by King Agrippa, in the year of Jesus Christ 63, and deposed the same year. He succeeded Ananus, and Jesus the son of Gamaliel was his successor.
VIII. JESUS, the son of Gamaliel, High -Priest of the Jews, successor to Jesus the son of Damnæus, and predecessor to Matthias the son of Theophilus. The two High-Priests, Jesus the son of Damnæus, and Jesus the son of Gamaliel, having each their party in the Temple, and the City, disputed sword in hand for the Pontificate. Agrippa, to put an end to this bloody contention, deposed them both, and placed Matthias, the son of Theophilus, in their room, in the year of Jesus Christ 64.
I. JETHER, the son of Gideon, who had not the courage to kill Zebah and Zalmunna, though his father commanded him to do so. Judg. viii. 20.
II. JETHER, the husband of Abigail, David’s sister, and father of Amasa. 1 Chron. ii. 17.
JETHETH, the son of Esau, one of the ancient Dukes of Edom. Gen. xxxvi. 40.
JETHLAH, a City in the Tribe of Dan. Josh. xix. 42.
JETHRO, Priest or Prince of Midian10, the father-in-law of Moses. Some believe that he was Priest to the true God, and that he maintained the true Religion, as being a descendant of Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah. Moses does not disguise his alliance with Jethro’s family, but invites him to offer Sacrifices to the Lord upon his Exod. xviii. 11, 12.arrival in the camp of Israel, as one who adored the same God with the Israelites. It is by some asserted, that he had four names, Jethro, Raguel, Hobab, and Ceni. Others will have it, that Jethro and Raguel were the same person; that Hobab was the son of Jethro, brother to Zipporah, and brotherin-law to Moses; and lastly, that Ceni is a common name signifying the country of the Kenites, inhabited by the posterity of Hobab, to the South of the promised Land. The Hebrew, Chothen11, which St. Jerom translates cognatus, kinsman, is made use of in Numb. x. 29. to denote the degree of relation which was between Moses and Hobab. And in another place the same term is used to signify the same thing, Exod. xviii. 1, 27. Nevertheless in this place cited from Numbers, Hobab is called the son of Raguel. For which reason some others are of opinion, that Raguel is the father of Jethro, and Jethro the father of Hobab. On the other side, Raguel gives Zipporah to Moses in marriage, Exod. ii. 18, 21. The signification of the Hebrew, Chothen, not being fixed, it is impossible to be at any certainty in this question.
The occasion which gave Moses the opportunity of making an alliance with Jethro’s family, was this: Moses having killed an Egyptian, who abused an Hebrew, was obliged to fly out of Egypt. He retired into the land of Midian, to the East of the Red Sea, between the gulph of Elam and Heroopolis. As he sat down near a well where Jethro’s daughters were watering their cattle, there came some shepherds, who forced them away. Moses defended the young women, and watered their flock. Their father being informed of what had passed, sent for Moses to his house, and gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. By Exod. ii. 15, 16, 17, &c. From the year of the World 2473 to 2513, before J. C. 1487, before the Vulgar Æra 1491.her Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. After he had been forty years at Jethro’s, he had the vision of an Angel, who spoke to him in a burning bush, and enjoined him to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. Jethro understanding what the Will of God was in this particular, permitted him to return into his own country with his wife and children. But Zipporah having been obliged to return to her father’s house in Midian, before she went into Egypt, Jethro brought her back to Moses, who was then incamped at the foot of Mount Sinai, about a year after the Hebrews came out of Egypta.
Jethro sending notice to Moses of his arrival, Exod. xviii. 1, 2, 3, &c.Moses went out of the camp, met him, fell prostrate before him, embraced him, introduced him into his tent, and related to him all that the Lord had done for the Israelites. Jethro blessed God for it, offered Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings, and ate with Moses, Aaron, and the Elders of Israel, in the presence of the Lord. The next day, Moses taking his seat in order to judge Israel, continued from morning to evening employed in this manner. Jethro remonstrated to him, that this was a fatigue above his strength to undergo, and would be tiresome both to himself and his people; that therefore he should chuse some men of firmness and fortitude, who feared God, and hated covetousness, that they might share with him in the weight of Government; that the cognizance of lesser affairs should be referr’d to them, and those of more consequence should be reserved to himself. Moses submitted easily to this advice, and chose certain men of merit out of all Israel, whom he appointed to have rule over the people; some over a thousand, others over an hundred, fifty, and ten. They administred justice to the people, and when any thing of greater difficulty than ordinary occurr’d, they referred it to Moses.
When the Israelites were upon the point of decamping from the Wilderness of Sinai, and proceeding on their journey towards the Land of Promise, Moses desired Jethro to continue with the people, that he might Exod. xviii. 27.be a guide to them: but Jethro refused, and returned to Midian, leaving, as some believe, Hobab his son, to conduct the IsraelitesNumb. x. 29. in the Wilderness. Hobab went with them to the Land of Promise, and had a share in the division of it made by Joshua. We do not know what befell Jethro after that time.
The Jews have published several fabulous accounts relating to Jethro, which we shall just touch upon by the way.12 They tell us in the first place, that he had six names; Jethro or Jether, Raguel, Chobab, Peni, Phutiel, and Chebar. They add, that being one of Pharaoh’s principal Counsellors, and giving moderate counsels, and such as were favourable to the Hebrews, whereas Balaam, another of this Prince’s Counsellors, was for taking measures that were quite contrary, he was obliged to fly from Pharaoh’s court, and retire to Midian. Thither he carried with him a rod of Saphire, which was created on the sixth day of the World, and had been delivered down from time to time successively from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph; and last of all to Pharaoh. Jethro found the secret of carrying it off to Midian; and having fixed it in the ground in his own garden, he could never pluck it out: but Moses by the help of God’s name, the pronunciation whereof he understood, pulled it up very easily; and to this he owed his marriage with Zipporah. And with this same rod it was, that he afterwards wrought so many miracles. They believe that he wrote that section in the Pentateuch, which they call Jethro. The Mahometans call him Soaib; a name observed to be in Saadias, and the Arabic version of Exodus.
You have in the following account several curious, but uncertain particulars, of Jethro’s life, which have been handed Bibl. Orient. p. 790. Schoalb.down to us by the Arabians. They say one Michael the son of Taskir, and grandson of Midian, was his father: this last was the immediate son of Ishmael, according to the Author of Leb-Tarik; for Moses makes no mention of Midian among the sons of IshmaelGen. xxv. 13, 14.. Jethro gave his son-in-law Moses the miraculous rod, with which he performed so many prodigies. He was favoured with the gift of prophecy, and God sent him to his countrymen the people of Midian, to preach the Unity of God, and withdraw them from idolatry. Mahomet says, that he wrought miracles13
to convert this nation; and one of his Commentators affirms, that whenever Jethro had a mind to perform his devotions on the top of a certain Mountain, the Mountain became lower, in order to render the ascent more easy to him.
Another Commentator on the Alcoran says, that Jethro took pains principally to reform the bad custom which the Midianites had, of stealing, of having two sorts of weights and measures; of buying by the larger, and selling by the smaller. He was often used to say to them, Get just weights and measures, and defraud no man of what belongs to him. Besides these frauds which the Midianites committed in their way of trading, they offered violence to travellers, and robb’d them with impunity on the high-ways. They threatned even Jethro to drive him out of their country, together with his disciples, if they did not all return to those wicked practices which were in vogue among them.
Euseb. de nomin. Hebr.This insolence obliged God to manifest his wrath, in shewing them an example of his just severity. He sent the Angel Gabriel, who, with a voice like thunder, and a dreadful cry, set the Earth a trembling, and this Earthquake was the destruction of them all, except Jethro, and them, who like him, believed the Unity of God. It was after this punishment that Jethro went to his son-in-law Moses, as is related in Exodus xviii. 1, 2, 3. and following verses. The advice which Jethro gave Moses upon this occasion, made the Mussulmen call him, The Preacher of the Prophets.
JETTAN. Eusebius says, that there is a considerable place called Jettan, eighteen miles from Eleutheropolis, in the Canton which went under the name of Daroma.
JETUR, the son of Ishmael. Gen. xxv. 15. was father of the Ituræans.
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 King14. The Kingdom continued in his family till the time of Herod the son of Antipater the Idumæan15.
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 Batanæa16. 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 dispersed17. 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 Christ18: whatever happened to them was figurative, says St. Paul19; 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. Austin20. 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 believe21. 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.
JEWS, their Dispersions, their Captivities: whether they are returned from them. See CAPTIVITIES, and TRANSMIGRATIONS.
WANDERING JEW. I am so well persuaded, that every thing that is reported of the Wandering Jew is fabulous, that I should not think him worth speaking of in this place, if I did not know, that there were still some people so simple as to believe something of the story. The example of Enoch and Elijah, who are still living, and are thought to dwell in some private place on earth; the persuasion of the Jews, who believe the Prophet Elijah to be invisibly present at the ceremony of circumcising Modena, part. 4. c. 8.their children; the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, who speaking to St. John the Evangelist, says, If I will Joh. xvi. 21,22,23.that he stay till I come, what is that to thee, follow thou me; which many of the Ancients and some Moderns have understood, as if our Saviour had promised this Apostle, that he should not die till the day of Judgment: these several considerations induce them to believe that there really is D’Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. p. 932. Zerid.a Wandering Jew.
They call the Mahometan Authors to their assistance, who relate, that in the sixteenth year of the Hegira, a Captain, named Fadhila, who commanded three hundred horse, being arrived with his Troop about the close of day between two Mountains, and having began evening prayer in a loud voice with these words, God is Great, he heard a voice repeating the same words, and continuing to pronounce the whole prayer with him to the end. Fadhila at first suspected that this was an echo, but observing that the voice repeated distinctly and intirely all his words, he said, O Thou who answerest me, if thou art of the Order of Angels, the power of God be with thee; if thou art of another kind of Spirits, well and good; if thou art a man as I am, appear before my eyes. He had no sooner ended these words, than an old man with a bald head and a staff in his hand, having the air of a Dervise, immediately presented himself before him.
After they had saluted one another civilly, Fadhila asked the old man who he was: he answered, that he was called Zerib, son to the son of Elijah; and added, I am here by order from Jesus Christ, who left me in this world, that I might live there till he came a second time on earth. I wait therefore for this Lord who is the source of all happiness, and I dwell, according to his directions, behind this Mountain. Fadhila asked him at what time the Lord Jesus was to appear: he answered, at the end of the world, and at the day of Judgement. And what are the marks, said he again, of the near approach of this day? Zerib then told him with the tone of a Prophet, that when men and women should couple together without distinction of sex; when the abundance of provisions should not lessen the price of them; when the blood of the innocent should be shed, and the poor should beg alms without receiving any; when charity should be extinct, the Scripture should be turned into ballads, the Churches dedicated to the true God be filled with idols; then know that the day of Judgement will be near. He had no sooner ended these words, but he disappeared.
But let us come to the Wandering Jew. The story of him is related with some diversity. Matthew Paris, under the year 1229, tells us, that an Armenian Prelate came at that time into England with letters of recommendation from the Pope, wherein he desired the Prelates to let this foreign Archbishop see the principal relicks of the country, and to shew him in what manner God was served in the Churches of England. Paris, who was then living, says, that many persons upon several occasions examined this Archbishop, and asked him news of the Wandering Jew, who was in the East, and proposed divers questions to him with relation to this man; as whether he were still living, who he was, and what he said of himself.
The Prelate affirmed, that this Jew was in Armenia; and one of the Officers of his retinue said, that he was Pilate’s porter, named Cataphilus, who seeing Jesus Christ dragg’d out of the Judgement-hall, gave him a blow with his fist upon the back, in order to push him out the quicker; where
upon Jesus Christ said to him, The Son of Man is going, but thou shalt wait till he come. The porter was converted, and baptized by Ananias, and called Joseph; that he had lived ever since, and that when he came to the age of an hundred, he fell sick, and into a swoon, during which he grew young again, and returned to thirty years of age, he being just so old when Jesus Christ died.
This Officer farther assured them, that Joseph was known to his master, that he had seen him eat at his table a little before he came away: that he answered with great gravity and without a smile, as often as he was asked concerning ancient facts; for example, concerning the resurrection of those dead persons, who rose out of their graves when Jesus Christ was crucified; concerning the history of the Apostles, and other holy persons of antiquity. He was always afraid of Jesus Christ’s coming to judge the world, because then he was to die. The fault which he committed in striking Jesus made him tremble; nevertheless he hoped continually for pardon, because he sinned through ignorance22. There have appeared from time to time such impostors, who taking the advantage of, or rather abusing the credulity of the people, have given themselves out to be the Wandering Jew, and with the benefit of some knowledge in ancient History, and the oriental Languages, have persuaded the simple, that they really were this pretended person. There was one appeared at Hamburg in 154723. A certain Christian affirms that he saw him there, and saw him preach in a church of that city: he seemed to be a man of about fifty years of age, of an advantageous stature, wearing long hair spread over his shoulders: he often sighed, which was imputed to his grief for the fault he had committed. He said that at the time of our Saviour’s Passion, he was a shoemaker at Jerusalem, and dwelt near the gate through which Jesus Christ was to pass in his way to Calvary. He was a Jew, and called Ahasuerus; Jesus finding himself fatigued, would have rested upon his stall, but Ahasuerus struck him, whereupon he said, I will rest me here, but thou shalt run up and down till I come. Accordingly he began to run from that moment, followed Jesus Christ, and has wandered ever since.
There was another appeared in England not many years ago. I have a manuscript letter written from London by Madam de Mazarin to Madam de Bouillon, wherein we read, that there is a man in this country who pretends to have lived above seventeen hundred years. He affirms that he was an Officer of the Divan in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ’s being condemned by Pontius Pilate: that he thrust our Saviour rudely out of the Judge-ment-hall, with these words, Go, get you gone out; why dost thou stay here? that Jesus Christ answered him, I am going; but thou shalt walk up and down till my coming. He remembers that he had seen all the Apostles, and has not forgotten the features of their faces, their hair, and dress. He has travelled into all the countries in the world, and must wander up and down till the consummation of ages: he boasts of curing the sick by touching them; he speaks several languages; he gives such an exact account of every thing that has passed in all ages, that they who hear him, don’t know what to think of him. The two Universities have sent their Doctors to converse with him; but with all their learning, they have not been able to surprize him in any contradictions.
A Gentleman of great learning talked to him in Arabic, whom he answered immediately in the same language, telling him, that there was scarce any one history in the world true. The Gentleman asked him what he thought of Mahomet. I knew his father, said he to him, very particularly at Ormus in Persia; and for Mahomet, he was a man of very good understanding, but nevertheless liable to mistakes, like other men; and one of his principal errors is his denying Jesus Christ to have been crucified; for I was by, said he, and with my own eyes saw him nailed to the cross. He told this Gentleman, that he was at Rome when Nero ordered it to be burnt; that he likewise saw Saladin at his return from his conquests in the Levant; he mentioned abundance of particulars about Soliman the Magnificent. He was likewise acquainted with Tamerlane, Bajazet, Eterlan, and is very particular in his account of the wars in the Holy Land. He gives out, that he will be in a few days at London; where he will satisfy the curiosity of those who shall apply to him.
This is the import of the letter whereof I have been speaking. It says farther, that common people, and some other weak persons, believe him to have wrought many miracles, but that men of sense look upon him as an impostor: and this without doubt is the judgement we should make of him, and of all others who shall have the same presumption.
JEZANIAH, the son of Hoshaiah, mentioned in Jeremiah, ch. xlii. 1. He is the same in all probability as Azariah the son of Hoshaiah. Jer. xliii. 2. who was one
of the principal persons that engaged the Israelites, who were left in Judæa, to go, against the advice of Jeremiah, into Egypt.
JEZEBEL, the daughter of Ethbaal King of the Zidonians, and wife to Ahab 1 Kings xvi. 31.King of Israel. This Princess introduced into the Kingdom of Samaria the publick worship of Baal, Astarte, and other Phœnician or Canaanitish Deities, which the Lord had forbidden his people in so express a manner; and with this impious worship there was a general prevalency of all those abominations which had formerly so much incensed God against the Canaanites, and procured their utter extirpation. Jezebel was so zealous for the honour of this false Religion, that she fed at her own table four hundred Prophets belonging to the Groves consecrated to the Goddess Astarte; and her husband Ahab had in like manner four hundred of Baal’s Prophets, whom he kept as 1 Kings xviii. 19.the Ministers of his false Gods.
Jezebel seemed to have undertaken the utter abolition of the worship of the Lord in Israel, by persecuting and massacring his Prophets: and she had destroyed them all, if part of them had not been saved by some good men. Obadiah, one of Ahab’s Officers, for his share preserved an hundred. Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 13. In the year of the World 3096, before J. C. 904, before the Vulgar Æra 908.who appeared at this time, having caused fire to descend from heaven upon his Burnt-offering in the sight of Ahab and of all Israel, assembled at Mount Carmel, and the people having killed four hundred and fifty of Baal’s Prophets, who were then present, Jezebel sent a message to Elijah, declaring, that the next day she would take care he should be dispatched: whereupon he fled, and escaped the fury of this impious Queen.
Some time after, Ahab being desirous to buy Naboth’s vineyard, and this honest Israelite believing that he ought not to sell it, Jezebel wrote in the King’s name to the principal men of Jezreel, where he dwelt, 1 Kings xix. 1, &c. In the year of the World 3096, before J. C. 904, before the Vulgar Æra 908.requiring them to kill him, and suborn witnesses who should accuse him of blaspheming God, and vilifying the King. These orders were but too punctually executed, and Naboth having been condemn’d and put to death, Ahab took possession of his vineyard as an estate forfeited to him. When Ahab was upon his return from Jezreel, the place where this vineyard lay, Elijah met him, and threatned him in God’s name with the destruction of himself and family; and as to Jezebel, who had been the first cause of all this evil, he told her, that her body should be eaten by dogs in the field of Jezreel, or, according to the Hebrew, by the outward wall of Jezreel. These predictions were literally 1 Kings xxi. 23. & 2 Kings ix. 10. 1 Kings xxx. 31, 32.verified, when Jehu the son of Nimshi rebelling against Ahab24, and coming to Jezreel, Jezebel painted her eyes with antimony, to make them appear larger and blacker, decked her head with all her ornaments, and looking out of the window, which was in the apartment over the city-gate, and seeing Jehu as he entred riding in his chariot, she cried out, Had Zimri peace who slew his master? Jehu lifting up his head, asked who she was? whereupon two or three Eunuchs immediately made him a very low reverence; and Jehu said to them, Throw her down. At which words, they that instant threw her out of window: and as she fell into the inclosure of the outward wall, she was eaten up by dogs. Jehu coming in to refresh himself, said to his people, Go, see what is become of this unhappy woman, and bury her; for she is a King’s daughter. They went, and found only her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands: they returned therefore, and gave Jehu an account of what they had seen; who said, this is the accomplishment of what the Lord declared by Elijah, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung in the field of Jezreel, and all who pass, shall say, as they observe her, is this Jezebel?
The name of Jezebel is used proverbially, to denote an impious and cruel woman. St. John in the Revelations ii. 20. reproaches the Bishop of Thyatira in Asia Minor, with suffering Jezebel, that woman who calleth herself a Prophetess, to teach and to seduce the servants of Jesus Christ to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. He says, that he had given her opportunity to repent, but she would not; wherefore God threatens to overwhelm her with diseases and afflictions, together with those who had been corrupted with her; to kill her children, that all the Churches might know, that the Lord searcheth the heart and the reins, and will give to every one according to his works. Jezebel is without doubt in this place a figurative name, and signifies some woman who amused herself with dogmatizing in the Church. See the Commentators upon the Revelations ii. 20.
JEZER, the son of Naphtali, Head of the Family of the Jezerites. Gen. xlvi. 24. Numb. xxvi. 49.
JEZRA, the son of Meshullam, and father of Adiel. 1 Chron. ix. 12.
JEZRAHIAH, Intendant or Chief of the singers belonging to the Temple in the time of Nehemiah. Nehem. xii. 42.
I. JEZREEL, a City in the Tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 56.
II. JEZREEL, the son of Etam, of the Tribe of Judah. 1 Chron. iv. 3.
III. JEZREEL, son to the Prophet Hosea, by the harlot Gomer, whom he had married. Hos. i. 4.
IV. JEZREEL, or Esdrael, or Stradela, or Jezrahel, a celebrated City, situated in the Great Plain between Legio to the west, and Scythopolis to the east. It belonged to Euseb. in locis. Josh. xix. 18. 1 Kings xxi. 1. and 23. and 2 Kings ix. 10, &c.the Tribe of Issachar. Ahab had a palace there; and this city became famous on the score of Naboth’s vineyard, and the vengeance which God executed on Ahab at Jezreel. S. Jerom a says, that Jezreel was pretty near Maximianopolis; and that not far from it there was a very long vale, of above ten thousand paces in length. Josephusa Hieronym. in Osee i. Guill. Tyr. l. 22. c. 26. calls the city of Jezreel, Azarus, or Azares; and in the time of William of Tyre, it was called Little Gerin. There was a fine fountain in it, the waters whereof fell into the river Jordan, near Scythopolis.
IGAL, of the Tribe of Issachar, was deputed by this Tribe with others, to go and view the Land of Promise, Numb. xiii. 7.
IGDALIAH, the man of God, who had the care of the wine-cellars belonging to Jer. xxxv. 4.the Temple. Jeremiah carried the Rechabites into Igdaliah’s apartment, with a design to offer them wine.
IGNATIUS, a disciple of the Apostles, bishop of Antioch, and a martyr. He suffered under the persecution of Trajan. Some have asserted, that S. Ignatius, otherwise called Theophoros, or Theopheros, was the child whom Jesus took into his arms, to propose as a pattern of Christian Quidam apud Anastas. Bibliothec. & alii. Matth. xviii. 2, 3, 5, &c. Chrysost. t. 1. orat. 42. p. 706.humility. But this particular is by no means certain. We have some letters of S. Ignatius to the blessed Virgin, and others from the blessed Virgin to Ignatius; but they are very well known to be spurious. The name of S. Ignatius is not to be met with in any monument of the New Testament. S. Chrysostom says, that he never saw Jesus Christ; but he is believed to have been a disciple of S. Peter and S. John the Evangelist. We have some epistles written by this holy man, as he was going to Rome in order to suffer martyrdom there. They Greg. Mag. l. 4. Ep. 37. Hieronym. in Chronic. Ignatii Acta, p. 1, 5.abound with that divine fire, with which he was inflamed. The history of his martydom is generally known; and besides has no relation to our subject.
JIBSAM, the son of Tola, and grandson of Issachar, 1 Chr. vii. 1. Numb. xxvi. 23.
Gen. xxii. 22.JIDLAPH, the son of Nabor and Abraham’s nephew.
IJE-ABARIM, that is to say, the defiles of Abarim, or the defiles of those who pass by; one of the encampments of the IsraelitesNumb. xxi. 11. 70עיי .העברים Γαὶ ἐν τῷ πέραν. in the land of Moab, after their departure out of Egypt. Moses says, that this place is to the east of the land of Moab. In the same country are the mountains Abarim. Jeremiah speaks of a place called Hai or Gai, which is the same as Je or Jai in the land of Moab.
JIM, a city in the tribe of Judah, Josh. Jer. xlix. 3. Ulula Hesebon, quoniam vastata est Hai. 2 Kings xv. 29. 1 Kings xv. Ezek. xlviii. 1.xv. 29.
JIMNAH, the eldest son of Asher, head of the family of the Jimnaites, Gen. xlvi. 17. Numb. xxvi. 44.
IJON, or Abion, perhaps Ein, or Enan, a frontier town to Damascus. We find Inna in Cæle-Syria, in the sixty eighth degree ½ of latitude, and thirty third degree of longitude, according to Ptolemy.
IKKESH, one of those brave officers who commanded in David’s army, 2 Sam. xxiii. 26.
ILAI, a valiant man in David’s army, 1 Chr. xi. 29.
Rom. xv. 19.ILLYRICUM. St. Paul says, that he preached the Gospel from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum. Illyricum is a province in Europe, whereof the old northern limits were the two Pannonias, the Adriatic sea to the south, Istria to the west, and Upper Mæsia and Macedonia to the east, so that S. Paul preached in Syria, Phœnicia, Arabia, Cilicia, Pamphilia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Pontus, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Troas, Asia, Caria, Lycia, Ionia, Lydia, the isles of Cyprus and Crete, Thracia, Macedonia, Thessalia, and Achaia.
Eccl. xvii. 3.IMAGE, or representation of any thing. God created man after his own image; that is to say, he created him as another self upon earth, a kind of Demi-God in the world, to exercise a dominion in it subordinate to his. Otherwise, he created him after his image, wise, immortal, good, just, provident, knowing, &c. Lastly, God imprinted his image in man, his holiness, virtue, wisdom. He created man, and gave him a body and reasonable soul; as in after ages his word, his wisdom, was to assume the nature of man; his body and soul. Adam by Tertull. de resurr. carnis, c. 5. Col. iii. 9, 10. & Rom. viii. 29.his sin disfigured the image of God, he forfeited the gifts of grace and immortality; but Jesus Christ, hath formed a-new in us this image of his grace: or rather, we being prevented and assisted by him, renew in ourselves the image of God, which was defaced by sin, As we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Ex. xx. 4.God forbids the Hebrews to make any image or representation of what is in heaven, or earth, or in the waters, with an intention to worship it. But he does not forbid to make images or figures only to represent, instruct, or adorn. Thus Moses and Solomon made Cherubims over the ark, and in the tabernacle. Moses made a brazen Serpent; Solomon cast Lions and Oxen, and placed them in the Temple. And the Christian Church permits the use of images,
mages, provided they are used only in such a relative worship , whereby we honour the Saints, whose resemblance they bear; and believe that there is no virtue or any thing divine in them; address no prayers to them, or place any confidence in them.
Besides the common acceptation of the word Image, whereby a bare representation is meant of something real, for example, of an horse, an ox, a star, &c. the representation whereof with a design of worshipping them, is forbidden by the law; this name is farther understood in several other senses: for example; Ps. xxxix. 7.In imagine pertransit homo: Man passes away like a phantom: And Imaginem ipsorum Ps. lxxiii. 20.ad nihilum rediges, Thou shalt reduce their image, their shadow, their figure, thou shalt reduce them to nothing. The life of man is as it were smoke, a shadow, a vain representation: it passes away, it is dispersed, it vanishes like a cloud. Job, or rather his Job v. 16.friend Eliphaz says, that at midnight an image, a phantom, appeared to him, he did not know it; but he heard as it were a voice, or as it were the murmur of a gentle and light wind. Stetit imago coram oculis meis, & vocem quasi aurœ lenis audivi.
Imago is sometimes taken in a contrary sense, for a lively and real representation, in opposition to a transient image, a phantom, something that appears in a dream, and has no consistency or reality: for example; The Hebr. x. 1.law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things. It represented these good things in a light and superficial manner, like the shadows which appear by night, and have nothing solid and permanent; whereas the Gospel represents the same good things under a lively, solid, firm, stable and real figure; the law was but a shadow, whereof the Gospel is the reality and substance.
Thus in St. Paul’s epistles, Jesus Christ 2 Cor. iv. 4. Col. i. 15.is called the image of the Father: Evangelium gloriæ Christi, quæ est imago Dei. And again, who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. And in Hebr. i. 3.another place he calls him the brightness of his glory, the express image of the Father’s substance. This without doubt is not a meer image and no more, a ray only, but a real and substantial image, of the same nature and substance with the Father; it is an emanation from the Father, an efflux of his light and substance.
S. Paul requires, that as we have born the image of the earthy, we should likewise bear the image of the heavenly. As we have born the image of sinful and offending Adam, as we have imitated him in his sin and disobedience, so we should endeavour to draw again upon our souls the features of the heavenly man Christ Jesus; his obedience, his humility, his patience, meekness, &c.
Image is taken often for a statue, figure, or idol: for example, Take good heed with yourselves, lest ye make you a graven image, the likeness of male or female, with an intention to adore them: and elsewhere, The Israelites went into the house of Baal, and brake in pieces his images. And the author of the book of Wisdom, speaking of the causes of Idolatry, says, that a father afflicted for the death of his son, made an image of him, to which he paid divine honour: and S. John in the Revelations, xiii. 14, 15. God permitted the beast to seduce men, and it commanded them to make an image of the beast, which became a living an animated image; and all they who shall refuse to adore the image of the beast shall be put to death. By this animated and living image of the beast, to which the inhabitants of the Earth pay their worship and adorations, the Heathen Idols are meant, which Julian the Apostate in some sort brought to life, by reviving and restoring the worship of them, which had been dead and abolished over almost the whole Empire.
IMMER, head of the family of Priests, which was assigned the sixteenth place in the service of the Temple. The descendants of 12. & xxiv. 13. Ezra ii. 37.Immer returned from Babylon in number fifteen hundred and two.
IMPOSITION OF HANDS. Imposition of hands is understood in different ways both in the Old and New Testament. 1. It is often taken for ordination and the consecration of Priests, and sacred Ministers, xiii. 3.as well among the Jews as Christians.
- It is sometimes also made use of to signify the establishment of Judges and Magistrates, on whom it was usual to lay hands, when they were intrusted with these employments. Jacob laid his hands on Chronic.Ephrain and Manasseh, when he gave them his last blessing.
The high Priest stretched out his hands to the people, as often as he recited the solemn form of blessing. The Israelites who presented sin-offerings at the Tabernacle, confessed their sins, while they laid their hands upon them. Witnesses laid
Ex.xxix. 19. Dan. xiii. 34.their hands upon the head of the accused person, as it were to signify that they charged upon him the guilt of his Blood, and freed Mark x. 16. Acts viii. 17. xix. 6.themselves from it. Our Saviour laid his hands upon the Children that were presented to him, and blessed them. We find imposition of hands to be made use of likewise in confirmation. The Apostles confer’d the Holy Ghost on those who were baptized, by laying their hands upon them.
The Israelites put their hands upon the Levites, when they offered them to the Lord, in order to be consecrated to his service, Lev. viii. 10, 12.
IMPOSTORS, false Messiahs, false prophets, seducers, hypocrites, wolves that come to us in sheeps cloathing, to seduce us. Moses precautions the Hebrews against impostors Deut. xiii. 1, 2, &c.and false prophets, saying, If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee; saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, but shalt put him to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, &c. And in another Deut. xviii. 10,11,20, 21.passage, There shall not be found among you that useth divination, or an inchanter, or a necromancer; for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord—— The prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other Gods, even that prophet shall die.
These laws were very ill observed in Israel: no nation ever more abounded in Impostors than that of the Hebrews. This volatile, inconstant, and superstitious people was almost always the Dupe of such as had a mind to impose upon them, particularly in matters of religion. Their propensity to idolatry, and their love of novelty, disposed them to adopt all the abominations and impieties of their neighbours. The most famous, as well as eldest impostor that appeared among them with reputation, was Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who having advanced himself to the throne of Israel by rebellion against his lawful Prince, believed he could not maintain himself there, without changing the ancient religion, and introducing the worship of the golden calves in his dominions.
From that time false prophets and impostors were frequent in the land. Queen Jezabel supported four hundred and fifty 1 Kings xviii. 19.prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of Astarte the Goddess of the groves. King Ahab being upon the point of marching with Jehoshaphat king of Judah against Ramoth- 1 Kings xxii. 6,7,8.Gilead, consulted his four hundred Is. ix. 14, 15.prophets concerning the success of his expedition: they all promised him victory, and a happy return. Micaiah the son of Imlah was the only one who contradicted them, and foretold, that the King would lose his life in this journey. Isaiah speaks of false prophets, who reported lies to those who consulted them. Propheta docens mendacium. And Jeremiah complains of certain prophets, who prophesied Jer. xi. 8.in the name of Baal, and worshipped idols. Prophetæ prophetaverunt in Baal, & idola secuti sunt; and that these prophets prophesied falsehoods, and were applauded by the priests. And in another place, that the prophets Jer. v. 31. Jer. xiv. 14.prophesied falsely in the name of God, who did not send them. The whole book of Jeremiah abounds with reproaches of the like nature, against those false prophets, who spoke as they were prompted by their own spirit: Prophetant de corde suo.
Ezekiel inveighs against them with still more vehemence: Say unto the prophets who 23, 24.prophesy out of their own hearts, hear ye the word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord God, wo unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts——Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that use vanity and devise lies. And elsewhere, the false prophets are like those who raise a wall without mortar, they devise lies; saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. Hosea speaks likewise of those mad prophets, who were a snare, and an occasion of falling to all those who hearkened to them. And Micah mentions those greedy and avaritious prophets who sold their prophesies for money, seduced the People, and declared enmity to all those who did not fill their mouths. Zephaniah speaks of them, not at all more to advantage: Her prophets are light and treacherous persons. And Zachary, in that day the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive.
This is a tradition and successive series of impostors and false prophets in Judah and Israel, till after the captivity of Babylon. Under the New Testament Jesus Christ foretold, that false prophets should come, who should seduce many persons. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect. These predictions did not continue long without the visible effect of them. Simon the magician gave out in Samaria, soon after the death of our Saviour, that he was the great power of God. Josephus mentions several impostors who appeared about the same time. One Theudas or Theodas
Joseph. Antiq. l. xx. c. 2.odas set up in Judea, in the time of Cuspius Fadus Governor of this province, about the year of J. C. or of the vulgar Æra 45. He gave himself out to be a prophet, and deceived many Jews, persuading them to forsake their fortunes and follow him as far as Jordan, promising them that they should pass it dry-shod, as Joshua had done formerly. But he was taken and killed with many of those who followed him.
Another Theudas, mentioned by Gamaliel in the Acts of the Apostles, appeared some time before our Saviour’s death: about four hundred men joined him; but he was killed, and all they who followed him were dispersed. Ten years after an Egyptian, by religion a Jew, persuaded Joseph. l. xx. c. 6.the people to follow him to the mount of Olives, assuring them that he would make the walls of Jerusalem fall before them, and introduce them into the city through the Id. l. ii. de bello, c. 12.breach. Another impostor drew a great number of people into the wilderness, promising them a general deliverance from all evils. Judas the Galilean, author of the sect of the Herodians, asserted, that the Jews ought to acknowledge none but God for their master; and that they could not Joseph. Antiq. l. xviii. c. 1.pay tribute to Cesar, without being Cowards, and offending God. His sons inherited his spirit, and in the war with the Romans encouraged very much the spirit of rebellion in their countrymen the Jews. When this war was ended, one Jonathan, by trade Joseph. de bello, l. vii. c. 31.a weaver, appeared in the Cyrenaica, and seduced a great number of Jews by tricks and false miracles, with which he amazed them in the wilderness, whither he had drawn them. Catullus governor of Lybia Pentapolitana dispersed them, and from thence took an opportunity to plunder the richest Jews of that country. But the most famous of all the Impostors, who appeared after the destruction of the Temple, was Barchochebas, who stir’d up an insurrection of the Jews against the emperor Adrian, and brought upon them the forces of the Empire, which reduced them to a condition, from which they were never able to recover. See above, Barchochebas. I take no notice here of the false Messiahs who have appeared at several times among the Jews. See the title Messiah.
The state of oppression to which the Jews are reduced in almost all countries in the world, and the expectation of the Messiah, who, they presume, will deliver them out of all their calamities, makes them more credulous, more liable to be deceived by the promises of Impostors, and more susceptible of the hopes, which these inspire them with of recovering their liberty. As in the age wherein our Saviour manifested himself, the whole east was in expectation of the Messiah, and the deliverer so long waited for, and so often foretold; so this age produced more Impostors than any other, because of the ready admission they were sure to find in the hearts of people prepossessed, and easy to be persuaded. They who were thought to be the most crafty of them, would have made this a handle to reject even Jesus Christ, by confounding him with the seducers, who had appeared, and were from day to day appearing in their nation. This deceiver, they cried, said, that in three days he would rise again. Our Saviour’s Apostles were treated in the same manner by the obstinate Jews, As deceivers and yet true, &c.
But what is scarce credible, there have been people among Christians, and that too after so many wonders wrought by Jesus Christ, after so many persecutions endured by the Church, after so many books written by Infidels and Hereticks, which have been destroyed and utterly confuted by Catholick writers, it is scarce credible, I say, that after this, there should be people who could either say or write, that Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mahomet were three eminent Impostors. All the world talks of a famous book published, as they say, under the Title, De tribus impostoribus Mose, Christo & Mahomet. Some maintain it to be a spurious work, and that no such was ever published; others are positive that such an one is in being, and there are some who have boasted that they have seen it. Alberic a Monk of the Cistertian order, in the Diocess of Chalons on the Marne, who lived in the middle of the thirteenth Century, informs us in his Chronicle under the year 1339, that seventeen cases were offered against the Emperor Frederick II. among which one was against the Christian Religion, and was mentioned by the Pope in his Books to the Archbishop of Sens, and this is, that there have been three Impostors in the world, namely, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mahomet; Tres fuerunt Baratores, seu Guillatores, in mundo, Moyses, Christus, & Mahometes. Alberic is an author contemporary with Frederick II. and his Chronicle is very well esteemed.
But if what is said by John Bayon, a Dominican, who wrote the history of the Abby of Moyenmoutier, and lived in the fourteenth Century, be true, the Emperor Frederick is not the first who uttered this blasphemy. This historian’s account of the matter is as follows: I thought, says he, that I was obliged to insert in this work what I learnt while I was at Paris, from the report of people of veracity and probity: about the year
one thousand twenty two, there was a Doctor of Divinity at Paris, very conceited of his knowledge, and very much abounding with vanity and ostentation, who being one day in his pulpit, taught publickly, that three Impostors, namely, Mahomet, Moses, and Jesus Christ, had deceived all the world. Tres homines, videlicet Mahometes, Moyses & Christus, totum ad se trahentes deceperunt mundum. But he was struck immediately by the hand of God, and from that moment forgot all that he had known, and lost the use of Speech.
Peter de Vignes, Secretary and Chancellor to the Emperor Frederick II. confesses, that the Emperor his master was accused of speaking this blasphemy. The Pope in a circular letter adressed to all the princes and Petrus de Vineis, epist. p. 211. edit. Schardii.prelates,a advances this accusation against Frederick, and says, that proof should be made of it in proper time and places. Matthew Parisb relates also what was said of this blasphemy concerning the three Impostors; a Apud Rainold. An. 1239. n. 12. the letter bears date the 1st of July, in this Year. b pag. 408. c Apud Rainold. An. 1239. n. 28.but he speaks of it as a calumny imputed to Frederick by his enemies. The author of the life of Gregory IX.c who was a contemporary, affirms, that the Emperor was led into this mistake by his conversation with the Greeks and Arabians, who by their knowledge of the stars, promised him the universal Monarchy; that he believed himself to be a God under the appearance of a man; that Mankind had been seduced by three Impostors, but for his part he was to destroy a fourth Imposture, tolerated by the ignorance of people, which was the authority of the Pope.
Frederick did not suffer these accusations to pass unanswered. He wrote to the Cardinals Pet. de Vineis, l. 1. p. 32.to make his apology, as to the three Impostors; he professed publickly his belief, which was correct and catholick as to the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and the Mystery of the Incarnation, and spoke of Moses and Mahomet as a Christian should do.
Here is an accusation very solemnly formed against the Emperor, and positively contradicted by the accused. Hitherto the question is only about words; but it is affirmed by some, that there is a book really in being, intitled, of the three Impostors, &c. Some suppose Muret to be the Author of it, others Bernardin Ochinus, others Peter Aretin, others Poggbius the Florentine, others Postellus a learned Fanatick of the sixteenth century; others Arnaud de Villeneuve25, others the Emperor Frederick I. surnamed Barberossa,26 and others Frederick II.
Hist. de l’ Heres. l. 2. c. 16.Florimond de Raymond says, that he remembers, when he was a child, to have seen a copy of this famous book in the college of Presle, in the hands of Ramus. Father Mersennus speaks of it in his Comment upon Genesis, p. 1830. M. Deshouges Dean of the advocates belonging to the Great Council in Paris, says, in a note under his own hand, which I have read, that he was informd by one of his friends, who was a learned man, that he had seen this detestable book in the private library of one of the most powerful princes in Germany; but, however, under a different title from that De tribus Impostoribus. He adds, that another of his friends, whom he describes only by these three Letters, A. A. L. and with whose Probity and love of Truth he was very well acquainted, assured him, that he found this famous piece in a Bookseller’s shop at Genoa, in 1666, and that he had bought it if he had not been prevented by another who purchased it. The late M. Alliot, heretofore first Physician to his Royal Highness of Lorrain, told me, that this Book had formerly been put into his hands, but that he would not read it. Christian Kortholt, in the preface to a book composed by him, under the title of De tribus Impostoribus, which was printed at Kiel in 1680, and at Hamburg in 1700, cites some persons, who said they had seen that which we are here speaking of: but for Kortholt’s, it has not the least regard to Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mahomet; but the three Impostors attacked by him, are Edward Herbert, Thomas Hobbs, and Benedict Spinoza. He says that M. Bayle wrote to him on the 7th of April 1699, that the famous book concerning the three Impostors was not in Baldus’s library at Rotterdam; and he believes, that all they who boast that they had seen it, are very much to be suspected, either for want of honesty or exactness. Another author has given the same title to a work composed against three Catholick writers of the best reputation. This author is M. Morin, and his book is intitled Vincentii Panurgi Epistola de tribus Impostoribus ad Clariss. Vir. Joan. Baptistam Morinum D. M. atque Regiæ Mathesèos Professorem, Parisiis 1654. The three pretended Impostors whom he attacks are, Gassendi, Nevreus, and Bernier. Gibert Voet, in his dispute about Atheism, says, that in 1614, or 1615, one Nactegaël was driven from the Hague, and sent into banishment, for uttering some impieties concerning the three Impostors. M. de la Monnoye is believed to have made a Dissertation on this matter. Some say27, that there is still another piece with this title, Of the three Impostors; but these three Impostors are Zabathai
Tzevi, Mahomet Bey (otherwise John Cigala) and Padre Ottomano.
IMPRECATIONS. The Latin word Imprecor is sometimes taken in a good sense to signify wishing well; the making vows for the advantage of any one: for example, Rebekah’s Gen. xxiv. 60.brethren suffered her to go with Eliezer, in order to marry Isaac, wishing her all sort of prosperity: Imprecantes prospera sorori. And the young King Joash having been placed upon the throne of Judah by Jehoiada the High Priest, the diadem and book of the law were put upon his head, and they saluted him with joyful acclamations, saying, God save the King: Imprecatiq; sunt ei, atque dixerunt, Vivat 2 Chr. xxiii. 11.Rex.
But generally the word Imprecation, in Latin and in other languages, signifies to make imprecations, to devote any one to misfortunes. Thus the goat Azazel was loaded with Imprecations Lev. xvi. 21.and curses, and sent into the wilderness to be there thrown down a precipice. Joshua having taken and destroyed the town of Jericho, pronounced Imprecations against whosoever should rebuild it: Imprecatus est Josue dicens: maledictus vir coram Domino, qui suscitaverit, & ædificaverit civitatem Jericho. Moses commands, that if a woman is suspected of infidelity to her husband, she shall be obliged to drink the waters of jealousy, upon which the priest shall pronounce Imprecations and Curses. He moreover requires, that when the Hebrews entred the promised land, they should dispose themselves Numb. v. 18,19, 20. Deut xi. 28, 29.between the two mountains Ebal and Gerizim, and upon the top of mount Ebal should pronounce imprecations and curses against those who should violate the Law of God, and blessings upon the top of Gerizim upon those who should observe it.
We have spoken heretofore of the Imprecations and Devoting used by the ancients against their enemies, or against besieged cities. See the article Balaam and Devotings.
Ex. x. 10.The Hebrews frequently expressed Imprecations in terms signifying the very contrary of that they meant; for example, Pharaoh says to Moses and Aaron: Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, &c. the quite contrary is intended: God forbid that I should let you go. And David, instead of pronouncing an Imprecation upon himself, uses these words; So and 1 Sam. xxv. 22.more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. May God treat the enemies of David with rigour; instead of saying, may God treat me with all his severity. And elsewhere, Naboth is accused of having blessed God and the King; that is to say, of having 1 Kings xxi. 10.blasphemed against God and the King. And Job offered burnt offerings to the Lord, to make expiation for his sons, lest they should have blessed God; that is to say, on the contrary, lest they should have uttered any word contrary to the respect that is due to him. And Job. i. 5. Job. ii. 5.again, Satan says unto the Lord, Touch his bone and his flesh, and thou wilt see that he will bless thee to thy face; that is to say, that he will fly out into passion and curse thee.
IMPURE, legal Impurity. There were several sorts of Impurity contracted under the law of Numb. xix. 11,14. Levit. xi. 24. Lev. xi. 24, 43.Moses. Some were voluntary, as the touching of a dead body, or of any animal that died of itself, or of any creeping things, or unclean creature; or the touching things holy by one who was not clean, or was not a Priest; or the touching one who had a leprosy, one who had a gonorrhea, or was polluted by a dead carcase; a woman who had newly lain in, or was in the condition which her sex is every month liable to, or was incommoded with an extraordinary issue of blood. Sometimes these Impurities were involuntary; as when any one, without thinking of it, was in the chamber of a person that lay dead, or through inadvertence touched bones, or a sepulchre, or any of those polluted things, which we have been speaking of, or when either by night or day they suffered any involuntary pollution, or fell into such diseases as pollute, as the leprosy, gonorrhea, or lastly the use of marriage, Deut. xxii. 10. Lev. xv. 16. Lev. xiii. 14. Lev. xii. 2,3,4,5. Lev. xvi. 19. Lev. xv. 2, 4. Lev. xv. 25. Numb. v. 2. xix. 11, 12, 20. Lev. xv. 16, 18.whether lawful or unlawful, rendred those of both sexes unclean, who practised it.
The beds, clothes, moveables, and pots, which had touched any thing unclean, contracted likewise a sort of pollution, and often communicated it to others. We have spoken of unclean creatures under the article Animals. These legal pollutions were generally purified by bathing, and lasted no longer than the evening. The person polluted, plunged over head and ears into the water, and either had his clothes on when he did so, or washed himself and his clothes separately. Other pollutions continued seven days; as that, for example, which was contracted by touching a dead body. That of women in their monthly courses lasted till this was over with them. Other instances of uncleanness there were, which lasted forty or fifty days, as that of women who have lately been delivered. They were unclean forty days after the birth of a boy, and fifty after the birth of a girl. Others, again, lasted till the person was cured; as that of Lepers, and persons incommoded with a gonorrhea. Lastly there were certain diseases which shut people out from the commerce of the world; such as the Leprosy: while others excluded only from the use of things holy; such as the
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Footnotes
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Iren. l. 3. c. 19. nov. Edit. ↩
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Origen. contra Cels. ἀλλὰ ὡς φασὶ, μικρὸν καὶ δυσειδές, καὶ ἀγενὴς ἦν. ↩
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Clem. Alex. Pæd. l. 3. c. 1. & l. 1. & 3. Strom. ↩
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Cyr. Alex. Glaphir. in Ex. ἐν εἴδει γὰρ πέφρυκεν τῷ λίαν ἀκαλλιστάτῳ. ↩
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Tertull. de Idolat. ↩
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Idem, adversus Judæos. ↩
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Tertul. de carne Christi. ↩
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Aug. in Psalm. xliv. ↩
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Bibl. Orient. p. 494. Joschovah ben-Sirach. ↩
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Ita Ezechiel Poeta apud Euseb. l. 9. c. 4. Præpar. Jonath. alii plures. The Hebrew Cohen כהןsignifies sometimes a Prince. ↩
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Chothen חתןGener, Affinis, Cognatus. LXX. Πενθερὸς, Socer, vel Γαμβρὸς, Gener. Aquila. Sym. Theod. Νυμφίος, Sponsus. ↩
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Vide Tanchuna, & Mechilta & Scip. Sgambat. l. 2. Archiv vet. Test. ↩
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In the year of the World 2514, before Jesus Christ 1486, before the Vulgar Æra 1490. ↩
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In the year of the World 3898, before Jesus Christ 102. ↩
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In the year of the World 3965, before Jesus Christ 36. ↩
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In the year of the World 3874, before Jesus Christ 126. ↩
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Translators’ note. Juvenal takes notice of the little Arts which were practised by the Jews in their poor vagabond condition, to procure daily sustenance. Whether this observation on the deplorable state of this People was made after the last calamity About the same time that appeared in the Religion of the Jews, which hitherto had not been seen in it; I mean Sects, and divided Opinions upon the most important matters of the Law. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenians, formed three parties, as among the Greeks there were Academicks, Peripateticks, Stoicks, and Epicureans. The Pharisees were the most prevailing, and acquired an infinite deal of credit with the people. The Sadducees were not so numerous, but had more of Saul and David, with all their autho- mity, which befel their Nation under Adrian, may be questioned; tho’ Mr. Dodwell is of opinion, that Juvenal’s Satyrs were written in the reign of this Emperor, and that he was a … by Adrian: if so, what he says of them in his sixth Satyr, might possibly be penn’d after the destruction of Barchochebas, and the many miseries of the Jews consequent thereupon. F. Tarteron indeed will have it, that he either died very soon after the third year of Adrian, or forbore writing from that time; upon which supposition it is impossible he could have any view to the unhappy circumstances of the Jews after the reduction of Bether, and the death of Barchochebas, which happened according to the Chronology of our Author in the 17th and 18th years of Adrian; and consequently my application of this passage under the Article Barchochebas, must be understood rather of the Jews when dispersed after the demolition of Jerusalem by Titus. ↩
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Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. 7. c. 32. ↩
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1 Cor. x. 6, 10. Omnia in figurâ contingebant eis. Serm. ad Cathecumen. de Symbolo, p. 578. nov. Edit. ↩
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Aug. ↩
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Aug. in Psalm. lvi. p. 534. ↩
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Basnage Hist. des Juifs, t. 3. l. 5. c. 11. p. 255, 256. Edit. Paris. ↩
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Idem. Ibid. ex Schudt compend. Hist. Jud. ↩
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In the year of the World 3120, before Jesus Christ 880, before the Vulgar Æra 884. ↩
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See Naudé’s Apol. des grands Hommes accusez de magie, p. 267, 268. ↩
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Translators’ note. Grot. appendic. tract. de Antichristo. ↩
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See Basnage’s Hist. des Juifs, t. 5. l. 7. c. 23. at the end; or t. 3. l. 5. c. 18. p. 350, &c. of the Paris Edition. ↩