stance explains St. Paul's meaning (Acts xxii. 3.) when he says that he was brought up AT THE FEET of Gamaliel.

V. Their synagogue days were the sabbath, and the second and fifth days of each week, answerable to our Saturday, Monday, and Thursday, besides their holy days. And their synagogue hours, on which divine service was performed, were thrice on each of these days, viz. in the morning, afternoon, and at night. For they held it to be a constant rule, that all were to pray unto God three times every day, after the example of David (Psal. liv. 6.), and of Daniel (Dan. vi. 10.); so that they reckoned themselves strictly bound to perform this somewhere every day, as well as on the synagogue days. If at home, they prayed there; and thus we are told that Cornelius was praying in his own house at the ninth hour of the day (that is, at the time of the evening sacrifice) when the angel appeared unto him. (Acts x. 30.) And in like manner Peter prayed about the sixth hour, when he had the vision of the great sheet. (Acts x. 9.) But if they were abroad, though in the market-place or in the street, at the usual hour of prayer, they made no difficulty of doing it there; and for this our Saviour reproved them, that they loved to pray standing in the corners of the streets (Matt. vi. v.), thereby affecting to be seen of men: but generally such whose leisure would allow them, went to the synagogue on the usual days of worship.

VI. Those who had been guilty of any notorious crime, or were otherwise thought unworthy, were cast out of these synagogues, that is, excommunicated, and excluded from partaking with the rest in the public prayers and religious offices there performed; so that they were looked upon as mere Heathens, and shut out from all benefit of the Jewish religion, which exclusion was esteemed scandalous. We are told that the Jews came to a resolution, that whoever confessed that Jesus was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. (John ix. 22.) And therefore when the blind man, who had been restored to sight, persisted in confessing that he believed the person who had been able to work such a miracle could not have done it, if he were not of God, they cast him out. (ver. 33, 34.)1

VII. The following are the Shemoneh Esreh, or nineteen prayers of the Jews, referred to in page 243. as translated by Dr. Prideaux. That which was formerly the nineteenth is now the twelfth in the order in which they stand in the Jewish liturgies. The first or precatory part of each article was pronounced by the priest, and the last or eucharistical part was the response of the people.

pp.

1 Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. ii. pp. 219-221. Prideaux's Connections, (book vi. sub anno. 444.) vol. i. pp. 374-391. Fleury's Manners of the Israelites by Dr. Clarke, pp. 336-338. Dr. Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. pp. 180-182. Schulzii Archæol. Heb. pp. 225, 226. Reland's Antiq. Hebr. part i. c. 10. 126 140. Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. part i. c. 9. pp. 100-105. Schachtii Animadversiones ad Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. pp. 452-470. Lardner's Credibility, book i. c. 9. § 6. Pritii Introd. ad Nov. Test. pp. 447. 595.; and Dr. Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book ii. c. 2. pp. 271-285. On the synagogue worship of the Modern Jews, see Mr. Allen's Modern Judaism, pp. 319-354.

VOL. III.

33

"1. Blessed be thou, O LORD our God, the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the GoD of Jacob, the great GOD, powerful and tremendous, the high GoD, bountifully dispensing benefits, the creator and possessor of the universe, who rememberest the good deeds of our fathers, and in thy love sendest a Redeemer to those who are descended from them, for thy name's sake, O King our LORD and helper, our Saviour and our shield.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who art the shield of Abraham.

"2. Thou, O Lord, art powerful for ever; thou raisest the dead to life, and art mighty to save; thou sendest down the dew, stillest the winds, and makest the rain to come down upon the earth, and sustainest with thy beneficence all that are therein; and of thy abundant mercy makest the dead again to live. Thou raisest up those who fall; thou healest the sick, thou loosest them who are bound, and makest good thy word of truth to those who sleep in the dust. Who is to be compared to thee, O thou LORD of might! and who is like unto thee, O our king, who killest and makest alive, and makest salvation to spring as the grass in the field! Thou art faithful to make the dead to rise again to life.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who raisest the dead again to life!

"3. Thou art holy, and thy name is holy, and thy saints do praise thee every day, Selah. For a great king and a holy art thou, O GOD.-Blessed art thou, O LORD GOD, most holy!

"4. Thou of thy mercy givest knowledge unto men, and teachest them understanding: give graciously unto us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who graciously givest knowledge unto men!

"5. Bring us back, O our Father, to the observance of thy law, and make us to adhere to thy precepts, and do thou, O our king, draw us near to thy worship, and convert us to thee by perfect repentance in thy presence.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, whọ vouchsafest to receive us by repentance!

"6. Be thou merciful unto us, O our Father: for we have sinned: pardon us, O our king, for we have transgressed against thee. For thou art a GoD, good and ready to pardon.-Blessed art thou, O LORD most gracious, who multipliest thy mercies in the forgiveness of sins!

"7. Look, we beseech thee, upon our afflictions. Be thou on our side in all our contentions, and plead thou our cause in all our litigations; and make haste to redeem us with a perfect redemption for thy name's sake. For thou art our GoD, our king, and a strong redeemer.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, the redeemer of Israel!

"S. Heal us, O LORD our GOD, and we shall be healed; save us, and we shall be saved. For thou art our praise. Bring unto us sound health, and a perfect remedy for all our infirmities, and for all our griefs, and for all our wounds. For thou art a God who healest, and art merciful.-Blessed art thou, O LORD our God, who curest the diseases of thy people Israel!

"9. Bless us, O LORD our GOD, in every work of our hands,

and bless unto us the seasons of the year, and give us the dew and the rain to be a blessing unto us, upon the face of all our land, and satiate the world with thy blessings, and send down moisture upon every part of the earth that is habitable.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who givest thy blessing to the years!

"10. Gather us together by the sound of the great trumpet, to the enjoyment of our liberty; and lift up thy ensign to call together all the captivity, from the four quarters of the earth into our own land.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who gatherest together the exiles of the people of Israel!

"11. Restore unto us our judges as at the first, and our counsellors as at the beginning; and remove far from us affliction and trouble, and do thou only reign over us in benignity, and in mercy, and in righteousness, and in justice.-Blessed art thou, O LORD our king, who lovest righteousness and justice!

12. Let there be no hope to them, who apostatise from the true religion; and let heretics, how many soever they be, all perish as in a moment. And let the kingdom of pride be speedily rooted out, and broken in our days.-Blessed art thou, O LORD our God, who destroyest the wicked, and bringest down the proud !3

"13. Upon the pious and the just, and upon the proselytes of justice, and upon the remnant of thy people of the house of Israel, let thy mercies be moved, O LORD our GOD, and give a good reward unto all who faithfully put their trust in thy name; and grant us our portion with them, and for ever let us not be ashamed, for we put our trust in thee.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who art the sup port and confidence of the just!

"14. Dwell thou in the midst of Jerusalem, thy city, as thou hast promised; build it with a building to last for ever, and do this speedily even in our days.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who buildest

Jerusalem!

"15. Make the offspring of David thy servant speedily to grow up, and flourish; and let our horn be exalted in thy salvation. For we hope for thy salvation every day.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who makest the horn of our salvation to flourish!

"16. Hear our voice, O LORD our GoD, most merciful Father, pardon and have mercy upon us, and accept of our prayers with thy

1 This is the prayer which was added by Rabbi Gamaliel against the Christians, or as others say by Rabbi Samuel the little, who was one of his scholars. 2 The Roman empire.

The twelfth prayer, as now used by the Jews, varies considerably from that above given. In the Prayer Book of the German and Polish Jews, it stands thus:-" Olet the slanderers have no hope, all the wicked be annihilated speedily, and all the tyrants be cut off quickly; humble thou them quickly in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who. destroyest enemies and humblest tyrants.” In the Prayer Book of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, this prayer runs thus:-"Let slanderers have no hope, and all presumptuous apostates perish as in a moment; and may thine enemies, and those who hate thee, be suddenly cut off, and all those who act wickedly be suddenly broken, consumed, and rooted out; and humble thou them speedily in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who destroyest the enemies and humblest the proud!" Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 329.

4 Comerning these supposed proselytes of justice, see pp. 255, 256. infra,

inercy and favour, and send us not away from thy presence, O our king. For thou hearest with mercy the prayer of thy people Israel.— Blessed art thou, O LORD, who hearest prayer!

"17. Be thou well pleased, O LORD our GOD, with thy people Israel; and have regard unto their prayers; restore thy worship to1 the inner part of thy house, and make haste with favour and love to accept of the burnt sacrifices of Israel, and their prayers; and let the worship of Israel thy people be continually well pleasing unto thee.Blessed art thou, O LORD, who restorest thy divine presence to Zion! "18. We will give thanks unto thee with praise. For thou art the LORD our GOD, the God of our fathers, for ever and ever. Thou art our rock, and the rock of our life, and the shield of our salvation. To all generations will we give thanks unto thee, and declare thy praise, because of our life which is always in thy hands, and because of thy signs, which are every day with us, and because of thy wonders, and marvellous loving kindness, which are morning, and evening, and night before us. Thou art good, for thy mercies are not consumed; thou art merciful, for thy loving kindnesses fail not. For ever we hope in thee. And for all these mercies be thy name, O king, blessed and exalted, and lifted up on high for ever and ever; and let all that live give thanks unto thee. Selah. And let them in truth and sincerity praise thy name, O GOD of our salvation, and our help. Selah.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, whose name is good, and to whom it is fitting always to give praise!

"19. Give peace, beneficence, and benediction, grace, benignity, and mercy unto us, and to Israel thy people. Bless us, our Father, even all of us together as one man, with the light of thy countenance. For in the light of thy countenance hast thou given unto us, O LORD our Gon, the law of life, and love, and benignity, and righteousness, and blessing, and mercy, and life, and peace. And let it seem good in thine eyes, to bless thy people Israel with thy peace at all times, and in every moment.-Blessed art thou, O LORD, who blessest thy people Israel with peace! Amen."

1 i. e. The Adytum Templi, which in the Temple of Jerusalem was the holy of holies, into which none ever entered but the high priest once a year, on the great day of expiation. From this place after the Babylonish captivity were wanting the ark, the mercy seat, the Shechinah of the divine presence, and the Urim and Thummim, which causing an imperfection in their worship in respect of what it was formerly, a restoration of them seems to be the subject of this petition.

CHAPTER II.

SACRED PERSONS.

SECTION I.

OF THE JEWISH CHURCH AND ITS MEMBERS.

I. The whole nation accounted holy.-II. Members of the Jewish Church; Hebrews of the Hebrews.-III. Proselytes.-IV. Jews of the Dispersion.-V. Hellenistic Jews.-VI. The Libertines.VII. Devout men.-VIII. Circumcision.-IX. Proselytes, how introduced into the Jewish Church.

of

I. JEHOVAH, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, having been pleased to prefer the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before every other nation, and to select them from every other people, for the purposes of imparting to them the revelation of his will, and of preserving the knowledge and worship of the true God; He is thence said to have chosen them, and they are in many passages Scripture represented as his chosen and elect people. And because they were by the will of God set apart, and appropriated in a special manner to his honour and obedience, and furnished with extraordinary motives to holiness, God is therefore said to have sanctified them. (Lev. xx. 8. xxi. 8. xxii. 9. 16. 32.) For these reasons they are termed a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, and also saints;2 and their covenant relation to God is urged upon them as a motive to holiness of heart and practice. (Lev. xix. 2. xx. 7, 8. 26. xi. 45. Exod. xxii. 31.) But the Jews of later times, becoming proud of these titles, and of their ecclesiastical privileges, extended their charity only to those of their own faith; while towards the rest of mankind they cherished a sullen and inveterate hatred, accounting them to be profane persons and sinners.3 This relative or imputed holiness of the Jews as a covenant people, separated and consecrated to the worship of the true God, was perpetual (in other words it was to subsist until the institution of the Gospel dispensation); although Ahe Jews were often extremely corrupt in their manners, as the numerous denunciations of the prophets sufficiently indicate. Hence some of the rabbinical writers call the most wicked kings of Israel

1 Compare Deut. iv. 37. vii, 6. x. 15. 1 Kings viii. 22, et seq. 1 Chron. xvi. 13. Psal. cv. 6. xxxiii. 12. cv. 43. cvi. 5. cxxxv. 4. Isa. xli. 8, 9. xliii. 20. xliv. 1, 2. xlv. 4. and Ezek. xx. 5.

2 Compare Exod. xix. 6. Lev. xi. 44, 45. xix. 2. xx. 26. Deut. vii. 6. xiv. 2. 21. xxvi. 19. xxviii. 9. xxxiii. 3. 2 Chron. vi. 41. Psal. xxxiv. 9. 1. 5. 7. lxxix. 2. cxxxii. 9. cxlviii. 14.

3 Apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, sed adversus omnes alios hostile odium. Such is the character of the Jews given by the Roman historian, as they were in the time of our Saviour (Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. 5. tom. iii. p. 267. edit. Bipont.); which is abundantly confirmed by the sacred writers. See Matt. ix. 10, 11. xxvi. 45. Gal. ji. 15. 17. 1 Thes. ii. 15, 16.