Ahab charged Elijah, just as the Chief Priests did. Jesus, with being a Disturber of the Peace of Israel. (a) And Jeremiah was accused, as Jesus was, of prophesying against the Temple. To which may be added, what the ancient Hebrew Teachers (b) have left us in Writing, that in the Times of the Messiah, Men would have the Impudence of Dogs, the Stubbornness of an Ass, and the Cruelty of a wild Beast. And God himself, who saw long before, what Sort of Men many of the Jews would be, in the Times of the Messiah, foretold that they (c) who were not his People, should be admitted to be his People, (d) and that out of every City and Village of the Jews not above one or two should go up to the Holy Mountain; but that what was wanting in their Number, should be filled up by Strangers. And also (e) that the Messiah should be the Destruction of the Hebrews; but that this Stone, which was rejected by the Master-Builders, should be put in the Chief Place, to hold the whole Fabric together.

High Priests said of Jesus, Luke xxiii. 2. We found this Man a Troubler of Israel.

(a) And Jeremiah was accused, &c.] Jer. vii. 4, and following, xxvi. 6, 11.

(b) Have left us in Writing, &c.] See the Talmud, concerning the Council; Kelmboth and Sota. R. Solomon on the forementioned Title, concerning the Council, c. Helech, and the Talmud, entitled concerning Weights. And also the Tradition of Rabbi Judah, in the Gemara, on the same Title, concerning the Council, c. Helech. At that Time, when the Son of David shall come, the House that was appointed of God, shall be made a Brothel-House." See Jeremiah x. 21. xix. 14. (Here was a great Mistake, for the Masoreth was put instead of the Gemara, for these Words are to be found in the Gemara, Chap. XI. entitled concerning the Council. "At the Time

"when the Son of David shall come, the House of assembling "together, 'on n'a, shall be made a Brothel-House." Cocceius, Sect. 27. Le Cterc.)

Ed.

(c) Who were not his People, &c.] Hosea ii. 24. (d) And that out of every City, &c.] Jerem. iii. 14, 17. and Isaiah liii.

(e) That the Messiah should be the Destruction, &c.] Isaiah viii. 14. Psalm cxviii. 22.

SECT.

SECT. XXI.

An Answer to the Objection of the Christians warshipping many Gods.

IT remains that we answer two Accusations, which the Jews assault the Doctrine and Worship of the Christians with. The first is this; they affirm that we worship many Gods: But this is no more than an odious Explication of a Doctrine which appears strange to them. For there is no more Reason why this should be objected against the Christians, (a) than against Philo the Jew, who often affirms, that there are three Things in God; and he calls the Reason (b) or Word of God, the Name of God, (c) the

(a) Than against Philo the Jew, &c.] Concerning the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain. "When God, attended with his two principal Powers, Government and Goodness; Himself, who is one only, being between them, he framed three Conceptions "in the contemplative Soul; each of which can by no Means "be comprehended, for his Powers are unlimited, they each "contain the whole." Afterwards he calls Government, Power; and Goodness he calls Beneficence; and says, that they are not pronounced by a pious Mind, but kept in silent Secrecy. And the same we find in his Book of Cherubim. In the Second Book of the Husbandry of Noah, he mentions Existence, the Gbverning Power, The Merciful Power. Maimonides, in the Beginning of his Book of Fundamentals, and after him Joseph Albo, distinguish in God, that which understandeth; that by which any thing is understood; and the Understanding. We find something belonging to this Matter in Abenesdras, or Gen. xviii, and Maimonides's Guide to the Doubting.

(b) Or Word of God, &c.] In his Allegories, and of the Confusion of Tongues.

(c) The Maker of the World, &c.] In his Allegories: "His "Word, by making Use of which, as of an Instrument, he "made the World." Concerning Cain. "The Word of "God was the Instrument by which it (the World) was made." (The Word Aoyos might better be translated Reason, here in Philo, as I have abundantly shown in the Dissertation on the Beginning of St. John. Le Clerc.)

Maker

Maker of the World; (a) not unbegotten, as is God the Father of all; nor yet begotten in like Manner as Men are: The same is likewise called (b) the Angel, or the Ambassador, who takes care of the Universe, by Philo himself; and by (c) Moses the Son of

(a) Not unbegotten, as is God the Father of all, &c.] The Place is in the Book entitled, Who shall inherit Divine Things. The same Word is called by Philo, the Image of God, in his Book of Monarchy; and in that of Dreams sent by God; sometimes via, the Resemblance, as in the Book entitled, The Wicked (ay Snares for the Righteous. Sometimes xapaxTop the Form, as in Book H. of Agriculture. Compare John i. Heb. i. 3.

(b) The Angel, or the Ambassador, &c.] He calls him Ayya20s, Angel, in his Allegories, and in his Book of Cherubin; Axάyyshos, Archangel; in his Book entitled, Who shall inherit divine good Things, and in his Book of the Confusion of Tongues. And the same is called Angel, and п', Jehovah, by R. Samuel in Mechor Chaim.

(c) Moses the Son of Nehemannus, &c.] The learned Masius has translated his Words thus, on the vth Chap. of Joshua: "That Angel, to speak the Truth, is the Angel, the Re"deemer, of whom it is written, because my Name is in him. "That Angel, I say, who said to Jacob, I am the God of "Bethet. He of whom it is said, And God called Moses out "of the Bush. And he is called an Angel, because he go

verns the World. For it is written, Jehovah (that is the "Lord God) brought us out of Egypt; and in other Places, he "sent his Angel, and brought us out of Egypt: Besides

it is written, And the Angel of his Presence hath made "them safe. Namely, That Angel which is the Presence of "God, concerning whom it is said, my Presence shall go be

fore, and I will cause thee to rest. Lastly, this is that An"gel of whom the Prophet said, And suddenly the Lord whom ye seek, shall come into his Temple, even the Angel "of the Covenant, whom ye desire." And again, other Words of the same Person to this Purpose: "Consider 66 diligently what those Things mean; for Moses and the Is"raelites always wished for the first Angel; but they could "not rightly understand who he was. For they had it not from others, nor could they arrive fully at it by prophetic "Knowledge. But the Presence of God signifies God himself, as is confessed by all Interpreters; neither could any one understand those Things by Dreams, unless he were "skilled in the Mysteries of the Law." And again, "My

S

"Presence

of Nehemannus: (a) Or against the Cabalists, who distinguish God into three Lights, and some of them by the same Names as the Christians do, of the Father, Son or Word, and Holy Ghost. And to take that, which is chiefly allowed amongst all the Hebrews: That, Spirit by which the Prophets were moved, is not any created Thing, and yet it is distinguished from him that sent it; as likewise that which is (b) commonly called the Schechinah. Now (c) many of the Hebrews have this Tradition, that that Divine Power, which they call Wisdom, should dwell in the Messiah, (d) whence the Chaldee Para

phrast

Of

"Presence shall go before, that is, the Angel of the Covenant "whom ye desire, in whom my Presence will be seen. "whom it is said, I will. hear thee in an acceptable Time; for my Name is in him, and I will make thee to rest; or I will 66 cause him to be kind and merciful to thee. Nor shall he guide thee by a rigid Law, but kindly and gently." Compare with this, what we find in Manasses Conciliator, in the XIXth Quest. on Genesis. (The Name of this Rabbi's Father may better be pronounced Nachman, for it is written on, Nathman.)

86

(a) Or against the Cabalists, &c.] See the Appendix to Schindler's Hebrew Lexicon, in the Characters 128. And the Book called Schep-tal says D Siperoth. Number in God does not destroy his Unity.

(b) Commonly called the Schechinah, &c.] And they distinguish it from the Holy Ghost. See the Jerusalem Gemara, entitled concerning Instructions, Chap. 3. And the Babylonish Gemara, entitled Jomach 1. R. Jonathan in his Preface to Ecka Rabbathi, says, that the Schechinah remained three Years and a Half upon Mount Olivet, expecting the Conversion of the Jews; which is very true, if we apprehend him right.

(c) Many of the Hebrews have this Tradition, &c.] Rabbi Solomon, on Genesis xix. 18. acknowledges, that God can take upon him human Nature, which he thinks was formerly done for a Time; to which agrees the Talmud, entitled Schebnoth and Sabbathoth.

(d) Whence the Chaldee Paraphrast, &c.] As Hosea xii. (But they are mistaken who think that the Chaldee Paraphrast means any Thing else by the Name of God, but God himself;

a very learned Man hath shewn, in the Balance of Truth,

published

phrast calls the Messiah, the Word of God; as the Messiah is also called by David, and others, (a) by the venerable Name of God, (b) and also of the Lord.

SECT. XXII.

And that human Nature is worshipped by them.

TO the other Objection they make against us, namely, that we give the Worship due to God, to a Being made by God; the Answer is ready: For we say, that we pay no other Worship or Honour to the Messiah, (c) but what we are commanded in Psalm ii. and cx. the former of which was fulfilled in David only in an incomplete Manner, and belonged more eminently to the Messiah, (d) as David Kimchi, a great Enemy to the Christians, acknowledges; and the latter cannot be explained any other but the Messiah: For the Fictions of

of

published in the Year 1700, a long Time after the Author's Death." (Le Clerc.)

(a) By the venerable Name of God, &c.] Namely, пin' Jehovah, Jonathan, and David Kimchi on Jeremiah xxiii. 6. with which agrees Abba in Ecka Rabbathi, msy mm', Jehovah Sabaoth, Zachariah xiv. 16. The Talmud in Taanith from Isaiah xxv. 9. saith, in that Time God, nin Jehovah, shall be shewn, as it were with the Finger.

(b) And also of the Lord, &c.] » Elohim, Psal. xlv. 7. which Psalm, the Chaldee Paraphrast there owns, treats of the Messiah, as he did before in that Place of Isaiah now cited. Also Adonai in Psalm cx. which treats of the Messiah, as will presently appear.

(c) But what we are commanded, &c.] The very learned Rabbi Saaida explains these Places, and Zechariah, ix. 9. of the Messiah.

(d) As David Kimchi, &c.] This same Second Psalm is expounded of the Messiah, by Abraham Esdras, and R. Jonathan in Beresith Rabba.