and exposition of the law. Simeon-ben-Gamaliel (the son of Paul's own master), says, Aboth i. 17, "Not study, but practice, is the chief thing." 17. "And rested," &c. So Tanchuma,1 200: "I become a shield to that man who relies upon the Law." 22. "Thou that abhorrest idols," &c. Comp. Aboda sara,* 53', where the double case of an idol being stolen, either by a heathen or a Jew, is supposed: "If an Israelite stole it, the object would be to turn it into money by selling it to a heathen, who would again worship it." The maxim of R. Samuel, Aboda zara, 52a: "If it has been carved as an idol, you must not covet it; but if it has been profaned as an idol, you may take it," was misleading. The Jew might think that in taking away a heathen idol he did a good work, because he deprived the heathen worshipper of the object of his false worship. But he was forbidden to do this by the precept laid down in the Mischna,3 iv. 4, "That though a heathen might profane a heathen idol, a Jew might not." Roman literature in the Imperial age (e.g., Petronius) shows that temple-robbing was a common crime. 26. "Uncircumcised "non-Israelite-Nedarim, 31. III.-1. "What profit?" &c. This question is answered, Nedarim, 31, in a series of sayings, beginning bra mbina (great is circumcision). The Apostle contradicts what is said in Pirke Eliezer, c. 29, and elsewhere, that "Our Father 'The oldest Midrash known as extant on the Pentateuch (also called Jelamdenu, from a form which it often adopts, 127 127), according to Zunz, composed or rather compiled in Southern Italy about 850. 2 "Aboda zara," (abbreviated"). A Talmudic Tract on Idolatry and Heathenism. The body (collection) of secondary, i.e., traditional law (from 2 to repeat, devτepoûv, denominatively, to teach the traditional law), reduced to writing in the third century in Palestine. A haggadic work named after R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus (who belonged to first century of our era), but not written earlier than the eighth century. It follows the course of the Sacred History. Haggada ( enarratio), instruction in matters of faith and life, in the form of tales, parables, and memorable sayings. The term haggadic is applied to the dogmatico-ethical element of tradition and the Codex. In general Abraham brought no fruit of good works before he was circumcised." Now that the light of Christianity has risen upon Judaism, such an assertion as we find in the same chapter of this treatise-"Every one who eats with a heathen eats as with a dog; as the dog is uncircumcised, so is the heathen man"-has become impossible. 4. Psa. li. 6. This same passage from the Psalms is quoted in Sifri on Deut. xxxii. 4, as a testimony on the part of man to the justice of the Divine government. This acknowledgment, which occupies an important place in the Jewish eschatology, צְדוּק הַדִּין is called כלשון בני אדם As a man. Like and yet different from .5 66 (according to the tongue of the sons of Adam), in the frequent 19. "What things soever the law saith." The preceding Scripture quotations are from the Chethubim and Nebiyim. The Talm. also occasionally cites them, e.g. Erubin,' 58a. 21. "Righteousness of God." The name given to Messiah, Messiah our righteousness), bears the impress) משיח צדקנו of the truth that this righteousness is the chief fruit of His work. Pesikta rabbathi, 78 (comp. Jalkut. Shimoni on the Talm. represents the Halacha, and the Midrash the Haggada, though there is a mixture of the Hag. in the Talm., and of the Hal. in the Midr. Halacha -usage, not in the sense of consuetudo, but jus a majoribus traditum, the traditional which has become law. The Halachic means the juridical element of tradition and the Codex. A Talmudic Tract on connecting separated spaces to facilitate free movement on the Sabbath. 2 Pesikta sectio. A class of Midrashic works not containing a continuous commentary on any Biblical book, but elucidating single passages rather in the style of rhapsody. To this class belong-1. Pesikta de Rab. Cahana, belonging to the age of the Palestine Talm., and called after Cahana, who migrated from Babylon to Palestine, and edited the chief part of it; 2. Pesikta rabbathi, which, in its present form, bears date 845 of our era. The Pesikta zutarte, a compilation on the Penta Isa. lx.) also shows that this righteousness is acquired by His substitutionary suffering and death. 25. "As iaσrýpov through faith in His blood." The old synagogal literature constantly connects the idea of propitiation with the Ark of the Covenant. Jerus. Shekalim2 i., Halacha 1, it is remarked: "Let the gold of the Capporeth (Ark of Covenant) come and atone for the gold of the calf." The Cabbala, however, only allows the ideas of covering over and binding up, and not that of atonement. IV.—3. "It was counted to Him for righteousness." Comp. Mechilta on Ex. xiv. 31, where the entire exposition is a commendation of faith. "Our fathers were accounted worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, and to sing songs to God, because they believed, and it was only through the merit of faith that our father Abraham inherited the present and the future world." 10. In Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 31, Abraham answers the command of God to offer up his son, by the question, “Which son, the son of uncircumcision or of circumcision ?" 11, 12. "Abraham, the father of all them that believe." So the old synag. literature. In a Selicha (penitential prayer, sometimes in rhyme) on the Day of Atonement, the congregation prays: "Early in the morning remember the mercy, the grace bestowed on Abraham, the father of my ancestors, whom Thou didst choose, and who believed in Thee, the first of my believers." The Jerus. Gemara, Biccurim I. 4., acknow 3 teuch and the five Megilloth, by R. Tobias b. Eliezer in Mainz. It mentions the persecution of the Jews under the first crusade, and misappropriates the name Pesikta. Jalkut (from ? to collect), a Midr. compilation of continuous comments on the Books of Scripture, in extracts from the older Midr. and Talm. literature. The oldest is the Jalkut Schimôni by R. ha-Darschan (according to Zunz, at the beginning of the thirteenth century). The Jalkut Chadash is a recent collection from the Sohar literature. Last Ed., Lemberg 1868. A Talmudic Tract on the Tax of the Half-shekel or Didrachm (comp. Matt. xvii. 24). 3 Gemara, from to complete; denom. to learn the Gemara, and generally to learn a juridical commentary, forming an exposition or ledges that Abraham was the father, not only of the believing Israelites, but of believers from among the heathen. The proselyte from paganism, when he brought his first fruits, was permitted to use the prayer Deut. xxvi. 3-10, and to call the patriarchs his fathers, for Abraham, father of multitude, is derived from Abram, the father of Aram. "Circume. a seal." So Shemoth rabba, c. 19, and often. 14. Oi k vóμov. Comp. Pesikta de Rab. Cahana 44 ed. Buber, "He was a son of the law." Tanchuma, 993, : היה בן תורה : כהנים בני תורה "Priests, sons of the law." 17. "Who quickeneth," &c. Comp. the anti-Sadducaic argument for the resurrection, Sanhedrin, 91": "That which was not has come to life," &c. 1 23, 24. "Not for his sake alone." Meyer refers to a passage, Bereshith rabba, c. 40, which runs thus: "You find that whatever is recounted of Abraham is repeated in the history of his children, i.e. of Israel." Selected and Translated by (To be continued.) The Preacher's Finger-Post. THE MORAL DISCIPLINE OF MAN. "The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilder ness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no."-Deut. viii. 2. from their exodus in Egypt to their entrance into the Promised Land, may be usefully studied as a parable of the moral discipline of mankind. The points of analogy are obvious, patent, and often exhibited. We shall take the text as an illustration of true THE history of the Hebrews, spiritual discipline, and it sug completion of the Mishna, written chiefly in Aramaic. Biccurim, a Talmudic Tract on the offering of the first fruits of the ground. The first portion of the Midrash rabba. The term Rabboth is applied to the great Midrashim on the Pentateuch and the five Megilloth, collected into a thesaurus in the Middle Ages. That on Levit. is called Bayikra rabba; on Canticles, Schir ha-schirim rabba; on Solomon the Preacher, Coheleth rabba. gests the following thoughts | moral schoolmaster; no one concerning it : Pride I. It is a HUMBLING work. "To humble thee." has been regarded as the parent sin, the tap-root of all the moral evil in the universe. To bring the soul down from all its proud conceits, vain imaginations, and ambitious aims, and to inspire it with the profoundest sense of its own moral unworthiness, is an essential part of the work of soul discipline. Indeed this is the first lesson in its school. Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, Peter-all learnt this lesson, and felt it profoundly. II. It is a SELF-REVEALING work. "To prove thee, and to know what was in thine heart. Omniscience does not require to test us in order to know what is in our hearts, for He knows what we have been, what we are, and ever shall be; but man wants the knowledge of his own heart. Of this all unregenerate men are lamentably ignorant. Many fancy themselves saints when they are fiends. This self-revealment requires trials. "The evil principle," says one, "sleeps in the spirit as the evil monster in the placid waters of the Nile; and it is only the hot sun, or the sweep of the fierce tempest, that can draw or drive it forth in its malignant manifestations." III. It is a DIVINE work. "The Lord thy God led thee," &c. God alone is the true but He can effectually discipline the soul. He knows all its devils, and knows how to drive them out. He does this-(1.) By the dispensation of events. (2.) By the realities of the Gospel. (3.) By His influence on conscience. Life, rightly regarded, is a grand moral school, in which the Great Father is constantly engaged in making men meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. IV. It is a SLOW work. "Forty years in the wilderness. A long time. Bad men cannot become good at once; the eternal laws of mind preclude the possibility. No priest can charm a bad man into goodness on his death-bed. He who professes to do so is an impostor as dangerous as he is impious. You cannot expect to become good at once. Goodness is not an impression, an act, or even a habit; it is a character, and characters are of slow growth. Goodness is not a manufacture which may be accomplished at once with an adequate amount of executive agency. It is a growth, and requires cultivation, planting, nourishing, and seasonal changes. It is not a commission that can be bought in the great army of God; it is a dignity that can only be won by long, severe, and triumphant fighting. |