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LIBRARY  OF 

WELLESLEY  COLLEGE 


PURCHASED  FROM 
SWEET  FUND 


JEWS'   C.      "EGE    PUBLICATIONS 

No.  8 


TYPES  OF 
JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY 

FROM  70  B.C.E.  TO  70  C.E. 

THE  ANCIENT   PIOUS  MEN 

BY 

ADOLPH    BtrCHLER,    Ph.D, 

PRINCIPAL    OF   jews'    COLLEGE 


LONDON 

HUMPHREY    MILFORD 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY   PRESS,  AMEN  CORNER,  E.G. 

1922 


Printed  in  England 


^'i^\- 


TO 

THE    EVER-CHERISHED    MEMORY 

OF  MY  MASTER 

Prof.  Dr.  W.  BACKER 

OF    THE    RABBINICAL    SEMINARY 
BUDAPEST 

THIS    VOLUME    IS    DEDICATED 
IN     REVERENCE     AND     GRATITUDE 


CONTENTS 


Preface  5-6.  Chapter  I.  Hillel  the  Hasid.  The  meaning  of  'T'DPI 
in  the  Psalms,  in  rabbinic  literature  ;  Hillel  the  Hasid,  his  meekness 
and  humility,  his  attitude  to  God,  his  and  other  scholars'  deeds  in 
God's  honour,  his  care  for  his  body  and  soul,  his  trust  in  God,  his 
charity,  sympathy  and  love  ;  the  duty  of  selflessness  ;  without  Torah  no 
true  piety  nor  wisdom  ;  fear  of  sin  and  piety  in  the  first  century  ;  strict 
observance  of  the  pious  men,  their  morality,  temper  and  charity. 
E.  Pinhas  b.  Yair's  sentence  on  the  gradual  acquisition  of  cleanness, 
purity,  holiness,  humility,  fear  of  sin,  piety,  the  holy  spirit ;  the  same 
qualities  in  the  first  century  ;  the  holy  spirit  in  Hillel  and  some  of  his 
disciples  ;  the  Hasid  not  an  Essene,  pp.  7-67. 

Chapter  II.  The  ancient  pious  men.  A  pious  man's  sacrifice  of 
thanks  for  a  religious  duty  i^erformed,  his  religious  character  ;  the  daily 
guilt-offering  of  Baba  b.  Buta  the  Hasid  and  its  occasion,  the  frequent 
sin-offerings  of  the  pious  men  ;  the  pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed  on 
the  Temple  Mount,  their  freedom  from  sin  and  their  repentance. 
E.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  the  man  of  deed,  deeds  of  loving-kindness,  his 
strict  observance  of  tithing  and  of  the  Sabbath,  his  faith,  truthfulness, 
scrupulous  honesty,  sympathy  and  helpfulness,  his  poverty,  humility, 
devotion  in  prayer,  God's  son  ;  his  prayer  of  intercession  for  the  sick 
sought  by  leading  rabbis,  his  intimacy  with  God,  his  miracles,  not  an 
Essene.  Hillel  and  the  pious  men  on  the  Temple  Mount,  not  Essenes, 
their  concentration  in  prayer  to  their  Father  in  heaven,  acts  of  loving- 
kindness,  their  sins  atoned  by  illness  ;  the  ancient  elders  or  scholars 
and  their  Halakhahs,  pp.  68-127, 

Chapter  III.  The  pious  men  in  the  Fsalms  of  Solomon.  Their 
faith  in  God,  fear  and  love  of  Him,  prayers.  His  particular  providence, 
temptation  by  want  and  suffering,  poverty  and  hunger,  modesty  and 
gratefulness  ;  recognition  of  God's  justice  in  the  terrible  catastrophe 
of  Jerusalem  under  Pompey,  justification  of  God  in  the  sufterings  of 
the  pious,  their  unknown  sins,  submission  to  visitation;  search  of 
heart  and  home  for  unrighteous  deeds,  confession  of  sin,  repentance 
in  humiliation  and  fasts  ;  sins  of  the  noble  priests  and  their  j^nnish- 
ment ;  God  jjurges  sins  by  chastisement  humbly  accepted  by  the  pious, 
and  forgives  in  grace  ;  the  pious  faithfully  obey  His  commandments, 
practise  righteousness  ;  meaning  of  righteousness  in  Ezek.  18,  LXX, 
Philo,  Josephus,  NT.,  curse  by  pious,  interpretation  of  God's  justice  ;  no 
reference  to  sacrifices  ;  the  Messianic  King,  his  holiness,  Israel  not 
favoured  by  God,  no  reward  for  piety  expected,  free  will,  purging  of 
Jerusalem  of  enemies  by  Messiah  ;  comparison  of  the  pious  in  tlie 
Psalms  of  Solomon  with  those  in  rabbinic  literature,  pp.  128-195. 


IV  CONTENTS 

Chapter  IV.  Honi  the  Hasid  and  his  prayer  for  rain.  About 
70  B.c.E.  he  was  asked  to  pray  for  rain,  in  67  to  curse  Aristobul  II  and 
his  supporters,  Honi  righteous,  beloved  of  God,  pious,  considered  to 
stand  near  God,  not  an  Essene ;  other  intercessors  for  rain,  Abba 
alleged  title  of  Essene  ;  Honi's  prayer  on  the  Temple  Mount,  the  usual 
meeting-place  of  the  people,  date  of  prayer;  the  institution  of  public 
fasts  and  i^ublic  prayers,  address  of  the  preacher,  the  reader,  contrition 
of  assembly  indispensable,  rabbis  as  readers  ;  Honi's  prayer  analysed, 
form,  wording,  later  prayers  on  the  Temple  Mount ;  the  responses  of 
the  congregation,  its  prostrations  ;  blasts  of  trumpets  and  horns  by 
priests,  the  horn  in  the  service  in  the  Temple  and  on  Temple  Mount ; 
religious  thought  in  Honi's  prayer,  his  strange  conduct,  immodesty, 
insistence,  oath,  second  prayer  over  sacrifice  for  the  rain  to  stop  ; 
censure  of  Honi  by  Simeon  b.  Shetah,  the  Pharisee  teacher,  but 
recognition  of  his  successful  intercession  by  the  members  of  the 
Beth-din ;  Honi  accompanied  by  his  disciples  just  as  rabbis  and 
prophesying  Essenes,  but  not  an  Essene  ;  intercession  in  Apocalypse 
of  Baruch,  conclusion,  p.  196-26i. 


SOME    TYPES 

OF  jewish-palestijN^an  piety 

FROM    TO  B.c.E.    TO   70  c.e. 

THE  ANCIENT   PIOUS   MEN,  D^^l^i^nn   Dn^DH 

In  his  comprehensive  book  on  the  religion  of  Jewry  in 
the  New  Testament  period,^  Professor  Bousset  undertook 
the  difficult  task  of  a  historical  reconstruction  of  the  religious 
life  and  thought  that  prevailed  among  the  Palestinian  Jews 
in  the  first  century.  That  he  grievously  failed,  was  due 
not  only  to  his  insufficient  knowledge  of  the  rabbinic  litera- 
ture, the  chief  source  of  information  on  his  subject,  and 
even  of  its  language.  But  not  less  to  his  unparalleled 
boldness  in  both  the  outlining  and  the  painting  of  the 
enormous  and  complicated  picture  the  essential  parts  of 
which  had  not  even  summarily  been  defined  and  elaborated 
by  experts  and  specialists.  In  addition,  he  failed  to  consult 
the  few,  but  valuable  essays  published  by  Jewish  scholars  in 
various  periodicals,  who,  as  e.g. Geiger,  had  investigated  some 
of  the  important  religious  ideas  and  practices  of  the  time 
in  question.  They  would  have  supplied  Professor  Bousset 
with  some  correctly  translated  early  rabbinic  accounts  un- 
known to  him  as  dealing  with  some  religious  beliefs  and 
their  realization  in  life.  As  the  wilful  disregard  of  such 
and  similar  early  rabbinic  material  naturally  involved  the 
absence  from  his  book,  as  also  from  the  works  of  other 
scholars  about  the  first  century,  of  many  an  essential  feature 
of  Jewish-Palestinian  life,  it  must  be  stated  here  most 
emphatically  that  a  history  of  any  phase  of  Jewish  religious 

1  Die  Religion  des  Judentums  im  neutestamentlichen  Zeitcdkr,  2nd  edition, 
1906. 


6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

life  must  be  based  on  the  same  principles  of  research  as 
that  of  the  Assyrian,  Indian,  Greek,  or  Koman  religions. 
Only  an  instructed  and  impartial  collection  of  the  available 
rabbinic  data  and  their  scientific  analysis  ;  a  trained  and 
objective  examination  and  sifting  of  the  individual  state- 
ments, their  authenticity,  their  dates,  and  their  historical 
value  for  a  reconstruction  of  actual  concepts  and  practice ; 
and  only  an  unpreconceived  appreciation  of  the  underlying 
sentiments  and  beliefs  will  prepare  the  ground  for  a  true 
account  of  the  actual  religious  notions  and  conditions.  The 
reverse  method,  especially  if  it  is  not  checked  in  its  free 
construction  by  a  pertinent  knowledge  of  the  sources  of 
information,  must  produce  a  caricature,  a  freak. 

The  present  essay  undertakes  the  modest  task  of  collect- 
ing and  re-examining  the  reports  preserved  in  the  rabbinic 
literature  about  the  pious  men,  CT'Dn,  who  lived  in  Jerusalem 
in  the  period  extending  from  70  b.c.e.  to  70  C.E.;  of  supple- 
menting by  a  detailed  examination  of  all  the  early  records 
about  the  ways  in  which  the  pious  men  expressed  their 
religious  sentiments  and  ideas,  the  generalizing  presentations 
by  scholars  of  the  rank  of  Jost,  Gratz,  Derenbourg,  Geiger, 
Wellhausen,  and  Kohler,  of  the  religious  life  of  all  the 
sections  of  Palestinian  Jewry  in  the  first  century ;  of 
describing  one  representative  class  of  typically  pious  indi- 
viduals, and  incidentally  throwing  some  new  light  on  the 
inner  life  of  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  which  hitherto  has  not 
been  considered  worthy  of  special  attention.  The  standard  of 
the  ethical  teachings  of  those  pious  men,  a  few  of  the  central 
points  of  their  theology,  the  purity  and  the  depth  of  their 
religious  sentiments,  and  the  fundamental  principles  of 
their  actions  as  reflected  in  early  and  authentic  reports, 
will  incidentally  be  tested,  and  allow  an  insight  into  a 
small,  but  important  section  of  Jewish  ethics  and  theology 
in  the  first  century. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY 


HILLEL,  THE  H^DH 

1.  The  word  l^Dn  is  well  known  from  the  Psalms  as 
denoting  a  pious  man  who,  in  all  adversity,  put  his  trust  in 
God ;  in  the  plural  it  refers  in  the  same  book  to  a  group 
of  men  similarly  distinguished  by  their  attachment  to  God. 
The  Oxford  Gesenius,  339^,  has  about  it  this  :  'T'Dn,  kind, 
pious,  so,  as  denoting  active  practice  of  "iDn,  kindness ;  its 
use  as  attribute  of  God,  Jer.  3. 12 ;  Ps.  145. 17,  and  the  context 
Ps.  12. 2;  Mic.  7.  2,  &c.,  favour  active  sense.    2.  Pious,  godl}", 
either  as  exhibition  of  "  duteous  love  "  toward  God,  or  (in 
view  of  rarity  of  such  passages  as  Hos.  6.  4,  6 ;  Jer.  2. 2,  and 
their  possible  ambiguity)  because  kindness,  as  prominent 
in  the  godly,  comes  to  imply  other  attributes,  and  to  be  a 
designation  of  the  godly  character,  piety.     In  Maccabean 
Sige,  (Tvpaycoyrj  'AcnSaLcoi/  denoted,  technically,  the  party  of  the 
pious  who  opposed  the  Hellenization  of  Judaea,  1  Mac.  2. 
42 ;  7. 13;  2  Mac.  14.  6;  so  perhaps  Ps.  116.  15  ;  149. 1,  5,  9.' 
On  p.  338^  :   '  *iDn  affection  of  Israel  to  God,  love  to  God, 
piety,  Jer.  2.  2  ;  Hos.  6.  4,  6.'  ^     The  active  meaning  of  the 
word  is  specially  interesting  in  Ps.  145.  17,     The  Lord  is 
just  in  all  His  ways,  and  "i^DH  in  all  His  works ;  for  as  pnv 
designates  God  as  employing  justice,  so  Ton  describes  Him 
as  employing  love  towards  His  creatures,-  and  the  word  is 
identical  with  IDn  ntriy  in  Exod.  20.  6.   The  same  words  are 
used  of  men  in  parallel  sentences  in  Tsa.  57.  1 :  pNI  "T3N  pn^n 
|^3D  pS2  D"'DDN*J  non  ''IJONI  2b  bv  D*^  'C^^^,  where  iDn  ^^^x  is  the 
same  as  n^Dn,  as   in  Prov.  11.  17.^     This  also  shows  that 
n^Dn  in  the  case  of  man  means  the  same  as  in  that  of  God  : 

^  See  also  Gesenius-Buhl,  s.v.  TDn  and  T'DH. 

2  See  also  Ps.  33.  5. 

2  See  Delitzsch,  Baethgen,  and  others,  on  Ps.  Ii5. 17. 


8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

it  is  active,  and  not  passive.^  As,  according  to  the  critics, 
the  date  of  the  composition  of  Ps.  145  was  very  near  the 
Maccabean  rising,  the  Asideans  of  that  period  were  also 
most  proba])ly  men  practising  loving-kindness  towards 
their  fellow  men.^  The  pious  or  holy  men  appear  also  ^  in 
the  Psalms  of  Solomon  as  ol  6<tlol  which  Greek  word  is  in 
the  LXX  the  translation  of  n^Dn  in  the  biblical  Psalms  ; 
a  special  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  the  establishment  of 
their  religious  character. 

In  rabbinic  literature  "i^Dn  appears  in  connexion  with 
Hillel  ^  who  died  about  the  year  1  :  '  When  once  the  elders 
(scholars)  went  into  the  house  of  the  family  of  Gadia  in 
Jericho,  and  a  heavenly  voice  came  forth  and  said  to  them, 
"There  is  among  you  a  man  worthy  of  the  holy  spirit, 

1  So  also  in  the  explanation  in  Sifre  Deut.  49  :  pHV    NIpJ  n'"2.\>r]   HD 

T-on  s^npj  r]"2\>r\  no  ,pnv  ^vn  nnx  pin  ram  h^i  'n  pni*  nro^r^ 
Ton  ^"in  nns  p]N  ^'^m^^  ^rn  T'dhi  -i^n»jk>. 

2  1  Mace.  2.  42  ;  7.  13  describes  them  as  men  of  valour  who  were 
devoted  to  the  law.  This  is  all  the  information  that  we  have  ;  undoubtedly 
too  little  to  justify  the  various  theories  about  the  relations  of  the  Asideans 
to  the  Essenes,  or  the  ascription  to  them  of  Enoch,  the  Book  of  Jubilees  and 
other  books,  persistently  advocated  without  a  shadow  of  evidence  in  the 
sources.  The  identification  of  the  Hasidim  with  the  Essenes  advanced 
again  by  Weinstein,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  der  Esscier,  Vienna,  1892,  13  ff. 
61,  67,  requires,  owing  to  the  unscientific  nature  of  his  arguments,  no 
lengthy  refutation.  He  starts  from  a  corrupt  reading  in  Sifre  Num.  78,  20a, 

non  b^kN  iiD^b  nnon  iN*n  ,id7^  '^rh  "ion  xim  ncb^  •'dd  onon  on, 

where  the  parallel,  quoted  by  Friedmann,  in  Mekhil.  18. 27,  60b  :  It^p^  DH 
nD3n  \^*\>1  )Oy''1  ^in  ^^?,  shows  that  the  correct  reading  is  not 
CT'DH,  but  D''nDn  and  "IDH,  meaning  lacking.  On  such  evidence  is 
based  also  his  derivation  of  the  Essenes  from  the  Eechabites  in  1  Chron. 
2.  55.  See  also  Z.  Frankel  in  his  Zeitschrift  fur  die  relig.  Inieressen  des 
Judenthums,  III,  1846,  449  ff.,  and  below  ;  Asidaeans  in  Encycl.  Biblica, 
Foakes  Jackson  and  Kirsopp  Lake,  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  I,  88-9. 

3  See  Sirach  39.  24  compared  with  Hos.  14.  10. 

"  Baraitha  jer.  Sotah  IX,  24  b.  29 ;  Cant.  r.  8.  9. 3 ;  Tos.  Sotah  13.  3 ;  b.  48  b: 

jn-'j^y  ijnjT  ^hd  ^Mn  pN^:^  x^^x  c^nipn  nnb  ^ixn  nns*  ms*  ny:^2  ly^ 
ir\]v  b^  n^Diri  ron  v^v  ^in  )^bv  nn^iN*  vn  dd-joi  ,fprn  bbni. 
Tos.  has  n"'Dn  M  v^v  ^'^,  b.  vjy  M  n>Dn  ^■^,  Cant.  Nn. 


JEWISH    PALESTII^IAN    PIETY  9 

only  the  generation  is  not  worthy  of  it ",  all  eyes  turned 
towards  Hillel  the  elder.  When  he  died,  they  bewailed 
him  thus :  '  Woe  for  the  humble,  the  saint,  the  disciple  of 
Ezra.'  ^  The  adjective  vjy  is  well  known  from  the  Bible, 
and  is  applied  to  Moses  in  Num.  12.  3  :  *  Now  the  man 
Moses  was  very  meek,  above  all  the  men  that  were  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth.'  Its  meaning  is  taken  by  the  rabbis 
for  granted,  and  they  emphasize  that  Moses  was  humble 
neither  in  money,  nor  in  physical  strength  and  beauty,  but 
exceedingly  humble  in  character.^  Hillel's  innate  meekness 
and  humility  are  described  in  several  reports  of  some 
incidents  in  his  life  ;  ^  here  instead  of  the  biblical  ):v  its 
Aramaic  equivalent  iniijy  is  applied  to  him  which,  it  is  true, 
sometimes  means  onl}^  modest,  patient,  but  in  tliis  instance, 
as  a  short  consideration  of  some  of  the  characteristic  details 
will  show,  denotes  humility.  In  Jerusalem,  at  least  in  the 
last  years  before  70,  men  and  women  used  to  call  on  the 
teachers  and  to  ask  them  questions  of  practical  religious 
law ;  '^    and  the   rabbis  were   at  all   times  at  the  caller's 


^  The  form  of  the  dirge  is  biblical  (Jer.  22.  18),  and  was,  as  rabbinic 
accounts  show,  several  centuries  after  Hillel  still  in  use  in  Judaea. 
From  the  contrasting  of  Hillel's  worthiness  of  the  holy  spirit  wuth  the 
unworthiness  of  his  contemporaries  it  appears  that  his  colleagues,  con- 
stituting the  authoritative  religious  body,  did  not  sufficiently  a^Dpreciate 
his  great  qualities  and  did  not  think  him  worthy  of  the  position  which 
he  was  holding.  Perhaps  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  as  the 
president  of  the  Beth-din,  when  he  had  quite  accidentally,  by  answering 
the  practical  question  about  the  admissibilit}"  of  the  Passover  sacrifice  on 
the  Sabbath  (Pesah.66a;  jer.  IV,  33  a;  Tos.  IV,  1),  been  elected  in  the  place 
of  the  sons  of  Bethera.  These  and  their  fellow  members  may  have 
objected  to  the  foreign  scholar's  presidency  of  the  Beth-din.  As  a  disciple 
of  Ezra  he  is  described  as  a  great  scholar  who  restored  the  knowledge 
and  the  right  observance  of  the  Torah. 

'  Sifre  Num.  101 ;  Sifie  ziita  on  Num.  12.  3 ;  ARN.  9,  21  a. 

3  Shabb.  30  b  ff. 

•*  Tos.  Nid,  V,  3  ;  Baraitha  b.  33  b  bottom,  the  wife  of  a  Sadducee  said  to 
a  high-priest,'  Though  we  are  Sadducee  women,  we  ask  (about  our  levitical 
purity)  the  (Pharisee)  scholars.'  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  Jerusalem  said 
to  a  digger  of  pits,  ditches,  and  caves,  who  declared  himself  as  important 
as  the  teacher  by  his  public  work,  'If  a  man  came  to  you  with  an  academic 
or  a  practical  question,  could  you  tell  him  to  drink  of  the  water  ?  or,  if 


lO  SOME    TYPES    OF 

disposal,^  except  perhaps  on  Fridays  later  in  the  afternoon, 
•when  they  were  preparing  for  the  reception  of  the  Sabbath.^ 
Once  a  man  who  had  wagered  to  make  Hillel  angry  came 
on  Friday  afternoon,  when  Hillel  was  washing  his  head.^ 
and  called  out  for  him  in  the  street,  and  in  a  way  display- 
ing deliberate  disrespect;  though,  as  his  high  wager*  shows, 
he  belonged  to  the  class  of  citizens  of  Jerusalem  that  knew 
manners.  Ignoring  it,  Hillel  wrapped  himself,  came  out 
to  meet  him,  and  asked  him  what  he  desired.  '  I  have 
a  question  to  ask '.  '  Ask,  my  son,  ask '.  '  Why  are  the  heads 
of  the  Babylonians  not  round  ? '  Whereas  other  men  or 
women  submitted  questions  of  religious  law  arising  out  of 
daily  life,  this  man  invented  a  subject  of  no  consequence,  nor 
concerning  practical  life,  but  one  aiming  at  Hillel  who  was 
a  Babylonian.  'My  son,  you  have  asked  a  great  question'; 
and  he  answered  it.     The  man  left,  but  returned  after  a 


a  woman  asked  you  about  her  purification,  could  you  advise  her  to  bathe 
in  this  pit,  because  its  water  could  purify  her?  '  (Kohel.  r.  4.  17). 

^  When  E.  Ishmael  and  R.  Simeon  were  about  to  be  executed  by  the 
Romans  (2  ARN.  41,  57  b),  the  first  asked  his  friend,  Has  ever  a  woman 
come  to  you  to  ask  a  question  about  her  purification,  or  a  man  about  his 
vow,  and  they  were  kept  waiting,  because  you  were  asleep  or  having 
a  meal,  or  you  were  engaged,  or  perhaps  the  servant  would  not  allow  the 
person  to  enter?  R.  Simeon  answered,  The  servant  had  the  order  not 
to  stop  anybody  from  entering,  whether  I  was  asleep  or  having  a  meal. 
Though  in  the  parallel  account  in  ARN.  38,  57  b  R.  Ishmael  said  to 
R.  Simeon,  '  Perhaps,  when  you  were  sitting  and  expounding  on  the 
Temple  Mount  and  all  the  multitudes  of  Israel  were  sitting  before  you, 
you  were  conceited  ',  the  incidents  referred  to  did  not  happen  in  Temple 
times,  but  in  the  year  117,  when  under  Trajan  an  attempt  was  made  to 
rebuild  the  Temple  (see  Schechter,  Agadath  Shir  Hashirim  99,  Griinhut, 
Midrash  on  Canticles  3  b,  7  a,  and  Baraitha  Berakb.  58  a:  When  once 
ben  Zoma  saw  a  multitude  on  the  stairs  on  the  Temple  Mount,  he  said,  &c.), 
see  Schlatter,  Tage  Trajan  s  und  Hadriayi's,  88  ff.,  Mekhil.  Exod.  22.  22. 

2  Rabh  reports  in  Shabb.  25  b  how  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai  washed  every 
Friday  his  face,  hands,  and  feet  in  warm  water,  and  dressed  in  a  white 
mantle  in  honovir  of  the  Sabbath.     This  happened  between  137  and  160. 

^  In  a  parallel,  but  in  many  details  different  account  of  the  incident  in 
2  ARN.  29,  30  b,  the  man  waked  him  from  his  sleep,  and  put  several 
additional  questions. 

*  The  amount  of  400  Zuzs  was,  e.  g.  the  double  of  the  usual  marriage 
settlement,  or  that  of  the  daughter  of  a  priest  (Kethub.  I,  5). 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  It 

while  in  the  same  way  as  the  lirst  time,  and  put  to  Hillel 
the  question  as  to  why  the  eyes  of  the  Palmyreans  were 
half  closed  ;  when  he  returned  the  last  time,  he  asked  why 
the  feet  of  the  Persians  were  broad.  Each  time  Hillel 
deliberately  declared  the  question  difficult,  and  answered  it 
calmly.  After  the  third  explanation  the  man  said  to  Hillel, 
I  have  many  more  questions  to  put,  but,  I  am  afraid,  you 
might  be  angry.  But  Hillel  wrapped  himself,  sat  down  oppo- 
site him,  and  said,  '  Put  any  questions  that  you  have  to  ask  '. 
'Art  thou  Hillel  whom  they  call  prince  in  Israel  ? '  '  Yes '.  '  If 
so,  may  not  many  be  like  thee  in  Israel ! '  '  Why,  my  son "? ' 
'  Because  I  have  lost  400  Zuzs  through  thee '.  Hillel  replied, 
'  Take  heed  of  thy  spirit !  Hillel  deserves  it  that  thou  shouldst 
lose  through  him  400  Zuzs  or  even  800,  and  Hillel  not  be 
angry.'  Not  even  after  the  last,  extremely  rude  remark 
did  he  lose  his  calmness,  but  continued  the  discussion;  and 
he  finished  up  by  emphasizing  the  value — in  money  that 
engrossed  the  mind  of  his  questioner — of  not  turning  angry. 
Such  patience  and  calmness  were  born  of  and  sustained 
by  true  humility.  For  the  object  of  the  man  must  have 
been  clear  to  Hillel  after  the  second,  if  not  already  after 
the  first  question ;  and  still  he  treated  them,  by  wrapping 
his  head,^  in  the  same  solemn  manner  as  any  other  serious 


^  If  the  wrapping  meant  merely  a  temporary  dressing,  there  would 
have  been  no  occasion  for  it  before  HillePs  entering  into  the  fourth 
question,  as  he  had  not  left  his  visitor,  after  he  had  called  out  the  rabbi  for 
his  third  question.  When  once  R.  Gamaliel  II,  accompanied  by  R.  Ilai, 
travelled  from  Akko  to  K'zibh,  and  reached  this  town,  a  man  asked  him 
to  dissolve  a  vow  of  his ;  but  as  the  rabbi  had  drunk  some  wine,  he,  in 
accordance  with  Lev.  10.  9-11,  refused  to  attend  to  a  religious  question, 
and  asked  the  man  to  walk  by  his  side  for  a  time.  When  they  reached 
the  Ladder  of  Tyre,  R,  Gamaliel  dismounted  from  his  ass,  wrapped 
himself,  sat  down,  and  dissolved  the  man's  vow  (Baraitha  'Erub.  64  b ; 
Tos.  Pesah.  I,  28;  jer.  'AZ  I,  40  a.  62).  R.  Ilai  enumerated  the  rules 
which  he  had  learned  from  R.  Gamaliel's  actions,  among  them  pTED  pt^l 
piC'VI  p2"lL}y  N^X  .  .  ♦  Dm3,  they  do  not  dissolve  vows  except  wrapped 
and  sitting.  In  the  account  in  2  ARN.  29,  30b  Hillel  each  time  admitted 
the  man  to  his  house,  wrapped  himself,  sat  down  and  asked  the  man  to 
put  his  question. 


12  SOME    TYPES    OF 

point  of  religious  law.  And  even  after  the  third  question, 
when  the  man  said  that  he  had  many  more  to  put,  Hillel 
wrapped  himself,  and  sat  down  to  listen  to  him,  with  a 
deference  due  not  to  the  man  whom  he  might  have  ignored, 
but  due  to  any  matter  of  law  to  be  submitted  to  a  Pharisee 
teacher  for  explanation  and  decision.  And  also  in  the 
accounts  about  his  conversations  with  three  non-Jews  who 
expressed  the  desire  to  become  proselytes,  but  made  very 
grave  reservations,  Hillel's  humility  is  evident.  One  refused 
to  accept  the  oral  law,  the  second  wished  to  learn  the  whole 
Torah  while  standing  on  one  foot,  and  the  third  was  pre- 
pared to  adopt  Judaism  onl}^  if  he  could  be  made  a  high- 
priest.  Hillel  told  the  second  that  the  whole  Torah  was 
contained  in  the  principle  :  what  is  hateful  to  thee,  do  not 
to  thy  neighbour  ;  the  rest  is  its  explanation,  go  and  learn. 
Then  he  admitted  him,  just  as  the  other  two.^  As  he  knew 
very  well  that  the  belief  in  the  one  God  was  most  essential, 
and  the  worship  of  the  Creator  and  of  the  Redeemer  of 
Israel  by  the  observance  of  the  Sabbaths  and  festivals  very 
important,  his  readiness  to  receive  those  men  without 
further  conditions  must  have  rested  on  some  principle. 
His  eagerness  for  proselytes  is  nowhere  stated.  But  he 
had  a  good  opinion  of  human  nature :  a  heathen  who  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  join  Judaism,  to  submit  to  the  cir- 
cumcision and  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Torah,  was 
surely  firm  in  his  religious  determination,  and  should  not 
be  refused.  Any  reservations  advanced  by  him  were  due 
to  ignorance  that  could  be  overcome  by  instruction,  as  also 
other  statements  of  Hillel  will  show.  Just  as  he,  in  his 
humility,  patiently  listened  to  those  men,  and  entered  into 
a  discussion  of  Judaism  with  them,  so  he  himself  instructed 
the  proselytes  in  the  same  spirit ;  and  all  three  expressed 
their  gratitude  in  the  words  :  Humble  Hillel,  may  blessings 
rest  on  thy  head  for  bringing  us  near  under  the  wings  of 
God's  glory !  ^ 

'  See  Abrahams.  Studies  in  Pharisaism,  I,  23. 

2  Tlie  different  attitudes   of  R.  Eliezer   and   R.  Joshua  towards   the 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 3 

One  of  Hillel's  few  sentences  preserved  also  emphasizes 
the  importance  of  humility :  ^  '  My  humiliation  is  my 
elevation,  my  elevation  is  my  humiliation '.  The  verbal 
nouns  of  the  IVth  form  may,  as  the  verb  itself,  be  transitive, 
and  mean  the  placing  high  or  low  of  Hillel  by  others. 
And  the  sentence  may.  as  also  the  whole  context  suggests, 
reflect  his  own  experience,  when,  during  the  first  years  of 
his  stay  in  Jerusalem,  he  was  probably  placed,  in  the  school 
of  Shema  yah  and  Abtalyon,  in  the  last  row  of  the  disciples ;  ^ 
and  again,  when,  after  his  abilities  and  his  knowledge  had  been 
recognized,  he  was  raised  to  the  presidency  of  the  Beth-din. 
Or  the  IVth  form  of  the  verbs  may  be  intransitive,  and,  as 

criticism  by  the  proselyte  Akylas  of  the  reward,  promised  in  Deut.  10. 
18  to  the  proselyte  (Gen.  r.  70,5  and  parallels;  Bacher,  Tannaiten  P, 
106.  2),  resemble  those  of  Shammai  and  Hillel ;  l:''JD  msns*  ^i^l^N  nDS 

D^2N  ^iN*  niD  r^y  N"ipi  raoi?  iTin  hm  ::b'pv  ny  ywnn^  ui  -jn^n*^ 

IIj^D,  R.  Joshua's  patient  argument  is  described  as  slowness  to  anger,  as 
in  Prov.  16.  32.  And  the  prospects  held  out  by  Moses  to  Hobab  in 
Num.  10.  29,  *  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel ',  are 
interpreted  in  Sifre  Num.  78,  21a  thus  :  God  has  ordered  Isi-ael  to  do  good 
to  proselytes,  and  to  deal  with  them  Hl^y,  gently,  humbly.  Here  mere 
patience  cannot  be  meant,  as  Hobab  had  not  yet  refused  to  go  with  the 
Israelites.  A  curious  meaning  of  m^nil^y  is  to  be  found  in  Gittin  56  a 
in  the  report  about  the  sacrifice  for  the  emperor,  the  refusal  of  which  on 
account  of  its  blemish  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  revolution  in  66. 
A  certain  bar-Kamsa  had,  in  order  to  revenge  himself  on  the  rabbis, 
deliberately  caused  the  blemish.  When  the  rabbis  suggested  that,  for  the 
sake  of  peace,  the  animal  should  exceptionally  be  offered,  R.  Zekhariah 
b.  Abkulos  objected,  as  some  might  infer  that  such  a  sacrifice  was 
permissible.  Others  advised  that,  in  order  to  prevent  information, 
bar-Kamsa  should  be  killed  ;  but  R.  Zekhariah  objected,  as  it  might  lead 
to  the  error  that  one  who  caused  a  blemish  on  a  sacrifice  might  be  put  to 
death.    R.  Johanan  (in  the  name  of  R.  Jose  b.  Halaftha,  Tos.  Shabb.  16.  7) 

remarked :  HDiC'i  ijnn  Hs  ninnn  D^ipntc  ]2  nn3T  ^21  h^  inijniijy 

IJVIXJO  13n?3ni  IJ/DM  nS,  the  too  great  consideration  of  R.  Zekhariah 
destroyed  our  House,  burnt  our  Temple,  and  exiled  us  from  our  land 
(cf.  J.Q.R.,  VIII,  1896,  232  bottom). 

1  Lev.  r.  1.  5;   Bacher,  Tannaiten  I,  6.1:  \-]n3:n   ^nn^lT   NM   ^ni'D:^•^ 
"nbSki'n   N^n,  cf.  'Erub.  13b. 

2  Hull.  137  b ;  Menah.  29  b,  Rabbinovicz,  and  J.Q.R.,  IX,  1897,  701. 


14  SOME   TYPES    OF 

the  statements  of  other  scholars  suggest,-^  may  refer  to 
Hillel's  own  choice  of  a  humble  place  or  of  a  front  seat 
among  the  scholars,  reflecting  his  modesty  or  his  pride. 
Or  the  first  person  of  the  suffix  may  not  refer  to  his  own 
experience  at  all,  but  only  be  his  literary  formulation  of 
a  rule  and  a  sentence.  In  any  case,  his  words  state  that 
humiliation  or  humility  is  merely  an  external  experience 
that  does  not  affect  the  soul  of  a  man  or  his  own  estimation 
of  the  incident ;  for  he  may  feel  inwardly  elevated,  when 
outwardly  he  is  placed  low,  or  distinction  or  pride  may  be 
felt  by  his  inner  self  a  degradation  or  shame.  The  standard 
by  which  such  outward  experience  is  measured  is  that  of 
the  humble  stoic.  And  with  this  may  be  connected  another 
meaning  of  Hillel's  epithet  v:>%  suggested  by  ben-Zoma's 
rendering  of  the  same  Avord  in  Num.  12.  8  by  ^li^y,-  '  Who 
is  the  most  submissive  of  all  ?  He  who  is  as  submissive  as 
our  master  Moses  was,  as  it  says,  And  the  man  Moses  was 
very  submissive.'  He  heard  himself  abused  by  his  sister 
and  his  brother,  and  said  nothing,  following  the  principle  of 
those  described  in  the  well-known  Baraitha :  ^  '  To  such  as 
are  humiliated,  but  humiliate  not,  hear  themselves  reviled, 
but  reply  not,  do  all  from  love,  and  rejoice  at  their  sufferings, 
Judges  5.  31  applies:  Those  who  love  Him  (God)  are  as  the 
sun,  when  he  goeth  forth  in  his  might.'  We  have  no 
knowledge  of  actual  insults  by  words  or   actions  against 

1  Lev.  r.  1.  5  ;  AEN.  25,  41  a  ;  2  ARN.  22,  23  b,  E.  Akiba  in  the  name  of 
Simeon  b,  'Azzai  (see  Bacher,  1,  413.  1),  in  commenting  on  Prov.  25.  7  : 

7:^y  1N-I  TC^K  nn^  ':^b  ^y^t^nD  r\2n  n^y  -p  idn*  2)d  o,  says, 

Withdraw  from  thy  j)lace  two  or  three  seats  and  sit  down,  till  thou  art 
told  to  go  higher  up  ;  but  go  not  too  high  up,  in  order  not  to  be  told  to  go 
down.  It  is  better  that  they  tell  thee.  Come  up,  come  up,  than  that  they 
should  tell  thee,  Go  down,  go  down  ;  and  eo  Hillel  said,  &c. 

2  AEN.  23,  38  a;  Bacher  I,  427.5:  2)bv   NVTti'   HT   n^D^V^^  2)bv  ^riVi< 

3  shabb.  88  b :  ju^c'c  p^Ni  [nDin  pyDic^  pn^^v  1^X1  \^2)bv  pan  un 
*j'iD*c^n  DNi*::  rnnNi  -idin*  mn^n  \n'bv  piiDU  pnoi^i  n^n^^^:)  p::'"iy 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 5 

Hillel ;  though  as  a  Babylonian  he  was  publicly  disparaged,^ 
and  his  sentence  may  have  referred  to  such  an  experience 
of  his.^ 

."2.  As  to  Hillel's  description  as  "I'on,  it  should  be  noted 
that,  as  in  Jer.  2.  2  Ton  and  nnnx  are  synonyms  and  signify, 
as  "inDi?  in  the  parallel  sentence  shows,  Israel's  active  love 
of  God,  it  follows  that  l^Dn  and  nnix  are  synonyms, 
and  that  the  meaning  of  TDn  is  the  same  as  is  expressed 
in  R.  Meir's  statement  about  him  who  studies  the  Torah 
for  its  own  sake  :  ^  he  loves  God  and  loves  men.  Hillel's 
attitude  towards  God  is  only  incidentally  described.  It  is 
related  how  his  colleague  Shammai  thought,  throughout 
the  week,  of  the  coming  Sabbath  and  the  food  by  which  to 
honour  it,  and  reserved  the  best  meat  which  he  could 
acquire,  for  that  day;  'but  Hillel  had  another  way,  for  all 
his  doino's  were  in  the  honour  of  God,  as  it  is  written 
(Ps.  68.  20),  Blessed  be  the  Lord  day  by  day.'  *     No  doubt, 

1  Jer.  Pesah.  VI,  33  a.  22  :  ^bzi^)  D^mn   \y^   DN*  I^DN   13:3   )b   n^^N, 

38:  nrn  '•bnai?  ^-ivi?  n:h  nin  ^o;  arn.  12,  28a:  hn'J'dd  nx^n. 

-  After  his  election  to  the  presidency  of  the  Beth-din,  he  began  to 
chide  the  sons  of  Bethera  for  their  inability  to  answer  the  question  of 
religious  law,  due  to  their  refusal  to  attend  the  school  of  Shenia'yah  and 
'Abtalyon  (Pesah.  66  a;  jer.  VI,  33  a.  38).  By  his  chiding,  of  which  the 
Baraitha  disapproves,  it  accounts  for  his  inability  to  answer  the  next 
question.  Though  of  the  first  half  of  the  third  century,  the  statement  of 
K.  Alexandri  in  Midr.  Ps,  86.  1  is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the 
Baraitha  in  the  text  :  He  who  hears  himself  cursed,  and  keeps  silence, 
though  he  has  the  means  to  stop  it,  becomes  a  partner  of  God  who  hears 
Himself  blasphemed  by  the  nations,  and  keeps  silence.  So  David  heard 
himself  cursed,  and  kept  silence  ;  therefore  he  calls  himself  T'DH,  as  God 
is  called  TiDn  in  Jer.  3.  12.  Those  whom  the  Baraitha  and  ben-Zoma 
term  IvJ?,  R.  Alexandri  calls  T'DH. 

3  Abothvi,  1:  mn3n  ns  amx  n)pj2n  ns  nnix. 

*  Mekhil.  R.  Simeon,  p.  107  ;  Baraitha  Besah  16  a  ;  Pesik.  r.  23,  115  b  : 

■jnn  nTi^n  n^j^i:^  n^^i?  vi^^v^  ^^'i:^  u  nn\-i  mns*  mo  [prn  bbn  bin 

DV  DV  'n.  In  Mekhil.  20.  8,  69  a  the  practice  of  Shammai  is  quoted  as 
one  commended  by  Eleazar  b.  Hananiah  b.  Hizkiah  b.  Hananiah  b.  Garon, 
see  Friedmann,  note  18.  Another  Baraitha  in  Besah  16  a  ascribes  the 
two  practices  to  the  two  schools  of  the  Shammaites  and  the  Hillelites : 


1 6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Hillel  honoured  the  Sabbath  not  less  than  did  Shammai ; 
but  he  was  not  absorbed  throughout  the  whole  week  by 
the  thought  of  that  one  duty,  as  every  day  claimed  the 
fulhlment  of  its  own  religious  and  moral  obligations  in  the 
honour  of  God,  which  he  considered  just  as  important.  He 
applied  once  the  expression  '  doings  in  the  honour  of  God  ' 
to  an  action  of  his  wife.^  Once,  when  she  had  prepared  a 
meal  for  a  guest  invited  by  her  husband,  a  poor  man  called 
at  the  door  and  stated  that  he  had  to  brino^  his  bride  to 
his  house  that  day,  but  had  no  food  whatever;  she  gave 
him  the  whole  dinner,  and  quickly  prepared  other  food, 
and  brought  it  into  the  room.  When  Hillel  asked  her, 
why  she  had  not  brought  it  in  sooner,  and  she  told  him 
the  reason,  he  said,  My  daughter,  also  I  have  judged  you  with 
an  inclination  in  your  favour  and  not  your  disfavour,  for  all 
the  deeds  which  you  have  done  you  have  done  in  the  honour 
of  God.  Though  an  act  of  charity,  lier  deed  might  have  been 
prompted  by  considerations  of  a  different  nature :  she  might 
have  accidentally  spoiled  the  food  by  burning  it,  and  might 
not  have  liked  to  be  criticized ;  or  she  disliked  the  visit  or  the 
visitor,  or  felt  annoyed  at  her  husband,  or  had  delayed  the 
dinner  for  some  other,  quite  human  reason.  But  Hillel 
knew  his  wife,  and  his  own  kind  heart  never  allowed  him 

QV  or  'n  "J1"l3.  What  Hillel  did,  is  not  expressly  stated,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  verse,  and  its  connexion  with  the  preceding  state- 
ment are  not  clear.  Rashi  says,  Hillel  trusted  that  a  nice  portion 
would  be  found  for  the  Sabbath.  Samuel  Edels  elaborates  this,  and 
adds  :  Hillel  ate  his  food  every  day,  trusting  that  God  would  supply 
a  portion  for  the  Sabbath  ;  he  did  so,  not  from  greediness,  for  just  as  all 
his  doings  were  in  the  honour  of  God,  so  this  action  was  dictated  by  his 
faith  in  God.  We  have  to  bless  God  daily  for  his  provision  of  food,  and  to 
trust  that  He  will  supply  us  with  such  also  in  the  future.  The  verse  has 
accordingly  to  be  quoted  to  the  end.  Weiss,  I,  160  explains  it  differently  : 
Hillel's  statement  proves  the  strength  of  his  faith  ;  he  used  to  say, 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  day  by  day  :  if  he  had  sufficient  for  the  needs  of  the 
day,  he  did  not  trouble  about  the  next  day,  but  trusted  in  God.  But 
this  explanation,  though  it  is  supported  by  the  other  Baraitha,  does  not 
take  into  account  the  important  sentence  :  for  all  his  doings  were  in 
the  honour  of  God. 
1  Derekh  eres  VI :  0^12^   Q'C^b   N^i^  n^'C^V  i6  n^C^yiT  D^t^'ycn  by^*> 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 7 

to  assume  any  but  a  favourable  motive  for  the  actions  of 
others ;  and  he  had  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  this  time, 
just  as  ever,  she  was  actuated  by  one  thought  only  :  the 
honour  of  God,  to  help  the  poor  man  in  his  distress 
immediately,  and  as  effectively  as  possible,  without  weigh- 
ing the  consequences  for  herself  too  long  and  too  seriously. 
Her  deed  was  not  only  unselfish,  but  had  demanded  of  her 
self-sacrifice  in  the  performance  of  duty  dictated  by  the 
unwritten  will  of  God  ;  she  had  obeyed  that  without  hesita- 
tion, and  thereby  acted  in  the  honour  of  God.^ 

When  once  R.  Gamaliel  II  and  R.  Joshua  were  on  the 
way,  they  availed  themselves  of  a  privilege,  instituted  by 
Joshua,'^  and  walked,  on  account  of  the  hard  mud  in  the  road, 
by  the  side  of  the  cultivated  fields.  On  noticing  a  man 
walking  towards  them  in  the  mud,  R.  Gamaliel  angrily 
asked  R.  Joshua  who  the  man  was  who  so  ostentatiously 
exhibited  his  strict  observance.  R.  Joshua  replied  that  it 
was  R.  Jehudah  b.  Pappos,  all  doings  of  whom  were  in  the 
honour  of  God."  It  was  said  of  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba  that 
all  liis  doings  were  in  the  honour  of  God,  except  that 
(against  the  accepted  prohibition)  he  reared  goats ;  the 
physician  had  advised  him  to  drink  naturally  warm  milk, 
and  so  he  kept  a  goat  tied  to  his  bed.  When,  on  his  death, 
the  scholars  entered  into  an  examination  of  his  deeds,  they 
found  no  other  sin  but  that  one.'*     The  meaning  of  the 

^  When  Herod  built  the  Temple,  so  Sifra  Lev.  26.  i,  110  d  reports,  it 
rained  at  night,  and  in  the  morning  the  sun  shone,  the  wind  blew,  and  the 
earth  was  diy,  so  that  the  workmen  could  go  to  their  work  ;  this  showed 
them  that  their  doing  was  D\0'^  Dw^/j  in  the  honour  of  God.  The  support 
of  God  demonstrated  to  them  that  the  building  of  the  Temple  by  the 
sinful  king  was  not  disapproved  of  by  God  as  soiled  and  unholy,  but  was. 
at  least  as  far  as  the  share  of  the  workmen  was  concerned,  carried  on 
with  pure  intentions,  in  the  lionour  of  God.  Cf.  E.  Nathan  in  Sifre 
Deut.  11.  14.  42,  80a;  Mekhil.  Exod.  12.  11,  7b. 

2  Baba  kam.  81  a. 

3  jer.  Berakh.  II,  5d.  5;  in  the  parallel  Baba  kam.  81b  Rabbi  and 
R.  Hiyya  met  in  the  same  circumstances  Jehudah  b.  Nekosa. 

*  Tos.  Baba  kam.  VIII,  13  ;  in  the  parallel  Baraitha  Baba  kam.  80  a, 
cf.  Themur.  15  b,  no  name  is  mentioned,  but  instead  an  unnamed  T^Dn. 

B 


1 8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

sentence  that  all  his  deeds  were  in  the  honour  of  God  is  clear 
in  both  instances.  R.  Jehudah  b.  Pappos  did  not  act  with 
the  idea  of  exhibiting  to  the  looks  of  others  his  self-imposed 
strictness  of  observance;  but,  as  the  contrast  clearly  shows, 
he  considered,  in  his  actions,  God  only,  and  the  deed  itself 
as  well  as  its  quality  were  determined  by  his  thought  of 
God.  The  pious  man  in  the  other  Baraitha  not  only 
avoided  all  sin,^  which  in  itself  is  only  a  negative  virtue ; 
but,  whenever  he  acted,  his  only  motive  was  God  whose 
will  he  was  thereby  carrying  out.  And  when  the  disciple 
of  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai,  R.  Jose  the  priest  (Aboth  II,  12) 
said,  '  Let  all  thy  deeds  be  done  for  the  sake  of  God ',  he 
intended  to  impress  the  highest  principle  to  guide  a  man's 
actions :  God  should  ever  be  present  in  his  mind ;  and, 
whatever  he  does,  whether  it  is  great  or  small,  important 
or  indifferent,  religious  or  moral,  he  should,  like  Hillel, 
think  of  God,  and  measure  his  deed  by  the  will  and  honour 
of  God ;  ^  not  his  own  benefit  or  pleasure,  nor  his  own 
ambition  and  glory,  but  only  God's  honour.  V\^]:io  refers 
to  positive  actions ;  and,  as  the  incidents  referred  to  show, 
not  merely  to  biblical  positive  commandments  of  a  moral 
or  ritual  character,  but  to  every  kind  of  service  to  the 
fellow-man,  as  will  be  more  fully  shown  presently.  Whether 
it  was  this  his  religious  attitude  to  God,  that  made  Hillel's 
contemporaries  term  him  a  n^Dn,  is  not  evident. 

An  instructive  instance  of  Hillel's  way  of  thinking  and 

As  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba  was  killed  in  the  Hadriaiiic  religious  persecutions 
by  the  Roman  police  (Synli.  13  b  ff.),  the  name  of  the  scholar  who  died 
a  natural  death  cannot  be  correct ;  and  we  would  have,  according  to  the 
canon  in  the  passage  of  the  Talmud,  to  substitute  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai. 

^  Apoc.  Baruch  9.  1  :  Jeremiah  whose  heart  was  found  pure  from  sin. 
In  Antiquit.  XIX,  6.  4.  315,  Jonathan,  Ananos'  son,  described  to  King 
Agrippa  I  his  brother  Matthias  as  worthy  of  the  high-priest's  office,  as  he 
was  free  from  all  sin  against  God  and  the  king. 

2  Cf.  Baraitha  Baba  mes.  59  b  :  When,  after  putting  R.  Eliezer  in  the 
ban,  R.  Gamaliel  was  overtaken  by  a  violent  storm  at  sea,  he  saw  in  it 
a  punishment  for  that  act.  He  rose,  and  prayed.  Master  of  the  Universe, 
it  is  known  to  Thee  that  I  did  it  not  for  my  honour,  nor  for  that  of  my 
family,  but  for  Thy  honour,  &c.     Here  the  word  used  is  HD^P,  not  DL^/. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 9 

of  his  religious  reflection  on  ordinary  actions  of  his  has 
fortunately  been  preserved.  When  once  Hillel  had  taken 
leave  of  his  disciples  (in  the  school),  he  went  with  them ; 
to  their  question  as  to  where  he  was  going,  he  replied,  '  To 
perform  a  religious  duty ' ;  and  this  he  explained  to  mean 
bathing  in  a  public  bath.  To  their  further  question  as 
to  whether  that  was  a  religious  duty,  he  said,  '  The  man 
appointed  to  the  duty  of  scouring  and  rinsing  the  statues 
of  the  king  set  up  in  the  theatres  and  circuses  is  for  that 
paid  by  maintenance,  and,  in  addition,  he  is  one  of  the 
pfovernment  officials.  As  I  was  created  in  the  imao^e  and 
after  the  likeness  (of  God),  as  it  says  (Gen.  9.  6),  '  for  in  the 
image  of  God  made  He  man  ' :  how  much  more  so  (have 
I  to  wash  my  body)  '.^  It  need  hardly  be  pointed  out  that 
a  man  with  that  conception  of  his  body — for  to  this  and  not 
to  the  soul  does  the  image  of  God  here  refer — ever  present 
in  his  mind,  kept  his  body  clean  not  only  physically,  but 
also  morally,  free  from  any  kind  of  pollution ;  and  even  his 
physical  use  of  it  for  natural  functions,  as  at  easying  it  or 
in  sexual  intercourse,  was  hallowed,  even  though  he  was 
not  an  Essene.  The  perfection  and  the  beauty  of  the 
human  organism  would  be  described  by  him  in  words  of 
admiration    for  God's   greatness   as   the   Creator,   and   in 

^  E.  Ahai  in  his  n"ln>^<:i',  section  n''rj<in,  refers  this  to  Hillel's  regular 
bathing  on  the  Friday  in  honour  of  the  Sabbath ;  but  he  had  no  other 
source  for  that  statement,  and  it  was  merely  his  own,  hardly  correct 
interpretation  of  the  above  report,  see  Eeifmann  in  T'^DH  X,  367. 
Reifmann  points  to  the  parallel  in  Tos.  Berakh.  IV,  1  :  DIN  ^)2n'^^  S^J 

injyro^  ^^  bys  b^  iDNriT  in:p  lUDn  i^bx  vi?m  vn^  vjsn,  a  man 

should  not  employ  his  face,  his  hands,  and  his  feet  but  for  the  glory  of 
his  Creator,  as  it  says  in  Prov.  16.  4  :  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for 
Himself.     The  parallel  Baraitha  in  Shabb.  50  b  is  different :  |»nn  N^iH 

in^yoi?  M  bv^  b:i  -irosr.:*  dvlTo  i:^p  b'zyn  dv  b^i  r!?:ii  v-i>  vjd  ms, 

a  man  should  wash  his  face,  his  hands,  and  his  feet  every  day  for  the 
sake  of  his  Creator,  &c.  In  both  versions  Hillel's  idea  is  applied.  In  the 
parallel  account  in  2  ARN.  30,  33  b  Hillel  also  declared  his  going  to 
the  water-closet  a  religious  duty,  as  it  was  to  prevent  the  body  from 
becoming  spoiled  ;  Shammai,  on  the  other  hand,  said.  Let  us  do  our 
duty  to  our  body.     See  Bergmann  in  H.  Cohen's  Festschrift  1, 161-62. 

B    2 


20  SOME    TYPES    OF 

praise  and  gratitude  for  the  preservation  of  the  body  in 
health. 

The  report  continues  :  '  When  once  Hillel  had  taken 
leave  of  his  disciples  (in  the  school),  he  went  with  them  ; 
to  their  question  as  to  where  he  was  going,  he  replied,  To 
do  loving-kindness  to  the  guest  in  the  house.  To  their 
further  question  as  to  whether  he  had  a  guest  every  day, 
he  said.  Is  not  my  poor  soul  a  guest  in  the  body,  as  it  is 
this  day  here,  and  to-morrow  no  longer  here  ? '  While 
these  reports  incidentally  give  very  interesting  information 
about  Hillel's  method  of  teaching,  they  are  more  important 
for  his  plain  observations  about  the  soul.  Its  transitory 
stay  in  the  body  would  naturally  urge  him  on  to  use  every 
day  for  its  cultivation,  as  his  disciple,  R.  Johanan  b. 
Zakkai,  illustrated  that  thought  by  the  preparations  and 
the  clean  garments  for  the  king's  banquet.^  Its  return 
to  God  would  remind  him  of  the  soul's  duty  to  render 
account  of  all  that  he  did  during  his  life  on  earth,  and  of 
the  advisability  of  keeping  the  soul  as  pure  as  it  had  left 
God,  so  that  it  might  return  pure  to  God  ;  as  R.  Johanan  b. 
Zakkai  on  his  deathbed  explained  to  his  disciples  his  fear 
of  having  to  appear  after  death  before  God  for  eternal 
judgment.-  The  soul  is  immortal,  and  will  receive  its 
reward  or  punishment.  The  epithet  poor  or  grieved  given 
to  the  soul  suggests  the  Greek  idea  of  its  removal  from  the 
holy  regions  of  heaven  and  its  habitation  in  the  uncongenial 
house,  the  body.^  As  it  requires  the  attention  of  loving- 
kindness,  it  is  dependent  on  what  man  does  for  it ;  but 
what  attention  did  Hillel  offer  it  ?  Was  it  retirement 
and  solitary  meditation  intended  for  comforting  it,  and 
deeper  thought  about  its  heavenly  origin  and  nature  ? 
Or  was  it  the  lifting  up  of  the  depressed  soul  to  God  by 
prayer,  its  temporary  rise  to  the  heights  of  its  fountain  ? 
And  was  it  this  attitude  of  Hillel's  to  his  body  and  his 

^  Shabb.  153  a.  2  Berakb.  28  b. 

3  See  Josephus,  Wars,  II,  8.  11  about  the  same  view  of  the  Essenes, 
and  VII,  8.  7.  346  ;  Contra  Apion.  II,  24.  208. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  21 

soul  that  merited  for  him  the  attribute  of  "i^Dn  1  ^  Or  was 
it  his  true  trust  in  God,  manifested  on  an  occasion  acci- 
dentally reported  ?  '  When  he  was  once  on  his  way  home, 
and  heard  a  cry  of  anguish  in  the  town,  Hillel  said,  I  feel 
reassured  that  it  is  not  in  my  house.'  "^  He  was  not  afraid 
of  evil  tidings,  his  heart  was  fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord. 
Or  was  it  his  unusual  consideration  for  the  sensitiveness  of 
the  poor  that  had  come  down  in  life  1  For  it  is  reported 
that  he  bought  for  a  poor  man  of  good  family  a  horse  for 
riding,  and  a  slave  to  run  before  him  ;  and  when  once  he 
found  no  slave  for  that  purpose,  he  ran  himself  three  miles 
before  the  poor  man.^  As  Hillel  was  at  that  time  evidently 
a  man  of  means,  his  action  was  dictated  not  only  by  the 
desire  to  relieve  the  man  of  care,  but,  by  self-sacrifice  and 
public  self-abasement  in  the  service  of  true  humanity,  to 
make  him  forget  his  present  circumstances."^  This  act  of 
humility  probably  constitutes  one  of  the  deeds  which  he 
performed  in  the  honour  of  God.  There  was  no  written 
law  that  prescribed  it,  nor  any  fixed  rabbinic  rule  to  be 
followed ;  it  was  Hillel's  own  way  of  interpreting  the  duty 
of  Jewish  charity,  and  of  translating  it  into  reality.  Such 
extension  of  a  positive  commandment  by  a  rabbinic  authority 
is  an  interesting  instance  of  rabbinic  exegesis  by  which  its 
author  imposed  in  the  first  instance  upon  himself  the  onerous 
moral  duty  deduced ;  and  it  was  understood  that  the  rabbi 
had  to  be  the  first  to  obey  such  additions  to  the  biblical 
law.    Thereby  he  set  an  example  of  charity  and  of  humility 

1  In  neither  incident  did  he  quote  any  passage  of  the  Bible.  Prov. 
11.  17  :  non  C^^^<  'lt^'SJ  blO^  is  quoted  at  the  head  of  each  paragraph  by  the 
hiter  Haggadist  who  interpreted  the  verse  and  illustrated  it  by  Hillel's 
statements;  and  it  is  the  Haggadist  who  in  this  way  proved  Hillel  to 
have  been  an  TDil  l^^^H,  see  Bacher,  I,  7.  -1. 

'  Baraitha  Berakh.  60  a  :  and  to  him  applies  Ps.  112.  7  ;  in  jer.  Berakli. 
IX,  14  b.  5  :  NT^  i6  ny-1  nyiD'^'D  IDIS  pin  ^Sl  Hlllel  himself  quoted 
the  verse  :  he  shall  not  be  afraid  of  evil  tidings. 

3  Baraitha  Kethub.  67  b  ;  in  the  parallel  in  Tos.  Pe'ah  IV,  10  and 
jer.  VIII,  21  a.  55  the  last  part  of  the  account  is  missing, 

4  Cf.  Testam.  Zebulun  7.  4. 


22  SOME    TYPES    OF 

to  his  disciples,  and  to  such  as  knew  him  personally  and 
were  prepared  to  imitate  his  action.  Whether,  in  carrying- 
it  out,  they  were  able  to  grasp  the  ideal  that  guided  Hi  11  el, 
and  were  actuated  by  the  same  unselfish  love  and  humility, 
may  rightly  be  doubted ;  it  was  given  only  to  a  few  to 
attain  to  it. 

3.  A  different  side  of  Hillel's  character  is  revealed  by 
his  rule,^  '  If  I  am  not  for  myself,  who  is  for  me  ?  But  if 
I  am  only  for  myself,  what  am  I  ?  and  if  not  now,  when  ? ' 
He  justifies  egoism  as  necessary ;  for  in  practical  life 
nobody  cares  really  for  his  fellow-man,  or  goes  so  far  as 
to  work  for  another  person's  maintenance,  and  so  the 
latter  would  starve  and  perish.  But  such  egoism,  though 
necessitated  by  the  realities  and  exigencies  of  human 
existence,  and  therefore  irreproachable,  must  not  fill  out 
a  man's  whole  thought ;  for  he  is  not  a  human  being,  if  he 
thinks  only  of  himself  and  of  his  own  needs.  Onl}^  by 
thinking  of  others  and  by  working  for  others,  while  busy 
with  his  own  needs,  does  he  rise  to  be  a  man.  This 
principle  and  its  realization  must  be  watched  during  every 
hour  of  one's  life,  for  the  latter  is  short  and  quickly  passing, 
and,  once  finished,  allows  of  no  further  work.  Here  on  earth 
is  the  only  time  available  for  it,  not  after  death ;  and  it  is 
no  special  merit,  it  is  a  plain  duty.  And  in  another  sen- 
tence Hillel  enjoined  on  his  hearer  not  to  judge  his  fellow- 
man,  until  he  himself  is  in  his  position.^  The  neighbour  is 
not,  as  it  seems,  in  financial  difficulties,  and  unable  to  pay 
a  debt  or  keep  a  promise  on  a  date  stipulated;  but  more 
probably  he  is  in  some  trouble  brought  about  by  neglect 
or  by  a  moral  lapse,  and  help  is  neither  solicited  nor 
perhaps  possible.  In  such  or  similar  circumstances,  Hillel 
urges  on  his  follower  the  restraint  of  a  very  forward  in- 

1  Aboth,  I,  14  :   vh  DK1  ^JN   HD  ^JD'^vb  ^JN^iOl  'b  '12  'b   ^JN*   pN*  Dt^ 

2  Aboth,  II,  4 :  IV  loti'yn  pDN*n  ^ni  iinyn  p  cnDn  bi^  idvx  bbn 
iDipot?  y^:n'j'  ny  "ji^nn  nx  pin  bi^)  ^niD  dv. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  23 

clination  in  man,  ready  not  so  much  to  help  and  to  offer 
sympathy,  as  to  rush  forth  with  blame  against  the  neigh- 
bour who  is  depressed  by  his  failure  and  disappointment. 
As  we  see  the  calamitous  result  only,  we  are  quick  in 
condemning  our  fellow-man  on  the  result  before  us.  And 
not  only  by  deed  must  we  not  wrong  him,  but  not  even  by 
undeserved  words,  nor  censure  him  hastily  even  in  our 
thoughts.  This  warning  is  merely  a  practical  application 
of  Hillel's  rendering  of  Lev.  19.  18 :  what  is  hateful  to 
thee,  do  not  to  thy  neighbour,^  which  he  declared  to  the 
non-Jew  to  be  the  whole  Torah :  not  only  to  think  oneself 
into  the  position  of  the  fellow-man  and  refrain  from  re- 
proaching him,  but  to  wait  till  one  is  actually  in  the  same 
trouble.  Considering  man's  bent,  Hillel's  demand  is  very 
heavy,  as  it  requires  a  strong  moral  sense  and  powerful 
mental  restraint.  The  same  claim  seems  to  underly  the 
warnino-  in  the  same  sentence,  not  to  believe  in  oneself  to 
the  last  day  of  life.  When,  by  hard  struggle,  we  have 
overcome  a  momentary  temptation,  and  even  our  passions 
from  prevailing  over  us,  we  should  not  yet  think  our  moral 
hold  firmly  established  and  secure  against  any  unexpected 
sally  of  a  sinful  or  immoral  character ;  for  how  easily  does 
even  a  strong  mind  succumb  unawares  to  the  beauty  of 
women  and  to  lust !  ^  Hillel  appeals  here  to  men  whose  minds 
were  trained  to  watch  their  wills,  evidently  his  disciples 
whom  such  consciousness  of  human  weakness  should  fill 
with  humility. 

To  the  same  are  addressed  his  words  of  teaching,  'Be  of 
the  disciples  of  Aaron  :  love  peace  and  pursue  peace,  love 
men,  and  bring  them  near  to  the  Torah  '.^  To  keep  only  the 
peace,  especially  in  contrary  circumstances,  presupposes 
patience,   yielding,  self-effacement,  Hillel's   meekness  and 

1  Shabb.  31  a. 

2  jer.  Shabb.   I,  3  b.  64;  Midr.  Abkir,  p.  11;   Gaster,  JlV^yO  93  ff. ; 
Tanh.  }>pO  B.  15  ;  Backer,  I,  384.  3  about  R.  Matthia  b.  Harash. 

3  Aboth,  1, 12 :  Pinm  Ti-h'^  nnix  pn^  bv  in^robno  ^in  idin  hbn 
n-nn^  p-ipoi  mnan  nx  anis*  n-k^. 


24  SOME    TYPES    OF 

humility.  But  to  seek  peace  ^  demands  active  intervention, 
to  reconcile  men  who  quarrelled,  to  restore  liarmony 
between  husband  and  wife,  between  neighbours  and  part- 
ners, and  others,  as  Hillel's  disciple,  R.  Johanan  b,  Zakkai, 
explained  the  same  duty.^  In  such  unsolicited  interven- 
tion, not  only  has  disappointment  to  be  expected,  but 
rudeness,  repulsion,  offence,  and  abuse  have  to  be  faced. 
Indifference  towards  the  fellow-man,  which  would  appear 
preferable,  is  not  the  proper  attitude  of  the  religiously 
cultured  and  the  learned  to  whom,  as  the  concluding- 
words  of  Hillel's  warnings  show,  he  addressed  his  teachings. 
He  had,  at  the  same  time,  those  in  view  who  stood  far 
away  from  the  Torah  either  in  knowledge  or  in  practice, 
the  )^"iNn  Dy,  who  should  be  approached  with  love."  To 
love  one  who  is  of  our  mind  and  shares  our  reliofious  con- 
victions  is  not  difficult,  and  requires  no  exertion ;  but  love 
for  the  religiously  ignorant  or  indifferent  is  difficult,  but 
due  to  him  as  a  creature  of  God  who  should  be  raised  to  a 
higher  level.  We  have  to  ignore  liis  mental  attitude  and 
his  religious  state  for  which  he  is  not  responsible ;  while  as 
God's  creature  he  has  a  claim  to  our  sympathy  and  love.^ 
These  will  attract  him  to  the  learned  men  ;  and  as  he 
attributes  their  love  to  their  learning,  he  will  be  drawn  to 
the  Torah  which,  in  fact,  represented  general  moral  and 
reKgious  culture.  This  principle  of  Hillel  taught  active 
humanity  in  its  highest  manifestation,  possible  only  in  a 
man  of  standing  and  of  learning,  and  dictated  and  sustained 
by  loving-kindness,  "ion.  And  as  such  attitudes  of  mind 
and  action  are  not  contained  in,  nor  covered  by,  his  descrip- 
tion as  a  disciple  of  Ezra,  nor  by  his  meekness  and  humility 
which  are  not  active  qualities  of  the  character,  they  seem 
to  have  been  the  effluence  of  his  third  characteristic,  TDn. 
If  this  is  correct,  the  word  described  the  relation  of  man's 

1  Ps.  34.  15.  2  Mekhil.  Exod.  20.  25,  74  a. 

2  Testam.  Issachar,  7.  6:    I  loved  the  Lord,  likewise  also  every  man 
with  all  my  heart. 

^  See  Heinemann,  Poseidonios'  mefapkys.  Schrifien,  I,  1921,  1.S8. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  25 

active  love  not  to  God,  but  to  man,  as  the  noun  ncn 
in  rabbinic  literature  invariably  does.  And  so  Hillel  in 
his  sentence  enjoined  on  his  disciples  the  duty  of  realizing 
loving-kindness  as  lovers  and  promoters  of  peace,  and 
thereby  proving  themselves  disciples  of  Aaron,^  and  of  ex- 
tending love  to  the  ignorant  and  the  indifferent.  Humility 
and  love  were  Hillel's  prominent  qualities  of  character,  and 
expressed  the  spirit  of  his  ethical  teachings. 

In  a  sentence  in  which  Hillel  himself  used  the  word 
Ton  -  its  meaning  is  at  first  sight  not  clear  :  '  An  empty 
man  cannot  be  a  sin-fearing  man,  nor  can  an  ignorant 
person  be  pious,  nor  can  a  shamefaced  man  learn,  nor 
a  passionate  man  teach,  nor  can  one  who  is  engaged  over- 
much in  business  grow  wise '.  As  the  middle  part  of  the 
sentence  refers  to  the  learner  and  the  teacher,  Hillel  dealt 
here  with  the  school ;  he  encouraged  the  new  disciple 
not  to  be  ashamed  to  admit  that  he  did  not  follow  the 
details  of  the  instruction,  as,  if  he  refrained  from  asking 
for  additional  information  and  explanation,  he  would  not 
make  sufficient  progress.  On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher 
whom  frequent  questions  make  impatient  and  angry  is  not 
fit  for  his  task,  as  he  discourages  the  beginner  and  the 
slower  mind.  Nor  should  young  men  who,  before  join- 
ing the  school,  had  carried  on,  and  are  still  engaged  in, 
trade,  think  themselves  too  experienced,  learned,  and  wise 
to  require  the  theoretical  wisdom  taught  in  the  school. 
The  first  part  of  the  sentence  refers  to  men  who  before 
joining  the  scliool  considered  themselves  possessed  of  the 
religious  qualifications  which  in  Hillel's  opinion  were  the 
results  of  a  life-long  study  of  the  Torah.  One  of  those 
men  is  described  as  totally  devoid  of  all  knowledge  and 

^  There  must  have  existed  an  early  exposition  of  Mai.  2.  6  referring  to 
Aaron's  activities  as  a  peacemaker. 

2  Aboth,  II,  5 :  Ton  p^<^  nv  n^i  N^n  ni^  iu  |\s*  "idus*  hm  nih 
DipD3i  n-'Dno  n-)inD2  nnirD.-i  bj  ^6)  nobro  'p^pn  ab)  112b  p'^nn  ^iji 

^^^<  nvni?  bin'^i^n  n'^mi^  PX'J^.  in  2ARN.  33,  36  b,  the  sentence  is 
quoted  as  that  of  R.  Akiba,  and  has  C'1"ID  T'Dfl,  see  p.  49  ft". 


26  SOME    TYPES    OF 

education :  ^  the  other  had  some  home  education,  as  he 
belonged  to  the  landowning,  wealthy  class.  When  either 
of  them  asserted  that  he  could  in  the  practice  of  religion 
or  in  his  moral  conduct  attain  to  the  same  degree  of  perfec- 
tion, Hillel  emphatically  denied  the  fact  and  its  possibility;^ 
as  the  context  suggests,  only  attendance  at  the  school  enabled 
a  man  to  become  sin-fearing  and  pious,  for  such  high 
qualities  could  be  taught.  Innate  kindness  and  love,  even 
though  strengthened  by  natural  tact,  will,  in  an  uneducated 
person,  never  reach  the  degree  of  moral  excellence  to  which 
Hiilel's  instruction  in  the  Torah  and  his  example  could 
train  and  guide  them.  In  another  sentence  "^  he  expressed 
it  clearly  and  forcibly,  '  He  who  acquires  the  words  of  the 
Torah,  acquires  the  life  in  the  world-to-come',  that  the 
only  means  for  obtaining  a  share  in  that  life  is  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge.  Hillel  places  here  the  highest  aim 
and  purpose  of  man's  life  before  his  eyes,  and  defines  the 
way,  open  to  everybody,  by  which  he  can  safely  reach  that 

'  Cf.  Kidd.  I,  10 :  n^^nj:)!  i6  pN  Tin^i  nj^j^Dai  NnpDn  "i:::^^^'  ^d 
i6  irNK^  b2^  ,pn:^  r]'\r]Di  si?  srbic^cn  Dinni  idn*:c^  ^ndih  ^<'l^ 

2)^>^7]   p  •|^^<   p^<   -JlTn   i6)   r\:\y^2  iib)  NipDn  ;  and  bar-Kappara  in 

Kidd.  40  b  ff.:  "in  ps  ina  i6^  n:trm  i6^  N"ip^3  i6  i^^nsj'  i'Di 

D^^i?  2mD  )2^)12  2^^  i6  n'-^b  3t:^1D21  112^^:^  13DD  HNJn,  a  man 
who  knows  Bible,  Mishnah,  and  manners,  does  not  easily  sin  ;  but  he 
who  knows  none  of  those  is  not  of  civilization.  Bar-Kappara  advises  total 
separation  from  such  a  man,  as  his  company  is  that  of  a  scoffer.  See 
E.  Eliezer  b.  Jacob  in  2  ARN.  3.5,  44  a. 

2  In  2  ARN.  26,  27  b  it  is  reported  that  Hillel  once  stood  at  the  gate  of 
Jerusalem,  and  asked  some  men  who  were  going  out  to  work,  how  much 
they  would  earn  that  day.  On  hearing  the  amount,  he  asked  them  how 
they  would  use  the  money  ;  and  on  learning  that  they  would  spend  it  on 
their  daily  necessities,  he  asked  them  whether  they  would  not  come, 
acquire  Torah,  and  thereby  acquire  life  in  this  world  and  in  the  world 
to  come.  Hillel  acted  in  this  way  throughout  his  life,  and  brought  men 
under  the  wings  of  God.     See  further. 

3  Aboth,  n,  7 :  naiD  n^sn  nn-in  ^02:  r\2ii2  noi  nniD  ic'a  naio 
^t:  nn-iD  on^y  nnno  hdt  nniD  mns'.^*  nn-i?o  n'^^2  naiD  n^^: 
r\2ir2  n-^v  nn-^o  nroDn  nniD  na^c^^  nniro  D^^n  nanD  min  nm^ 
nm  ^b  r\:p  iDvyb  njp  31D  n\y  n:p  n)b^  nmo  npi-^  nnio  n^un 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAN    PIETY  27 

goal.  But  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  tliat  the  object  of  the 
ordinary  man's  attendance  at  the  school  of  the  rabbi  was 
not  to  listen  to  the  halakhic  interpretation  of  the  legal 
portions  of  the  Pentateuch,  nor  to  learn  by  heart  the  rules 
deduced ;  but  only  practical  instruction  of  the  kind  evident 
in  Hillers  sentences,  to  guide  him  gradually  to  an  improve- 
ment of  his  moral  and  religious  conduct.  It  was  probably 
based  on  a  full  exposition  of  selected  chapters  of  the 
Pentateuch  like  Lev.  19,  applied  to  the  requirements  of 
daily  life,  and  illustrated  by  the  sayings  and  the  lives 
of  the  patriarchs  and  the  ancient  leaders  of  Israel.  By  that 
method  the  ordinary  man  who  attended  the  lessons  only 
in  the  evenino-  was  tauo'ht  first  to  avoid  all  that  was  wrono- 
and  sinful,  and  then  the  positive  duties  of  the  Jew  towards 
his  fellow-man,  as  Hillel  understood  and  interpreted  them. 
And  it  is,  for  a  proper  understanding  of  his  teachings,  of 
great  importance  to  establish  the  class  of  men  to  which  his 
words  were  addressed.  He  said,^  '  He  who  increases  flesh 
increases  worms  (in  the  grave),  he  who  increases  possessions 
increases  care,  he  who  increases  wives  increases  witchcraft, 
he  who  increases  maidservants  increases  immorality,  he 
who  increases  slaves  increases  robbery.'  We  see  here  how 
some  wealthy  men  of  Jerusalem  invested  some  of  their  sub- 
stance in  one  or  the  other  form  of  property,  and  enjoyed 
themselves,  and  showed  to  the  outside  world  their  wealth 
in  the  number  of  wives  and  of  servants,  and  in  their  own 
physical  appearance.  Their  ideal  was  purely  gross  mate- 
rialism;  and,  by  pointing  to  the  dark  sides  of  the  various 
manifestations  of  wealth,  Hillel  endeavoured  to  deter  the 
thinking  man  from  making  such  objects  the  only  goal  of 
his  life.  The  enumeration  of  the  destructive  results  in- 
herent in  every  one  of  them  only  served  to  enhance  the 
contrast  which  follows :  '  The  more  Torah,  the  more  life ; 
the  more  sittino-,  the  more  wisdom :  the  more  counsel,  the 
more  understanding ;  the  more  charity,  the  more  peace  ; 
he  who   has   acquired  a  good  name    has  acquired  it  for 

1  See  note  3.  p.  26. 


28  SOME    TYPES    0F_ 

himseli* ;  he  who  has  acquired  for  himself  words  of  Torah 
has  acquired  for  himself  life  in  the  world -to-come  '.  When 
Hillel  commended  to  the  wealthy  twice  and  in  two  different 
aspects  the  value  of  possessing  Torah,  he  did  not  urge  them 
to  become  scholars,  but  only  to  make  the  acquisition  of 
Torah  as  important  a  task  of  their  lives  as  that  of  riches. 
Knowledge  will,  in  the  first  instance,  have  the  great  and 
desirable  effect  of  prolonging  their  lives  on  earth  ;  and 
secondly,  by  transforming  their  moral  and  religious  standards 
of  activity,  it  will  procure  for  them  a  share  in  the  future 
world.  During  life  the  greatest  of  treasures,  peace,  can  be 
obtained  by  charity,  which,  at  the  same  time,  brings  a  lasting 
good  name.^ 

4,  The  two  terms  used  by  Hillel  for  the  two  kinds  of 
pious  men,  the  sin-fearing  and  the  saint,  were  employed 
also  by  his  disciple  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  his  charac- 
terization of  his  five  prominent  disciples.  '  He  used  thus  to 
recount  their  praise  :  Jos^  the  priest  is  a  pious  man,  Simeon, 
the  son  of  Nethanel,  is  a  fearer  of  sin.'  ^  It  would  be  a 
mistake  to  think  a  sin-fearing  man  to  be  one  of  only  a 
negative  virtue,  one  who  merely  avoids  sin,  that  is,  the 
transgression  of  one  of  the  prohibitions  in  the  Pentateuch. 
For  there  is  a  reference  to  a  chamber  of  the  silent  in  the 
Temple,  where  sin-fearing  persons  privately  deposited  their 
contributions  from  which  the  poor  of  good  families  were 

^  Before  these  two  there  are  mentioned  as  valuable  objects  wisdom  and 
discretion  which,  compared  with  the  rest,  cannot  mean  scholarshij^,  but, 
just  as  njinn,  practical  wisdom,  so  often  emphasized  in  the  Book  of 
Proverbs.  Consequently,  n3''tJ'''  by  which  it  is  acquired  cannot  mean,  as 
the  commentators  suggest,  keeping  a  school,  but  probably  the  sitting  in 
the  company  of  scholars  or  of  men  of  culture,  as  in  the  sentence  of 
R.  Dosa  b.  Harkinas  in  Aboth,  III,  10:  pNH  '12V  b^  nVDJD  'r\2  n2''^^ 
it  is  the  sitting  in  the  meeting-places  of  ignorant  men. 

2  Aboth,  II,  8  :  flVD^:^  Ul  .^^Dn  fH^H  ^DV  ''31  ♦  .  .  fn^tT  HJVO  n\-I  NIH 
N*L:n  Nl^  i'NJn^  p,  in  ARN.  U,  29  b:  1)121:^  Ton,  Shabb.  19  a  top, 
Baraitha  :  '21  bv  ni?  ''1DN1  \n2n  ^DV  ^21  bv  vi^y  11DN*  .  .  .  pD")  "I^H 
nblVrO  '''13:  T2  M'  2r\2  NV?0:  iib\y  TOnn  ^D1\  Tos.  Shabb.  13.13; 
jer.  I,  4  a.  70  only  jnDH  '•DV  '21. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  29 

secretly  supported.^  No  doubt,  those  sin-fearino-  persons 
possessed  some  positive  piety,  not  only  that  of  charity,  but 
other  high  qualities,  as  they  in  their  acts  of  benevolence 
also  observed  one  of  the  essential  requirements  of  charity, 
the  careful  avoidance  of  publicity.  Men  who  considered 
even  the  deposition  of  their  gift  in  a  collecting-box  in  the 
presence  of  others  among  whom  possibly  were  some  needy 
in  receipt  of  support  from  that  collection,  a  sin,  must  have 
had  a  high  conception  of  the  duty  of  helping  the  poor,  and 
of  the  way  in  which  even  the  shadow  of  an  offence  to  his 
feelings  should  be  avoided.  The  sin-fearing  quality  would 
then  refer  to  the  deliberate  avoidance  of  an  action  that 
constituted  an  offence  only  for  the  very  sensitive  donor, 
but  was  for  the  average  and  observant  Jew  not  approaching 
a  sin.  And  the  well-informed  recorder  of  incidents  of  the 
last  decades  of  Temple  times,  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai,  remarked 
of  *x\kabia  b,  Mahalalel,  '  God  forbid  that  he  should  have 
been  put  in  the  ban !  For  the  inner  forecourt  of  the 
Temple  never  closed  behind  a  man  in  Israel  like  'Akabia 
in  learning  and  in  the  fear  of  sin  '.^  That  E,.  Jehudah 
intended  to  describe  that  scholar  as  most  learned  and  most 
pious,  is  clear  from  his  exaggerated  praise ;  and  it  is  in- 
admissible to  think  merely  of  *Akabia's  avoidance  of  sin, 
even  if  the  latter  were  of  a  very  subtle  degree.  And 
R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  himself  was  once  asked,  '  If  a  man  is 
learned  and  sin-fearing,  to  what  could  he  be  likened  ?  '  He 
answered,  '  He  is  like  a  skilled  workman  with  his  tools  in 
his  hand  ;   the  learned  man  who  is  not  sin-fearing  is  like 

1  Shekal.V,  6;  Tos.  II,  16  :  ^ii^ni  HDini?  D^DDi:  N^tDH  ^N*!^  D^X'C^n  nD*j6 

2  'Eduy.  V,  6 :  nNi^::i  noDnn  ^xic'^n  Dn5<  i?3  ^:^2  n^'y::  nnryn  pNC^ 

i'si'SlO  p  NUpVD  N*Dn.  Cf.  in  the  two  Baraithas  in  Ta'an.  28a,  the 
description  of  the  exploits  of  niy^i'p  ^V^'lp  ^22^  "hv  ""^JIJ  "33,  and  of  ^32 
^nsin^n  ^S?37D,  all  of  whom  a  third  Baraitha  declares  identical: 
inn  imxas:'  NDH  \\*1^  VlTV  no,  see  RabWnovicz.  The  parallel  in  jer. 
Ta'an.  IV,  68  b.  55  has :   HNI   -inn   iniNn    NCn    Nl^l    IC'D    HNIC^  ^D   JJD 

.  .  .  bon  -jini?  pmii  rina  ns*  x^nn. 


30  SOME   TYPES    OF 

a  skilled  workman  without  tools ;  a  sin-fearing  man  who 
is  not  learned  is  like  an  unskilled  man  with  tools  in  his 
hand  'J  Again  it  is  clearly  the  very  pious  man  that  is 
referred  to,  and,  as  the  illustrations  show,  one  that  is  not 
only  guarding  himself  against  sin,  but  one  that  is  using 
his  learning  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  The  fear  of  sin 
is  the  tool  with  which  the  man  who  knows  the  law  carries 
out  the  will  of  God :  it  is  the  religious  readiness  of  the 
mind  to  realize  the  law.  And  as  the  tool  of  the  skilled 
workman  does  visible,  positive  work,  the  fear  of  sin  is 
actively  carrying  out  positive  commandments,  and  it  is 
not  merely  passively  refraining  from  transgressions.^ 

And  R.  Gamaliel  II  said  to  R.  Joshua  who,  against  his  con- 
viction, submitted  on  a  point  of  the  calendar  to  the  ruling 
of  the  patriarch  and,  to  signify  his  submission,  appeared 
before  him,  '  Come  in  peace,  my  master,  my  disciple :  my 
master  in  learning,  my  disciple  in  the  fear  of  sin  who 
carries  out  all  that  I  order  him  to  do '?     Here  also  the 

1  ARN.  22,  37  b :    .IHD  XDH   Nl^l   DSn  ''NDT    p    fjnV    p"!   ^JD^?   lltTN 

on?D  Nton  Ni^  pxi  n::n  .it'i  1nl30"l^<  'h'2\  |din  nr  nn  nrh  "ir^s 
.inD  DDn  pNi  Nton  sn^  ,rv2  "inijcis  "h:^  pNi  pis  nr  nn  nrh  "ioi< 
n^a  inijJoiN  'h^  bi^  \iy\^  nr  px  nrb  "iroN.    a  contemporary  of 

R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai,  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  in  Aboth,  III,  9,  says,  He  in 
whom  the  fear  of  sin  comes  before  learning,  his  learning  shall  endure  ; 
but  he  in  whom  learning  comes  before  the  fear  of  sin,  his  learning  will 
not  endure.  Cf.  the  sentence  of  R.  Eleazar  b.  'Azai'iah  in  Aboth,  III,  17, 
Agad.  Shir.  Hashir.  Schechter,  line  26  ;  Bacher,  I,  222.  1  ;  and  ARN. 
29,  45  a :  R.  Isaac  b.  Pinhas  said.  He  who  possesses  a  knowledge  of 
Midrash,  but  not  of  the  rules  deduced  by  it  has  not  tasted  of  learning ; 
in  the  reverse  case  he  has  not  tasted  of  the  fear  of  sin. 

-  In  the  parallel  in  2  ARN,  31,  34  a,  instead  of  the  sin-fearing  man 
appears  one  who  has  done  good  deeds  ;  accordingly,  the  sin-fearing  man 
is  one  who  practises  loving-kindness  towards  his  fellow-man. 

3  jer.  Rosh  haShan.  II,  58  b.  55  :    r\'02n2  ^Zr\   ''T'oi^ni   ^2")   mb*i:^2   NU 

D''''pD,  the  text  has  not  been  preserved  intact.     In  the  parallel  Mishnah, 

II,  9,  it  reads  only :  ^nn^r  JIN  yhv  T^^p^  n^D^jni  n?D2n3  ""ai  n^nirn  un, 

nor  has  the  Baraitha  in  RH.  25  b  the  fear  of  sin.  In  ARN.  26,  41b, 
R.Akiba  says:  KDH  nST  mjyi?  :i''"'D  ^Tr\r\\2  T\mi[h  3^^D,  in  the  parallel 
2  ARN.  33,  36  a  that  part  is  missing. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  3 1 

fear  of  sin  is  explained  as  the  active  execution  of  positive 
orders,  as  suggested  by  the  previous  passages,  and  there  is 
no  trace  of  an  avoidance  of  prohibited  things.  Again,  in 
the  sad  picture  of  the  years  that  will  immediately  precede 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  R.  Gamaliel  II  says,  'The 
learning  of  the  scholars  will  be  corrupted,  and  the  sin- 
fearing  men  will  be  despised';^  meaning  clearly  such  as 
distinguish  themselves  by  a  life  strictly  in  accordance  with 
the  will  of  God,  in  which  the  fulfilment  of  the  positive 
commandments  of  the  Torah  naturally  occupies  a  more 
prominent  place  than  the  refraining  from  the  transgression 
of  prohibitions.  And  also  another  teacher  of  the  same 
period,  between  90  and  135,  used  the  same  term  to  describe 
the  very  pious  man.  When  Moses  said  to  Joshua,  '  Choose 
for  us  meib'  (to  fight  against  Amalek),  he  meant  according 
to  R.  Joshua  mighty  men,  but  according  to  R.  Eleazar  of 
Mode'im  they  were  to  be  sin-fearing  men.^  The  idea  of  the 
latter  rabbi  was  that  it  was  not  might  that  won  the  war, 
but  piety ; "  as  R.  Eleazar  himself,  during  the  siege  of 
Betthar,  prayed,  in  sackcloth  and  in  ashes,  for  the  success- 

1  Derekh  eres  zuta,  X  ;  in  Synh.  97  a  R.  Jehudah  appears  as  the  author, 
evidently  the  name  of  E.  Gamaliel  in  whose  name  he  handed  down  this 
sentence,  as  several  others,  has  fallen  out ;  anonymous  in  Sotah,  IX,  15 ; 
Bacher,  I,  92.  3 :  ^JDD  nn.l  ^JSl  IDND^  NDH  \S-^>1  mOD  DnDID  DD^ni 
2?^.  See  also  R.  Jose's  statement  about  the  appointment  of  judges  to 
the  various  courts  in  Temple  times  in  Tos.  Synh.  VII,  1  :  pPlblt^*  Dti'DI 

nmj  nnan  nini  21D  pisi  ndh  j<-i^i  •'ict^i  ddh  xinti^  ^d  b^  ppnini 

ll^ya  pn  ^nit<  pny  i:D*n,  when  they  found  a  learned,  calm,  and 
sin-fearing  man  with  an  untainted  youth  and  liked  by  the  people,  they 
appointed  him  judge  in  his  own  town.  The  parallel  in  jer.  Synh. 
I,  19c.  33  reads:  21D  lb  HDVOJ  mi  nb^^  C'D:  n2)D  pV  ^)ZiU  VJy  DIDH 
3^D  pbn  2)12  "^V'',  qualifying  the  man  to  become  a  judge  of  the  lowest 
court  on  the  Temple  Mount ;  b.  88  b. 

2  Mekhii.  17.  9, 53  b:  D^'c^jx  ):b  ~\n2  iDiN*  y'k^♦1lT  ui  ^Q'CTJN  ):b  ^nn 
Nt2n  ^Nn>  ):b  "inn  idis  ••yiiron  '\^vbi<  ui  ^nnuj,  cf.  sifre  Deut.  323; 

Midr.  Tan.  Deut.  32.  33,  200. 

3  Cf.  Sifre  Num.  157,  59  a  ff.  :  IDIX   \n2  ^31  .  .  .  bi^")^^  ^2^X?D   nOD^ 

riJ2nb^b  &^v^  P^nv  ^ji^d  w'^s  nt^ni'Di?  n*^'^  tj'^  '^^bz  c^^n*  nnoD  nnnx. 


32  SOME    TYPES    OF 

ful  defence  of  the  fortress  by  bar-Kokhba.^  Very  instructive 
is  the  way  in  which  an  anonymous  colleague  of  R.  Eliezer 
and  R.  Ishmael  rendered  the  fear  of  the  Lord  in  the  Bible 
by  the  fear  of  sin.'-^  Though  it  is,  therefore,  clear  that  the 
sin-fearing  man  was  as  pious  as  the  n^Dn,  as  he  also  was 
faithfully  practising  God's  positive  commandments,  it  is 
certain  that  there  was  some  difference  between  them.  For 
not  only  did  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  call  one  of  his  disciples 
sin-fearing  and  another  a  saint,  but  in  one  sentence "  R.  Jo- 
hanan b.  Nuri  is  described  as  a  man  of  the  fear  of  sin,  and 
ben-'Azzai  as  one  of  piety .'^  And  in  the  list  of  R.  Pinhas 
b.  Yair,  which  will  be  considered  below,  humility  leads  to 
the  fear  of  sin,  and  this  to  saintliness ;  so  that  the  first  is 


1  jer.  Ta'an.  IV,  68  d.  60. 

2  Midrash  Tannaim  Deut.  U.  23,  77  ff.  :  /n  JlwX  HNl^i?  l^bn  ]V^b 
i<Dn  nsn^  n^^  Dnsn  nx  pSUD  nn'^'yonC^  T:D.  The  same  rendering 
is  found  in  jer.  Sotali,  V,  20  c.  39  of  Deut.  10.  20  :  ...  Nl^n  yr\bi<  'H  n^s* 
DV212  NT  pN»  \2V2b  nnm  DNC'  HNTO  r]i:^V ,  'fear  the  Lord  thy  God', 
do  so  from  the  fear  of  God,  so  tliat,  if  thou  shouldst  feel  tempted  to  kick 
against  Him,  a  sin-fearing  man  does  not  kick  against  God.  So  also  in  the 
explanation  of  the  sentence  of  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair,  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
rendered  by  R.  Isaac  by  fear  of  sin  in  jer.  Shekal.  III.  47  c.  68  ;  Midr. 
Tannaim  Deut.  23.  15,  148.      In  Baraitha  Xedar.  20  a  bottom,  Mekhil. 

20.  20,  72  a:  ij^b^  ^iNLDnn  ^ni?nb  ny:i^  bv  inxT  n^n  ^uya  N^^n 

NDH  nX"^^  ^l^b  HN^an  nC^UnC^,  *  in  order  that  His  fear  may  be  on  your 
faces,  that  ye  sin  not ' :  that  teaches  us  that  shame  leads  to  the  fear  of  sin  ; 
the  fear  of  God  is  rendered  by  .TCn,  and  INDnn  ^vhlb  by  the  fear 
of  sin. 

^  ARN.  40,  64  b  ;  here  the  book  of  Psalms  is  stated  to  indicate  humility, 
in  2  ARN.  46,  64  b,  fear  of  sin,  and  R.  Akiba  is  described  as  sin-fearing, 
in  65  a  ben-Zoma. 

4  In  D'npn  ijm  ^p-iD,  ed.  Griinhut,  33:  imi  HIV  Dnm  nynsT 
nx-i>  b^  .jnN  -j-n  bv  nyaiNi  .sdh  riwsn^  bv  ^^b\^  ^n  n^s  i^'Mpn 
^Ni  bi'Dnm  v^y  nx  N"ipntr  ny  -jriLSD  bv  ]^'n  bi<  )b  -idn  ndh 

ncnan,  the  three  things  of  NGPI  DS'I''  which  Rabbi  is  alleged  to  have 
ordered  his  son  to  obey,  refer  to  prayers,  to  the  reading  of  the  weekly 
portion  of  the  Torah,  and  to  the  attendance  at  the  school.  But  what  has 
it  to  do  with  the  fear  of  sin  ?     See  Friedmann's  Mekhil.  121  a. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  33 

only  preparatory  for  the  second.^  The  identity  of  the  fear 
of  sin  with  the  fear  of  God  sugf^ests  that  the  first  referred 
to  the  very  strict  observance  of  the  duties  expressing  the 
honour,  love,  and  worship  of  God,  while,  as  was  shown 
above,  the  TDn  Avas  most  particular  in  the  practice  of 
the  love  of  man;  but  both,  it  is  understood,  observed 
conscientiously  all  the  commandments  to  be  kept. 

A  few  instances  of  such  strictness  observed  by  the  pious 
are  specially  recorded.  The  ancient  pious  men  fixed  the 
blue  cord  of  the  fringes,  prescribed  in  Num.  15.  38,  as 
soon  as  the  cloth  for  the  o-arment  woven  had  reached  the 
breadth  of  three  fingers,  and  they  did  not  wait  till  it  was 
finished.-  The  same  are  reported  to  have  had  marital 
intercourse  only  on  Wednesdays,  so  that  their  wives  should 
not,  at  childbirth,  come  to  the  necessity  of  a  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath."  Such  scrupulousness  in  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  was  considered  by  some  scholars  a  peculiarity 
of  the  Essenes,  so  that  they  identified  the  pious  men  with 
the  Essenes."^  Rabbinic  law  permitted  without  hesitation 
an}^  action  or  work  to  be  performed  on  the  Sabbath  in 
order  to  avert  any  danger  to  a  human  life,  to  assist  a  woman 
in  childbirth,  or  to  kill  poisonous  snakes.  But,  just  as  the 
stricter  Jews  in  1  Mace.  2.  35  ff.  would  not  defend  them- 
selves on  the  Sabbath  against  the  attacks  of  a  Syrian  army, 
so  the  ancient  pious  men  tried  to  obviate,  if  at  all  possible, 
a  desecration  of  the  Sabbath ;  but  the}^  would  still,  if  the 
necessity  arose,  assist  their  wives  in    every  way   on  the 

1  It  is  true  that  the  Tractate  known  as  ^^L'lT  |*1N  "Jll.  and  containing 
high  ethical  rules  for  the  conduct  of  schohirs,  was  in  the  tentli  century 
quoted  by  Joseph  Kirkisani  as  NDH  HNl^ ,  but  in  2  ARN.  26,  26  b  as 
Dn^Dn  rhy^  (see  Abrahams  in  J.  Q.  R.,  X,  1898,  660  and  in  Steinschneider's 
Festschrift,  75),  which  would  show  the  identity  of  T'DPI  and  N*Dn  NT. 
See  also  Poznanski  in  MGWJ.  61,  1917,  229  ff. 

2  Menah.  40  b.  3  Niddah  38aff. 

*  See  a  later  instance  in  Shabb.  121b:  The  scholar  employed  in  the 
school  of  the  Babylonian  teacher  Rabha  b.  R.  Huna  to  cite  Baraithas 
bearing  on  the  subject  just  under  discussion,  once  quoted  a  Baraitha  of  an 
unknown  date,  Of  him  who  kills  serpents  and  scorpions  on  the  Sabbath 
the  pious  men  do  not  approve. 

C 


34  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Sabbath,  as  permitted  by  the  law.  In  neither  case  is  there 
a  trace  of  Essenes  or  Essenic  observance.  And  the  same 
applies  to  the  strictness  of  the  pious  men  in  the  case  of  the 
early  fixing  of  the  fringes ;  for  nothing  wJi-atever  is  known 
of  any  special  rigour  of  tlie  Essejies  in  the  practice  just  of 
that  commandment.  It  is  true,  Abba  Saul  b.  Batnith  whom 
Dr.  Kohler  without  any  justification,  only  on  account  of  his 
title,  declares  to  have  been  an  Essene,^  or  his  father,  wore 
on  his  garment  the  blue  thread  of  the  fringes,  and  asked 
his  children  to  remove  it  after  his  death. ^  But  did  not 
his  friend,  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok,  report  expressly  ^  that 
only  very  few  men  in  Jerusalem  had  fixed  the  blue  thread 
to  their  linen  garments,  clearly  implying  that  on  woollen 
garments  many,  certainly  every  teacher,  wore  the  blue 
thread  1  And  did  not  the  schools  of  the  Shammaites  and 
the  Hillelites  in  Jerusalem  deal  with  the  details  of  the  law 
concerning  the  fringes  ?  *  Were  they  all  Essenes  ?  Besides 
the  two  obsei'vances  mentioned,  only  the  strict  practices  of 
two  pious  priests  are  recorded.  Jose  b.  Joezer  '^  who  is 
described  as  njinrint:^  n^on  observed  the  rules  of  levitical 
purity  very  conscientiously.^     As  in  connexion  with  their 

1  J.Q.R.,  XIII,  1901,  572  ff. 

2  Semah.  XII;  D^^^*   n^DrO,  ed.  Kirchheim,  23  :   bv  T\^T'S   pi^HD   fN 

nvv'-y  ''b  "inn  niD^^irD  "b  ins  ^^^n*  idin  n^jon  p  b)i<^  n^n  .nnn 
nt^iy  ^<b^s*  7]'C')'^p  nyyio  ni  px  nnnis*  o^roDm  ,nmnp  dvj'd  nn  ^''^ 

niDni?  niVnnDT  niob  l^rn  nmS.  Kirchheim  refers  to  the  variants  in 
Nahmani's  DINH  niin,  ed.  Venezia  32c  bottom:  n^:t33  p  b)i<'y  N3N 
.  .  b^i^y  N3N  1?DN*    .I'-ntD.     Cf.  Derenbourg,  Essai,  172. 

3  Menah.  40  a.  "  Sifre  Num.  115,  34  a  ;  Menah.  40  a,  41  b. 
•^  Hagigah  II,  7. 

^  In  'Eduy.  VIII.  4  tlie  evidence  of  R.  Jose  b.  Joezer  on  three  points  of 
levitical  purity  is  recorded.  As  not  only  his  name  and  that  of  his  father, 
but  that  of  his  place  are  the  same  as  those  of  Jose  b.  Joezer  of  Seredah  of 
the  Maccabean  rising  in  Aboth,  I,  4,  scholars  identify  the  two  and  also 
that  in  Hagigah  II,  7.  Against  the  identification  should  be  considered 
(1)  the  place  of  his  evidence  in  the  list  of  the  evidence  of  scholars  who 
appeared  before  the  school  in  Jamnia  about  the  year  100,  among  them 
a  few  who  had  survived  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  ;  (2)  the  title  of 
rabbi  attached  to  the  name  of  Jose  b.  Joezer  in  the  Cambridge  Mishnah 
and   many  early  editions    (see  Rabbinovicz).     Kohler  in  Jeiv.  Encydop., 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  35 

sacrificial  meals,  taken  within  the  Temple,  all  priests  had 
to  observe  those  rules,  it  is  not  clear  in  what  Jose's  strict- 
ness consisted.  In  their  homes,  the  priests,  as  far  as  is 
known,  did  not  apply  the  same  levitical  laws  to  their 
ordinary  food.  Tlie  rabbis,  however,  required  the  priests 
to  handle  tlieir  heave  offering,  n:nn,  given  to  them  of 
various  kinds  of  produce  by  the  farmers,  as  being  of  a 
holy  character,  also  at  home  in  due  levitical  purity.  Jose 
b.  Joezer  not  only  submitted  to  such  strictness,  but  guarded 
even  his  ordinary  food  in  ever  higher  purity,  and  was,  for 
that  observance,  called  a  pious  man  among  the  priests. 
This  interpretation  of  his  rigour  is  borne  out  by  the 
instance  of  the  intended  strict  observance  of  levitical 
purity  by  a  noble,  but  ignorant  priest  w^ho  lived  in  the 
days  of  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  Ramath-beth-'Anath. 
Sent  by  his  master,  R.  Joshua  went  to  see  the  ways  of 
that  priest  who,  by  keeping  the  rules  of  levitical  purity 
in  connexion  with  his  heave  offering,  is  stated  to  have 
behaved  as  a  pious  man.  The  scholar  entered  into  a 
conversation  with  him  about  the  pertinent  rules  of  a  pious 
man,  meaning  those  of  levitical  purity,  and  soon  established 
the  priest's  ignorance  even  of  the  relevant  biblical  law.^ 

5.  On  the  evidence  just  adduced  the  question  could 
reasonably  be  founded  as  to  wdiether  Hillel  was  not  called 
a  pious  man  on  account  of  his  strict  observance  of  the  law 

V,  225b,  quotes  the  Mishnah  about  the  ancient  Hasids :  -Especially 
rigorous  were  they  in  regard  to  Levitical  purity.'  But  strange  to  say,  the 
passage  deals  not  with  what  Jose  b.  Joezer  observed,  but  with  the  purity 
not  observed  in  certain  instances  in  the  Temple  ;  and,  as  his  evidence  was 
throughout  testifying  to  leniency,  the  scholars  called  him  Jose  the 
permitting  teacher.  How  could  this  be  quoted  as  an  instance  of  rigour  in 
levitical  purity  ?     Cf.  J.  Levy  in  lJ2r\:  nVlS*,  III,  I860,  29. 

1  ARN.  12,  28  b:  nil^Dn  mO  ITO^Va  ^Hi:  HM'J',  or,  as  another  version 
quoted  by  Schechter  in  note  77  reads  :   nV^mD  n"ID1  )^'^V^  ^oi^D  3ny^. 

In  2  ARN.  27, 28  b:  D^'TDH  m^i^na  D*pD"iy  vm  )DV  imi?  v^iH^  ^21  -ji^m, 

see  also  the  wording  p.  72  a  top.  It  may  be  added  here  that  in  such 
strictness  there  is  no  trace  of  Essenic  observance,  as  assumed  by  Z.  Frankel 
in  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  relig.  Interessen  des  Jiidenthums,  III,  1846,  454,  and  by 
Geiger  in  JM.  ZS.,  IX,  1871,  54  ;  see  Derenbourg,  Issai,  166. 

C  2 


36  SOME    TYPES    OF 

of  levitical  purity,  and  not  for  his  conduct  towards  his 
fellow  man,  his  trust  in  God,  and  his  cultivation  of  his 
soul  and  his  body.  But  apart  from  the  fact  that  the  two 
incidents  quoted  concerned  priests  and  the  priestly  food, 
and  Hillel  was  not  a  priest,  only  academic  discussions  of 
his  about  points  of  levitical  purity,^  but  not  a  single 
practical  occurrence  of  that  nature,  are  reported.  And,  in 
addition,  it  is  sufficient  to  remember  the  juxtaposition  of 
the  two  adjectives  l^Dn  v:v  describing  Hillel,  to  cause  us 
to  admit  that  the  quality  denoted  by  the  second  word  was 
closely  related  to  his  humility ;  as  also  in  the  sentence  of 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair,  humility  leads  to  the  fear  of  sin,  this  to 
piety,  and  this  to  the  holy  spirit  of  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  a  heavenly  voice  declared  Hillel  worthy.  Again,  the 
few  references  preserved  to  the  practical  conduct  of  pious 
men  in  the  first  century  and  the  first  half  of  the  second 
century  in  no  case  deal  with  the  observance  of  levitical 
purity,  though  by  that  time  it  had  begun  to  be  adopted  by 
a  few  non-priests.  A  pious  man  bought  an  article  from 
one  of  two  men  both  of  whom  claimed  the  purchase-money, 
but  he  himself  did  not  know  from  wdiich  of  them  he  had 
obtained  the  goods.  R.  Tarfon,  before  whom  he  brought  the 
case,  advised  him  to  put  the  money  in  front  of  both  claimants, 
and  to  withdraw.  The  man  then  went  to  R.  Akiba  who 
replied,  '  There  is  no  other  remedy  for  you  but  to  pa}^  both 
claimants.'  R.  Tarfon's  decision  which  exempted  the  pur- 
chaser from  double  payment  was,  no  doubt,  based  on  strict 
law,  but  evidently  did  not  satisfy  the  conscience  of  the 
pious  man,  and  so  he  submitted  his  scruples  to  another 
authority.  As  the  opening  words  of  his  judgment, 
n^pn  IP  pS  show,  R.  Akiba  did  not  base  it  on  strict  law, 
but  went  beyond  its  letter,  and  satisfied  the  scruples  of 
the  pious  man.-     A  man  was  clearing  his  field  of  stones 

1  Shabb.  15  a;  17  a. 

2  Baraitha  Baba  kam.  103  b.  The  judgment  reminds  ns  of  Tos. 
Shebu'oth  III,  1  ;  jer.  Baba  kam.  VI,  5  b.  38  ;  b.  55  b.  bottom,  Baraitha  : 
K.  Joshua  says,  *In  four  cases  a  man  need  not,  by  law,  pay  compensation, 
but  God  will  not  forgive  him  till  he  has  paid  such.'     Th^re  is  again 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  37 

which  he  threw  into  the  main  road.  A  pious  man  who 
passed  by  and  saw  his  action  asked  him  why  he  threw 
stones  from  the  field  which  was  not  his  into  land  which 
was  his ;  indicating  thereby  that,  as  a  punishment,  he 
would  soon  lose  his  property.^  From  the  discussion  of 
the  matter  in  the  Tosiftha  we  learn  that,  unlike  R.  Akiba, 
R.  Joshua  declared  the  procedure  followed  by  that  farmer 
permissible ;  and,  it  seems,  the  accepted  rule  did  not  pro- 
hibit the  landowners  from  throwing  tlie  stones,  removed 
from  their  fields,  into  the  main  road.  But  the  pious  man 
did  not  point  to  any  law  that  could  be  enforced  by  the 
authorities,  but  warned  the  moral  trespasser  on  a  purely 
moral  consideration  of  the  eventual  danger  arising  for  the 
users  of  tlie  road  ;  and  as  human  punishment  was  not 
warranted  by  the  law,  he  prophesied  to  him  a  severe 
visitation  by  God  in  the  form  of  the  loss  of  his  property. 
So  the  Hasid  not  only  acted  himself  beyond  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  even  when  it  implied  a  monetary  loss,  but 
whenever  the  welfare  of  the  fellow-man  was  concerned, 
expected  others  also,  and  tried  to  persuade  them,  to  follow 
the  same  principle.  The  same  rule  underlies  the  action  of 
the  ancient  pious  men  who  hid  thorns  and  glass  in  the  soil 
of  their  fields  three  hand-breadths  deep,  so  that  the  plough- 
share might  not  be  hindered,'^  or,  as  the  better  wording  of 
the  passage  has  it,  that  the  ploughshare  should  not  bring 
those  up  to  the  surface  (and  cause  damage  or  injury).-'^ 
The  consideration,  even  regarding  one's  own  property,  of 

nothing  Essenic  in  that  principle;  it  represents  a  point  of  view  in  the 
application  of  civil  law,  which  the  rabbis  termed  plH  mVC'D  D'JDb,  as 
beyond  the  line  of  law,  and  which,  according  to  R.  Eleazar  of  Mode'im, 
Jethro  advised  Moses  to  teach  the  children  of  Israel,  Mekhil.  59  b  on 
Exod.  18.  20 ;  Baba  kam.  99  b.  If.  What  Dr.  Kohler  in  Berliner's  Festschrift, 
199  ff.,  without  any  evidence  assigns  to  the  Essenes,  would  lead  this 
discussion  too  far. 

1  Baraitha  Baba  kam.  50  b  top  ;  Tos.  II,  13. 

2  Baraitha  Baba  kam.  30a  ;  Tos.  II,  6. 

3  .Jer.  Baba  kam.  Ill,  3  c.  44 ;  cf.  Midr.  Samuel  on  2  Sam.  7.  5,  63  a  the 
Baraitha.  A  virgin  Held  is  one  that  has  never  yet  been  cultivated; 
Pt.  Simeon  b,  Gamaliel  says,  One  in  which  there  is  no  potsherd. 


38  SOME    TYPES    OF 

possible  harm  to  others  made  the  pious  man  act  more  strictly 
than  the  adopted  custom  demanded.^  An  anonymous 
Mishnah  '^  enumerates  four  different  characters  of  men  : '  One 
who  says,  What  is  mine  is  mine,  and  what  is  thine  is  thine, 
his  is  a  neutral  character;  some  say,  this  is  a  character 
like  that  of  Sodom.  He  who  says,  What  is  mine  is  thine, 
and  what  is  thine  is  mine,  is  an  *Am-ha'ares ;  he  who  says. 
What  is  mine  is  thine,  and  what  is  thine  is  thine,  is  a  pious 
man  ;  he  who  sa3^s,  What  is  thine  is  mine,  and  what  is 
mine  is  mine,  is  a  wicked  man.'  We  see  that  one  and  the 
same  action,  attitude  or  declaration  may  be  judged  by  two 
different  standards,  one  being  that  of  everyday  life,  the 
other  that  of  high  morality.  As  long  as  an  action  is  not 
encroaching  on  the  neighbour's  interest,  the  first  mentioned 
standard  terms  it  indifferent :  to  call  it  an  average  action, 
is  already  above  commercial  and  legal  morality.  Hillel's 
standard,  on  the  other  hand,  was,  '  If  I  am  only  for  mj^self, 
what  am  I  ? '  ^  It  is  man's  bounden  duty  to  place  himself 
and  all  his  belongings  at  the  service  of  his  fellow-man, 
so  that  the  rule,  '  What  is  mine  is  mine  ',  though  legally 
correct,  is  not  only  selfish,  but  wrong  to  the  degree  of 
Sodom's  selfishness.  In  the  opposite  statement,  '  What  is 
mine  is  thine,  and  what  is  thine  is  thine ',  where  a  man  not 
only  claims  no  benefit  from  his  neighbour,  but  places  his 
own  property  at  his  disposal,  the  principle  is  that  of  the 

^  In  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  defended 
before  Elijah  the  prophet  his  extradition  of  a  Jew  who  had  fled  to  Lydda, 
resolved  only  in  order  to  save  the  city  from  the  enemy  ;  he  had  based 
his  action  on  the  Mishnah  Tos.  Terum.  VII,  20  ;  jer.  VIII,  46  b.  45,  but 
the  prophet  retorted,  Is  it  a  Mishnah  of  the  pious  men  ?  (jer.  Terum. 
VIII,  46  b.  50  ;  Gen.  v.  94  end,  Bacher,  Pal.  Amoraer  I,  188  ff.  ;  Friedmann, 
Hebrew  Introduction  to  his  Seder  Eliahu,  48).  In  his  conduct  towards 
a  fellow-man,  a  rabbi  must  not  follow  the  letter  of  the  law  laid  down  in 
a  Baraitha,  but  must  aet  in  accordance  with  the  highest  principles  of 
humanity  taught  and  practised  by  the  pious  men.  ^  Aboth,  V,  10. 

2  If  it  might  be  assumed  that  the  sentence  in  2  ARN.  27,  28  a  top, 
*  Since  that  which  I  possess  is  not  mine,  what  for  do  I  require  that  which 
belongs  to  others  ?  '  was  Hillel's  (see  Schechter's  note,  and  G.  Klein,  Ber 
cilteste  christl.  Katechismus,  87),  the  beautiful  principle  would  account  for  his 
unselfishness. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  39 

n'Dn.  As  Hillel  was  admittedly  no  Essene,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  foundation  for  looking  in  the  Hasid  for  an  Essene  ; 
it  was  nothing  but  high  Jewish  morality,  as  expressed  by 
Hillel  in  his  sentence,  consistent!}'  applied. 

Another   anonj^mous   Mishnah  ^  sa3^s :    '  There  are  four 
kinds  of  tempers  :  he  whom  it  is  eas}^  to  provoke  and  easy 
to  pacify,  his  loss  disappears  in  his  gain  ;   he  whom  it  is 
hard  to  provoke  and  hard  to  pacify,  his  gain  disappears  in 
his  loss  ;  he  whom  it  is  hard  to  provoke  and  easy  to  pacify 
is  a  T'on ;    he  whom   it   is  easy  to  provoke  and  hard  to 
pacify  is  a  wicked  man.'     Taking  Hillel's  meekness  and  his 
deliberate  resistance  to  provocation   as  the  standard,  we 
find  here  an  additional  reason  why  also  from  this  point  of 
view  he  was  rightly  called  a  pious  man ;  just  as  the  directly 
opposite   disposition    and   the   failure    of    deliberate    self- 
control  stamped  a  man  as  a  sinner.     At  the  same  time  it  is 
evident  that  for  his  mere  natural  disposition  no  man  could 
justl}"  deserve  to  be  called  pious  or  wicked ;   but  it  is  his 
deliberate    and    active    self-control    that    constituted    the 
merit,  as  the  deliberate  neglect  of  its  application  formed 
the  sin.     In  the  next  anonymous  Mishnah  -  the  principle 
underlying  the  use   of  the   same  two  terms  is  not  at  all 
clear.     It  says :  '  As  to  almsgiving  there  are  four  disposi- 
tions :    he  who  desires  to  give,  but  that  others  should  not 
give,  his  eye  is  evil  towards  what  appertains  to  others; 
he  who  desires  that  others  should  give,  but  will  not  give 
himself,  his  eye  is  evil  against  what  is  his  own ;   he  who 
gives  and  wishes  others  to  give  is  a  Hasid ;   he  who  will 
not  give  and  does  not  wish  others  to  give  is  a  wicked  man.' 
In  rendering  the  explanations  given  by  the  Jewish  com- 
mentators. Professor  Taylor  says,^  '  The  first  character  has 
an  evil    or   grudging  eye  with  respect   to   the   things   of 
others.     He  is  unwilling  that  they  should  share  with  him 
the   credit   of   liberality,  or  he  is  a  misanthrope  who  is 
jealous  lest  his  neighbours'  possessions  should  be  blessed 

I  Aboth,  V,  11.  2  ibi^:i.^  Y^  13,  3  Sayings^  90. 


40  SOME    TYPES    OF 

by  their  almsgiving,  and    lest   they  should    enjoy  favour 
with  God  and  man.     The  truly  liberal,  on  the  contrary, 
is  he  who  "  counsels  "  liberal  things  (Isa.  32.  8) :  who  is  not 
only  liberal  himself,  but  moves  others  to  be  so  (Abarbanel).' 
In  fact,  however,  there  is  no  need  for  interpretations  introduc- 
ing foreign  thought,  as  the  two  middle  parts  expressly  state 
grudge  to  be  the  only  source  of  the  man's  conduct.    When  a 
poor  man  appeals  for  assistance  to  one  person  in  the  presence 
of  others,  say  in  the  synagogue  or  the  school,  the  person 
appealed  to  recognizes  the  claim  to  apply  not  only  to  him, 
but  to  all  present,  and  gives  himself  and  induces  the  others 
to  contribute  ;  this  is  the  pious,  truly  charitable  man.    But 
if  he  refuses  help  himself,  and  even  dissuades  others  from 
giving,  he  is  wicked.     If  he  himself  supports  the  poor  man, 
but  thinks  his  own  assistance  to  be  sufficient,  so  that  the 
money  of  others  would  be  wasted,  he  is  grudging  the  poor 
the  help  of  others  ;  in  the  reverse  case,  when  he  allows  him 
to  receive  only  the  money  of  others,  and  grudges  him  his 
own  assistance,  his  meanness  refers  to  his  own  support. 
But  even  with  this  plain  interpretation  of  the  sentence, 
it  is  not  evident  why  his  slight  consideration  for  the  help- 
less fellow-man  should  be  sufficient  to  merit  for  him  the 
distinctive  name  of  a  Hasid.     And  even  more  difficult  is  it 
in  the  next  Mishnah,^  '  There  are  four  characters  among 
those  who  attend  the  house  of  study :  he  who  goes   and 
does  not  practise   secures  the   reward  for  going;   he  who 
practises,  but  does  not  go,  secures  the  reward  for  practising; 
he  who  goes  and  practises  is  a  Hasid ;  he  who  neither  goes 
nor  practises  is  a  wicked  man.'     Even  the  mere  attendance 
at  the  house  of  learning  is  accounted  meritorious ;  for,  by 
listening  to  the  teaching,  he  receives  useful  guidance  for 
his  moral  and  religious  conduct,  and  its  effect  will  in  the 
end  not  fail,  though,  for  the  present,  he  evinces  no  inclination 
to  realize  the  principles  of  conduct  taught  there.     But  if  he 
keeps   away  from  the  school   altogether,  he    exhibits    an 
attitude  of  slighting  or  even  contempt  for  its  spirit ;  and  by 

1  Aboth,  V,  U. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  4 1 

adding  the  failure  of  practice,  he  deliberately  turns  away 
from  the  religious  tendency  represented  by  the  school,  and 
proves  himself  a  sinner.  Attendance  and  practice  prove 
him  a  pious  man.  Though  here,  naturally^  the  conduct 
towards  the  fellow-man  is  not  referred  to,  the  sentence 
could  still  be  understood  as  dealing  with  such  conduct,  as 
the  subject  of  instruction  in  the  school,  as  suggested  above 
(p.  27),  was,  in  the  first  instance,  morality  applied  to 
practical  life.  But  apart  from  the  fact  that  the  plain  word- 
ing does  not  justify  such  an  interpretation,  Dr.  Hoffmann^ 
has  shown  from  the  text  of  the  Mishnah  Aboth  underlying 
Aboth  di  R.  Nathan  that  V^  10  was  the  last  paragraph  of 
Aboth  known  to  the  author  of  that  midrashic  commentary, 
and  all  subsequent  parts  of  the  chapter  were  later  additions. 
After  the  year  135,  the  rabbis  made  an  extensive  use  of 
the  term  "i^on,  and,  in  imitation  of  earlier  sentences  composed 
before  that  year  in  the  schools  of  Judaea,  formed  new  rules 
in  which  I^Dn  merely  designated  a  good,  law-abiding  man 
who  conscientiously  practised  the  moral  duties.^  All  this 
tends  to  confirm  the  result  of  the  previous  examination 
that  "I'Dn  desiofnated  Hillel  as  a  man  filled  with  true  love 
to  his  fellow-man. 

^  Die  erste  Mischna,  27-31,  especially  p.  28. 

'  Of  a  different  kind  appears  to  be  the  case  reported  in  Baraitha  Baba 
kam.  80  a,  referred  to  above,  p.  17,  about  a  Hasid  who  coughed  blood, 
and  was  advised  by  the  physicians  to  drink  naturally  warm  milk  every 
morning.  Against  the  rabbinic  prohibition  that  declared  sheep  and 
goats  robbers  of  other  men's  plantations  (see  Biichler,  'Am-ha'ares,  191  ff.), 
he  kept  a  goat  tied  to  his  bed  ;  and  on  his  death-bed  he  stated  that 
that  was  the  only  sin  of  which  he  was  conscious,  and  his  fellow  scholars 
also  admitted  that  he  was  free  from  any  other  sin.  Whether  his 
comparative  sinlessness  earned  him  the  title  of  a  Hasid,  is  not  stated. 
It  was  mentioned  above  that  the  name  of  the  scholar  given  in  Tos.  Baba 
kam.  VIII,  13,  cf.  Themur.  15  b,  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba,  is  incorrect,  though 
it  is  stated  here  that  all  his  deeds  were  in  the  honour  of  God,  as  in 
Tos.  Sotah  XIII,  4;  jer.  IX,  24  b.  39 ;  b.  48  b,  and  that  he  was  to  be  bewailed 
in  the  same  words  as  Hillel  as  humble  and  pious.  His  sin  was  committed 
against  a  rabbinic  decree,  which,  in  the  case  of  a  scholar,  was  considered 
very  grave.  When  imprisoned  by  the  Roman  authorities  in  Caesarea, 
R.  Akiba  would  rather  die  from  thirst  than  eat  without  having  before 
washed  his  hands,  and  thereby  act  against  the  view  adopted  by  his 
colleagues,  'Erub.  21  b. 


42  SOME    TYPES    OF 

6.  As  in  the  definition  of  the  Hasid  and  of  the  sin- 
fearing  man  reference  had  several  times  to  be  made  to 
the  sentence  of  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  on  the  gradual  acquisition 
of  humility  and  piety;  and  as  its  contents  throw  important 
light  on  the  whole  question  of  the  Hasid,  though  its  author 
taught  in  the  second  half  of  the  second  century,  a  short 
analysis  of  his  statement  will  be  useful.  It  reads :  ^  '  Care 
leads  to  cleanness,  this  to  purity,  this  to  holiness,  this  to 
humility,  this  to  the  fear  of  sin,  this  to  piety,  this  to  the 
holy  spirit,  this  to  the  quickening  of  the  dead,  and  this 
to  Elijah  the  prophet.'  This  is  preceded  by  a  Baraitha : 
'  Keep  thee  from  every  evil  thing  '  (Deut.  23. 10)  warns  us  to 
suppress  in  the  daytime  every  thought  of  a  sexual  nature, 
so  that  no  pollution  should  ensue  in  the  night;  hence 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  inferred,  &c.  Granted  that  this  was  his 
starting-point  for  the  whole  sentence,  is  the  list  of  the 
various  graduated  virtues  in  agreement  with  that  warning, 
and  is  the  meaning  of  each  link  clear  ?  And  if,  by  follow- 
ing faithfully  the  instruction  of  R.  Pinhas,  anybody  can,  by 
self-control  and  self-education,  attain  to  holiness,  what  does 
such  holiness  that  leads  up  to  humility  really  represent '? 

1  Midr.  Tannaim  Deut.  23. 15,  148  ;  jer.  Shekal.  Ill,  47  c.  59  ;  Cant.  r.  1. 
1.  9  ;  Midr.  Prov.  15.  32,  41  a ;  Sotali  IX,  end  ;  'Ab.  zar.  20  b,  see  Rabbinovicz  : 

HN^aD  nvpj  nvp:  ''^'b  hn'ud  nimr  -din  n^j<>  p  oms  ^ni  hm  p^d 
nijy  ni:y  ^i^b  ns^nD  n^'Mp  ni:^)^p  n^'^  hn^^d  rnni^  n'\r]D  n>^ 
HN^nD  nn^Dn  nn^on  n^i?  hn'^dd  ndh  nsT  ndh  nx-i^  n'b  nN^an 
nN'^no  D^nnn  n^^nn  n^n^n  n^^nn  n^i?  n^3d  ^ipn  nn  ^^pn  nn  n^!? 

p'T  in  vN  nv.  In  Sotah  only  in  the  editions,  but  not  in  the  Cambridge 
Mishnah  (in  the  text  of  the  Mishnah  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud  the  wliole 
sentence  is  missing),  there   is   an  additional  link  :    Hv   HN'^ZID   nnilLD") 

n^Mp  n'h  nN*^3D  nic^nai  mrns,  b.  has  it  between  nvpj  and  nmo. 

The  introductory  word  p^D  does  not  refer  to  "l^^!5^5  DV  n^b  y^VHI  quoted 
immediately  before  from  Micah  6.  8,  but,  as  it  is  expressly  stated  in  b.,  to 

Deut.  23.  10:  Dva  Dis*  iHin^  i6^  ,y-i  nm  b^iD  nin^Ji  pat  i3n 
ns*^nD   nnin  n^N^  p  Dnjs  ui  ids*  fwX2^  r\b'b2  hndid  'I'b  n^^i 

♦  »  ninr  n^b  HN^DD  nnMT  nn\"lT  n^b,  and  to  the  whole  group 
of  verses  interpreted  in  Midi-.  Tannaim.  Cf.  Hull.  37  b ;  Griinhut, 
D^Dip^n  -^20.  II,  20  b,  note  ;  nitXH  'D,  3. 


JEWISH-PALEST INIAX    PIETY  43 

Should  not  the  sequence  more  naturally  Ije  reversed  ?  and 
even  so,  how  can  the  preparatory  steps  enumerated  bring 
a  man  to  either  quality  of  character?  Or  did  R.  Pinhas 
address  himself  to  a  class  of  men  specially  trained  in  the 
preliminary  qualities,  e.g.  the  Essenes,  and  could  only  such 
hope  to  attain  to  those  distinctions  of  holy  men  ?  As  far 
as  the  scanty  material  in  rabbinic  literature  at  my  disposal 
suggests,  holiness  commended  to  be  striven  for  or  actually 
practised  referred  to  sexual  life.  To  the  question  of  some 
Alexandrian  Jews,  what  a  man  should  do  to  obtain  male 
children,  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah  replied,  '  Let  him  marry  a 
wife  worthy  of  him,  and  let  him  sanctify  himself  during  his 
marital  intercourse.^ '  He  did  not,  however,  explain  his 
meaning,^  though  it  is  clear  that  he  recommended  chastity ; 
as  his  colleague,  R.  Gamaliel  II,  stated  that  he  liked  the 
chastity  of  the  Persians  observed  at  three  actions :  at  their 
meals,  when  easying  their  bodies,  and  at  their  marital 
intercourse."    Unfortunately,  other  remarks  on  this  feature 

1  Baraitha  Nidd.  70  b :    ]nb  "ON*    Dn^T    DOn  li>  "IM^   DIN   n^V   nD 

tr'^tttyn  r\V^2  levy  ^np^i  )b  nj^inn  nc^x  nc5'\  cf.  shebu'oth  isb: 
ynrn  '2  nc'wS  n^^. 

''  An  anonymous  statement  in  Tanh.  NVi'i ,  B.  13  :  mn^^nr^w'  nCTS*  b^ 
riK'npn  n?V2  Dy  describes  a  woman  who,  during  her  marital  intercourse, 
thinks  of  no  other  man  but  her  husband,  as  having  with  him  intercourse 
in  holiness.  Compare  the  precautions  of  E.  Eliezer  in  Baraitha  Nedar. 
20b  top,  to  prevent  himself  from  thinking  of  another  woman,  as  such 
thought  would  stamp  his  children  as  born  in  adulter)'.  Note  his  idea  of 
adultery  committed  by  a  mere  thought  ;  his  colleague  E.  Joshua  may 
have  meant  the  same.     See  also  Baraitha  Baba  mes.  107  b  :  y'"*  p2"l  IJn 

» . .  nnnvX  n*j'Ni?  .-nNnc  irxi  in*c\si?  ppu) .  .  .  nnnc^  nsa  ncx:  nnai. 

3  Baraitha  Berakh.  8  h :  nniN  Dnm  ni"bi:*a  bi^'br^^  pi  "i^N  N^:n 

inN  nma  pyijv^  ndsh  n^ii  py")::»*i  |n>:Na  \'v^:)i  \n  d^^dieh  ns»  ^jn. 

This  is  explained  in  Kethub.  48  a  to  mean  that  they  performed  it  dressed, 
as  the  wife  of  E.  Eliezer  said  of  her  husband  in  Nedar.  20  b,  nSD  n^ifO 
n2D  nDSJOl,  which  is  explained  by  Asheri  as  avoiding  "^'^l  Dll'p 
contact  of  the  bodies,  as  in  Kethub.  48  a  :  "W:^!  2)'\p  "IT  niNi:'  ^DV  21  ^JH 
fn^C'ui'a  fiTHIDD  pC>DC^r:C'  D'^DIE:  :n:rO  r\2  j^y  S^C-,  and  as  it  is  reported 
of  E.  Jose  b.  Halaftha  in  jer.  Yebam.  I,  2  b.  12  :  i^ya  ]nD  T^ni  where  plD 


44  SOME    TYPES    OF 

of  holiness  designated  by  the  word  ^Ip  belong  to  the 
middle  of  the  third  century;^  but  as  the  underlying  ideas 
are,  as  will  be  seen,  the  same  as  those  in  the  earlier  state- 
ments, a  reference  to  them  will  be  useful.-     R.  Joshua  b. 

means  the  sheet,  as  in  Nidd.  5  a  top.  In  Nidd.  16  b  ff.  R.  Simeon  b.  Yohai 
says,  '  There  are  four  things  which  God  hates  and  I  do  not  like  :  him  who 
enters  his  house  unexpectedly,  and  all  the  more  his  neighbour's  house,' 

inuD  c'DtTDni  inoD  ^jai?  ony  d^d  pn::'ioi  ct^  pnt^Di  r\^H2  Tnixm 

TI   ?2   ^J23.      The  last  sentence  reads  in  some  texts   (see  Tosafoth  s.v. 

pnc^^)  nny  inDD  c*m'Dm,  of.  ^)iipr]  irnn  ^piD,  ed.  Grunhut  47: 
iDK^N*  ]'2h  ):^2\y  Dnan  '\D)t<r\)   pn*^'»"i  inoxn  rmxni   nny  iddd, 

p.  41  :  p^SJ'ID  p't^'^tJ'rD  IHK'^l  .  .  .  (HD  pJH^  D^IM  pNK^  Onm  n^^i?B^ 
p:in:  p^<  'l^-ab  D^^D^DI  Onnn  nS.  The  word  ym*  ^chaste',  is  a 
synonym  of  C^'llp,  sec  below  ;  but  in  jer.  Berakh.  II,  5  b.  56  R.  Jose 
described  R.  Meir  to  the  inhabitants  of  Sepphoris  as  D^Hp  D*1S  PHJ  D1X 
yiJV  DTK,  both  words  being  applied  to  him,  while  the  parallel  passage  in 
Gen.  r.  100.  7  has  only  t^Hp  DIN,  see  Bacher,  Tannaiten,  II,  5.  1. 
In  Gen.  r.  33,  3  the  patriarch  Jehudah  I  praised  R.  Hiyya  as  a  great  and 
holy  man. 

^  Already  Testam.  Joseph,  4. 1  has  :  '  Often  therefore  did  she  flatter  me 
with  words  as  a  holy  man,  and  guilefully  in  her  talk  praise  my  chastity 
before  her  husband,  while  desiring  to  ensnare  me  when  we  were  alone.' 

'  Jer.  Yebam.  II,  3  d.  24 :  ncn2  2)r\2r]  ']12D  r^D^)  ^D  \2  mV  '21  IDN 

NipD  ninyn  p  l:-i'id  xinc^  ^d  b^^  "^lobb  ^pt^'n^p  jTcnsi?  nviy 
^"\ip  Q\n!?i<  t:'\s*  ^2  'nyT  s:  nj.i  ^I^'>^^i5  nnroix  n^?DJVk^  ]2^  mip 
i6'^'  ntDN*  p3N  ^an  .tj'np  n^D^n  pxi  Nin  t')'^p  n:v  ^nn  n?ON  ^Nin 
bii)j2U  ^n-n  n^nroN*  .vd^id  np  dd^d  n^i  iX^c'  piros*  pnii  ^nn  D^an 
nm   -iDTo   ^y  iSC^u   n^^D  n^cn  n*^   ^idv   ]d  hidn  pn:;^  2-1  13. 

In  the  parallel  in  Lev.  r.  24.  6 :    HDrDDJ   n?0   >JDD   "'rS   p   m*in^   Ul   lt:N* 

u  N^fiD  nriN**;^  mpD  i?3*:''  "iiioiji?  Ni?^<  ^Q^'trnp  ni^^-iDi?  mny  n^j'iD 
nrosn  >TD  p  n-nn^  ^am  xihd  ^*^n^?1  n^)ip  n:»*id  nns*  nny  in^ 
Ti^^D  ^li?  p  yc'in^  ^21  ,^)ip  t<-ip:  nnyn  p  "iDi*y  nm:  «in*^'  ^d  ^d 
nviy  ncns  h^ddj  hd  '•:!2ro  ^ii?  p  yt^tn^  '•a-i  nos*  ,  ♦  .  n^ojic^  p 
nriN  nny  -nj  nvijd  nnxti'  DipD  b2\:^  inobt'  n^jn*  ^D^t^'np  n^-isi? 

.    ♦    ♦   P^3D   pnp  n^b  n^NI   Hk^'np   N^'irO;    the  parallel  in  Berakh.   10  b: 

ini  ijnh'j^  by  iniy  nur  nriNn  vh'^*  -idn  nn  ^jnidc^i  3-1  ^nvT  n:o 
vby  np  nnsn  t^h  int2?o  i^y  ny^vn  fn*k:'D  b^  piD  ir:Nv    in  Gen. 

r.  98.  4  ;  Agg,  Gen.  82.1  ;  Tanh.  Tl^l,  9  ;  Yebam.  76  a,  Jacob  said  to  his  son 
Reuben,  I  am  eighty-four  years  old  np  riDD  TT'S"!  N^l. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  45 

Levi  says,  '  Why  are  the  chapters  about  prohibited  inter- 
course (Lev.  18)  and  holiness  (Lev.  19)  put  close  to  each 
other?  To  teach  us  that  where  we  find  a  guard  against 
immorality,  we  find  holiness ;  and  there  are  many  passages 
in  the  Bible  to  prove  it.  R.  Jehudah  b.  Pazzi  in  the  name 
of  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  says,  Whoever  separates  himself  from 
immorality  is  termed  holy,  as  the  Shunammite  woman  called 
Elisha  a  holy  man  of  God  in  2  Reg.  4.  9.'  An  older  contem- 
porary of  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi,  the  Babjdonian  scholar  Samuel, 
says  that  she  called  the  prophet  holy,  because  she  had  never 
noticed  a  stain  of  semen  on  his  sheet;  and  a  later  Amora, 
R.  Abin,  suggests  as  the  reason,  because  he  had  never 
looked  at  her. 

But  it  is  of  importance  for  our  examination  that  already 
a  Baraitha  dealt  with  the  prohibition  to  look  at  women, 
and  suggested  the  reason  of  it :  '  Keep  thee  from  every  evil 
thing  (Deut  23.  10) :  one  should  not  look  at  a  fair  woman, 
even  if  she  is  unmarried,  nor  at  a  married  woman,  even  if 
she  is  ugly,  nor  at  the  coloured  dress  of  a  woman,  nor  at  an 
ass,  a  swine,  or  a  fowl,  when  they  are  pairing.'  ^  While  we 
learn  incidentally  from  an  illustration  of  R.  Gamaliel  II 

1  'Abod.  zar.  20  a,  b  ;  Midr.  Tann.  Deut.  23. 10, 147  :  i?;:©    m?3L*':i    ^TH^D 

niDn.  In  jer.  'AZ.  1, 40  a.  73 ;  b.  20  a,  a  Baraitha  reports  how  E.  (Simeon  b.) 
Gamaliel  I,  when  he  once  saw  a  beautiful  non-Jewish  woman  on  the 
Temple  Mount,  spoke  a  blessing  over  her  ;  the  Talmud  is  surprised  that 
he  should  have  looked  at  a  woman.  Joseph  in  Egypt  would  not  look  at 
the  princesses  who  threw  rings  and  ornaments  at  him  to  attract  his 
attention,  and  God  rewarded  him  for  it,  Gen.  r.  98.  18.  Two  Babj'loniau 
disciples  of  K.  Johanan  in  Tiberias,  R.  Haninah  and  R.  Osha'ia,  were 
bootmakers,  and  worked  for  immoral  women  ;  when  the  latter  looked  at 
them,  the  scholars  did  not  raise  their  eyes  to  look  at  the  women.  For 
this  they  were  called  in  Babylonia  ''i^*''^p  p31  *  the  holy  scholars  of 
Palestine'.  Pesah.  113b  top;  Bacher,  Palast.  Amoraer,  III,  551.  1.  In 
Cmpn   "irai    *p-lS,   ed.    Griinhut,   37:    DN1   1^    irOwS*    ]\2\>T\    h^^t^^^   DIB'D 


46  SOME    TYPES    OF 

that  in  liis  time,  about  the  year  100,  nobody  looked  at 
a  married  woman/  but  anybody  at  an  unmarried  one,^  the 
honour  of  women  demanded  it  that  they  should  not  be 
looked  at  by  men."  In  explanation  of  Job  31.  1  it  is 
specially  stated  that  Job  imposed  upon  himself  the  strict 
moral  obligation,  not  even  to  look  at  a  girl.*  If  a  man 
counts  money  into  the  hand  of  a  woman  or  from  her  hand 
into  his,  in  order  to  look  at  her,  even  if  he  be  like  Moses 
who  received  the  Torah  on  Sinai,  he  will  not  escape  the 
punishment  of  hell.^  R.  Ahai  b.  Joshiah  said,  '  He  who 
looks  at  women  will,  in  the  end,  come  to  immorality ;  and 
he  who  looks  at  the  heel  of  a  woman  will  have  unworthy 
children 'S'     The  reason  is  here  clearly  stated  :  it  is  to  pre- 

^  Tos.  Kidd,  I,  11  ;  in  jer.  Hagigah,  II,  77  d.  38  ff.,  in  a  legendary  report, 
R.  Jehudali  b.  Tabbai  blamed  his  disciple  for  having  looked  at  the 
married  woman  with  whom  they  were  staying  in  Alexandria.  Cf.  Briill, 
Jahrbilcher,  III,  52,  note  129,  and  Midr.  Cant.  ed.  Grlinhut  4  b. 

2  R.  Matthia  b.  Harash  was  a  God-fearing  rabbi  who  never  looked  at  a 
married,  nor  even  at  any  other  woman,  Tanhnma  Num.  B.  ]y.  66  a  ;  Midr. 
Abkir,  11,  §  30;  Gaster,  TW^V^  'D,  93  ff.  ;  Bacher,  Tannaiten,  I,  384.  3. 

^  Jer.  Synh.  II,  20  b.  44  states  that  at  funerals,  according  to  one  opinion, 
they  walked   behind   the   men    pD"'3D  IH"*  i6^  i'NItJ'''  m:3   1)22    ^JDD 

*  ARN.  2,  7  a  top,  2  ARN.  2,  4  b,  because  next  day  she  might  become 
the  wife  of  another  man.  See  R.  Samuel  b.  Nahman  in  Tanh.  n?\^'')  5  ; 
B.  13,  cf.  Bab.  bath.  16  a. 

^  Baraitha  'Erub.  18  b;  slightly  different  in  Berakh.  61  a:  Even  if  he 
possess  learning  and  good  deeds  as  Moses  did. 

«  Nedar.  20  a  ;  Derekh  eres  I :  ^2)  ."imy  n^i?  X3  1D1D  Q^K'i3  nDlYH  ^2 

n^:)3inr3  p^N*c^  n^j3  )b  p^in  nt^'s*  b^  n2pV2  i^^noDn.    To  look  at  the 

nakedness  of  a  woman  is  a  sin,  as  the  Israelites  who  had  fought  against 
the  Midianites,  brought  in  Num.  31.  50  an  offering  to  the  Lord  ;  "'3*1  &<Jn 

):w  ^32n    11^2  Din  imsati^  bi^iiy'  "i^i^^in  n^  ^:£d  bN*j?»^^  un 

ni"iyn  \t2  Dn"'J''y,  according  to  the  school  of  R.  Ishmael  they  required 
atonement,  because  their  eyes  had  looked  with  pleasure  at  nakedness, 
Baraitha  Shabb.  64  a,  b.  Cf.  the  additions  to  Derekh  eres  in  Mahzor 
Vitry  724  :  There  are  twenty-four  obstacles  in  the  way  of  repentance  &c. , 
5.  he  who  looks  at  nakedness.  R.  Miasha  in  Pesik.  r.  24,  125  a  ;  Lev. 
r.  23  end  ;  Derekh  eres  I  says,  *  He  who  sees  a  thing  of  nakedness  and  does 
not  derive  pleasure  from  the  sight  of  it,  merits  to  see  God's  glory.' 
Cf.  Synh.  92  a  bottom:  mVJJ  inC^p  nnV^  ^^nODH  ^D  Ityt'S  ''2-1  nCXI 
'^n^p  rnVn   nny   IDNDK^  with  Rashi's  explanation. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIEIY  47 

vent  lust  and  immoral  desires.  But  the  extension  of  the 
prohibition  even  to  looking  at  the  coloured  dress  of  a 
woman  or  at  animals  is  based  on  an  additional  considera- 
tion. In  connexion  with  the  examination  of  a  man  who 
shows  symptoms  of  a  running  issue,  R.  Jehudah  b.  llai 
says  that  the  sight  of  animals  pairing  or  that  of  the 
coloured  dress  of  a  woman  excites  sexual  desires,  and 
causes  a  pollution.^  A  teacher  of  the  third  century,  intro- 
duced as  pnn,  says,  as  quoted  above,  that  Elislia  was  called 
a  holy  man,  because  he  had  never  experienced  a  pollution, 
and  that  meant  to  say  that  sexual  desires  had  never  entered 
his  mind  ;  but  already  earlier  teachers  warned  emphatically 
against  any  action  that  might  have  such  an  effect.  Carnal 
thoughts  should  not  be  excited  even  by  looking  at  one's 
own  membrum.  And  such  a  sight  was  actually  avoided  by 
holy  men  like  the  patriarch  R.  Jehudah  I,  and  before  him 
by  R.  Jose  b.  Halaftha  whose  great  chastity  at  the  marital 
intercourse  was  mentioned  before ;  the  first  never  put  his 
hand  even  below  his  belt.^     If  this  explanation  of  holiness 

1  Zabhim,  II,  2:  I^J^EN  Ht  UV  HT  ppDyriD  ^)V)  H^H  r\}2r\2  HNI  ib'CN* 
HK^NH   V3i*   ^33  nSl. 

2  Jer.  Megil.  Ill,  74  a.  38  :  Antoninus  who  had  submitted  to  the 
circumcision  asked  Rabbi  to  look  at  his  membrum;  but  Rabbi  replied, 
I  have  not  looked  at  my  own,  how  much  less  should  I  look  at  yours  ! 
And  why  was  Rabbi  called  our  holy  teacher?  Because  he  never  looked 
at  his  membrum.     R.   Jose  in  Shabb.  118  b  bottom,  stated  the  same  of 

himself;  but  M2^2H  Dnn  )T  D'^ZH  i<b^'  HU  Hin  ^nn^^<  ^<ni?r^  ^312. 

Such  extraordinary  precaution  is  reported  of  teachers  of  the  end  of  the  first 
and  the  beginning  of  the  second  centuries  in  a  Baraitha  Nidd.  13  a  : 

.nh'wb  i^uo  n^jd  )b'ii2  pnc^ci  in?0N2  rmNn  bz  -l?D1^<  lTV'b^^  '21 
nDDtj^  nn^D  .1x1:1  rb.ii  bv  prn^j  nm-^^:  i6r\)  iry^t'N*  uii?  1^  iijon 
tvb  i^"iV'C'  3D1D  Dni?  iDN*  .Dnrno  jn^^  r:3  bv  ryb  x^i'i^  Ni*»:i 
.DipDH  '^zh  nns*  nv'^  yt^i  )D:iV  n:^T  ^xi  DnroD  \r\^  v^a^i^y 
N^i'iDH  b2  \:r\v  ui  iDNi  ,r\bi22b  yiT  n32C>  x^vict;'  ^jdd  .njob  p  bz)) 
D3n^  2'r\2i  \s?o  irybN*  '31  i?:m  ,(nn^rD  3^^n  ni?D3>  yir  n335^ 
5iN:n  s*^  ^xy?o*j'^  ^31  *3-i  N3n  ,n^3  D^2N:Dn  )bi^  ,in*^?o  n^r^i 
n"ip'iD''n3  ppn^^'roni  nn:n  p3i  i:n  .b:-i3  p3  1^3  p3  fjix'':  12  xnn  i6 


48  SOME    TYPES    OF 

is  correct,  the  first  stages  enumerated  in  the  sentence  of 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  as  leading  up  gradually  to  holiness 
would  mean  this  :  if  a  man  takes  deliberate  care  to  restrain 
himself  from  thinking  of  women,  it  will  bring  him  to  the 
state  of  cleanness ;  he  will  not  be  defiled  by  pollution  in 
the  day,  he  will  not  dream  of  women  by  night,  and  so  keep 
himself  in  continuous  purity.  Gradually  he  will  free  him- 
self from  irritating  thoughts  of  sexual  intercourse  in  the  day, 
and  from  all  that  even  approaches  immorality  in  any  form 
or  degree. 

7.  In  the  wording  of  the  passage  in  the  Talmud,  as 
stated  above,  nvp:,  cleanness,  leads  up  to  nisrnD,  and  this 
to  purity.  The  word  mc'ns  generally  means  separation, 
abstinence ;  ^  but  the  thing  from  which  one  undertakes  to 

iDHD  i6r\)  ,i<b  ]nb  ids*  ,)2bi2'  i<b  lon^a  Y)p  )b  3C^^  1^  nDi< 
nnc>  -iN3^  Ti>  bii)  iDn3  ypan  212)12  ]r6  ■^»^<  ,nypaj.  in  Tos. 
Nidd.  II,  8 :  .pspn  D^'j'jxai  nn3V^D  'in  n^r^a  pMih  n2-\J2r\  Tn  i?D 
icN*  ^nnriDn:  ions  nn  )b  n^wS  .nu^D  bv  r^'P'ri  i^in*  pdid  ui 
]r\):b  r\r2M  iiin  n^b  b^^  'h^^  ,^2b  n^n*  ^n:ionj  i6  ^jx  ^is*  Dni) 
Dn"i?oN  Dnai  r\D2  .nycn  n^vid  nnin  pnn  ni.ik^  pr  b2  pya  ya^N* 
nnnitro  it  nn  pnai?  ^2112^  im  i?D  nan!?  ^3n*  yir  n3Di:^2.    r.  Eiiezer 

and  E.  Tarfon,  followers  of  the  Shammaite  school,  who  had  before  70 
lived  in  Jerusalem  and  later  taught  in  Lydda,  declared  it  a  grave  sin,  if 
the  hand,  even  in  a  case  of  urgent  need  or  danger,  touched  the  membrum 
or  even  came  near  it,  because,  as  the  Baraitha  explains  it,  it  irritates, 
and  may  produce  pollution.     Cf.  tJ^HpH  )}'2'\  ''pIS,  ed.  Grunhut,  45  if. 

r]bt22b  vi^  r\22\y  nN^vir^i  iniiX  nnrono  nntc^  "^jdd  )'vp^n  nos*i?  t,  and 

R.  Jeliudah  in  the  Baraitha  Shabb.  108  b  bottom  }'Vp^n  HDN^  T. 

^  For  instance,  in  E.  Akiba's  sentence  in  Aboth,  III,  13  :  T'O  D'^lU 
npTlC^  ilDinb  ^"'^D  niC^nap,  vows  are  a  fence  to  abstinence,  a  fence  to 
wisdom  is  silence.  Here,  as  the  other  parts  of  the  list  show,  fence  means 
advancement :  vows  advance  self-imposed  abstinence.  If  the  vow  were 
that  of  a  Nazirite,  his  abstention  from  wine,  strong  drink,  and  defilement 
would  prepare  him  for  a  more  extensive  abstinence.  In  AEN.  26,  41  b 
the  order  of  the  words  is  inverted  :  mnU  r\^)lpb  ^^'D  nitJ^^ID  n^H^b  3^''D 
^{D^  nXT  ni^yp  T^'D,  and,  as  a  comparison  with  the  sentence  of  E.  Pinhas 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  49 

separate  in  order  to  be  led  to  holiness  is  not  indicated,  and 
could  naturally  be  one  of  several  matters  or  conditions. 
One  is  idolatry;^  and  holiness  is  attained  by  a  complete 
divorce  of  the  mind  from  all  ideas  and  practices  connected 
with,  and  arising  out  of,  Palestinian  heathen  worship. 
This  includes  in  lists  given  by  teachers  of  the  second 
century  theatres,  circuses,  stadia,  superstitious  practices, 
the  heathen  way  of  growing  the  hair,  &c.^  Even  to  look 
at  idols  was  included  in  the  prohibition ;  and  Nahum 
b.  Simai  was  called  a  most  holy  man,  because  he  never 
looked  at  the  figure  (the  head  of  the  emperor)  on  a  coin.'^ 
Or  nrc'^na  may  be  the  separation  from  levitical  impurity,* 

shows,  they  mean :  the  result  of  vows  is  abstinence,  that  of  purity  holiness, 
and  that  of  humility  fear  of  sin. 

1  Sifra  Lev.  20.  7,  91  d  :    mtmD  n'J'np  IT   ,  U'l^^Mp    QH^MI   QDC^npnni 

D^'L^np  -\DM<  Ninc^D  .nii'DH  b:^  n*j*np  n^x  nrx  in  . .  nnr  mny 
nnr  muy  mc^na  niy)ip  it  Q^j^^np. 

2  Sifra  Lev.  18. 3, 86  a.   Mekhil.  19.  6,63  a  :   D^*;:^"l"lpD1   U^li^Mp    ^l^Mp  ^131 

DiTi'ipii^ci  nb)vn  ni?oix?o  D^-^'ns  ;  sifre  Deut.  85 :  )^nzin  ,ppa-in  )1\ 

3  Jer.  'Abod.zar.III,42c.l;  Pesah.  104  a  :  ^31  ♦  ,  .  D^i^^i^N^n  i^i^  1J2n  bx 

pan  ^ND^D  13  Din:  U"i  "jm  12  .c^nro  jnixi^  nj2n  bi^  n?oiN  m^.n^ 
♦  ♦ .  n^ni3?Dna  jirr:n^  id  ^v^ni  pn?^n  n^jt  n^:]  nrovS  ,f^i'n^  xn^^ip^s 
ro-tD  ynoo  mii'3  nun  i6'^  D^s^np  cnp  ^^s*  Dim  i»k^  t<ipj  nobi, 

just  as  the  Zealots,  on  patriotic  grounds,  see  Hippolytus,  Refutatio  haeres. 
ix.  26. 

<  Sifra  Lev.  11.  44,  57  b  ;   11.  45,  57  b  ;  19.  2,  86  c  :    DD^^i?^5    M    'JX    O 

Dnx  "IS  *^np  ^jN*c>  Dt:'3  'n  ^jn*  ::^np  ^:d   D^'j'np  Dn^^ni  Dnt^^pn^1 

D^K^IID  1M  DnX  "13  C^IID  ^:N*^  D*^3  .D^'t^'Hp  .  Though  it  does  not  suggest 
from  what  God  separates  Himself,  the  connexion  between  separation  and 
holiness  is  expressly  stated,  and  the  biblical  basis  suggests  separation 
from  everything  impure  and  defiling ;  see  Schechter,  >Some  aspects  of 
Rabbinic   Theology,   205.       In   Tos.    Shabb.    I,  15  ;  jer.  I.  3  c.  3  ;    b.  13  a  : 

PTHD  bhn  n^2i  Y'\i^T\  nv  3T  dv  ms  nr  ^^x-"  i^h  Dnoix  ^^*Di^•  n^a, 

the  Shammaites  say,  A  man  with  a  running  issue,  if  he  is  otherwise 
keeping  away  from  levitical  impuritj',  shall  not  eat  with  a  man  who  has 
the  same  complaint,  but  is  as  an  'Am  ha'ares  not  separating  from 
levitical  impurity;  the  Hillelites  permit  it.      Hagig.  II,  7  :  piNH  DJ?  n33 

D 


50  SOME    TYPES    OF 

which  would  lead  to  a  withdrawal  from  human  society 
as  complete  as  that  of  the  Essenes.  A  third  possible  kind 
is  the  abstention  from  meat  and  wine/  producing  Nazirites 
of  a  strict  order.  A  fourth  kind  of  separation  is  the  partial 
or  complete  forbearance  of  marital  intercourse,^  which  is 
in    fact    designated    as   holiness/'     From   the    remark    of 

^Dp?  OnD,  tlie  garments  of  the  'Am  ha'ai-es  are  a  defilement  for  the 
separating  i^wlio  eat  their  ordinary  food  in  levitical  purity,  Rashi)  ; 
the  garments  of  the  separating  are  a  defilement  for  the  priests  who  eat 
the  priestly  heave  offering ;  the  garments  of  the  priests  are  a  defilement 
for  the  sacrifices.  See  also  Tohar.  IV,  12 :  HltJ'nD  niHD  IT  p^Jinn  p3D, 
R.  Jos^  says,  The  food  of  a  separating  man  concerning  the  practical 
impurity  of  which  any  doubt  exists  is  impure,  and  such  observance  is 
only  the  scruple  of  far-going  purity  (see  Biichler,  'Am  ha  ares,  166). 

1  Baba  bath.  60  b;  Tos.  Sotah,  XV,  11:    n''^J^2  n^a.l   2intJ^3   p21   IJH 

••31  nrh  ^stiJ  ,r  rnnt^!?  xi'i^'i  -\^2  b^:i^b  ^h^  h^-^^^2  pt^^ns  nn 

4  ♦  ♦  Dnb  yO^  Vt^'1^'',  when  the  second  Temple  was  destroyed,  many 
.Jews  abstained  from  meat  and  wine  ;  but  E.  Joshua  argued  with  them,  &c. 
Cf.  the  Baraitha  Sotah  22  b,  31  a  ;  jer.  Berakh.  IX,  14  b.  54. 

2  Sotah,  III,  4 :  p3p  T\v^r\'o  mi?Dni  3p2  HK'X  ni'i")  iDiN  vt^in''  ^m 

mC"'lS1,  R.  Joshua  said,  A  woman  prefers  to  receive  from  her  husband  as 
her  sustenance  only  one  Kabh  of  corn,  but  licence  (frequent  marital 
intercourse),  to  nine  Kabhs  of  corn  and  abstention  (from  intercourse), 
rivCri  can  here  mean  neither  obscenity,  nor  frivolity,  just  as  in  the  same 
Mishnah  :  Ben-'Azzai  said.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  man  to  teach  his  daughter 
Torah,  so  that,  if  she  should  have  to  drink  the  bitter  waters  of  Num.  5, 
she  should  know  that  a  merit  of  hers  suspends  their  effect ;  R.  Eliezer 
said,  If  a  man  teaches  his  daughter  Torah,  it  is  as  though  he  taught  her 
riPDH.  As  the  commentators  explain,  it  means  :  he  teaches  her  to  think 
of  sexual  relations.     R.  Joshua  continues  in  the  Mishnah  :   HDIJi^  T'DH 

th'W  ''h^'o  lijN  nn  ptj^nD  hiddi  Hk^ns  ntJ^Ni  urw  p^ii,  a  fooUsh  pious 

man,  a  subtle  sinner,  an  abstaining  woman,  and  the  plagues  (or  stripes) 
of  abstaining  men  (or  Pharisees)  are  destroying  the  world.  Geiger  in 
IDPIJ  HiTIX,  II,  100  ;  Bacher,  Tannaiten,  I,  158.  2,  quotes  a  variant 
ni?1"lD  nti'X,  a  licentious,  loose  woman.  In  Yoma  74  b,  in  a  passage 
quoted  from  the  Passover-Haggadah :  HN  NT*"!  2^r\21  Dni'DI  ''1J''yD  5]^''J1 
pN  in  niK^ns  ir  pnDSI  1i^:y,  it  means  forced  separation  from  marital 
intercourse.  Cf.  Apoc.  Ezra?,  125  :  qui  abstinentiam  habuerunt,  and  v.  122, 
^  According  to  Gen.  7.  13  Noah  and  his  sons,  while  in  the  ark,  lived 
separate  from  their  wives  ;  when  God  in  8,  16  permitted  them  to  rejoin 
their  wives,  Noah  in  8.  18  did  not  avail  himself  of  the  permission. 
R.  Nehemiah,  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  remarks  on  this  in 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  5 1 

R.  Joshua  it  is  evident  that  nvc^na  meant  not  total  absten- 
tion from,  but,  as  the  contrast  shows,  merely  a  reduction 
of,  such  relations.  On  the  other  hand,  Moses  is  in 
rabbinic  sources  stated  to  have  completely  given  up 
marital  intercourse  with  his  wife,^  in  order  to  be  ready 

Gen.  r.  35.  1:  r]^)lp2  3n:i  ')))in  bv  ?l'Din,  Noah  extended  the  original 
command,  and  continued  observing  hoh"ness.  He  designated  the 
abstention  from  marital  intercourse  as  holiness,  just  as  tlie  order  of  God 
in  Exod.  19.  10  to  sanctify  the  people  was  understood  by  Moses  in 
verse  15  to  mean  keeping  away  from  the  women.  As  in  the  passages  on 
p.  43,  3  yiJi? '  chaste ',  was  used  for  holy,  so  we  read  in  a  Baraitha  Shabb.  53  b 
of  a  man  who  married  a  woman  with  a  mutilated  limb,  and  never  had 
marital  intercourse  with  her.  Rabbi  praised  the  woman  as  nyiJ^f  *  chaste', 
but  R.  Hiyya  remarked,  n^lDH  i6^  HT  DIN*  VIJi*  nD3  5<^X  "^^^  n^ll  IT 
inC^X3,  that  it  was  woman's  nature,  while  the  husband's  chastity  deserved 
praise.  '  Chaste '  is  hardly  sufficiently  strong  for  the  context,  as  it  should 
express  very  strong  self-i'estraint.  In  Cant.  r.  6.  6  an  anonymous  teacher 
says,  .Just  as  a  ewe  is  chaste,  so  the  Israelites  in  the  war  against  Midian 
in  Num.  31  were  chaste  and  pure.  R.  Aha  adds  that  they  entered  the 
houses  of  the  Midianite  women,  blackened  their  faces,  and  took  down 
their  earrings  in  order  to  remove  their  attractive  features,  and  not  one 
of  the  Israelites  was  suspect  of  immorality.  See  Gitt.  57  a  and  p.  46,  note  6. 
1  Baraitha  Shabb.  87  a  ;  ARN.  2,  5  b  top,  2  ARN.  2,  5  b,  Moses  did 
three  things  of  his  own  accord,  and  God  later  approved  of  them  :  he  added 
a  day  to  the  two  prescribed  by  God  in  Exod.  19.  10,  15,  he  ceased  his 
marital  intercourse  with  his  wife,  and  broke  the  tablets.  As  to  his 
intercourse,  he  argued  thus,  God  commanded  Israel  before  the  revelation 
of  the  Decalogue  on  Mount  Sinai  to  keep  away  from  their  wives,  though 
He  spoke  to  them  on  one  short  occasion  only,  and  fixed  the  time  of  it : 
to  me  God  speaks  at  any  time,  and  it  is  not  fixed  beforehand,  how  much 
more  must  I  keep  away  from  my  wife.  In  ARN.  R.  Jehudah  b,  Bethera, 
between  90  and  135,  dealt  with  the  same  question.  In  Sifre  Num. 
12.  1.  99,  27  a,  and  Sifre  zuta  Num.  12.  1,  81  ff.  :  And  Miriam  and  Aaron 
spake  against  Moses  ;  whence  did  Miriam  know  that  Moses  was  abstaining 
from  begetting  children  ?  When  she  noticed  that  Sipporah  was  not 
adorning  herself  in  the  way  of  women,  she  asked  her  for  the  reason  ; 
Sipporah  replied.  Thy  brother  cares  not  for  it.  R.  Nathan  said,  Miriam 
was  standing  near  Sipporah,  when  the  young  man  came  running  to  Moses 
and  told  him  (Num.  11.  27)  that  Eldad  and  Medad  were  prophesying  in 
the  camp  ;  Sipporah,  hearing  this,  said,  Woe  to  their  wives  !  Accordingly, 
all  the  seventy  elders,  at  least  for  a  time,  had  to  abstain  from  marital 
intercourse,  since  God's  spirit  rested  on  them.  It  is  interesting  to  find 
that  already  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  II,  68,  M.  II,  146,  pointed  out  Moses' 
abstention  as  required  for  his  readiness  at  all  times  to  receive  God's 
revelation. 

D  2 


52  SOME    TYPES    OF 

at    all    times   for  receiving  God's  revelation/  to  be  pure 
and  holy.^ 

If  we  now  apply  the  various  meanings  of  niCJ'ns  to  the 
words  of  R.  Pinhas,  we  find  that  only  two  of  them  point 
to  ways  of  separation  that  lead  up  to  holiness  :  from  idolatry 
with  its  branches,  and  partial  abstinence  from  marital 
intercourse ;  and  as  the  first  cannot  be  connected  with  the 


^  In  Apoc.  Ezra  6.  32,  For  the  Mighty  One  has  seen  thy  purity 
(rectitude),  yea  tlie  holiness  {pudicitiam)  which  hath  been  thine  from 
thy  youth.  Dr.  Box  remarks,  Chastity,  like  fasting,  intensifies  the  power 
of  prayer,  and  prepares  the  way  for  a  revelation,  cf.  1  Enoch  83.  2.  This 
would  agree  with  Philo  and  the  rabbis  concerning  Moses'  chastity. 
But  Gunkel  in  Kautzsch,  Pseudepigraphcn,  366,  in  adopting  Hilgenfeld's 
retranslation  into  Greek  Giixvorr^s,  gives  for  pudicitia  piety.  As  to  the 
fasting,  K.  Akiba  in  Synh.  65  b  ;  Midr.  Tannaim,  110,  in  his  explanation 
of  one  who  inquires  of  the  dead,  Deut.  18. 11,  refers  to  a  man  who  starves 
himself  and  spends  the  nights  in  a  cemetery,  so  that  the  spirit  of  impurity 
may  rest  on  him,  and  attains  it ;  how  much  more  should  a  Jew  who 
starves  himself,  so  that  the  spirit  of  purity  may  rest  on  him,  succeed  in 
attaining  it ;  but  what  can  we  do,  since  our  sins  are  preventing  such 
success.  The  spirit  of  purity  is  the  holy  spirit  of  prophecy,  as  in  Hillel's 
ease.  Fasting  and  abstinence  from  marital  intercourse  appear  together  as 
signs  of  repentance  or  mourning  in  Baraitha  'Erub.  18  b  :  R.  Meir  says, 
Adam  was  a  great  Hasid  :  when  he  learned  that  through  him  death  was 
decreed  as  a  punishment,  he  fasted  for  130  years,  separated  from  his  wife 
for  130  years,  and  clothed  himself  in  garments  of  fig  leaves  for  130  years. 
Cf.  Pseudo-Philo  in  J.Q.R.,  X,  1898,  317,  James,  Biblical  Antiquities  of 
Philo,  100 :  When  Pharaoh  ordered  that  all  new-born  boys  of  the 
Israelites  be  thrown  into  the  river,  the  elders  of  Israel  wished  the  people 
to  resolve  to  deny  themselves  intercourse  with  their  wives.  The  same 
in  Sotah  12  a,  and  in  the  advice  of  R.  Ishmael  in  the  Hadrianic 
persecutions  in  Baraitha  Baba  b.  60  b;  Tos.  Sotah,  XV,  10.  In  the 
Elephantine  Papyri,  the  Jews  of  Jeb  mourned,  fasted,  and  had  no 
intercourse  with  their  wives,  when  the  priests  of  Jeb  destroyed  the 
Jewish  Temple,  R.  Eleazar  b.  Pedath  calls  a  man  who  is  fasting  holy, 
R.  Simeon  b.  Lakish  terms  such  pious,  Ta'an.  11  a,  b  bottom  ;  but  see 
Tosafoth  s.  V.  ^D13.    See  also  Sifre  Deut.  18.  12.  173. 

2  Mekhil.  R.  Simeon  on  Exod.  19.  14,  98  :  As  the  words  of  the  Torah 
require  purity  and  holiness,  it  says.  He  sanctified  the  people.  See  the 
whole  page.  Pure  and  holy  are  found  together  in  Mekhil.  15.  2,  37  a,  b, 
Mekhil.  R.  Simeon,  61 :  Israel  said,  I  am  a  queen,  a  daughter  of  kings, 
beloved,  a  daughter  of  beloved  men,  Dmnn  ni  nniHtD  D''C^np  ni  H^Hp  ; 
in  Sifre  Deut.  214  of  the  captive  woman  in  Deut.  21.  14  :  If  she  is  ill, 
he  shall  wait,  until  she  recovers  ;  how  much  more  so  in  the  case  of 
Jewesses  who  are  holy  and  pure  ;  cf.  Shabb.  105  a;  Mekhil.  14. 15,  29a. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  53 

preceding  cleanness,  nor  with  the  following  purity,  only 
the  abstinence  remains.  In  fact,  it  fits  the  context  best, 
as  established  before  :  cleanliness  from  pollution  by  day 
leads  to  the  moderation  of  intercourse,  this  to  perfect 
purity  from  self-defilement  by  night,  and  this  to  freedom 
from  all  impure  thought  of  a  sexual  nature.^  Only  it  is 
difiicult  to  see,  if  all  the  parts  of  the  sentence  so  far 
considered  refer  to  sexual  life  and  thought,  how  marital 
moderation  and  chastity  can  lead  up  to  humility.  Before 
a  definition  of  its  meaning  here  can  be  attempted,  attention 
must  be  drawn  to  the  intimate  connexion  noticeable  in 
rabbinic  thought  between  the  reverse  of  humility,  haughti- 
ness, and  immorality.  Already  Gen.  39.  7,  '  And  it  came 
to  pass  after  these  things  that  his  master's  wife  lifted  up 
her  eyes  to  Joseph,  and  she  said,  Lie  with  me,'  contains  the 
immoral  lifting  up  of  the  eyes,  which  is  identified  in  a 
statement  of  R.  Jose  the  Galilean  with  the  haughty  eyes 
in  Prov.  6. 17 :  'Seven  things  are  stated  about  the  adulteress  : 
high  looks,  for  the  adulteress  raises  her  eyes  to  another 
man,  as  it  says  in  Isa.  3.  16,  Because  the  daughters  of  Zion 
are  haughty,  and  walk  with  stretched  forth  necks  and 
wanton  eyes,  &c.'^     But  already  Sirach  26.  9  has  the  same 

^  We  find,  however,  separation  following  after  jDurity  in  Sotah  IX,  15 : 
On  the  death  of  R.  Gamaliel  the  glory  of  the  Torah  ceased,  and  purity 
and  separation  died.  Briill,  Introduction  to  the  Mishnah  I,  51,  refers  both 
expressions  to  levitieal  purity,  while  Levy,  NHTV.,  IV,  144  a,  translates 
them  by  purity  and  abstention  from  evil.  In  Sifre  zuta  Num.  6.  8.  38  : 
All  the  days  of  his  separation  he  is  holy  unto  the  Lord,  *]"n  "1TJ-*  "'JDD 
^Mp  N"lpJ  mriDI  rill^^lD,  because  he  abstained  (from  wine  and  strong 
drink)  and  observed  levitieal  purity,  the  Nazirite  is  called  holy.  But 
this  order  merely  follows  that  of  Num.  6.  A  peculiar  meaning  of  purity 
may  be  quoted  in  support  of  the  above  intei-pretation.  R.  Samuel  b. 
Nahman,  in  the  name  of  R.  Jonathan,  in  Menah.  110  a,  interprets  the  pure 
offering  in  Mai.  1.  11  to  refer  to  him  who  studies  the  Torah  in  purity, 
by  marrying  first  and  then  turning  to  study ;  in  Yalkut,  Mai.  1.  11 
R.  Nehemiah,  in  Yoma  72  b,  bottom  on  Ps.  9.  10  R.  Haninah  is  the 
author.  Cf.  Kidd.  29  h.  bottom  ;  Tos.  Bekhor.  6.  10.  A  married  man  is 
not  diverted  by  impure  thoughts,  has  no  pollution,  and  is  clean  and  pure 
for  the  Torah. 

2  Tanh.  NC^:  1  ;  B.  3  ;  Num.  r.  9.  11.     In  Midr.  Samuel  on  1  Sam.  9. 13, 


54  SOME    TYPES    OF 

thought :  '  The  whoredom  of  a  woman  is  the  lifting  up  of 
her  eyes,  and  it  shall  be  known  by  her  eyelids.'  ^  Similarly 
of  men  the  Testaments  of  the  twelve  Patriarchs,  Issachar  7.  2 
say, '  Except  my  wife  I  have  not  known  any  woman  ;  I  never 
committed  fornication  by  the  uplifting  of  my  eyes.'  And 
Didach^  3.  3  has,  '  Raise  not  thine  eyes  high,  for  from  all 
that  arises  adultery.' ^  Rabbi  saw  in  Acco  a  man  whose 
father  he  had  known  to  be  a  priest,  walk  on  ground  con- 
taining human  corpses  ;  when  he  asked  the  man  why  he 
acted  against  the  law  of  priestly  levitical  purity,  he  replied, 
My  father  raised  his  eyes  high,  and  married  a  divorced 
woman,  and  thereby  disqualified  me  from  the  priesthood.^ 
R.  Johanan  said,  A  man  in  whom  there  is  haughtiness 
ultimately  stumbles  over  a  married  woman.^  And  a  woman 
said  to  her  immoral  husband,  What  was  the  cause  of  your 
action?  that  you  are  haughty.''  Conversely,  a  man  who 
never  lifts  up  his  eyes  to  another  woman,  never  looks  even 
at  an  unmarried  girl,  but  keeps  his  looks  down  to  restrain 
in  him  all  desire  for  women,  will  be  termed  humble ;  there- 
fore the  absence  of  such  lust  and  of  sexual  thought,  which  is 
holiness,  will  lead  to  that  feature  of  humility.     When  such 

43  b,  K.  Jehudah  says  that  the  girls  who  met  Saul  looked  at  his  beauty 
without  becoming  satiated  ;  to  this  R.  Jose  remarks.  ni3Zl  r]^)V  HDJ^^tDJ 

"JD  ^N1K^\  which  reads  in  Yalkut  :  DI^IID  i^Nn::^^  niJ2  nD^^i^y  fD  DN,  you 
describe  girls  of  Israel  as  having  been  immoral. 

1  Cf.  Menander's  sentences  in  ZATW.  32,  1912,  218,  §  43 :  Walk  with 
a  stretched  forth  neck  in  straightforwardness,  and  be  chaste  in  thy 
thought,  and  consider  and  see  that,  as  thou  wouldest  not  like  thy  wife  to 
commit  adultery  with  someone  else,  also  thou  shouldst  not  desire  to 
commit  adultery  with  the  wife  of  another  man.  In  Psalms  of  Solomon 
4.  4  :  His  eyes  are  upon  every  woman  without  distinction  (Syriac  :  im- 
modestly) ;  with  his  eyes  he  talketh  to  every  woman  of  evil  compact.  In 
Gen.  r.  41.  7  on  Gen.  13.  10,  And  Lot  lifted  up  his  eyes,  R.  Jose  b. 
Haninah  said,  The  whole  verse  deals  with  immorality,  as  Gen.  39.  7  and 
other  parallels  show. 

2  R.  Simeon  b.  Yohai  in  Pesik.  r.  Ill,  10  a  explains  Lot's  lifting  up  of  his 
eyes  as  immorality,  Gen.  13.  10;  Bacher,  Tannaifen  II,  116.  1. 

3  Jer.  Shebi'ith  VI,  36  c.  20  Rabbi,  in  Synh.  5  b  R.  Hiyya  ;  seeTosafoth 
s.  V.   U1. 

4  Sotah  4b.  5  ]^um.  r.  9.  3. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  55 

desires  have  been  entirely  eliminated  from  the  mind  of  the 
pious  man  who  is  consistently  striving  after  perfection,  he 
is  able  to  turn  his  attention  undivided  to  God's  will  and  to 
all  the  duties  expressing  the  fear  of  sin,  the  submission  of 
man  to  God's  commands,  and  he  will  endeavour  to  fulfil 
them  in  humility.  This  will  bring  him  to  the  practice  of 
unselfish  love  to  his  fellow-man,  to  piety.^ 

Piety  leads  to  the  possession  of  the  holy  spirit  which 
means  the  gift  of  prophecy."^  Hillel  was  declared  worthy 
of  it;  and  though  it  is  not  expressly  stated  by  what  he 
merited  it,  the  praise  of  his  humility  and  piety  in  the 
same  account  strongly  suggests  those  traits  of  his  character 
as   the  qualifications  for  it.     In  the  continuation   of   the 

^  111  Synh.  19  b  ff.  humility  means  moral  self-restraint  :  pnV  ""Si  HDS 

p^'h'^  ^y  n^^y  n^^i  i?^n  v^y  m^n  r\\r\  tddt  ^^'o  pnv  '•m  ids*  .  .  .  ^^^h 
.^'"h  p  ^^^52  nt  r\'h'2  ^y  n^i?y  n^i  ,ryni  ?idv  nr  ^^n  i^y  n^jn  nun 
^••SM  i^nm  \nr\  ipc^  a^n^i  ^nd  jn^v  ^ai  icn*  pn:  la  h'^^a^  ^2-1  -ion 
^"h  p  'toi'D  nt  i^i^nnn  n\i  m  nsi^  ,ryu  nr  ^svn  ^nm  ,?idv  nr  jnn  -iptj'. 

The  self-control  of  Joseph  in  Gen.  39,  8-12  is  described  as  ^plH,  moral 
strength  ;  that  of  Boaz  in  Kutb  3.  13,  and  of  Palti  b.  Laish  in  1  Sam.  25. 
44 ;  2  Sam.  3. 15, who  never  touched  his  wife,  is  termed  nijmijy  '  humility ' ; 
the  latter  evidently  means  even  greater  self-control,  the  total  absence  of 
all  carnal  desires  and  of  lust.  In  Lev.  r,  23.  11  and  Ruth  r.  3. 13,  VI.  4 
E.  Jose  says  that  the  same  three  men  whom  passion  tried  to  overpower 
restrained  themselves  by  an  oath.  It  is  of  sj)ecial  interest  that  R.  Meir 
in  Aboth  VI,  1  attributes  to  the  study  of  the  Torah  for  its  own  sake  the 
following  effects  on  the  character  :  he  is  called  friend,  beloved,  lover  of 
God,  lover  of  men  ;  it  clothes  him  in  meekness  and  fear  (of  God),  it  fits 
him  to  become  just,  pious,  upright,  and  faithful,  it  keeps  him  far  from 
sin,  and  brings  him  near  to  virtue,  ...  he  becomes  chaste,  long-suffering, 
and  forgiving  of  insults. 

2  Tos.  Sotah  13.  2  ;  jor.  IX,  24  b.  23  ;  b.  48  b :  Since  the  death  of  the  last 
prophets,  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  the  holy  spirit  ceased  in  Israel; 
also  in  several  other  passages,  like  Tos.  Sotah  12.  5.  In  Mekhil.  12. 1, 2b  top, 
Simeon  b.  'Azzai  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Baruch,  Jeremiah's  disciple,  the 
complaint,  Why  should  I  be  different  from  other  disciples  of  the  prophets? 
Joshua  served  Moses,  and  the  holy  spirit  rested  on  him  ;  Elisha  served 
Elijah,  and  the  holy  spirit  rested  on  him.  The  parallel  Baraitha  about 
Hillel  in  Sotah  48  b  has  :  He  is  worthy  of  God's  presence,  n^DJ^,  to  rest 
on  him  ;  this  also  means  the  gift  of  prophecy. 


56  SOME    TYPES    OF 

report,  Samuel  the  Small  was,  among  the  scholars  assembled 
in  an  upper  room  in  Jamnia,  designated  by  a  heavenly 
voice  as  the  only  one  worthy  of  the  holy  spirit.  He  was 
called  the  Small,  because  he  made  himself  small  (was 
humble) ;  according  to  others,  because  he  was  a  little 
smaller  (more  humble)  than  Samuel  of  Ramah.  On  his 
death  they  bewailed  him  thus :  Woe  for  the  humble,  the 
pious,  a  disciple  of  Hillel  the  old.  While  dying,  he  said  in 
Aramaic,  '  Simeon  and  Ishmael  for  destruction,  and  the  rest 
of  the  people  for  plunder,  and  great  distress  will  come'; 
but  they  understood  not  what  he  meant.  Humility  was 
his  outstanding  quality,  as  it  became  evident  on  a  certain 
occasion.  Once  R.  Gamaliel  II  ^  invited  seven  elders  to  the 
upper  chamber  to  deliberate  upon,  and  to  resolve,  the  inter- 
calation of  a  thirteenth  month  into  the  year.  When  he 
found  eight  scholars  present^  and  inquired  as  to  who  had 
come  unauthorized,  Samuel  the  Small  rose  and  said,  I  have 
come  in  order  to  obtain  information  about  a  difficulty  of 
law.  R.  Gamaliel  then  said  to  him,  '  0  Eldad  and  Medad, 
if  I  had  invited  only  two,  all  Israel  knows  it,  you  would 
have  been  one  of  them.'^     Eldad  and  Medad  considered 


1  Several  texts  have  R.  Simeon  h.  Gamaliel  (see  Rabbinovicz)  ;  and 
Dr.  Ginzberg  in  E.  E.  J.,  66,  1913,  300.  3  assumes  that  Samuel  was  a 
member  of  the  Beth-din  under  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I  in  the  days  of  the 
Temple.     See  also  Halevy,  Q^JID'^in  Hnn,  le,  100  a  ff. 

2  Baraitha  jer.   Synh.  I,  18c.  11  ;   b.  11a  top;    in  Semah.  VIII,  mbx 

,  ,]^V'^'\''  b^"^^^  b'2'^  "n^DI.  In  b.  :  Sit  down,  my  son,  sit  down,  you  are 
worthy  to  intercalate  in  any  year  ;  and  it  is  added  in  an  Aramaic  state- 
ment that  the  scholar  who  had  come  in  unauthorized  was  not  Samuel, 
and  that  he  rose  only  to  avert  shame  from  the  intruder.  When  Samuel 
died,  Semah.  VIII  reports,  his  key  and  his  writing-tablet  were  hung  on 
his  coffin,  because  he  had  no  son.  R.  Gamaliel  and  R.  Eleazar  b.  'Azariah 
bewailed  him  publicly  and  said,  For  this  man  it  is  proper  to  weep,  for 
this  it  is  proper  to  mourn  :  kings  die  and  leave  their  crowns  to  their 
sonSj  wealthy  men  die  and  leave  their  riches  to  their  sons,  Samuel  the 
Small  has  taken  all  the  treasures  of  the  world  and  is  gone.  As  he  was 
invited  to  the  delibei'ations  on  the  intercalation,  he  must  have  been  a 
great  scholar,  and  the  praises  mentioned  may  have  referred  to  his 
learning  as  well  as  to  his  humility.  In  jer.  Sotah  IX,  24  c.  37  ;  Bacher, 
Tamiaiten,  I,  83.  4,  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  quotes  the  whole  Baraitha  about 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  57 

themselves  unworthy  of  the  prophetical  spirit,  and  were 
for  their  modesty  in  making  themselves  small  distinguished 
over  all  the  other  elders  by  the  gift  of  life-long  prophecy.^ 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  some  of  Hi] lei's  disciples  were 
declared  worthy  of  the  holy  spirit.  Of  his  eighty  scholars 
thirty  were  worthy  that  God's  glory  should  rest  on  them  as 
on  our  teacher  Moses,  (only  their  generation  was  not  worthy 
of  it),  thirty  were  worthy  that  the  sun  should  stop  for 
them  as  it  stopped  for  Joshua  (or  of  intercalating  a  month 
in  a  year),  and  twenty  were  men  of  average  capacity;  the 
eldest  of  all  was  Jonathan  b.  *Uzziel,  the  youngest  Johanan 

Hillel   and   Samuel  differently:    S*n:i    n^2  D'^bv^    D''jpT  "IDJ^J^^   n'k^'VD 

hbn)  li^ipn  nni?  p^isn  n^:^  ny^^n  ^'  ]nb  n-icj^i  bip  nn  nxv"''!  inn>3 
njau  D'^bvb  D^:pr  idjd:  nrc'i  .ppn  i^NiD'^a  fn^ry  ):r\:)  ]nD  nns  fprn 
fDpn  i3N*io^i  ^^pn  nni?  p-'iNi  n^:^  n^^i  t^""  }rh  ^l?:^^^  i?ip  ni  nxri 
|nvn  ncoDH*^  pnoc^  rm  DiJpiin  p  -iry^i's  ^ni3  [.Try  ):n:)  inc  nnx 

DpDn  ny"l7.  it  is  hardly  doubtful  that  Samuel  the  Small  as  a  con- 
temporary of  Hillel  is  a  mistake  for  another  Samuel  or  perhaps  another 
unknown  colleague  of  Hillel ;  see  Brlill,  Jahrbiicher,  I,  36,  note  73. 
The  inclusion  of  R.  Eliezer  b.  Hyrkanos  next  to  Samuel  as  worthy  of  the 
holy  spirit  is  very  instructive,  as  his  teacher  R.  .Johanan  b.  Zakkai  also 
declared  him  the  most  distinguished  of  his  disciple*,  Aboth  II,  8,  though 
we  know  nothing  of  his  humility  and  piety.  The  suggestions  of  G.  Klein, 
Der  alttste  christl.  Kate.chismus,  111  ff.,  113  ff.  appear  to  have  no  foundation 
whatever.  As  to  Samuel's  supposed  Essenism,  the  only  point  in  favour 
of  it  seems  to  be  his  prophecy,  which  arose  from  the  political  unrestin 
Judaea  in  the  year  117  ;  but  R.  Eliezer  also  prophesied  on  his  death-bed 
a  violen  end  to  R.  Akiba  and  his  fellow-scholarst,  Baraitha  Synh.  68  a. 
Of  the  characteristic  traits  of  the  Essenes  enumerated  by  Josephus  none 
are  mentioned  in  the  life  of  Samuel. 

1  Sifre  Num.  95  ;  Baraitlia  Synh.  17  a  R.  Simeon.  Mekhil.  20.  21,  72  a 
says  of  Moses  that  his  humility  brought  him  the  distinction  of  being 
permitted  to  draw  near  to  the  thick  cloud  where  God  was,  as  it  says  in 
Num.  12.  3,  The  man  Moses  was  very  humble.  This  verse  tells  us  that  he 
who  is  humble  will  ultimately  cause  God's  glory  to  rest  with  men  on 
earth,  as  it  says  in  Is.  57.  15,  For  thus  saith  the  High  and  Lofty  One  that 
inhabiteth  eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy  .  .  .  with  him  also  that  is  of  a 
contrite  and  humble  spirit,  &c.  And  it  says  in  Is.  61.  1,  The  spirit  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  me  ...  to  bring  good  tidings  to  the  humble  ;  and  it  says  in 
Is.  66.  2,  For  all  those  things  hath  mine  hands  made,  &c.  .  .  .  but  on  this 
man  will  I  look,  even  on  him  that  is  humble  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  &c. 
And  it  says  in  Ps.  51.  19,  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit. 


58  SOME    TYPES    OF 

b.  Zakkai.^  The  numbers  may  be  exaggerated ;  but  the 
connexion  between  the  learning  of  the  disciples  and  their 
characters  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  worthiness  of  the 
prophetical  gift  and  their  ability  to  work  miracles  on  the 
other,  is  evident.  Now,  accidentally,  we  learn  some  inter- 
esting details  about  their  character.  '  The  Shammaites  said. 
One  should  not  teach  but  a  wise,  humble,  and  wealthy 
man,  descended  from  a  good  family ;  the  Hillelites  said. 
One  should  teach  everybody,  for  there  were  many  trans- 
gressors in  Israel  who  were  brought  near  to  the  study  of 
the  Torah,  and  there  proceeded  from  (among)  them  righteous, 
pious,  and  perfect  men.'-  The  object  of  the  study  of  the 
Torah  was  according  to  the  Hillelites  to  make  the  scholar 
righteous,  pious,  and  perfect ;  in  the  opinion  of  the  Sham- 
maites  that  goal  could  only  be  reached  by  such  as  had 
brought  with  them,  when  joining  the  school,  good  breeding, 
wisdom,  and  humility  as  the  foundation  on  which  to  build.^ 
The  Hillelites  relied  on  the  cultivating  influence  and  the 
force  of  the  study  of  the  Torah ;  and  its  effect  combined 
with   the    influence   of    the   spirit    of   Hillel   was   indeed 

1  Baraitha  Sukkah  28  a  ;  2ARN.  28,29  a:  Vn  Dn^D^Jn  D^:inC^  pm  ):n 

D^C'^K'T  iJ^m  n5^D3  nj^D^  pfjv  niiyrwy  d^^usi  onn  n'l^b^  p^ri  bbr^b'h 

^NDr   p    pnV    pi   ]b):i2^'   l^p   i^Xniy    p  |n3r;ARN.  14,  28 a  different: 

nn^yi  r\:v  nnyi?  f^^sn  jno  n^^yb^  ,^2b  nxn  iim  pNK'  x^s  i^^m  ns^oa 

2  ARN.  3, 7  b  ff. :  ny^y'  ^N*  D^^ix  'i<^^  n^3t^  ,r]2i7]  an^obn  m^iovt]) 
ms*  i?Di)  DnroiN  b^n  nm  r\'\yv)  nnx  pi  rjyi  D^n  N*in^  ^job  xSjn  din 
DHD  ixri  niin  Tirobn^  unpn:i  bi<'\:y'2  nnn  vn  n'V^)^  nain^  njc^^ 

D-'T^Ol  an^Dn  D'l^nV;  cf.  2  ARN.  12,  15  b  :  ^nUN  -ji)  IDT  i^b  ND*^,  jer. 
Ber.  IV,  7  d.  9. 

^  In  Agadath  Shir  Hashir.  8. 9,  Schechter,  an  otherwise  unknown  scholar, 
Abba  Eleazar  b.  Gigi  of  Barak  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  learning  and 
humility  in  the  scholar,   12in   n^^b   IJDIN*   p'\2  K^>N   '^^   ]2  l^vbn   N2X 

mi^yi  nD3n  )b  inij  ■•jnn  ain^n  i^  ion  n^n  n^^n  pNi  v^y. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  59 

evident :  for  the  Hillelites  were  kind  and  humble/  thus 
making  up  for  the  initial  absence  of  the  qualities  demanded 
of  the  disciples  on  their  admission  by  the  Shammaites. 
Some  of  the  exceptionally  gifted  in  humility  and  piety 
qualified  under  Hillel  for  attaining  to  the  holy  spirit.^ 

8.  Here  attention  must  be  drawn  to  a  statement  of 
Dr.  Kohler's  about  the  qualifications  required  of  one  to  be 
initiated  into  various  mysteries.  In  the  introduction  to 
bis  paragraph  on  the^  chaste '  whom,  without  a  shadow  of 
evidence,  he  identifies  with  the  Essenes,  he  writes  :  ^  '  Upon 
the  observance  of  the  highest  state  of  purity  and  holiness 
depended  also  the  granting  of  the  privilege,  accorded  only 
to  the  elite  of  the  priesthood,  of  being  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  Holy  Name  and  other  secret  lore.  The 
Name  of  twelve  letters  was,  after  the  Hellenistic  apostasy, 
entrusted  only  to  the  Zenu  im,  the  chaste  ones  among  the 
priesthood.  The  Name  of  forty-two  letters  was  entrusted 
only  to  the  Zanu'a  and  'Anaw,  the  chaste  and  the  humble, 
after  they  had  passed  the  zenith  of  life  and  had  given 
assurance  of  preserving  the  Name  in  perfect  purity, 
Kidd.  71a,  Eccl.  rabb.  III.  11 ;  Yer.  Yoma  40  d,  41a '.  To  my 
great  regret,  I  have  not  succeeded  in  finding  in  the  passages 
indicated  the  evidence  for  the  many  striking  assertions. 
The  Baraitha-^  reports:  'At  first  they  handed  down  the 
name  of  twelve  letters  to  everybody ;  since,  however,  the 
impudent  became  numerous,  they  handed  it  down  to  the 
modest  among  the  priests,  and  even  the  modest  among 
the  priests  let  it  be  drowned  in  the  chant  of  their  brethren, 
the  priests.'  Here  the  priesthood  of  the  Temple  of  a 
certain  date  is,  from  a  certain  point  of  view,  religious  or 
moral,  divided  into  three   groups  :    insolent,  modest,   and 

1  'Erub.  13  b  :  VH  ]'yhv^  pHlJC'  '^^12 . 

2  In  Nedar.  38  a,  R.  Johanan  says,  God  does  not  rest  His  gloiy  but  on 
a  physically  strong,  wealthy,  wise,  and  humble  man,  as  is  evident  in  the 
case  of  Moses.  His  requirements  of  a  prophet  are  nearly  identical  with 
those  laid  down  by  the  Shammaites  for  a  disciple  of  their  school. 

3  Jeio.  EnctjcL,  V,  225  b  fif.  .    *  Kidd.  71  a. 


6o  SOME    TYPES    OF 

non-descript ;  but  there  is  in  y^2V  no  trace  of  purity  and 
holiness,  no  elite  of  the  priesthood,  no  initiation  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  holy  name,  no  secret  lore,  and  no  Hellen- 
istic apostasy.  yi:v  denotes  a  positive  quality,  probably 
nothing  else  but  discretion  or  modesty,^  and  was  chosen  in 
contradistinction  to  pna.  Other  similar  statements  about 
priests  and  others,  where  none  of  the  qualifications  suggested 
by  Dr.  Kohler  could  possibly  fit,  bear  it  out.  When  at  the 
distribution  of  the  loaves  of  the'Om^,  the  bread -offering  of 
the  Pentecost,  and  of  the  shewbread,  only  as  much  as  the  size 
of  a  bean  was  given  to  each  priest,  the  modest  withdrew 
their  hands,  but  the  greedy  took  and  ate  it ;  once  a  priest 
took  his  and  his  fellow's  portions,  and  he  was  called  for 
that  a  grabber.'  ^  Here  yi:v  is  opposed  to  pni.  R.  Johanan 
b.  Nuri  relates  that  he  once  met  an  old  man,  a  descendant 
of  the  beth-Abtinas,  at  one  time  the  makers  of  the  incense 
in  the  Temple,  who  told  him,  In  the  past  when  my  father's 
family  Avere  discreet,  they  handed  down  the  scroll  (of  the 
prescription  for  the  incense)  one  to  the  other ;  but  now 
that  they  are  no  longer  trusted,  take  the  scroll  and  keep  it 
carefully.^  Similar  is  its  meaning  where  used  of  non- 
priests.  '  The  Shammaites  say,  One  should  sell  olives  only 
to  one  who  observes  levitical  purity,  the  Hillelites  permit 
to  sell  also  to  one  who  observes  only  the  law  of  tithing; 
the  discreet  among  the  Hillelites  acted  according  to  the 
Shammaites."^  Dealers  in  garments  made  of  mingled 
materials  may  sell  their  goods  by  carrying  them  on  them- 
selves in  the  usual  way ;  but  the  discreet  carry  them  on  the 
end  of  a  staff  behind  them.  Sewers  of  garments  of  mingled 
materials  may  sew  them  on  their  laps  in  the  usual  way ; 
but  the  discreet  sew  them  on  the  ground.'^  In  order  to 
prevent  the  poor  who  receive  produce  on  the  threshing- 

1  The  passage  in  jer.  has  instead  of  D"'y"lii*  the  word  DnC'i. 

-  Baraitha  Yoma,  39  a  ff. ;  jer.  VI,  43  e.  65  ;  Tos.  Sotah,  XIII,  7,  8. 

3  Baraitha  jer.  Yoma  III,  41  a.  73  ;  Tos.  II,  7;  but  b.  38  a  bottom  has 

4  Damm.  VI,  6.  5  KiL  IX,  5,  6. 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAX    PIETY  6 1 

floor  from  eating  it  untitliecl,  discreet  farmers  give  them 
money  and  food  '.^  In  connexion  with  the  redemption  of 
the  fruit  of  a  vineyard  in  the  fourth  year,  the  discreet 
owners  put  the  money  down  and  said,  All  that  will  be 
gathered  from  here,  shall  be  redeemed  by  this  money.^ 
In  all  these  cases  the  word  yiJV  denotes  such  as  were  more 
careful  in  carrying  out  a  religious  duty ;  and  even 
Dr.  Kohler  remarks  that  it  is  not  always  clear  whether 
the  same  denotes  the  Essenes  or  simply  the  modest  ones 
as  a  class.  In  fact,  however,  there  is  no  trace  of  Essenism ; 
and  only  in  one  case  could  any  doubt  arise.  Simeon,  the 
chaste,  told  R.  Eliezer  that  he  had  entered  the  space  between 
the  altar  and  the  porch  of  the  Sanctuary  without  having 
previously  washed  his  hands  and  his  feet.^  As  there  is 
no  comparison  intended  between  him  and  other  priests,  nor 
between  his  past  and  his  present  conduct,  the  word 
describes  a  special  quality  of  his,  either  his  chastity  or 
his  continence  in  conjugal  life.  As  this  conversation  took 
place  several  years  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
Simeon  may  have  lived,  as  a  sign  of  mourning,  a  life  of 
abstention,  as  the  D''E^nD  are  reported  to  have,  on  the  same 
ground,  abstained  from  meat  and  wine.^  But  i'i::»  does  not 
describe  him  as  an  Essene.^ 

9.  The  individual  terms  used  by  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  in 
their  technical  meanings  were,  as  was  shown,  familiar 
already  to  earlier  rabbis  :  TDn  and  v:y  to  Hillel  and  his 
contemporaries,  NDn  N'T'  to  Hillel  and  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai, 

1  Tos.  Pe'ah,  II,  18.  2  j^j^'as.  sheni,  V,  1. 

3  Tos.  Kelim  1.  I.  0. 

*  Baraitha  Bab.  bath.  60  b  ;  Tos.  Sotah,  XV,  11. 

5  Dr.  Kohler.,  J.E.,  V,  226  a  bottom,  says  :  'R.  Simeon  the  Zanua',  who, 
while  disregarding  the  Temple  practice,  shows  a  certain  contempt  for  the 
high  priest,  appears  on  all  accounts  to  have  been  an  Essene  priest.'  As 
we  have  no  information  about  that  practice  in  the  Temple,  and  R.  Eliezer 
only  represents  the  stricter  view  in  a  dispute  (as  also  his  disciple 
R.  Jehudah  who  is  quoted  as  R  .Meir's  opponent  as  D'^tDDn),  it  is  not  correct 
to  say  that  Simeon  disregarded  the  practice.  How  does  his  silence, 
which  certainly  was  the  most  dignified  answer  to  R.  Eliezer's  vehemence, 
show  contempt  for  the  high  priest  ? 


62  SOME    TYPES    OF 

niK^HD  to  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah,  nitrnsi  nnnD  to  R.  Gama- 
liel II's  contemporaries,  and  n^)1p  in  its  special  signification 
to  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah,  and  more  definitely  to  R.  Nehe- 
miah ;  and  continence,  and  abstention  from  conjugal  relations 
as  preparatory  steps  for  the  prophetical  calling  of  Moses 
were  known  to  Philo  and  to  rabbis  before  135.  Also  care 
and  restraint  towards  women  in  general,  and  particular 
strictness  in  meeting,  and  speaking  to,  married  women  had 
found  expression  in  many  an  emphatic  warning.  Again,  the 
possession  of  the  holy  spirit  as  the  highest  goal  of  good 
and  pious  men  was  known,  at  least,  from  the  days  of 
Hillel  who  was  declared  worthy  of  it  as  of  a  recognition 
by  God  of  his  high  virtues.  In  the  absence  of  earlier 
parallels,  it  appears  that  the  originality  of  R.  Pinhas  lay 
in  the  systematic  gradation  of  the  various  moral  qualities 
to  lead  up  the  pious,  by  a  natural  progress  in  self-education, 
to  the  highest  perfection,  the  jDossession  of  the  holy  spirit. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  in  Hillel's  case  piety  and  humility 
were  known  to  be  the  qualifications  for  it,  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  already  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  century 
the  individual  rungs  of  the  ladder  leading  up  to  the  holy 
spirit  were  named  and  described.  As  to  the  first  stages, 
a  sentence  of  R.  Akiba,  though  differently  expressed,  seems 
to  offer  a  parallel :  '  Jesting  and  levity  lead  a  man  on  to 
lewdness ;  the  Masorah  is  a  fence  to  the  Torah,  tithes  are 
a  fence  to  riches,  vows  are  a  fence  to  abstinence,  a  fence  to 
wisdom  is  silence.'  ^  The  fence  to  the  Torah  and  to  wisdom 
indicate  that  R.  Akiba  was  speaking  to  scholars.  If  by 
the  fence  to  the  Torah  he  meant  the  same  as  the  men  of 
the  Great  Assembly,^  the  fence  in  his  opinion  would  seem 
to  have  been  constituted  either  by  the  oral  tradition,  or  by 
the  detailed  rules  about  the  words  and  the  letters  of  the 

1  Aboth,  III,  13  :    blNH   HN*  p^^JlD  tJ^SI  n)bp)  plH^  nCIX  N2^py  ^21 

npnC'  HDIJni?;  Bacher,  I,  268,  1. 

2  Aboth,  I,  1. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  63 

Torah,  which  were  essential  for  his  consistent  demonstra- 
tion of  an  even  remote  biblical  basis  of  all  Halakhahs.^  If 
fence  meant  protection  also  in  the  next  sentence,  tithing, 
while  reducing  the  produce,  actually  protected  wealth,  as 
the  sayings  of  teachers  of  the  third  century,  adduced  by  the 
commentators,  pointed  out.  Similarly,  silence,  as  in  Prov. 
10.  19;  17.  28,  was  a  protection  of  wisdom.  But  how  vows 
protected  abstinence,  and  to  what  the  latter  referred,  is  not 
clear.  Maimonides  refers  it  to  the  separation  from  levitical 
impurity,  according  to  the  technical  meaning  of  ma  ?- 
But  to  my  knowledge  no  vow  of  that  tendency  is  reported 
in  rabbinic  literature,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Nazirite,  and 
among  the  requirements  of  a  Haber,  as  formulated  by  his 
disciple,  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai,  who,  in  partly  repeating 
R.  Akiba's  sentence,  included  in  his  list  abstention  from  the 
gravest  levitical  defilement  by  a  corpse  and  from  frequent 
vows."  If  it  means  voluntary  abstinence  from  things  other- 
wise permitted,  as  meat,  wine,  and  other  similar  articles  of 
food,  as  in  the  case  of  those  who  abstained  on  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  second  Temple  (above,  p.  50),  a  vow  to  the 
same  effect  would  have  lent  it  religious  and  moral  sanction. 
The  reason  for  sucli  a  self-imposition  may,  however,  have 
been  different.  In  a  discussion  as  to  whether  articles  of 
food  might  be  exported  from  Palestine,  R.  Jehudah  b. 
Bethera  permitted  the  export  of  wine,  because  thereby 
levity,  m^sn,  was  reduced.'^  This  may,  in  the  first  instance, 
as  above  (50,  note  2),  refer  to  immorality,  as  the  impressive 
confession  in  the  Testament  of  Judah,  14-16,  forcibly  shows; 
and  wine  also  promoted  pollution.^  Abstinence  from  wine 
was  not  a  rare  occurrence,  as  the  remarks  of  R.  Simeon  b. 
Yohai^  and  of  R.  Eleazar  haKappar  about  its  sinfulness 
suggest."^     It  is,  however,  difiicult  to  assume  that  R.  Akiba 

^  Bacher,  Terminologie,  I,  108. 

2  Hagig.  II,  7.  3  Damm.  II,  3. 

*  Baraitha  Baba  bath.  90b;  Tos.  'Ab.  z.  IV,  2. 

5  Yoma,  18  a  bottom  ;  jer.  I,  39  a.  46. 

6  Baraitha  Kedar.  10  a  ;  Tos.  I,  1  ;  jer.  I,  36  d.  48. 

7  Sifre  Num.  6.  11.  30  ;  Baraitha  Nazir  19  a. 


64  SOME    TYPES    OF 

should  have  approved  of  such  abstention,  and  thereby  have 
encouraged  vows.^  If,  according  to  another  meaning  of 
nVk^ns,  R.  Akiba  referred  to  a  separation  from  every  kind 
of  immorality,^  an  iteresting  parallel  would  account  for  the 
vow.  R.  Jose  says,  '  Three  men  in  the  Bible  kept  down 
their  passion  by  an  oath,  when  it  threatened  to  overpower 
them :  Joseph,  Gen.  39.  9,  David,  1  Sam.  26.  10,  and  Boaz, 
Ruth  3.  13.'  '^  Here,  instead  of  a  vow,  a  solemn  oath  by 
God  was  uttered  to  counteract  quickly  and  strongly  the 
moment's  rushing  temptation ;  whereas  a  vow  by  its  exten- 
sion over  a  longer  period  supported  and  sustained  the 
self-imposed  separation  from  immorality.  In  the  same 
way  the  vow  extending  over  at  least  a  month  served  the 
purpose  of  an  oath  in  the  instance  of  a  Nazirite,  in  the 
days  of  the  high-priest  Simeon  the  Just,  to  check  in 
the  young  man  the  sudden  attack  of  vanity  at  the  beauty 
of  his  hair,  and  to  force  him,  after  a  short  time,  to  cut 
his  locks."^  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  parallel  version  of 
R.  Akiba's  sentence,^  levitical  purity  appears  to  lead  up  to 
sacrificial  meals  which  required  a  higher  degree  of  such 

1  In  ARN.  26,  41  b,  in  a  sentence  introduced  by  IDIN  H^n  XIH,  R.  Akiba 
warns  against  too  frequent  vows,  as  they  may  lead  to  trespassing  against 
oaths  ;  in  2  ARN.  33,  36  b  top,  it  is  inverted.  In  Derekh  eres  I  end,  Abba 
Hilfai,  in  the  name  of  his  father  Abba  Hagra,  is  the  author  of  the  same 
warning ;  in  Nedar.  20  a  it  is  an  anonymous  Baraitha.  In  2  ARN.  35, 
43  a  R.  Akiba  commends  the  annulment  of  the  vows  (of  the  wife), 
Qmj  msn,  as  the  reading  is  also  in  Baraitha  Yebam.  109  a  b}^  bar- 
Kappara,  and  in  Gen.  r.  93.  1  by  R.  Haninah  ;  in  the  anonymous 
Baraitha  jer.  Yebam.  XIII,  13  c.  39  D''"n3  iriTl,  dissolution  of  vows 
by  scholars. 

2  See  R.  Isaac  b.  Reuben  in  Joseph  ibn  'Aknin's  "IDIDH  "IDD,  97  :  Men 
who  impose  uj)on   themselves  the  vow  never   to  do  anything  immoral, 

3  Lev.  r.  23.  11  ;  Ruth  r.  3.  13,  VI  end  ;  in  Sifre  Deut.  33  on  6.  6 
R.  Josia  quotes  Abraham's  and  Elisha's  refusal  to  accept  any  gift,  Gen. 
14.  22  ;  2  Reg.  5.  16,  Boaz's  opportunity  of  immoral  intercourse  with 
Ruth,  and  David's  opportunity  to  kill  Saul  ;  Bacher,  II,  360,  6. 

4  Baraitha  Ntdar.  9  b  ;  Tos.  Nazir,  IV,  7  ;  jer.  I,  51  c.  40;  Sifre  Num.  22. 

5  2  ARN.  33,  .36  a:   i^b^  nHD^  2^^D  np^nC*  HD^nb  2''D  IDIS*  ^2^^  ^:i"> 


JEWISH-PALESTIXFAX    PIETY  65 

purity ;  ^  and  this  would  support  Maimonides'  reference 
of  R.  Akiba's  words  to  levitical  abstinence.  But,  apart 
from  the  difficulties  against  it  mentioned  before,  R.  Akiba 
evidently  intended  to  give  in  all  parts  of  his  sentence 
advice  for  practical  life,  whereas  in  his  days  there  were 
no  sacrifices.  In  the  wording  of  another  parallel"  is  found, 
instead  of  sacrificial  meals,  the  more  correct  and  fittino- 
holiness  next  to  purity,  the  latter  leading  up  to,  and  pro- 
tecting, holiness.  On  the  other  hand,  a  new  point  here  is 
the  fear  of  sin  as  a  protection  of  humility  both  of  which 
are  moral  qualities,  and  would  demand  next  to  them  moral 
and  not  levitical  purity.  But  it  has  been  suggested  that 
the  last  two  moral  qualities  were  added  later  from 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Y  air's  list  of  graduated  virtues  ;  and  the  mere 
fact  that  they  were  placed  at  the  end  of  the  sentence 
strongly  favours  that  suggestion,  though  it  is  not  at  all 
clear  why  only  two  parts  and  not  more  should  have  been 
selected  for  addition  to  R.  Akiba's  sentence.  Evidently 
the  version  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud  which  alone  contains 
the  part  about  abstinence  in  the  list  supplied  it  as  a 
continuation  to  R.  Akiba's  words  on  abstinence. 

R.  Akiba's  sentence  in  its  earliest  form  included  as  its 
first  point  the  statement  that  jesting  and  levity  lead  man 
on  to  sin ;  and  it  is  only  natural  to  expect  some  connexion 
between  the  warning  against  the  two  failings  and  the  com- 
mendation of  the  qualities  following.  p)n'\y  refers  in  the 
cases  of  men  in  the  first  instance  to  jesting  with  women 
which  gradually  leads  to  immorality.  As  many  of  R.  Akiba's 
disciples  were  young  men  between  twenty  and  thirty,  and 
others,  like  Haninah  b.  Hakhinai  and  Simeon  b.  Yohai, 
had  left  their  wives  at  home  and  stayed  in  the  school  for 
several  years  in  succession,^  the  teacher  had  to  impress 
upon  them  as  scholars  the  great  duty  of  being  most  careful 

1  Hagig.  II,  1. 

2  AKN.  26,  41  b  :    HCDhS  :^>D  \>\r\^h  ^h^'  Tin^b  3^^D  ICIiN  ^y'\>^  0.1 

5<L3n  nsi''  ni:yi?  r^D  mnD  T\^r\\h  t^'^  nic^ns  onn^i?  ^^-d  r\\>''T\^. 

3  Kethub.  62  b  ;  Lev.  r.  21.  8  :  Bacher,  Tannaiten,  II,  71.  1. 

E 


66  SOME    TYPES    OF 

in  their  association  with  women.  While  Abba  Hilfai,  in  the 
name  of  his  f'atlier  Abba  Hagra,  in  his  unmeasured  pessimism 
about  the  levity  of  women,^  warned  everybody  not  to  speak 
too  much  with  them,  for  all  the  talk  of  a  woman  was  only 
immorality,^  R.  Akiba  demanded  only  restraint  in  con- 
versation and  association,  pinsr  denotes  immoral  advances 
already  in  Gen.  39.14,  17.  And  in  the  rabbinic  sources  it  is 
stated  that  when  the  high  court  in  Jerusalem  addressed 
the  woman  suspected  of  adultery,  the  judge  said,  '  My 
daughter,  wine  does  much,  pinti^  does  much,  youth  does 
much,  bad  neighbours  do  much'.'^  R.  Akiba  himself,  in 
interpreting  Gen.  21.  9,  '  And  Sarah  saw  the  son  of  Hagar 
the  Egyptian, which  she  had  borne  unto  Abraham,  mocking', 
said  that  where  pnv  occurs,  as  in  Gen.  39.  14,  17,  it  means 
immorality."^  Levity  has  the  same  meaning  ;  when,  at  the 
joyous  Feast  of  Water-drawing  held  on  the  Temple  Mount, 
men  and  women  took  part  in  the  entertainments  together, 
the  authorities  found  that  they  had  come  to  levity,  and 
made  the  necessary  arrangements  for  their  separation.^  And 
so  R.  Akiba's  educational  principles  for  his  disciples  were 
that  these  should  first  refrain  from  jesting  and  levity,  then 

1  Cf.  pinC^n  n^'IID  InTanh.  Sti'J  2  ;  B.  4. 

2  Derekh  eres  I  end  ;  in  Baraitha  Nedar.  20  a  anonymous.  Dr.  Kohler 
who  sees  in  the  title  Abba  a  characteristic  of  the  Essene  would  find  in 
this  opinion  which  agrees  with  that  of  Josephus,  Wars,  II,  8.  2.  12]  about 
the  Essenes  (see  also  Hippolytus),  a  confirmation  of  his  view. 

3  Sotah,  I,  4,  MGWJ.  47, 1903,  339.  1. 

*  Gen,  r.  53.  11  ;  in  Tos.  Sotah,  VI,  6  R.  Eliezer,  the  son  of  R.  Jose  the 
Galilean,  is  the  author:   "IJON*  HNT   HD   ^J^^n   DViy   ^I^J^   S^N    pH^D  yi^ 

Dmx  n^v^)  n^mi<  'm  ni'i  ni::i  E^♦^n3D  bxvDC'^b  ^^^^^  nxn,  Bacher,  i, 

243,  3.  In  a  simile  in  Deut.  r.  3.  17,  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  says,  A  king 
married  a  woman  ;  when  he  once  noticed  that  she  jested  with  one  of  his 
slaves,  he  became  angry  and  divorced  her. 

5  Tos.  Sukk.  IV,  1  ;  b.  51  b.  In  Derekh  eres  zuta  III,  ti'J^-)  ni^  nl^nn 
5]1i<^3b  nns  D^C^ia;  in  2  ARN.  33,  36aff.,  in  R.  Akiba's  sentence:  ^X 
ni^ny  ^I'b  J^Un  sbi:^  p*in^  n^b  sun,  come  not  to  jesting,  that  you  may 

not  come  to  immorality.  R.  Jehudah,  his  disciple,  requires  the  Haber 
not  to  vow  too  much  and  not  to  jest  too  much,  Damm.  II,  3. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  67 

strive  to  abstain  also  from  things  permitted,  as  too  frequent 
conjugal  intercourse,  and  to  support  its  gradual  reduction 
by  a  vow :  strict  discretion  and  high  morality  in  the 
association  with  women,  and  moderation  and  abstinence 
in  family  life  should  be  the  rule  for  scholars.  Some  of 
R.  Akiba's  colleagues,  like  R.  Yeshebabh^  and  Simeon  b. 
*Azzai,-  the  Hasids,  and  R.  Johanan  b.  Nuri,  the  sin-fearing 
man,  may  have  urged  the  same  principles  even  more 
emphatically  by  their  own  lives  and  their  practice ;  and  so 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  had  undoubtedly  precursors  for  his  rules 
of  gradual  self-sanctification. 

1  Midr.  Cant.  ed.  Griinliut  7  a. 

2  Berakh.  57  b  ;  ARN.  40,  64  b  ;  see  p.  71. 


E  2 


II 

THE   ANCIENT   PIOUS   MEN 

While  the  reports  about  Hillel's  piety  dealt  mainly  with 
his  relations  to  his  fellow-man,  the  records  about  his  con- 
temporaries to  be  analyzed  in  this  chapter  refer,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  the  relations  of  those  pious  men  with  God. 
Their  approach  to  Him  was  frequently  expressed  by  sacri- 
fices of  a  special  kind  not  to  be  found  in  the  sacrificial 
worship  of  the  first  century,  and  in  fervent  prayer  and 
meditation.  Their  relia'ious  sentiments  include  true  devotion 
at  prayer,  repentance,  and  trust  in  their  Father  in  heaven ; 
and  their  belief  in  a  reward  for  the  righteous  after  death 
gave  them  strength  to  bear  patiently  visitation  and  calamity. 
Though  Koberle  ^  devoted  hundreds  of  pages  of  his  book  to 
the  post-biblical  conception  of  sin  and  atonement,  the  earl}^ 
statements  about  the  sacrifices  of  the  pious  men,  and  their 
ideas  of  sin  and  atonement,  are  not  even  mentioned.  For  his 
io;norance  of  the  orioinal  sources  and  of  their  value  and 
their  dates,  coupled  with  a  remarkable  consistency  of  pre- 
judice, made  an  objective  consideration  of  Jewish  religious 
sentiment  and  a  recognition  of  rabbinic  religious  sincerity 
impossible.  Also  0.  Schmitz  -,  who  exhausted  the  informa- 
tion about  sacrifices  and  the  underlying  ideas  contained  in 
the  Apocrypha  and  the  Jewish-Hellenistic  literature,  and 
objectively  weighed  all  tlie  evidence,  knew  nothing  of  the 
valuable  material  about  the  sacrifices  of  the  pious  men, 
because  it  has  been  preserved  in  halakhic  parts  of  the 
rabbinic  literature.  As  Bacher,  in  his  unique  v*^ay,  dealt 
only  with  the  haggadic  sayings  and  interpretations  of  the 
first  century,  and  there  exists  no  similar  work  written  in 

*  Siinde  und  Gnade,  1905. 

2  Die  Opfcranschauung  des  spdteren  Judentums,  1910. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  69 

a  European  language  on  the  non-haggadic  statements  ot* 
the  scholars  and  the  pious  men  before  the  year  70,  Christian 
and  some  Jewish  scholars  who  are  unable  to  study  the  un- 
wieldy Talmud  are  dependent  on  helps.  They  have,  there- 
fore, insufficient  knowledge  of  the  valuable,  old  information 
relating  to  the  time  when  the  Temple  still  stood,  and  when  the 
feeling  of  gratitude  and  the  burden  of  sin  of  the  individual 
Jew  were  spontaneously  expressed  before  God  in  prayer 
and  sacrifice  in  front  of  the  altar,  and  when  these,  according 
to  the  intensity  of  the  sentiment  and  the  capacities  of  the 
worshipper,  were  filled  with,  and  sustained  b}^  true  devotion 
and  repentance.  The  occasions  for  special  sacrifices  show 
best  the  religious  emotions  of  the  Jew,  and  allow  an  insight 
into  the  minds  of  the  section  of  the  people,  of  which  the 
worshipper  was  typical. 

1.  '  When  once  a  pious  man  forgot  a  sheaf  of  corn  in  his 
field,  he  told  his  son  to  go  and  to  bring  for  him  a  bull 
as  a  burnt-offering  and  another  bull  as  a  peace-off"ering. 
When  his  son  asked,  why  he  rejoiced  at  the  fulfilment  of 
that  commandment  more  than  at  that  of  any  other  duty 
imposed  by  the  Torah,  the  father  said,  While  God  gave  us 
all  the  other  commandments  to  carry  them  out  with  intent, 
this  one  is  to  be  fulfilled  without  intention ;  for  had  we 
acted  before  God  with  deliberation,  the  duty  would  not 
have  offered  itself  to  us.  Now  it  says,  Deut.  24.  19,  When 
thou  reapest  thine  harvest  in  thy  field,  and  hast  forgot 
a  sheaf,  &c.  :  the  verse  has  fixed  a  blessing  for  it.'  ^     This 

1  Tos.  Pe'ah,  III,  8  ;  Midr.  Tanii.  Deut.  24. 19, 161  :   nnS   1^Dn3  HV^D 

T^v  "121  rb'ivb  12  'bv  ^npm  nv  ):2b  nrsi  imc^  Tin^  -\72)V  n^K-'c^ 

lysc'  ):nvib  i^b^  IT  linpnb  n)pj27]  i^b  \n:  n-nm'i:'  mvD  ^3  )b  ids 
^n  -1D1X  Nin  nn  xi)N  ^yTb  it  nii-D  nwS3  x^  n^p^n  ^^si)  'o^m  )^>^v 
n3-i3  aiDDn  )b  yap  'i:n  m?^n  idv  nn:3^i  i^vp  iivpn.   in  sifra  Lev.  5. 

17,27  a  ;  Sifr6  Deut.  283,  124  b,  R,  Eleazar  b.  'Azariah,  in  commenting  on 
Deut.  24,  19,  expresses  the  same  thought,  and  applies  it  to  one  who 
accidentally  drops  a  coin  which  a  poor  man  finds  and  uses  for  his 
maintenance  ;  God  assigns  a  blessing  to  him  as  to  one  who  forgot  a  sheaf 
in  his  field. 


70  SOME    TYPES    OF 

wealthy  landowner  who  could  afford  to  offer  as  an 
occasional,  voluntar}^  sacrifice  two  bulls  at  a  time,  repre- 
senting in  those  days  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  is  in 
many  respects  an  interesting  Jew.  He  knew  the  passage 
of  the  Pentateuch  that  applied  to  the  particular  incident 
before  him,  and,  in  addition  to  the  detail  of  the  blessing- 
promised  which  he  might  have  looked  up  first,  he  knew  even 
the  special  characteristic  of  the  precept ;  but  no  scholar- 
ship is  manifested  in  his  remarks.  His  genuine  joy  at  his 
unintended  fulfilment  of  the  law  in  question  should  specially 
be  noted ;  though,  at  the  same  time,  his  mind,  after  the 
performance  of  the  duty,  fixed  itself  on  God's  blessing 
promised  as  a  reward.  It  presupposes  not  only  his  con- 
viction that  the  words  of  the  Torah  are  those  of  God,  but 
he  had  the  fullest  trust  in  His  promise,  though  its  realization 
might  be  far  off.  The  joy  of  this  farmer  is  an  instructive 
instance  of  the  pleasure  that  rose  in  the  heart  of  the  Jew 
in  carrying  out  or  after  the  fulfilment  of  an  injunction  of 
the  law,  in  this  case  even  one  that  implied  a  loss.  The  son 
had  noticed  in  his  father  similar  joy  on  previous  occasions  in 
connexion  with  the  performance  of  other  religious  obliga- 
tions ;  but  no  thanks-offerings  had  then  marked  the 
intensity  of  his  satisfaction.  The  sacrifices  which  he  now 
offered  were  prescribed  neither  in  the  Pentateuch  nor  by 
the  rabbis,  but  were  the  spontaneous  expression  of  his  plea- 
sure, and  of  his  gratitude  to  God  for  having  granted  him 
the  opportunity  to  carry  out  a  commandment  and  to  merit 
His  blessing.  He  was  not  contented  with  merely  offering  up 
a  prayer  of  thanksgiving  in  his  own  words  or  with  reciting 
an  appropriate  psalm,  but  felt  moved  to  express  his  senti- 
ments by  readily  giving  up  to  God  a  part  of  his  wealth. 
Whether  he  represented  a  type  of  pious  Jews  in  Jerusalem 
or  not,  this  incident  of  the  first  century  constitutes  a  most 
instructive  instance  of  the  spontaneous  Jewish  religious 
feeling,  of  an  occasion  of  its  manifestation,  and  of  the 
form  of  its  visible  expression.  A  more  thorough  analysis 
of  it  may  perhaps  throw  more  light  on  the  religious 
thought  of  its  time. 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAX    PIETY  7 1 

The  description  of  the  farmer  as  TDn  in  the  account  does 
not,  as  far  as  we  know,  represent  him  as  the  member  of  any 
organization  brought  and  held  together  by  a  definite  form 
of  piety :  but  the  term  is  intended,  as  it  seems,  to  charac- 
terize his  personal  action  in  this  one  instance.  It  was  not, 
however,  his  accidental  observance  of  the  one  command- 
ment which  was,  no  doubt,  readily  obeyed  by  many  other 
farmers,  that  merited  for  him  the  distinctive  attribute,  but 
his  exceptional  and  conscious  attitude  to  God,  and  his  active 
and  vigorous  expression  of  it.  But  who  called  him  a  Hasid 
for  that  ?  If  it  were  certain  that  a  contemporary  who 
learned  of  the  incident  before  70  applied  the  adjective  to 
him,  as  Hillel's  contemporaries  described  the  great  teacher 
as  Hasid,  it  would  have  denoted  a  man  distinguished  by 
certain  virtues  and  by  definite  moral  and  religious  deeds. 
But  what  these  were  it  is  difficult  to  establish.  The  author 
of  the  statement  about  R.  Yeshebabh,  one  of  the  several 
scholars  who  died  as  martyrs  in  the  Hadrianic  religious 
persecutions,  described  him  as  one  of  the  last  of  the  pious 
men,^  and  was  consequently  conscious  that  that  type  of  man 
had  become  rare  before  135 ;  and  we  found  that  before  117 
Samuel  the  Small,  an  older  contemporarj^  of  R.  Yeshebabh, 
was  described  as  humble  and  pious,  as  also  Simeon  b. 
'Azzai.-  And  in  those  persecutions,  R.  Jose  b.  Kisma  said 
to  R.  Haninah  b.  Theradyon,  '  Knowest  thou  not  that  God 
made  this  nation  (the  Romans)  to  rule,  though  it  destroyed 
His  House,  burnt  His  Temple,  killed  His  pious  men,  destroyed 
His  good  men,  and  it  still  exists  ? '  ^  Here  the  most  precious, 
and  in  R.  Josh's  opinion  the  most  prominent  men  of  Judaea's 

1  Midr.  Cant.  ed.  Griuihut  7  a  :   D^^Dm  nnj^'J'D  n^C-*^  ^m  n^iryn. 

2  Berakh.  .57  b  ;  AEN.  40.  64  b  ;  in  Hagig.  14  b  ;  jer.  II.  77  b.  11  ;  Tos.  II, 
S  ;  Cant.  r.  1.  4  :  nflVm  M  ':'V2  Ip^  1D1N  2)^27]  V^y  DDl  )*'i*n  WTV  \2 
Vl^Dn?,  when  he  died,  Ps.  116.  1-5  was  applied  to  him:  The  death  of 
His  saints  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 

3  'Ab.  zar.  18  a  :    HTinn^r   niD^^DH   D^JOUM  ]D  n  HDIXD'  ynV  nHN  \S 


72  SOME    TYPES    OF 

population  before  70  are  divided  into  God's  pious  and  His 
best  men,  meaning  probably  the  religious  and  the  political 
leaders.^  While  it  is  almost  certain  from  R.  Jose's  words 
that  he  did  not  refer  to  the  Essenes,  nor  to  any  special 
group  of  pious  men,  it  is  hardly  doubtful  that  the  few 
rabbis  singled  out  as  Hasids  represented  a  definite  type  of 
piety  with  distinctive  virtues.  Of  R.  Yeshebabh  an  extra- 
ordinary trait  of  character  is  reported :  he  distributed  all 
his  possessions  among  the  poor,  against  the  rule  of  the 
rabbis  quoted  to  him  by  R.  Gamaliel  II  that  only  a,  fifth 
part  of  one's  property  should  be  given  to  charity.^  Though 
we  find  that  King  Monobazos  of  Adiabene,  in  a  year  of 
drought,  distributed  his  and  his  father's  treasures  among 
the  poor,^  the  act  of  R.  Yeshebabh  was  one  of  remarkable 
self-sacrifice,  and  may  well  account  for  the  title  of  Hasid 
given  to  him ;  though  it  is  possible  that  his  peculiar  piety 
lay  in  a  different  direction.  Nothing  similar  is  recorded  of 
Samuel  the  Small,  Simeon  b.  'Azzai,  or  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba. 
Of  Simeon,  on  the  other  hand,  the  unusual  fact  is  related 
that  he  remained  unmarried,  and  that  he  excused  it  by  his 
attachment  to  the  study  of  the  Torah.^  Had  he  been  known, 
however,  as  an  Essene,  his  single  state  would  not  have  struck 
R.  Eleazar  b.  'Azariah  as  strange.  Of  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba 
a  late  source  reports  that  from  his  eighteenth  to  his 
eightieth  year  he  never  slept  longer  than  a  horse,  which 
would  describe  him  as  an  ascetic.^  But  not  all  these 
qualities  were  to  be  found  combined  in  every  one  of  the 

^  Apoc.  Baruch  66.  2  says  of  King  Josiah  :  *  He  raised  the  horn  of  the 
holy,  and  exalted  the  righteous  and  glorified  all  that  were  wise  in  under- 
standing.' The  author  applied  the  categories  of  his  own  time  to  those 
early  days. 

2  jer.  Pe'ah,  I,  15  b.  39;  Baraitha  Kethub.  50  a. 

s  Baraitha  Baba  b.  11a;  Tos.  Pe'ah,  IV.  18  ;  jer.  1, 15b.  63  ;  Pesikt.  ri)b. 
25,  126  b. 

*  Tos.  Yebam.,  VIII  end  ;  b.  63  b  ;  Gen.  r.  34.14.  Cf.  Rabh's  statement 
in  Berakh.  4ob  (the  correct  wording  in  Rabbinovicz  and  Nahmani  on 
Exod.  24.  5)  about  young  men  who,  in  the  messianic  times,  would  not  taste 
of  sin,  that  is,  would  never  touch  any  woman. 

5  n-iDTN  rh^  ^'\i)2. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  73 

pious  men ;  as  the  Hasid  whose  thanks-offering  and  joy  at 
the  fultihnent  of  a  commandment  were  described,  kept  his 
possessions,  was  married  and  had  a  son,  and  also  Samuel 
the  Small  of  whom  it  is  stated  that  lie  had  no  children ' 
must  have  been  married.  The  gratitude  to  God  of  the 
farmer  of  Jerusalem  rested  on  his  humility  and  general 
piety ;  and  this  was  totally  different  from  the  deeds  of  piety 
of  all  the  men  just  enumerated,  and  in  no  way  supports  the 
assumjDtion  that  l^Dn  represented  members  of  the  Essenic  or 
any  other  order. 

2.  As  his  personality  is  unknown,  any  generalization  of 
his  case  would  be  hazardous.  But  the  sacrifice  of  another 
pious  man  is  expressly  stated  to  have  been  characteristic  of 
his  fellow-Hasids.  R.  Eliezer  says,  '  One  may  every  day 
and  at  any  time,  whenever  one  likes,  bring  voluntarily  a 
trespass  offering  brought  for  a  doubtful  sin ;  it  was  called 
the  guilt-offering  of  the  pious  men.  It  is  said  of  Baba  b. 
Buta  that  he  voluntarily  brought  every  day  a  guilt-offering 
for  a  doubtful  sin,  except  on  the  day  after  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  and  that  he  said.  By  this  Temple,  I  should 
bring  one,  if  they  allowed  me  to  do  so ;  but  they  tell  me  to 
wait  till  I  have  come  to  a  doubt.'  -^  R.  Eliezer  knew  many 
details  of  the  sacrificial  laws,  not  only  from  the  traditions 
taught  in  the  schools,  but  probably  from  the  priests  of  the 
Temple  and  from  scholars ;  for  he  had  lived  for  some  years 
before  70  in  Jerusalem  as  a  disciple  of  R.  Johanan  b. 
Zakkai,  and  may  have  had  an  opportunity  for  learning  the 
facts  about  the  special  sacrifices  of  the  pious  men  in  the 
schools  in  Jerusalem  and  in  the  Temple.  In  his  Halakhah  he 
was  later  a  follower  of  the  Shammaites ;  and  here  also  he 
agreed  concerning  the  sacrifice  with  the  practice  of  Baba  b. 

1  Semah.,  VIII.  > 

2  Kerith.  VI,  3  ;  Tos.  IV,  4  :    ^^n    Ul^ii   DIN   2i:r\J2  "IDIS   l^V'?^^   '31 

inii  Dv  D*-n£3n  nv  inND  yin  dv  b^n  "ibn  c-j'n  2i2r\i2  n^n^  'dm  p 
IV  i^ncn  ^b  nnciwX  n^n  i<'iD  "ti^nt  'b  dt.^jd  vn  )b'i^  nrn  pycn  nf^N* 

pSob    D3DnC'.     The  Cambridge  MishnaJj  lias  "D'^Z. 


74  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Buta  who  was  a  disciple  in  the  school  of  Shammai.^  Baba 
was  a  wealth}^  man.  On  a  certain  occasion  he  wanted,  by 
a  public  act,  to  demonstrate  that  the  Shammaites  whose 
lead  he  as  one  of  them  generally  followed,  were  wrong  in 
prohibiting  on  the  festival  the  laying  of  the  hands  upon  a 
private  sacrifice.  For  that  purpose  he  brought  at  his  own 
expense  many  costly  rams  to  the  Temple  Mount,  and  in- 
vited other  men  to  offer  them  up,  in  accordance  with  the 
lenient  view  of  the  Hillelites  on  the  festival,  as  private 
sacrifices,  as  burnt  or  peace-offerings.  He  could  also  afford 
to  bring  a  guilt-offering  daily.  This  he  sacrificed  to  God 
not  in  order  to  atone  for  any  definite  sin  which  he  had 
unwittingly  committed  and  of  which  he  had  later  become 
conscious ;  for  in  such  a  case  it  would  have  been  a  proper 
sin-  or  a  guilt-offering,  whereas  his  was  a  conditional  guilt- 
offering  for  a  sin  of  which  he  was  not  sure  at  all.  He  felt 
the  need  of  purging  himself  daily,  by  means  of  such  a  sacri- 
fice, of  sins  possibly  committed  on  the  previous  day.  He 
evidently  considered  the  moral  weakness  of  man  in  general 
and  his  own  in  particular,  and  thought  that  he  could  not 
escape  altogether  a  sin  of  some  kind,  either  in  his  dail}^ 
activities  and  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men,  or  in  his 
conduct  towards  God.  And  as,  in  his  opinion,  his  actions 
and  his  thoughts  during  the  day  must  have  occasioned  sin,  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  clear  away  his  guilt  and  his  burden  dail}^ 
before  God.^  As  the  note  of  a  teacher,  possibly  R.  Eliezer's,  in 
the  Mishnah  indicates,  Baba  was  one  of  a  group  of  men  who 
felt  the  responsibility  of  their  daily  sins  ;  and  as  R.  Eliezer 
stated  that  the  sacrifice  was  called  the  o-uilt-offerino-  of  the 
pious,  they  themselves  were  called  D^I^Dn ,  and  this  epithet 
already  was  applied  to  them  by  their  contemporaries. 

Of  course,  it   may    be    taken  for  granted   that  it  was 
not  merely  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  by  the  priest  and 

^  Baraitha  Besah  20a  bottom;  Tos.  Hagig.  II,  11  ;  jer.  II,  78a.  50; 
Gitt.  57  a  ;  Baba  bath.  3  b  if. 

2  Did  tlie  sacrifices  of  the  father  for  each  of  his  sons,  Job  1.5.  'for 
Job  said,  It  may  be  that  my  sons  have  sinned,  and  cursed  God  in  their 
hearts  *,  suggest  it  to  Baba  ?     But  Job  brought  burnt  offerings  ! 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  75 

the  other  formal  acts  constituting  the  sacrifice  that  brought 
to  Baba  and  the  pious  men  who  followed  the  same 
religious  principles,  alleviation  and  relief  from  their  burden 
of  daily  sin  :  but,  as  may  be  for  the  present  safely  assumed, 
their  feeling  of  true  repentance,  the  accompanying  confes- 
sion of  sin,  and  the  prayer  for  forgiveness.  Even  imme- 
diately after  the  Day  of  Atonement  Baba  felt  anxious, 
though  on  that  day  he  could  have  had  no  transactions  of 
any  kind  with  his  neighbours.  In  judging  himself  very 
strictly,  and  in  his  sensitiveness  to  the  slightest  moral  or 
religious  deviation,  he  may  not  have  been  sure  as  to 
whether  he  had  not  in  conversation  offended  one  of  them  ; 
or  whether  perhaps  his  thoughts,  his  imperfect  repentance, 
his  possible  lack  of  concentration  at  the  public  sacrifices, 
and  his  insufficient  contrition  at  the  high  priest's  confes- 
sions of  sin  had  not  incurred  for  him  some  moral  sin.  The 
Day  of  Atonement,  as  Baba's  protestation  suggests/  with 
its  strict  demands  on  the  sensitive  soul,  may  have  roused  in 
him  even  graver  doubts  of  sin  than  an  ordinary  day :  though, 
from  the  legal  point  of  view  and  in  their  consideration  of 
business  as  the  main  source  of  sin,  the  Shammaites  could 
not  see  how  their  fellow  scholar  Baba  could  have  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement  come  near  even  the  shadow  of  sin.  As 
far  as  our  information  goes,  such  piety  expressed  in  daily 
guilt-offerings  has  no  parallel  in  anything  reported  of  the 
Essenes,  though  it  is  possible  that  there  were  Essenes 
among  the  disciples  of  the  Shammaites.  It  is  a  type  of 
piety  characterized  by  its  over  great  anxiety  about  sin,  not 
expected  even  in  a  scholar  of  the  strict  Shammaite  school 
at  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  ;  and  there  is  no  infor- 
mation as  to  the  kind  of  sin  the  fear  of  which  could  have 

1  The  form  of  oath  nm  pyon  was  once  used  hy  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I 
in  Kerith.  I,  7  :  When  once  a  pair  of  pigeons  cost  two  gold  denars  in  .Jeru- 
salem, and  such  a  price  prevented  women  from  bringing  the  sacrifices 
due  after  childbirth,  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  said,  By  this  Temple,  I  shall 
not  rest  this  night,  until  they  have  gone  down  to  two  denars  !  The  Essenes 
never  swore,  Josephus,  Wars,  II,  8.6.  135;  Antiquit.,  XV,  10.4.  371  ;  Philo, 
Quod  omnis  probus,  12ff ,  II,  4-58. 


76  SOME    TYPES    OF 

oppressed  the  pious  men,  and  about  the  social  and  religious 
conditions  in  Jerusalem  that  might  have  stimulated  such 
a  movement.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  tell  those  who  know 
anything  of  the  liistory  of  the  rabbinic  law  and  institutions 
that  it  was  not  the  law  of  levitical  purity  that  was  respon- 
sible for  Baba's  anxiety  about  sin.  For,  as  his  action  on  the 
Temple  Mount  shows,  he  was  not  a  priest ;  and  levitical 
purity  was  in  his  days  not  yet  observed  by  non-priests,  not 
even  by  his  teacher  Shammai  who  in  the  school  dealt  only 
academically  Avith  individual  rules  of  such  purity. 

R.  Eliezer's  well-informed  disciple,  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai, 
reports  :  'The  ancient  pious  men  desired  to  bring  a  sin- 
offering,  because  God  did  not  bring  an  offence  into  their 
hands ;  what  did  they  do  ?  They  voluntarily  made  the 
vow  of  the  Nazirite  to  God  in  order  to  become  liable  to 
bring  a  sin-offering.  R.  Simeon  says,  They  did  not  vow  to 
be  Nazirites ;  but  Avhoever  desired  to  bring  a  burnt-offering 
or  a  peace-offering,  or  a  thanks-offering  with  the  four  kinds 
of  loaves  belonging  to  it,  brought  voluntarily  any  of  those, 
but  they  did  not  voluntarily  make  the  vow  of  the  Nazirite, 
because  for  doing  so  they  would  have  been  called  sinners 
according  to  Num.  6.  11.'^  These  pious  men  were  filled 
with  the  anxiety  lest  they  might  be  committing  sins  and 
in  need  of  atonement.  The  sin-offering  prescribed  in 
Lev.  4.  27  in  the  case  of  a  transgression  in  error  of  a 
biblical  prohibition  required  that  the  sinner  should   have 

1  Baraitha  Nedar.  10  a;  Tos.  1,1  :  D^JIK^NIH  DH^On  irOIN*  min^  Ul  N^Jfl 

HD  ,Dnn^  bv  nbpn  n*^2D  r\Tpr\  pxt^  *d^  ns^n  }2'\p  N^an^  pixnro  vn 

N^nDi  3n:nD  r\biv  N^nni?  n)!)!:]  N*i?N»  -i^na  mj  ith  idix  pyDU^  ui 
niTn:n  ^3S  n^2?di  3*7jnD  n^n^  ^rD  r\V2-\ii)  min  N^aroi  ii^no  n^Db^ 
^^:r[  bv  i^^n  ■lt^•^*D  vbv  ^221  idnx*  pNDin  ixip^  i6iy  n^  un^nn  j<b. 

In  jer.  Nedar.  I.  36  d.  48  :    0^113    VHC^    VH    D^NDIH    ^C1^5    ])VDy    '21 

v:d\^  1^22  bv  nr  ndh  t^'Djn  bv  x^n  -i^^.sd  vbv  issi  nroNy^  nnJ2 

p\1  |D  IDifV,  R.  Simeon  did  not  deny  the  fact  of  the  vow  of  the  pious 
men,  but  called  them  sinnei'S  for  it. 


JEWISH-PALE STIXI AX    PIETY  77 

later  become  conscious  of  havino-  unwittingly  committed 
a  definite  offence ;  V)ut  the  pious  men  who  in  their  strict  care 
and  watchfulness  naturall}^  did  their  utmost  to  avoid  such 
a  violation  of  the  law,  could  not  satisfy  that  condition  laid 
down  for  a  sin-offering,  and  found  no  occasion  for  bringing 
such  a  sacrifice.  Their  desire  for  it  suggests  that,  in  their 
opinion,  a  sin-offering  brought  for  one  definite  sin  would, 
at  the  same  time,  atone  for  other  offences  which,  on  account 
of  their  uncertainty,  had  to  remain  without  atonement  by 
sacrifice.  For  that  purpose  they  looked  out  for  an  act 
wdiich  implied  no  sin,  but  automatically  provided  an  occa- 
sion for  a  sin-oftering.  While  Baba  b.  Buta  in  the  same 
anxiety  resorted  to  a  dail}'  guilt-offering  for  a  doubtful  sin, 
the  pious  men  either  knew  nothing  of  its  admissibility  or 
disapproved  of  it,  or  did  not  consider  such  a  sacrifice  of  suffi- 
cient force  for  their  need  of  atonement.  The  sin-offering 
prescribed  in  Num.  6.  14  for  the  Xazirite  at  the  conclusion 
of  his  temporary  vow  was  not  brought  for  any  definite 
breach  of  the  law,  but  for  an  unknown,  yet  possible  levitical 
defilement  and  for  other  offences  against  the  rules  of  the 
vow,  and  could  therefore  include  in  its  atonement  other 
trespasses  of  the  same  uncertainty.  As  the  temporary  vow 
of  the  Nazirite  extended  only  over  thirty  daj's,^  the  pious 
men  could  repeat  the  vow  as  often  as  they  liked,  bring  the 
sin-offering  every  month,  and  thus  satisfy  their  desire  for 
regular  atonement.  Some  scholars  see  in  these  Hasids 
Essenes,  without  even  attempting  to  prove  that  the  scruples 
and  the  anxiety  about  frequent,  miconscious  sins  and  the 
strong  desire  to  bring  sin-offerings,  or  the  short  Nazirite 
vow  for  the  sake  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  are  anywhere  even 
indicated  or  implied  as  peculiarities  of  the  Essenes.     In  his 

1  Nazir,  III,  2 :  ni>:  2wSU''  nn^J  ^n*^  nn*^  'J2  bv  o^^^a  un  n^yn  nny  ni 
D^K^'v^  nvi?  rh^  cn*i  n'^t'  lv  n'^y^'n  ns  rb:r2  d^-j'^'C'  dv  njiirsnn  ns* 

/I'^^il^n    JO   lb   nblj?   D^K^i^K^    DV'^'   Xr   THN  "ion  ;  and  the  Shamniaites  in 

Nazir,  111,6  :pn!)  xn  p  inxi  imvj  HS  D'b'^rA  n2'\n  m^n  nrrj' ^c> 
/■ti?nnn  nno  Dn?oiN»  hhn  n^2i  qv  a^';:''i'C^  nn^  anr^^s  'sro-;'  n^i,  Josephus, 

Wars,  II,  15.  1.  313. 


78  SOME    TYPES    OF 

endeavour  to  support  somehow  his  preconceived  idea  of  the 
identity  of  these  Hasids  with  the  Essenes,  [Geig'er  ^  had  to 
remove  from  the  report  as  an  alleged  misunderstanding  of 
the  author  who  read  into  the  vow  of  the  pious  men  a 
desire  for  atonement  of  a  later  period,  the  clear  statement 
about  their  eagerness  for  sin-ofFerings.  But  Geiger  not 
only  ignored  the  old  reference  of  R.  Eliezer  to  the  guilt- 
offerings  of  the  Hasids,  and  the  even  earlier  instance  of  the 
daily  sacrifice  of  Baba  b.  Buta ;  but  he  also  failed  to  adduce 
his  evidence  for  his  assumed  later  period,  when  a  section 
of  Jews,  not  named  by  him,  had  that  desire  for  private 
atoning  sacrifices.  By  such  arbitrary  treatment  of  early 
historical  sources  any  preconceived  view  can,  without  any 
evidence  or  much  argument,  be  proved.  As  to  the  date  of 
these  ancient  pious  men  of  Temple  times,  it  may  be  noted 
that  though  R.  Eliezer  spoke  of  the  guilt- offering  of  the 
nn^Dn,  and  his  disciple  R.  Jehudah  described  the  sin-ofFer- 
ings  of  the  D''J'it:^N"in  C'T'Dn ,  the  same  younger  contemporaries 
of  Shammai  and  Hillel  were  meant  by  both  of  them ;  the 
difference  of  more  than  forty  years  between  the  ages  of 
the  two  reporters,  and  the  consequent]  different  distances 
from  the  incident  described  sufficiently  account  for  R.  Jehu- 
dah's  additional  word  D^JV^^Nin.- 


1  Jud.  Zeiischrift,  IX,  1871,  52. 

■^  It  is  true,  K.  Jehudah  used  the  same  adjective  D''J1K'N"in  '  ancient',  of 
a  period  not  far  from  his  own.  R.  Johanan  in  his  name  says  in  Berakh. 
35  b,  Come  and  see  that  the  last  (present)  generations  are  not  like  the 
first :  for  the  earlier  generations  deliberately  brought  their  produce  home 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  liable  to  be  tithed,  whereas  the  last 
generations  bring  in  their  produce  through  the  roofs  and  enclosures  to 
make  them  exempt  from  tithes.  In  spite  of  the  contrast  in  Q''31■|^^5, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  define  the  date  of  D^3"ld<"in,  were  it  not  for  the  ex- 
press statement  about  the  incident  that  occasioned  that  comparison, in  jer 
Ma'as.  Ill,  50  c.  6  :  When  once  R.  .Jehudah  b.  Ilai  saw  Rabbi  and  R.  Jose 
b.  R.  Jehudtih  bring  in  a  basket  of  produce  by  the  back  of  the  garden,  he 
said,  Look,  what  difference  there  is  between  you  and  earlier  men  : 
R.  Akiba  bought  three  kinds  of  produce  for  a  Perutah  in  order  to  tithe 
each  kind,  and  you  bring  in  your  produce  by  the  back  of  the  garden  ! 
Consequently,  R.  Jehudah  referred  to  his  own  teacher,  R.  Akiba,  as 
D''J1tJ'N")n.     Also  his  reference  there  to  the  earlier  men  who  made  the 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  79 

3.  In  the  early  description  of  the  popular  Feast  of  Water- 
drawing,  celebrated  on  the  Temple  Mount  in  the  second 
night  of  Tabernacles,  the  pious  men  appear  in  very  inter- 
esting circumstances.  The  Mishnah  relates  :  ^  '  The  pious 
men  and  the  men  of  deed  danced  before  them  (the  people 
assembled  on  the  Temple  Mount)  with  burning  torches  in 
their  hands,  and  recited  before  them  words  of  sono-s  and 
praises '.    The  parallel  Baraitha  -  has  a  fuller  account :  '  The 

study  of  the  Torah  their  regular  duty  and  their  ordinary  work  occasional, 
and  found  that  both  were  well  established,  and  to  the  present  generation 
who  make  their  ordinary  work  their  regular  duty  and  the  study  of  the 
Torah  occasional,  and  find  that  neither  is  well  established,  no  doubt  views 
in  its  first  part  the  days  of  his  teachers  in  Judaea.  His  fellow-student, 
R.  Jose  b.  Dormaskith  in  Tos.  Yaday.  II,  16  reports,  I  was  with  the  early 
scholars,  D''3'IJ^N"in  D''3pT,  when  they  came  from  Jainnia  to  Lydda.  and 
I  found  R.  Eliezer  sitting  in  the  shop  of  the  bakers  in  Lydda  ;  when  he 
asked  me  what  news  there  had  been  that  day  in  the  school,  I  related  to 
him  the  subjects  discussed,  the  arguments  advanced,  and  the  divisions 
taken.  When  I  mentioned  to  him  the  Halakhah  about  the  obligation  of 
the  Jews  in  Amnion  and  Moab  to  give  the  tithe  for  the  poor  in  the  year  of 
rest,  he  said  to  me.  Ignore  your  division,  for  I  have  a  tradition  to  the 
same  effect  from  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  going  back  to  Moses.  Some  of 
the  details  of  the  discussions  referred  to  have  been  preserved  in  Yad. 
IV,  3,  and  they  mention  R.  Tarfon,  R.  Eleazar  b.  Azariah,  and  R.  Isimiael, 
and  also  the  division  and  R.  Eliezer's  conversation  about  it  are  stated 
there.  (The  parallel  Baraitha  in  Hagig.  3  b  does  not  mention  the  early 
scholars.)  The  whole  incident  happened  before  the  year  120  ;  and  R.  Jose 
whom  we  find  later  discussing  difficult  passages  of  the  Bible  with  R.  Jehu- 
dah  (Sifre  Deut.  1,  64  b.  f£.  ;  Midr.  Tann.  Deut.  1.  1,  3;  Bacher.  I.  390  ff.), 
described  that  occui-rence,  no  doubt,  in  Galilee  after  136.  When  he  told 
his  fellow-scholars  in  Usha  of  the  incident  with  R.  Eliezer,  he  referred 
to  the  members  of  the  central  school  in  Jamnia  with  whom  he  had 
travelled  from  Jamnia  to  Lydda  (among  whom  was,  no  doubt.  R.  Tarfon 
who,  after  attending  the  discussions  in  Jamnia,  was  returning  to  his 
home  in  Lydda),  as  the  early  scholars.  It  appears  that  the  bar-Kokhba- 
war  and  the  horrors  of  the  Hadrianic  religious  persecutions  had,  in  the 
minds  of  the  scholars  affected,  removed  the  generation  immediately 
i:)receding  into  a  great  distanc.     Cf.  R.  Jehudah  in  Gitt.  81  a. 

^  Sukk.  V.  4  :   IIN*  '^'lT  nipi3N3  Dil^JD^   DnpitO  ".M    Tl^V^  ^::'JN*1   DH'^Dn 

ninnC^ni  nin^tJ^  nm  fn^Jsi?  OnDINl  jnn^at:^;  in  the  Cambridge  Mishnah 
nil'^tJ'  is  missing,  see  also  Rabbinovicz. 

2  Tos.  Sukk.  IV,  2  :    nipi3N2    nn^^zb    ]np'^JO   VH    .TC'VD   ''D'JST   n'TDH 

^ni:pr  ns  nu'^^a  x^i:'  ^rrni?^  -In'J•^<  nnrois*  rn^  into  c^  .ib  hnr^^^  ndhc^ 


8o  SOME    TYPES    OF 

pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed  were  dancing  before  them 
with  torches,  and  said  before  them  words  of  praises.  What 
did  they  say  ?  Happy  is  he  who  sinned  not,  and  to  him 
who  sinned  may  it  be  forgiv^en  !  Some  of  them  said,  Happy 
art  thou,  my  youth,  that  tliou  didst  not  put  to  shame  my 
old  age  ;  they  were  the  men  of  deed ;  others  of  them  said, 
Happy  art  thou,  mine  old  age,  that  thou  wilt  atone  for  my 
youth ;  they  were  the  repentant '.  Only  a  part  of  the 
account  and  in  a  different  form  has  been  preserved  in  the 
third  version :  ^  *  Of  the  pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed 
some  said,  Happy  art  thou,  my  youth,  that  thou  didst  not 
put  to  shame  mine  old  age;  these  were  the  men  of  deed; 
others  of  them  said,  Happy  art  thou,  mine  old  age,  that 
thou  hast  atoned  for  my  3^0 nth  ;  these  were  the  repentant ; 
both  groups  said,  Happy  is  he  who  sinned  not,  and  to  him 
who  sinned,  may  it  be  forgiven '.  In  both,  nearly  identical 
versions  of  the  Baraitha,  the  opening  sentence  mentions  the 
pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed  ;  the  second  part,  liowever, 
which  quotes  their  respective  declarations  of  happiness,  puts 
the  repentant  in  the  place  of  the  pious  men  in  one  case. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  version  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  ^  the  pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed  are  combined 
as  the  authors  of  one  declaration,  so  that  here  three  groups  of 
distinguished  men  appear,  no  doubt,  by  a  wrong  distribu- 
tion of  their  statements.  As  the  reference  to  their  old  aofe 
indicates,  all  of  them  were  advanced  in  years,  or  at  least 

ii?^s  ^nnb^  bv  i23n*j'  ^niipr  t"*^^  nnn^s*  ]r\D  i^n  ,n:;'yn  ^mi<  ib\s 

1  jer.  Sukk.  V,  55  b.  6s  :  DnroiN  VHC'  |n?D  tj'^  Hc^'y^n  'mi<)  n'TDnn 
DHDiN  vn  )b'ii)  li^^s  ,r]2)^n  'bv2  i^^n*  ^nni5^  bv  m^^^rr  ^mjpr  ^n^x 

2  Sukk.  53  a  top :  n^{  H'j'^u  i^bi^  ):^n)']b'  n^'s*  Dn^ix  jnro  z*'  pan  ):r\ 
^»i  NDn  ^b^  ^D  n'j'N  D^DiN  i^NT  i^N  ,T]2^^^\  &^2  )bi<  i^^nn^^  nx 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  8l 

elderly ;  some  of  them,  as  the  atonement,  the  shaming  and 
the  repentance  show,  looked  back  upon  their  younger  years  as 
not  free  from  some  undefined  blame.^  Later  they  repented, 
changed  their  course,  and  their  latter  years  atoned  for  the 
failings  of  their  youth.  The  character  of  their  present  life 
and  the  attitude  of  their  minds  fill  them  with  satisfaction, 
and  it  seems  to  be  the  ideal  life  to  which,  however,  they 
attained  only  after  a  hard  struggle,  as  indicated  by  the  need 
of  repentance.  On  the  other  hand,  they  pointed  to  their 
past  and  to  the  subsequent  change  of  their  actions  without 
restraint  or  fear  ;  evidently  the  fact  of  their  repentance  and 
their  final  peace  of  mind  fill  them  with  such  happiness 
that  the  unsatisfactory  past  lost  its  sting.  Others  of 
their  company  on  the  Temple  Mount  had  led  already,  when 
young,  a  life  in  agreement  with  their  present  ideal,  and 
never  swerved  from  that  line  of  determined  and  consistent 
piety.  Still  they  know^  that  man  is  weak,  and  his  going 
astray  is  the  rule,  therefore  they  declare  him  happy  who  did 
not  sin ;  and  they  are  not  proud  of  their  comparative  free- 
dom from  error  in  their  youth,  and  do  not  compare  in  self- 
contentment  the  actions  of  others  with  their  own.  Thej^ 
consider  their  present  companions  just  as  worthy  as  them- 
selves :  for  their  past  mistakes  have  been  wiped  out  by  their 
true  repentance  and,  in  their  conviction,  also  forgiven  by 
God,  as  they  abandoned  the  path  of  sin  and  since  then  have 
consistently  walked  in  the  ways  of  piety.  How  the  men 
of  deed  who  in  the  parallel  sentences  correspond  with  the 
repentant,  should  have  meant  such  as  followed  the  right 
line  of  conduct,  is  not  at  all  clear,  as  the  word  n'^^V^  would 
then  have  had  the  otherwise  unknoAvn  meaning  of  firmly 
established  moral  and  religious  action  of  life. 

4.    The    term    is    found    ao;ain  - :    '  Since    the    death    of 
R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  the  men  of  deed  ceased.      R.  Pinlias 

1  Cf.  Eccl.  11.  9:  Rejoice,  0  young  man,  in  thy  youth  ;  and  let  thy 
heart  cheer  thee  in  the  days  of  tliy  youth,  and  walk  in  the  ways  of  thy 
heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine  eyes  ;  and  Sotah  I,  4  H'y^V  niiP^  n3"in  ► 
It  would  suggest  a  free  en.ioynient  of  youth  in  pleasures  of  all  kind^. 

2  Sotah,  IX,  15  :    HC'VD   ^C':N   li^L^a   NDH    \2   Xr:n   '2'\  nJ^'J'D  ■ 

F 


82  SOME    TYPES    OF 

b.  Yair  said, '  Since  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  the  Qnnn 
and  free  men  have  been  put  to  shame  and  have  wrapped 
their  heads,  and  the  men  of  deed  have  been  reduced,  while 
the  men  of  violence  and  of  the  tongue  have  grown  power- 
ful '.^  And  in  the  description  of  the  sad  years  which  will 
precede  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ^  it  says,  '  In  the  third 
year  great  famine,  men,  women,  and  little  ones  and  the  pious 
men  and  the  men  of  deed  die,  and  the  Torah  is  forgotten 
by  those  who  study  it '.  Rashi  ^'  explains  the  man  of  deed 
to  be  one  relying  on  his  worthiness  (in  the  sight  of  God) 
and  performing  miracles  as  those  in  Ta'an.  25  a  ;  Levy  "^  as 

^  Baclier,  II,  498,  2  explains  D''")3n  to  be  used  as  a  contrast  to  |nNn  DJ? . 
If  he  meant  scholars,  K.  Pinhas  employed  an  unusual  term  which  occurs, 
as  far  as  I  know,  only  in  later  sources,  as  in  Midr.  Psalm  1. 1(5  .  NIH  ~\)1il 

121  bv  i<bi<  Ds^jnni'  i6)  nnunn  ns  y2pJ2  ii)n^  nv^^z  mh  T'D^jh 
pi^  r])2V)  nr:N,  Yaikut  Deut.  797:  nD3::n  n^33  TJT  n'^r\^*  o^nb  X^ro 
\^'\)i)  t^>mb  D22:y  ]V^  n  d^d^^d  onnnn  rn  n^i  -lUi*  ^:3ivn  pDiyi 
nnni  i^ni  n-nn  it  ^nii  "h  onjoisn  iniN*  pobpo  i^^nnn  joy^;  Exod.  r. 
27.9:  Q-iDNT  ^33  ^Qn^nn  bv  nirs'j  n^cn:  ^nn  nr^N  ^"lyi!?  nnny  dn* 
tTNin  DIN*  m^riD  ,vbv  K'jy:  •ij\n"i  nu^:^*n  ii?  ns^^N*  xi?  inn  nmiy 

vbv  "lU'':;n  miD,  in  the  parallel  Midr.  Psalm  8.  3:  D^rom  "'I'D^m 
~12"1?0  3in3n.  In  Deut.  r.  3.  3  two  men  forgot  two  measures  of 
barley  left  with  K.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  who  sowed  the  barley  and  kept  the 
harvests  for  them  ;  after  seven  years  Dn^Hn  )^1^?  came  to  claim  their 
deposit.  See  also  2  AKN.  28,  29  b  where  K.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  says  to  his 
disciples  .-nin  nrD^  IJn^an,  and  2  ARN.  8,  11  b  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai,  when 
a  bridal  procession  was  passing  by  his  school,  called  on  his  disciples 
n>^n  Dy  IpDynm  n?Dy  IJnUn;  ARN.  29.  45  a  top,  R.  Yishak  b.  pinhas 
says  :  D^^nn  Dlpm  2^^  iniNI^  bnnrn  bc^V  in  jer.  Berakh.,  I,  2d.  84 
R.  Pinhas  in  the  name  of  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Menahem  said,  David  placed 
a  lyre  and  a  harp  above  his  head,  and  rose  at  midnight  to  play  tliem, 
so  that  min  "'Tnn  might  hear  them  ;  and  what  did  the  min  "'"l^nn  say? 
Since  King  David  is  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Torah,  how  much  more 
should  we  study.  The  parallel  in  Pi^sik.  62  b  has  ^NIC^""  "'Dnn.  In  jer. 
Bikk.  Ill,  65  c.  48  ;  Kidd.  33  b  "13n  is  the  title  of  a  scholar  of  the  second 
degree,  but  already  qualified  to  be  a  member  of  the  school.  See  also 
Bacher  in  MGWJ.,  43,  1899,  345  ff.,  572  ;  2  ARN.  19.  21  a  ;  Ginzberg  in 
Students'  Annual,  1914,  139  ff. 

2  Baraitha  Synh.  97  a.         ^  Sotah,  49  a.         ^  Neuhebr.  WB.,  Ill,  197  a. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  83 

men  distinguished  by  rare  virtues  to  whom  on  account  of 
that  miracles  happened  frequently  ;  Low/  Geiger,^  J.  Briill,^ 
Blau,"^  and  Kohler'^  as  miracle  workers,  KrochmaP  as 
adherents  of  some  esoteric  relioious  teachino-  who,  unlike 
the  ancient  pious  men,  did  not  devote  themselves  to  contem- 
plation only,  but  responded  also  to  the  practices  of  life; 
M.  Friedlander  '  as  practical  men,  Schorr  ^  and  Frankel  ^  as 
miracle-working  Essenes.  The  great  difficulty  in  defining 
the  meaning  of  n'C^Vt^  ^C^'JX  could  perhaps  be  reduced  by  estab- 
lishing the  possible  significations  of  nc'VO.  As  far  as  my 
memory  serves  me,  the  word  standing  by  itself,  without  the 
addition  of  the  essential  qualifying  noun  Q^DJ  or  a  synonym 
of  it,  never  denotes  a  miracle.  How  Rashi  arrived  at  his 
explanation  is  clear  from  his  reference  to  the  miracles  of 
R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa:  as  the  latter  was  called  a  man  of 
deed,  and  several  of  the  most  characteristic  reports  of  his 
activities  deal  with  miracles,  his  title  must  in  his  opinion 
have  been  derived  from  these.  But  is  it  not  just  as 
probable  that  other  actions  of  his,  though  less  fully  and 
less  prominently  described,  and  of  a  totally  different  nature, 
were  responsible  for  that  designation  ?  n'^i^vo  in  1  Sam.  8.  8, 
Jer.  7.  13  denotes  a  man's  or  a  people's  doings,  whether 
good  or  bad ;  Hillel's  doings  were  in  the  honour  of  God ; 
'Akabia  b.  Mahalalel  said  to  his  son,^^ '  Thy  doings  will  bring 
thee  near  to  the  scholars,  and  thy  doings  will  remove  thee 
from  them '.  When  once  a  heathen  woman  came  to 
R.  Eliezer  and  asked  him  to  admit  her  into  Judaism,  he 
wanted  first  to  ascertain  her  antecedents,  and  asked  her  to 
state  in  detail  her  past  doings,^ ^  whether  good  or  bad.  In 
the  schools  where  evil  deeds  were  rare  and  would  not  have 


^  Ben  Chananjci.  V,  1862,  281  b  on  Synh.  VII,  11. 

-  Urschrift,  126.  ^  Introduction  into  the  2Iishnah,  I,  61. 

^  Zccubericesen,  149.  5.  ^  Jeicish  Encydop.  V,  227  a. 

^  n-|1?0,  144a;  Ben  Chananja,  II,  2.  '  Ben  Dosza,  24. 

«  pijnn,  VII,  57  ff.,  cf.  Derenbourg,  Essai,  460  ff. 

9  Zeiischriftf.  d.  rtl.  Interessen,  III,  1846,  458;  MGWJ.  II,  1853.  70. 
^^  'Eduy.  V,  7.  11  Koli.  r.  1.  8.  4  :   y^C'V^  nx  ^D~£:. 

F  2 


84  SOME    TYPES    OF 

been  tolerated,  n'J'yo  was  applied  onl}^  in  the  good  sense  ; 
and  it  is  of  special  interest  for  this  inquiry  that  R.  Haninah 
b.  Dosa  himself  ^  says,  The  learning  of  him  will  last  whose 
deeds  are  greater  than  his  learning.  And  its  meaning  is 
clear  in  R.  Akiba's  statement  ^  about  a  scholar  who  was 
caught  in  so  terrible  a  sea-storm  that  R.  Akiba  thought 
that  he  had  perished ;  when  he  reappeared  in  Cappadocia, 
R.  Akiba  asked  him,  '  What  deeds  had  you  performed  that 
you  were  so  miraculously  saved  ? '  ^  He  replied,  On  my 
way  to  the  boat  I  met  a  poor  man  who  asked  me  for  help ; 
when  I  gave  him  a  loaf  of  bread  he  said,  '•  As  you  by  your 
gift  have  giv^en  me  my  life,  may  your  life  be  given  to  you !  ' 
Here  the  deed  is  one  of  charity  which  is  generally  called 
D^niD  Q^c^yD,"^  as  in  the  sentence  of  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai 
explaining  the  white  garments  and  the  oil  in  Eccl.  9.  8  to 
refer  to  the  observance  of  the  commandments,  to  good  deeds 
and  to  the  study  of  the  Torah.^  As  the  commandments  are 
specially  mentioned,  the  deeds  refer  to  acts  of  kindness  and 
of  love  to  the  fellow-man. 

In  the  great  dispute  between  the  teachers  assembled  on 
a  certain  occasion  before  135  in  Lydda  the  subject  of  n'C^V^ 
was  fully  considered.  A  Baraitha  reports :  '  When  once 
R.  Tarfon  and  the  scholars  were  sitting  in  the  upper  room 
of  the  family  of  Nithzah  in  Lydda,  the  question  was  put 
to   them   as   to  whether  the   study  of   the   Torah  or  the 

1  Aboth,  III,  9. 

2  Koh.  r.  11.  1  ;  Yebam.  121  a  ;  ARN.  3,9  a.  R.  Akiba  in  Abotli  III,  15 
says,  Everything  is  foreseen,  yet  freedom  of  choice  is  given,  and  the 
world  is  judged  by  grace,  yet  all  is  according  to  the  number  of  deeds  (see 
the  commentaries). 

3  When  several  sons  of  DTICp  had  become  high-i^riests  in  turn,  the 
scholars  asked  her,  11^2  C'^  D^niD  D^^V^  HD,  what  good  deeds  hast  thou 
(to  have  merited  such  a  rare  distinction)  ?  She  reiilied,  I  swear  that  the 
beams  of  my  house  never  saw  the  hair  of  my  head,  nor  the  skirt  of  my 
frock,  jer.Yoma  1, 38  d.  11.  In  the  parallel  Baraitha  Yoma  47  a  the  question 
of  the  scholars  reads  :  What  hast  thou  done  to  have  merited  this?  In 
ARN.  35,  53  a  :  '^T'2  HM  ni3T  HD.    Cf.  Mekhil.  14. 13,  28  b.  :  aiDH  HL'^yrO- 

^  Cf.  Aggad.  Cant.  7.  14  :  np'l^  ^i:'1  r]yV^  h'^  DHN*  '22,  Schechter,  92. 
5  Koh.  r.  9.  8  ;  Bacher,  I,  36.  1.  cf.  2  ARN.  26,  27  a  ;  ARN.  16,  32  b. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  85 

practice  of  it  was  more  important.  R.  Tarfon  declared 
the  practice  and  R.  Akiba  the  study  more  important,  but  in 
the  end  all  present  agreed  that  the  study  was  more  impor- 
tant, as  it  led  to  the  practice  of  the  Torah  '.^  The  discus- 
sion and  the  arguments  advanced  show  that  r]'j:,*]:t2,  as  also 
the  word  itself  suggests,  refers  generally  to  the  practice  of 
the  positive  precepts  in  the  Torah,  as  indeed  the  prohibi- 
tions require  for  their  observance  no  action,  but  only 
refraining  from  action.  But  when  the  disciple  of  the 
scholars  of  Lydda,  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai,  applied  that  rule  in 
a  practical  instance,  iTiryo  seemed  to  mean  something  else. 
When  R.  Jehudah  saw  either  a  funeral  or  a  bridal  proces- 
sion pass  by  his  school,  he  looked  at  his  disciples  and  said, 
'  The  deed  has  precedence  before  the  study  '.^  The  parallel 
account  states :  '  It  is  reported  of  R.  Jehudah  that  he  set 
aside  the  study  of  the  Torah  before  a  funeral  or  a  bridal 
procession,^  and  he  called  on  his  disciples  to  interrupt  the 
study  of  the  Torah  and  to  join  in  the  bridal  procession  and 
to  add  to  the  joy  of  the  bride.'  R.  Jehudah  unmistakably 
quoted  the  rule  not  adopted  in  Lydda,  but  the  case  to  which 
he  applied  it  is  nowhere  prescribed  in  the  Torah  ;  it  was  one 
of  the  duties  of  lovingkindness  which  the  rabbis  impressed 
upon  their  disciples  and  upon  the  people  as  very  important. 

1  Baraitha  Kidd.  40 b  ;  Cant.  r.  2.  14.  5  ;  Sifie  Deut.  41,  79  b  ;  jer.Hagig. 
I,  76  c.  46  ;  Bacher,  I,  296.  3 :  n^^^Va   p^IDD   D^jpn    pDID   ^31   n^n   "1331 

i:yj  ^n:  DD'b  ■'rsi  i^i^pv  '21  r\m  b)i^  ncyo  "idnt  pDiD  ^21  n:yj 

n'^VrO  n^i?  ^?n?^  niD^bn'J'  bn:  Dl^^b  innNI  D^ID.  R.  Jos6  the  Galilean 
in  b.  and  Sifre  proved  that  the  study  was  more  iniportiint,  since  the  law 
about  the  heave  offering  from  dough  in  Num.  15.  18-21  was  given  forty 
years  before  it  was  practised,  and  the  laws  about  the  heave  offerings  and 
the  tithes  fifty-four  years,  &c.  So  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II  later 
expressed  it  in  Aboth  I,  17:  HK^VDn  N^i<  "ip^V  ::^'\l}2r]  i6,  not  the 
interpretation  of  the  Torah  is  the  essential  thing,  but  the  practice  of  it. 
See  also  Sifra  Lev.  18.4,  85  d:    .n'^yDH  IT  Ona  DDi?!?  ^nr^DH   IT  in^-JTl 

m::  n^v^n  n^jj^  m::  ny^ion  n?  onn  n^bb  nroK^n,  see  rabd's  note. 

-  jer.  Hagig.  I,  76  c.  44. 

^  Baraitha  Kethub.  17a  bottom;  in  ARN.  4,  9bff".  two  instances  are 
reported  in  which  R.  .Jehudah  acted  in  the  same  way. 


86  SOME    TYPES    OF 

R.  Jelmdah  did  not  hesitate  as  to  his  duty  to  interrupt  his 
lesson  and  to  take  away  his  disciples  from  their  work ; 
and  the  master  with  his  students  joined  in  the  joy  of  a 
bride  who  probably  was  a  stranger  to  them.  He  followed 
in  the  performance  of  this  duty  his  teacher  R.  Tarfon  who 
once,  when  the  procession  of  a  poor  bride  passed  by  his 
school,  took  her  to  his  house  where  his  mother  and  his 
wife  bathed,  anointed,  and  adorned  her^  and  then  all  of 
them  danced  before  her,  until  she  reached  the  house  of  her 
husband.^  As  R.  Jehudah  was  most  conservative  in  follow- 
ing his  masters,  it  is  very  probable  that  already  they  had 
extended  that  rule  to  such  duties  of  lovingkindness,  and  it 
may  even  in  Lydda  have  been  already  included  in  the 
discussion  of  the  teachers  mentioned ;  '^  at  least  the  Sham- 
maite  R.  Tarfon  applied  it  practically  in  that  sense,  and 
r\^V^2  may  have  meant  to  him  in  the  first  instance  such 

1  AEN.  41,  67  a. 

2  In  Semah.  XI:    N'3N*    ,ni?Dni    nCH    >J2D    nilD    niD^n    ]^hl22D    ^J^ 

TlDv/  D"np  n'J'yDn  "1?2N1,  the  first  view  does  not  permit  the  interrui3tion 
of  the  study  of  the  Torah  for  the  sake  of  a  funeral  or  a  bridal  procession. 
But  already  Briill  in  his  Jahrbiicher,  I,  43,  note  94,  suggested  that  the  first 
word  might  be  a  mistake,  as  it  Is  not  found  in  the  parallel  Baraitha  in 
Kethub.  17  a.  In  note  93  he  points  out  that  nti^JJ^  here,  as  it  is  evident 
from  the  context  in  all  the  reports,  denotes  especially  the  occupation 
with  the  charity  of  burial  and  similar  acts  as  it  was  practised  particularly 
by  the  nillDH,  brotherhoods  (see  below).  In  favour  of  this  explanation 
can  be  quoted  two  incidents  of  the  second  half  of  the  third  century  in 
connexion  with  which  the  rule  about  the  precedence  of  the  practice  is 
quoted.  R.  Abahu  sent  his  son  Haninah  to  Tiberias  to  learn  Torah, 
instead  of  which  the  son  devoted  himself  there  to  the  burial  of  the  dead 
(HDn  b?03,  as  the  fatlier's  witty  application  of  Exod.  14.  11  shows,  meant 
burial).  R.  Abahu  reminded  him  of  the  decision  arrived  at  by  the 
scholars  in  Lydda,  that  studj^  was  more  important  than  practice. 
R.  Hiyya  b.  Abba,  R.  Assi,  and  R.  Ammi  once  came  late  to  R.  Eleazar's 
lecture,  because  they  had  been  engaged  in  a  deed  of  lovingkindness  to 
a  stranger,  and  R.  Eleazar  quoted  to  them  the  rule  as  applying  to  a 
special  case,  jer.  Hagig.  I,  76  c.  46-54.  As  the  three  scholars  were  all 
priests,  IDH  ?DJ  cannot  refer  to  burial,  but,  as  very  frequently,  to  the 
comforting  of  a  mourner.  In  the  parallel  in  jer.  Pesah.,  Ill,  30  b.  51  the 
rule  is  applied  to  other  religious  commandments. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  87 

deeds.  In  any  case,  the  word  does  not  mean  a  miracle, 
but  the  practice  of  religious  duties,  and  frequently  the 
practice  of  deeds  of  lovingkindness.  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa 
and  other  men  of  deed  would  accordingly  have  distino-uished 
themselves  by  the  most  conscientious  observance  of  the 
positive  precepts  of  the  Torah,^  or  by  devoting  themselves 
particularly  to  acts  of  loving-kindness  ;  perhaps  even  with 
greater  enthusiasm  and  more  exclusively  than  R.  Haninah's 
contemporary,  the  Shammaite  R.  Tarfon  and  his  disciple 
R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai. 

Of  the  life  of  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  several  incidents  have 
been  preserved  whicli  should  support  or  refute  the  explanation 
of  ncT^  just  suggested.  He  lived  in  'Arabh  near  Sepphoris 
where  his  early  commencement  of  the  Sabbath  was  noticed.^ 

^  See  Marmorstein,  Doctrine  of  Merits,  10,  191. 

-  Jer.  Berakh.  IV,  7  c.  57  :  Ass  drivers  once  came  up  from  'Arabh  to 
Sepphoris  and  said  that  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  had  begun  the  Sabbath  rest 
in  his  town.  They  reported  it  of  him  only  ;  his  fellow-citizens  evidently 
did  not  follow  his  example,  nor  did  the  Jewish  ass  drivers  see  any 
objection  to  their  driving  their  asses  to  Sepphoris  after  that  act  of 
K.  Haninah.  It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  some  information  has 
been  preserved  about  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  in  'Arabh,  questions 
about  which  were  submitted  to  R.  Haninah's  friend,  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai. 
Mishnah  Shabb.  XVI,  7  reads  :  On  Friday  night  a  dish  may  be  tilted  over 
a  lamp  to  prevent  the  beam  from  being  set  on  fire,  or  over  the  excrements 
of  a  child,  or  over  a  scorpion  so  that  it  should  not  sting  ;  R.  Jehudah  says. 
When  once  such  a  case  came  before  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  Arabh,  he 
said,  I  fear,  the  person  has  to  bring  a  sin-offering.  (Note  the  lamp  on 
the  Sabbath  eve  in  the  house  of  the  Galilean  Jew,  as  in  R.  Haninah  b. 
Dosa's  house  in  Ta'an.  25  a,  and  the  place  of  the  lamp  near  the  ceiling.) 
According  to  Baraitha  Shabb.  121  b  it  was  permitted  to  kill  a  scorpion 
on  the  Sabbath  as  a  danger  to  life,  and  only  the  pious  men  would  not 
allow  it.  That  in  'Arabh  even  the  ordinary  man  did  not  think  of  killing 
a  scorpion,  and  R.  Johanan  did  not  advise  him  to  do  so,  suggests  that 
such  permission  was  unknown  or  not  approved  of  in  'Arabh  at  that  time. 
In  Shabb.  XXII,  3  we  read  :  If  the  plug  of  a  cask  has  a  hole,  wax  must 
not  be  put  over  it,  as  that  would  be  an  act  like  the  application  of  a  plaster  ; 
R.  Jehudah  said,  When  once  such  a  case  came  before  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai 
in  'Arabh,  he  said,  I  fear,  the  person  has  to  bring  a  sin-offering.  The  fact 
of  the  submission  of  the  questions  to  the  rabbi  shows  that  the  Jews  of 
'Arabh  observed  the  Sabbath  strictly.  It  is  true  that  in  jer.  Shabb. 
XVI,  15  d.  59  R.  Ulla  states  that  during  the  eighteen  years  of  R.  Johanan 
b.  Zakkai's  stay  in  'Arabh  only  those  two  questions  were  submitted  to 


88  SOME    TYPES    OF 

When  he  once  saw  the  people  of  his  town  taking  gifts  and 
offerings  to  Jerusalem  and  he  himself  had  nothing  to  con- 
tribute, he  went  outside  the  town  and  found  a  stone  which 
he  planed  and  polished,  and  which  he,  with  the  help  of  five 
men,  took  up  to  Jerusalem.  When  here  his  assistants 
disappeared,  before  he  had  paid  them  their  wages,  he  went 
to  the  authorities  sitting  in  the  chamber  of  hewn  stones  in 
the  Temple  to  ask  for  advice.^  Accordingly,  he  was  already  a 
man  before  the  year  70  ;  and,  if  Nehunyah,  the  digger  of 
pits,  about  the  accident  to  whose  daughter  R.  Haninah  was 
consulted,^  was  identical  Avith  the  official  of  the  Temple  of 
that  name  and  the  same  occupation,"  R.  Haninah  was 
already  in  Temple  times  a  man  whose  advice  was  sought. 
He  was  very  poor,  as  according  to  Rabh's  remark  which 
was,  no  doubt,  based  on  earlier  information,  he  lived  the 
whole  week  on  a  kabh  of  carobs,  the  food  of  the  poor,* 
and  oppressive  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life  prevailed  in 
his  household  ^  even  on  the  Sabbath.  It  is  nowhere  suo;- 
gested  that  such  poverty  was  of  his  own  choice.  His  occu- 
pation seems  to  liave  been  that  of  a  stone  mason,  as  he 
shaped  and  polished  the  stone  of  his  "ft  to  the  Temple 
himself;  and  besides  there  is  a  refe^  ^e  to  his  rearing 
goats.*^  He  was  married,  and  had  a  daughter.  R.  Eleazar 
of  Mode'im,  a  younger  contemporary  of  his,  m  explaining 
the  men  of  truth  in  Exod.  18.  X^l,'  illustrated  his  words  bv 
adding:  like  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  and  his  companions.  His 
absolute  truthfulness  and  reliability  must  have  been  known, 
at  least  among  the  scholars;  for  it  was  in  his  association 

him  and  that  on  that  account  he  exclaimed,  Galilee,  Galilee,  thou  hatest 
the  Torah,  thou  shalt  ultimately  fall  into  the  power  of  oppressors. 
He  meant  their  attitude  to  the  rabbinic  interpretation  of  the  law,  of 
which  they  probably  knew  too  little  to  have  doubts  and  questions  about 
details  of  the  Sabbath  observance  and  other  matters. 

1  Koh.  r.  1.  1  ;  Cant.  r.  1.  1.  4.  2  Baraitha  Yebam.  121  b. 

3  Shekal.,  V,  1.  "  Ta'an.  24  b.  s  Ta'an.  25  a. 

^  Ta'an.  25  a;  the  prohibition  against  rearing  sheep  and  goats  was  either 
not  passed  yet  or  did  not  yet  apply  to  Galilee,  as  R.  Jehudah  b.  Baba 
also  disregarded  it,  Baba  kam.  80  a  ;  Tos.  VIII,  13. 

'  Mekhil.  60  a;  Mekhil.  E.  Simeon,  90. 


JEWISH- PALESTINIAN    TIETY  89 

with  them  that  his  personal  qualities  were  revealed.  His 
scrupulous  honesty  is  illustrated  by  an  interesting  incident. 
When  once  a  man  left  a  few  chickens  in  front  of  R.  Haninah's 
door,  the  latter  took  them  in,  stored  their  eggs  for  hatch- 
ing, increased  the  number  of  the  chickens,  and  exchanged 
tliem  for  a  pair  of  goats  which  he  later  returned  to  the 
claimant  of  the  fowls.^  He  was  most  scrupulous  in  tithing 
the  produce  used  for  his  food  ;^  even  his  ass  refused  to  eat 
untithed  fodder."'  As  he  is  invariably  quoted  with  the 
title  of  Rabbi,  he  was  a  fully  qualified  scholar ;  who  his 
teachers  were  is  not  known,  but  he  himself  had  a  school 
and  disciples."*  Apart  from  two  sentences,^  nothing  has 
been  preserved  of  his  halakhic  or  haggadic  teaching. 

On  his  religious  thought  an  incident  throws  some  light. "^ 
Several  inhabitants  of  his  town  were  bitten  by  a  snake ; 
after  killing  it,  R.  Haninah  brought  it  to  the  school  and 
said, '  My  sons,  it  is  not  the  serpent  that  kills,  but  sins  kill.' 
He  believed  that  God's  providence  extended  to  every  indi- 
vidual, watched  the  deeds  of  every  single  person,  and 
rewarded  and  punished  already  on  earth ;  and  when  God 
considered  the  measure  of  the  sins  of  a  man  to  be  full  and 

^  Ta'an.  25  a  ;  as  Rabbinovicz  and  others  have  pointed  out,  this  report 
of  the  Amora  E.  Pinhas  is  a  later  insertion  in  the  Tahnud,  but  it  may 
still  have  been  taken  from  an  early  and  authentic  source.  A  similar 
story  is  told  of  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  in  jer.  Dammai,  I,  22  a.  5;  Deut.  r.  3.  3  : 
When  once  two  poor  men  deposited  two  measures  of  barley  with 
R.  Pinhas,  he  sowed  the  barley  and  its  successive  harvests  for  seven 
years,  so  that,  when  the  owners  called  for  their  deposit,  camels  and  asses 
were  required  for  the  removal  of  their  pi-operty.  In  the  Midi-ash  the 
account  concludes  with  the  same  words  as  another  story  there  about  the 
honesty  of  Simeon  b.  Shetah  :  from  the  honesty  of  man  you  can  conclude 
the  trustworthiness  of  God. 

2  Jer.  Damm.  I,  22  a.  40:  When  one  Friday  night,  during  his  meal,  the 
table  began  to  contract,  his  wife  accounted  for  it  by  her  having  borrowed 
sp.ces  from  her  neighbour  and  not  having  tithed  them.  When  R.  Haninah 
had  arranged  for  the  rectification  of  the  matter,  the  table  rose  again. 

3  ARN.  8,  19  b;  in  Shabb.  112  b  Rabha  b.  Zimona  remarks,  Not  like 
the  ass  of  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  and  that  of  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair.  In  Gen.  r. 
60.  8  ;  Hull.  7  a  ff.  it  is  stated  only  of  the  ass  of  R.  Pinhas. 

*  Jer.  Berakh.  V,  9  a.  63.  ^  Aboth,  III,  9,  10. 

''  Baraitha  Berakh.  33  a. 


90  SOME    TYPES    OF 

him  as  deserving  an  untimely  and  violent  end,  He  sent  a 
serpent  to  carry  out  His  decree  of  retribution.  What  he 
thought  of  the  way  in  which  God  rewarded  obedience  and 
good  deeds,  is  not  stated  clearly.  If  the  legend  about  his 
wife's  pecuHar  wish  is  even  in  part  based  on  fact/  she 
and  also  he  held  the  belief  that  the  righteous  after  death 
enjoy  in  heaven  meals  at  golden  tables  standing  on  three 
golden  legs ;  an  ideal  which  is  also  reflected  by  statements 
of  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  -  and  of  other  early  teachers. 
When  he  prayed,  his  concentration  and  devotion  were 
great ;  once,  while  praying,  he  was  bitten  by  a  snake,  but 
did  not  interrupt  his  prayer.  When  the  serpent  was  later 
found  dead  at  the  entrance  to  its  den,  people  said,  Woe  to 
the  man  whom  a  serpent  bites,  but  woe  to  the  serpent  that 
bit  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa.  To  his  disciples'  question, '  Master, 
hast  thou  not  felt  it  ? '  he  replied,  I  assure  you,  that  as  my 
heart  was  concentrated  on  the  prayer,  I  felt  it  not.^  Such 
devotion  rested  on  true  humility,*  faith  and  trust  in  God, 

1  Ta'an.  25  a.  2  Hagig.  14  b. 

2  Jer.  Berakh.  Y,  9  a.  56  ;  his  miraculous  immunity,  if  it  is  not  altogether 
legendary,  and  even  more  the  statement  that,  %vhen  a  serpent  bit  him,  it 
expired,  have  parallels  in  Indian  and  other  stories.  It  seems  to  be  due 
to  the  application  of  some  strong  chemicals  to  the  body. 

4  In  nV'C^yD  -12D.  ed.  Gaster,  Kamsgate,  1896,  115  fif.,  the  following 
story  is  given,  no  doubt  taken,  as  others  in  the  collection,  from  some 
earlier  rabbinic  source.  When  once  K.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  went  to  visit 
his  master,  he  went  early  to  the  school  and  opened  his  discourse  by 
saying,  Receive  everybody  always  with  a  friendly  countenance.  There 
came  a  hegemon,  stood  in  the  entrance  of  the  school  and  asked,  Which 
of  you  will  carry  me  on  his  shoulder  to  his  house  and  do  for  me  all  that 
I  want  ?  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  rose  and  offered  himself,  took  him  upon 
his  shoulder  to  his  house,  brought  him  water,  sat  down  in  the  dust  and 
asked  the  hegemon.  Master,  what  is  thy  wish,  and  what  will  my  master 
have  for  dinner  ?  When  he  replied.  Honey  and  nuts,  Haninah  went  one 
way  and  his  wife  another,  and  they  brought  the  food.  When  the 
hegemon  took  the  table  and  threw  it  to  the  ground,  Haninah  asked. 
Master,  kindly  tell  me  what  thy  wish  is.  When  he  replied,  Who  will 
carry  me  to  my  house,  Haninah  again  offered  himself.  When  he  came 
out  to  the  market  of  the  town,  he  felt  that  the  hegemon  had  dismounted  ; 
and  he  saw  a  flame  rising  to  heaven  and  heard  its  voice  say  to  him, 
Haninah,  return,  thou  hast  been  tried  and  found  perfect,  we  shall  no 
longer  trouble  thee,  for  I  heard  it  said  about  thee  (Isa.  51.  16),  And 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  9 1 

and  on  complete  self-surrender,  and  characterized  his  reli- 
ofious  attitude  to  God.  It  would  be  interesting-  to  know 
whether  the  prayer  which  he  once  recited  in  the  open  air  was 
that  prescribed  by  the  scholars,  as  the  context  suggests,  or 
the  pouring  out  of  his  heart  not  restricted  by  time  or  place. 
5.  In  Rabh's  statement  quoted  above  a  heavenly  voice 
called  R.  Haninah  the  son  of  God,  indicatino-  his  intimate 
relations  to  God  the  sources  of  which  are,  however,  not 
recorded.  As  that  voice  expressed  the  public  opinion  of 
his  merits,  as  in  the  case  of  Honi,  the  circle  drawer,^  his 
contemporaries  must  have  had  a  high  opinion  of  his  recog- 
nition by  God.  People  sought  his  advice  or  his  reassur- 
ance, when  a  sudden Ibalamity  befell  an  individual  or  the 
inhabitants  of  his  town.  And  he  must  have  readily  shared 
the  daily  troubles  and  sorrows  of  his  fellow-men :  and  that 
was  another  reason  why  they  came  to  him,  to  have  his 
sympathy  in  addition.^  When  the  daughter  of  Nehunyah, 
a  digger  of  public  pits,  fell  into  a  deep  pit,^  R.  Haninah 
was  informed  of  the  accident ;  in  the  tirst  while  he  said. 
Peace,  in  the  second  while  he  said.  Peace,  and  in  the  third 
while  he  said,  She  has  come  out.  When  they  asked  him 
how  he  knew  it,  whether  he  was  a  prophet,  he  answered 
that  he  was  neither  a  prophet  nor  the  son  of  a  prophet, 
but  that  he  had  said  to  himself.  Should  the  daughter  of  the 
righteous  man  perish  by  the  very  thing  that  is  his  occu- 

I  have  put  my  words  in  thy  mouth,  and  have  covered  thee  in  the  shadow 
of  mine  hand.  Haninah's  voluntary  self-humiliation  is  similar  to  that  of 
Hillel  who  ran  out  before  a  poor  man  in  Jerusalem  ;  here  also  Haninah 
offei's  himself  to  do  the  duties  of  a  slave  of  the  hegemon  and  in  addition 
to  provide  food  for  him.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  R.  Haninah's 
master  and  the  place  of  his  school  where  a  Roman  high  official  could  so 
insolently  demand  such  humiliating  services  of  scholars  in  the  school. 
As  R.  Haninah  lived  in  Arabh,  his  mast»^r  may  have  taught  in  Sepphoris 
or  Tiberias,  the  residence  of  Roman  officials  ;  but  we  know  nothing  of 
schools  in  Galilee  before  70. 

1  Ta'an.  Ill,  8. 

-  In  the  parallel  account  in  jer.  Shekal.  V,  48  d.  44  R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair 
went  with  the  rest  of  the  people  to  the  house  of  the  bereaved  father  to 
comfort  him. 

^  Baraitha  Yebam.  121b. 


92  SOME    TYPES    OF 

pation  ?  He  must  have  often  thought  about  the  ways  of 
God'^s  providence,  especially  when  sudden  accidents  offered 
perplexing  riddles  to  his  religious  mind.  As  his  conviction 
about  the  deaths  caused  by  serpents'  bites  showed  us  above, 
he  had  no  doubt  that  this  or  any  other  calamity  that 
threatened  to  destroy  a  young  life  was  sent  by  God  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  God  is  not  only  just,  but  full  of  considera- 
tion in  meting  out  punishment,  and  He  would  not  use  just 
a  pit,  the  unselfish  work  of  the  pious  father,  as  his  instru- 
ment to  end  the  life  of  his  daughter.  Such  religious  con- 
viction about  God's  justice  filled  him  with  the  strongest 
confidence  about  the  fate  of  the  girl.  He  did  not  pray  for 
her  rescue,  at  least  nothing  is  said  about  it.  While  it  is 
possible  that  in  the  intervals  between  his  reassuring  words 
he  prayed,  and  the  single  exclamations  of  certainty  were 
the  outcome  of  his  supplications,  it  seems  more  probable 
that  he  did  not  pray,  as  in  his  explanation  of  his  pro- 
phetical powers  he  did  not  refer  to  any  prayer.  When 
a  more  general  calamity  visited  his  town,  and  a  serpent 
injured  several  persons,  some  of  the  inhabitants  informed 
R.  Haninah.  Here  again  he  did  not  intercede  by  prayer, 
but  by  action ;  for  he  put  his  heel  upon  the  entrance  to  the 
serpent's  den,  and  the  beast,  after  biting  him,  expired. 
Whether  it  was  such  apparently  supernatural  intervention 
that  the  people  expected  of  him,  is  not  clear;  but  un- 
doubtedly, w^hen  they  came  to  him,  they  looked  for  either 
direct  help  or  some  directions  about  the  removal  of  the 
trouble.  Could  his  intervention  be  described  as  n'j'y^,  and 
would  he  have  been  described  for  that  as  a  man  of  deed  ? 

His  prayer  of  intercession  was  considered  not  only  by  the 
ordinary  man,  but  even  by  leading  scholars  of  his  time  as 
effective.  When  his  son  was  seriously  ill,  R.  Johanan  b. 
Zakkai  asked  him  to  pray  for  his  recovery^:  'When  R. 

1  Baraitha  Berakli.  34  b  bottom  :   D'DPn   vbv  ^'p^   '^3   W^n   "lb   ■^t:^< 

p  pm""  p-i  -IDS*  ♦n^m  D^r:ni  v^y  cpni  10-12  pn  vj'ni  n^:n  .n^n^i 
in  id  -bxD  Dvn  ^2  lona  pa  id'ni  dn*  *N2T  p  n*Dn  N^j^ij^x  *n2t 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  93 

Haninah  b.  Dosa  came  to  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  to  learn 

• 

Torah  from  him,  and  the  latter's  son  was  taken  ill,  E.. 
Johanan  said  to  him,  Haninah,  my  son,  pray  for  mercy  for 
him,  that  he  may  recover.  He  put  his  head  between  his 
knees  ^  and  prayed  for  mercy  for  him,  and  he  recovered. 
R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  then  said.  Even  if  the  son  of  Zakkai 
had  put  his  head  between  his  knees  for  the  whole  day,  God 
would  not  have  heeded  him.  When  his  wife  asked  him^ 
Is  then  Haninah  greater  than  thou,  he  said,  No,  but  he 
appears  to  be  like  the  slave  before  the  king,  and  I  appear 
to  be  like  a  high  official  before  the  king.  When  R.  Gama- 
liel's son  was  taken  ill,  the  patriarch  sent  two  scholars  to 
R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  to  ask  him  to  pray  for  mercy  for  his 
son.  As  soon  as  R.  Haninah  had  seen  them,  he  went  up  to 
his  upper  room  and  prayed  for  mercy  for  the  patient.  On 
coming  down  he  said  to  them,  Go,  for  the  fever  has 
departed  from  him.  When  they  asked  him  as  to  whether 
he  was  a  prophet,  he  said,  I  am  neither  a  prophet  nor  the 
son  of  a  prophet,  but  I  have  the  tradition  that,  when  my 
prayer  is  fluent  in  my  mouth,  I  know  that  it  is  acceptable, 
and  when  it  is  not  fluent,  it  is  rejected  '.^  The  patient  was 
not  broucrht  before  him,  nor  was  R.  Haninah  invited  to  see 
him,  so  that  no  personal  influence  was  to  be  exercised  upon 
the  child ;  it  was  exclusively  the  prayer  of  R.  Haninah 
that  was  expected  to  act.  His  own  view  of  it  is  most 
interesting.  Every  illness  is  sent  by  God,  and  nobody 
knows  His  intentions  as  to  its  outcome ;  as  He  inflicted  it, 
so  He  alone  can  remove  it.  Prayers  for  His  compassion 
may  have  the  effect  that  God  in  His  mercy  will  allow  the 
patient  to  recover ;  but  as  the  father,  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai, 
a  great  man,  distinguished  by  learning  and  piety,  had  no 
doubt   prayed  most  devoutly  and    humbly  for   his   son's 

1  R.  Eliezer  in  Pesik,  192  a  comments  on  1  Reg.  18.  42,  where  Elijah 
prayed  with  his  head  between  his  knees  ;  Bacher,  I,  150.  4  ;  151.  1. 

^  The  second  incident  is  reported  also  in  jer.  Berakh.  V,  9d.  27,  where 
R.  Haninah  said,  I  trust  that  the  son  of  R.  Gamaliel  has  been  relieved 
from  his  illness  ;  see  also  Mishnah  Berakh.  V,  5. 


94  SOME    TYPES    OF 

recovery,  and  the  illness  still  continued,  has  anybody's  in- 
tercession for  mercy  any  prospect  of  being  accepted  1  Did 
God  regard  R.  Haninah  more  favourably  ?  By  applying 
for  his  prayer,  R.  Johanan  openly  admitted  that  in  this 
instance  his  own  supplication  was  not  deemed  by  God 
worthy  of  acceptance :  will  such  additional  humility  assist 
R.  Haninah's  intervention  ?  He  did  not,  in  modesty,  refuse 
to  intercede  for  R.  Johanan's  son ;  for  it  would  be  a  sin,  as 
Samuel,  the  prophet,  when  asked  by  the  people  of  Israel  to 
pray  for  them,  said  in  1  Sam.  12.  23,  '  Moreover  as  for  me, 
far  be  it  from  me  that  I  should  sin  against  the  Lord  in 
ceasing  to  pray  for  you  '.^  But  his  readiness  to  pray  in 
the  two  instances  might  be  interpreted  as  showing  that  he 
believed  in  his  own  power ;  to  what  extent  ?  Did  he  pre- 
sume that  his  great  and  true  devotion  and  his  concentra- 
tion of  mind  could  influence  God  ?  He  does  not  seem  to 
have  held  that  opinion,  as,  in  spite  of  all  prayer,  he  said 
that  he  sometimes  was  not  successful,  as  hesitation  in  his 
words  indicated  to  him.^  His  fluency  was  sent  to  him 
by  God,  when  He  in  His  mercy  was  willing  to  grant 
recovery  to  the  patient,  as  a  reassuring  sign  and  not  as  the 
means  of  His  acceptance,  as  in  the  case  of  His  refusal  the 

1  Kabh  in  Berakli.  12  b,  inferred  fiom  this  verse  that  he  who  could  pniy 
for  his  neighbour  and  refused  to  do  so,  was  called  a  sinnei*.  Prayers  for 
the  recovery  of  others  are  mentioned  in  Num.  12.  13,  Moses  for  Miriam, 
in  Josephus,  Wars,  I,  3.  2,  Antiquit.,  XIII,  11.  1,  Antigonos  for  his  brother 
Aristobul,  in  Antiquit.  XIX,  8.  2,  the  people  for  King  Agrippa  I.  When 
the  scholars  visited  R.  Tarfon  in  his  illness,  his  mother  said  to  them, 
Pray  for  my  son  Tarfon,  for  ho  honours  me  very  greatly,  jer.  Pe'ah, 
I,  15 e.  37;  Pesik.  r.  23,  123a.  The  rule  is  applied  to  other  occasions: 
R.  Joshua  b.  Karha  in  Baba  b.  91  b  said  that  Mahlon  and  Kilyon  in 
Ruth  1.  5  were  punished,  because  they  failed  to  pray  for  their  generation. 
When  R.  Meir  visited  the  town  of  Manila,  inhabited  by  priests,  and 
learned  that  tbey  were  all  dying  young,  he  was  asked  to  pray  for  them. 
Gen.  r.  59,  1.  Abba  Jehudah  in  Holath  Antiochia  who  supported  the 
schools  in  Judaea,  lost  all  his  property  ;  when  he  recovered  it  again  and 
R.  Eliezer,  R.  Joshua,  and  R.  Akiba  came  to  him  to  solicit  help  for  the 
schools,  he  said  to  them,  Your  prayers  have  borne  fruit,  jer.  Horay.  Ill, 
48a.  51-9;  Lev.  r.  5.  4.  See  also  Apoc.  Bar.  2,  2;  Ptsik.  147  a,  Midr. 
Tann.  26.  3,  172. 

-  He  prayed,  unlike  Hannah  in  1  Sam.  1.  13,  not  merely  in  his  heart, 
but  aloud. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  95 

hesitation  of  his  prayer  by  God's  will  told  R.  Haninah  His 
decision ;  but  not  even  his  intercession  had  force  to 
compel  God  to  yield,  as  only  the  magicians  believed  to 
possess.  On  the  other  hand,  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  unre- 
servedly admitted  that  the  personality  of  R.  Haninah  and 
his  nearness  to  God  were,  for  the  successful  submission  to 
God  of  special  requests,  qualifications  which  the  greatest 
scholar  and  the  highest  position  in  the  school  could  not 
equal.  R.  Haninah  was  in  the  position  of  the  personal 
attendant  of  the  king,  who,  though  of  a  low  rank,  could,  on 
account  of  his  personal  relations  to  his  master,  submit  his 
request  at  any  time,  and  plead  for  the  life  of  one  con- 
demned to  death,  and  feel  justified  in  pressing  his  claim,  in 
his  expectation  of  seeing  it  speedily  granted.  R.  Johanan 
was  like  the  high  official,  kept  at  a  distance  from  his  king 
by  the  formalities  of  the  court ;  and  as  he  is  not  continually 
in  his  presence,  he  cannot  hope  to  have  his  most  urgent 
prayers  for  mercy  for  the  life  of  one  condemned  to  death 
considered  and  realized.  The  influence  of  R.  Haninah  upon 
God  is,  in  a  popular  form,  described  in  an  anonymous  inter- 
pretation of  '  the  honourable  man '  in  Is.  3.  3  :^  one  for  whose 
sake  consideration  is  shown  to  his  generation,  as  to  R. 
Haninah  b.  Dosa  in  heaven,  and  to  R.  Abahu  by  the  Roman 
governor.  According  to  Rabh's  statement,  a  heavenly  voice 
daily  proclaimed,  '  While  the  whole  world  is  sustained  for 
the  sake  of  My  son  Haninah,  he  himself  is  contented  with 

-ID^P  ^3  "1^3^5  •'31  piD  HDrob  XOn  p  W^Jn  ""a").  An  anonymous  story 
in  Aramaic,  in  Pesah.  112  b  bottom,  says  :  Originally,  the  female  demon 
Agrath,  daughter  of  Mahlath,  came  every  day ;  when  once  she  met 
R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa,  she  told  him,  Had  it  not  been  announced  in  heaven, 
Take  care  of  Haninah  and  liis  learning,  I  should  have  brought  you  danger. 
He  retorted,  If  I  am  considered  in  heaven,  I  decree  that  thou  shalt  never 
pass  through  inhabited  land.  But  when  she  besought  him  to  allow  her 
some  time,  he  granted  her  two  nights  in  the  week.  The  idea  of  limiting 
the  activities  of  the  evil  spirits  is  found  in  Jubil.  10.  7-11,  where  Noah, 
with  the  consent  of  God,  reduced  the  great  number  of  the  demons 
considerably,  and  at  the  request  of  their  chief,  Mastema,  allowed  them 
a  tenth  of  their  original  number. 


9^  SOME    TYPES    OF 

a  kabh  of  carobs  from  one  Friday  to  another '.  So  his 
merit  was  extended  by  God  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  his 
town  or  ev^en  his  district ;  and  his  presence  in  his  genera- 
tion secured  their  sustenance  for  them,  either  by  his  mere 
living  among  them  or  by  his  providing  by  his  prayers  ample 
rain  in  its  proper  time  and  protection  for  the  crops.^  At 
the  same  time  R.  Haninah  and  his  family  suffered  v/ant ; 
and  he,  of  his  own  accord,  never  tried  to  improve  his  own 
poor  state  by  his  prayer,-^  as  though  such  use  of  it  were 
unworthy,  or  poverty  were  one  of  the  requirements  of  the 
life  of  a  pious  man. 

6.  A  few  words  must  be  said  about  the  miracles  recorded 
as  performed  by  R.  Haninah  himself,  and  about  others  which 
happened  to  his  wife  ;  for  they  are,  in  every  wa3^  different 
from  all  that  has  so  far  been  considered  here  of  his  activities. 
Once,  on  a  Fridav  nio-ht,  he  noticed  that  his  dauo-hter  looked 
sad ;  and  she  explained  to  her  father  that  by  mistake  she  had 
taken  for  the  Sabbath  lamp  a  vessel  containing  vinegar 
instead  of  one  filled  with  oil.  He  said,  My  daughter,  why 
are  you  troubled  ?  He  who  said  to  the  oil  to  burn  will  say 
to  the  vinegar  that  it  should  burn.  A  Baraitha  adds  :  It 
burnt  continually  the  whole  day,  so  that  they  used  its  light 
for  the  blessing  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Sabbath.^     The 

^  When  E.  Simeon  b.  Lakisli  in  jer.  Ma'as.  sheni,  V,  56  d.  7  Hull.  86  a 
said.  Since  certain  Jews  had  come  up  to  Palestine  from  Babylonia,  and 
the  flax  was  never  smitten  and  the  wine  never  turned  sour,  the  scholars 
thought  of  the  merits  of  E.  Hiyya  and  his  sons.  Of  much  earlier  times 
Sifra  Lev.  26,  4,  110  d  reports  :  In  the  days  of  Simeon  b.  Shetah  and  Queen 
Salome  the  rain  fell  every  Friday  nistht,  so  that  the  wheat  grew  to  the 
size  of  kidneys,  the  barley  to  that  of  olive  stones,  and  the  lentils  to  that 
of  gold  denars.  So  the  piety  of  the  two  righteous  personalities  secured 
abundance  of  food  for  everybody.     Cf.  Sifre  Deut,  11.  14.  42,  80  a. 

2  In  Ta'an.  24  b  it  is  reported  that,  when  he  was  once  on  the  road  and 
it  rained,  he  prayed,  Master  of  the  Universe,  everybody  is  at  ease,  only 
Haninah  is  in  trouble ;  and  the  rain  stopped.  On  reaching  home  he 
prayed,  Master  of  the  Universe,  everybody  is  in  trouble  (owing  to  the 
drought),  only  Haninah  is  at  ease  ;  and  the  rain  fell  again.  The  report 
is  in  many  respects  without  a  parallel. 

3  In  Gaster's  nVk:'VD  'D,  No.  163, 116,  his  wife  asked  him  on  the  Friday 
what  food  they  would  have  for  the  Sabbath,  and  his  daughter  asked  what 
they  would  light  for  the  Sabbath  ;  to  his  wife  lie  replied,  God  will  have 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  97 

Sabbath  had  ah^eacly  begun,  when  E.  Haninah  heard  his 
daughter's  account :  the  vessel  could  no  longer  be  exchanged, 
and  no  other  lamp  must  be  lighted,  but  evidently  the  vessel 
filled  with  vinegar  was  burning.  To  R.  Haninah's  mind 
oil  was  a  liquid  just  as  vinegar,  and  as  such  had  no  inherent 
quality  to  make  it  burn,  it  is  God  who  by  His  will  bestowed 
on  it  at  the  creation  that  special  force;  if  He  wills  it.  He 
can  confer  that  power  in  the  same  way  on  any  other  liquid 
which  in  our  experience  does  not  at  present  possess  it. 
R.  Haninah's  words  may  have  been  meant  as  a  declaration  of 
God's  might,  possibly  also  as  a  wish ;  but  his  strong  faith 
uttered  them  as  a  statement  of  assured  certainty.  Did  he, 
according  to  the  author  of  the  report,  in  his  own  opinion 
possess  the  power  of  making  God  bring  about  the 
miracle  ?  For  it  is  God  and  not  R.  Haninah  who  can 
change  the  nature  of  vinegar ;  and  the  miracle  happened, 
because  he  expressed  his  certainty  that  God  would  act  to 
that  effect.^  It  should  be  noted  that  the  report  in  its 
present  form  consists  of  two  distinct  parts,  the  first  begins 
in  Aramaic,  but  soon  goes  over  into  Hebrew,  and  finishes 
with  R.  Haninah's  statement ;  then  a  Baraitha  relates  the 
miracle.  The  same  is  noticeable  in  the  next  report,  A 
female  neighbour  of  R.  Haninah,  while  building  her  house, 
found  that  the  beams  were  too  short  for  it.  When  she 
came  to  him  and  told  him  of  her  trouble,  he  asked  her  for 
her  name  and,  in  addressing  her  by  it,^  said,  Ibbu,  Ibbu,  may 

mercy,  and  to  his  daughter  ]ie  said,  Light  what  is  in  that  vesseL  The 
wife  made  a  fire  in  the  empty  oven  and  the  latter  was  miraculously  filled 
with  bread  ;  and  when  the  daughter  found  that  the  vessel  contained 
vinegar,  R.  Haninah  spoke  the  words  quoted  in  the  text.  When  the 
Sabbath  approached,  E.  Haninah  sanctified  the  Sabbath  by  pronouncing 
the  blessing  over  the  bread,  the  daughter  lighted  the  lamp,  «S:e. 

^  A  miracle  happened  in  a  different  form  to  a  Sabbath  lamp  in  Gen.  r. 
60.  16  :  As  long  as  our  mother  Sarah  lived,  the  lamp  was  burning  from 
one  Friday  night  to  the  other,  but  after  her  death  the  lamp  failed  ;  when 
Eebekkah  came  into  the  tent,  the  lamp's  strength  returned.  In  Pesikta  r. 
23,  117  b  R.  Eleazar  b.  Jeremiah  (in  Gen.  r.  11.  2  R.  Eleazar.  see  Theodor) 
reports,  I  once  lighted  the  lamp  on  a  Friday  evening,  and  it  burnt  till 
Sabbath  night,  and  I  found  it  then  still  full  of  oil,  nothing  was  missing. 

2  It  was  according  to  the  evidence  in  Rabbinovicz  ID^N.  not  1D''X. 

G 


98  SOME    TYPES    OF 

thy  beams  extend  !  (A  Baraitha  continues  :  they  extended, 
so  that  they  projected  one  cubit  on  each  side ;  some  say, 
they  added  parts). ^  Another  Baraitha  proceeds:  '  Pelimo 
says,  I  saw  that  house,  and  its  beams  were  projecting  a 
cubit  on  each  side,  and  I  was  told  that  it  was  the  house 
which  R.  Haninah  had  covered  with  beams  by  his  prayer.' 
The  author  of  the  last  part  who  was  a  contemporary  of 
R.  Jehudah  I,^  specially  mentions  that  R.  Haninah's  prayer 
brought  about  the  miracle.  But  he  does  not  say  what  occa- 
sion there  was  for  such  an  intervention,  whether  it  was  the 
extreme  poverty  of  a  helpless  widow  or  some  other  grave 
trouble  from  which  R.  Haninah  in  his  compassion  thought 
it  his  duty  to  liberate  her ;  for  that  he  should  have  invoked 
God's  miracles  for  anybody  and  at  any  time,  is  hardly 
credible.  The  fragmentary  nature  of  the  three  statements 
put  next  to  each  other  is  probably  responsible  for  tlie  incom- 
pleteness of  connexion.  The  first  part  in  Aramaic  ends 
with  R.  Haninah's  wish  to  the  woman  for  which  he,  as 
magicians  would,  required  her  name. 

In  another  Aramaic  account,  mentioned  before,  the  wife 
of  R.  Haninah  was  once  tired  of  her  abject  poverty,  and  she 
induced  him  to  pray  to  God  for  material  assistance;^  and 
in  answer  to  it  God  sent  him  the  golden  leg  of  a  table. 
Soon  after  he  saw  in  a  dream,  how  all  the  righteous  men  in 
heaven  were  eating  at  tables  having  three  legs,  while  his 
table  had  only  two  legs.  When  he  told  his  wife  of  his 
dream,  she  induced  him  to  pray  to  God  that  the  golden  leg 
be  taken  back ;  and  so  it  happened.  A  Baraitha  continues  : 
'  The  second  miracle  was  greater  than  the  first  (for  they 
had  a  tradition  that  God  gave,  but  did  not  take  back).' 
For  a  righteous  man  should  not  ask  for  material  help,  as 
his  reward  is  awaiting  him  in  heaven,  and  this  should  not 
be  reduced  by  the  granting  of  requests  on  earth.  His  wife, 
ashamed  of  her  poverty,  used  every  Friday  to  light  a  fire 

^  Tlie  part  in  brackets  is  absent  in  the  Munich  MS.  and  other  texts. 
^  Menah.  37  a  and  Baraitha  Berakh.  48  b  bottom. 

^  In  some  texts  (see  Rabbinovicz)  she  induced  him  to  pray  for  an  instal- 
ment of  his  future  reward  in  the  world  to  come.    See  Yelamd.  Exod.  11  b. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  99 

in  her  oven,  to  produce  the  impression  upon  her  neighbours 
that  she  was  making  preparations  for  the  SaVjbath.  When 
once  a  wicked  neighbour  who  knew  her  poverty  saw  the 
smoke  rise  from  R.  Haninah's  house,  she  knocked  at  the 
door  to  see  what  was  going  on  there.  The  poor  wife  of 
R.  Haninah  in  her  shame  withdrew  into  a  corner;  but 
meanwhile  a  miracle  happened  :  the  oven  was  hlled  with 
bread  and  the  kneading  trough  with  dough.  When  the 
inquisitive  neighbour  called  out,  'Bring  a  shovel,  for  thy 
bread  is  getting  burnt ',  the  poor  woman  replied,  '  For  that 
purpose  have  I  come  here.'  A  Baraitha  continues  ;  '  Also 
she  went  in  to  fetch  a  baker's  shovel,  for  she  was  used  to 
miracles.'  The  whole  account  is  in  Aramaic,  except  the 
Baraitha ;  and  this  seems  to  differ  from  the  main  story  in 
which  the  miracle  happened  only  to  silence  the  wicked, 
unwelcome  visitor,  and  to  protect  the  pious  woman  from 
being  put  to  shame.  In  the  Baraitha  R.  Haninah's  wife  is 
described  as  having  before  experienced  several  miracles, 
and  therefore  justified  in  expecting  another;  her  husband 
had  no  share  in  all  this.  The  exaggeration  is  too  great 
even  for  the  house  of  R.  Haninah ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  strange  stories  all  belong  to  one  class  of  later 
expansions  of  the  originally  plain  accounts.  Their  date 
seems  to  be  that  of  the  Tanna  Pelimo  who,  as  shown  above, 
quoted  his  having  seen  the  wonderful  house  that  had  been 
covered  with  beams  by  R.  Haninah's  prayer.  Unfortunately 
the  information  extant  does  not  enable  us  to  trace  the 
gradual  growth  of  the  legends  from  the  year  100  to  200 ; 
but  it  is  most  instructive  to  note  that  the  Palestinian 
Talmud  has  preserved  no  account  of  any  of  the  miracles,^ 

^  Except  the  one  about  R.  Haninah's  table  giving  way  at  his  meal  on 
a  Friday  night,  because  his  wife  had  forgotten  to  tithe  the  spices  which 
she  had  borrowed  from  a  neiglibour  for  the  preparation  of  that  meal, 
jer.  Damm.  I,  22  a.  40.  Line  43  reads  :  When  once  R.  Tarfon  was  having 
his  meal,  a  piece  of  bread  fell  from  his  hand  ;  when  asked  what  it  meant, 
he  said,  I  borrowed  an  axe  and  prepared  my  leviticallj"  pure  food  with  it. 
In  comparing  the  two  incidents  we  see  clearly  that  the  occurrence 
at  R.  Haninah's  table  was  similar  to  that  of  R.  Tarfon,  and  not  a 
miracle. 

G  2 


lOO  SOME    TYPES    OF 

thouo-h  Pelimo  was  a  Palestinian  Tanna.  The  interest  of 
the  Babylonian  teachers  in  those  stories  was  greater ;  and 
just  as  Rabh's  statement  about  R.  Haninah  was  preserved 
in  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  so  also  the  legendary  Baraithas 
about  him  were  repeated  in  the  schools  in  Babylonia. 
Gradually  they  were  told  in  Aramaic,  and  only  one  frag- 
ment of  the  original  Baraitha  was  quoted  as  evidence  in 
Hebrew,  a  method  frequently  to  be  observed  in  accounts 
cited  in  the  Talmud.  The  uncertainty  of  the  tradition  as 
to  whether  the  incident  happened  to  R.  Haninah  or  to 
R.  Pinhas  b.  Yair  concerns  only  the  sober,  historical  accounts 
preserved  also  in  Palestinian  sources ;  and  it  must  have 
begun  fairly  late,  as  the  name  of  R.  Pinhas  b.  Hama,  a 
Galilean  teacher  of  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century,  in 
connexion  with  the  account  of  R.  Haninah's  scrupulous 
honesty  seems  to  suggest. 

R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  has  been  declared  by  those  scholars 
who  identify  the  Hasids  with  the  Essenes,  to  have  been 
a  Hasid,  though  the  early  accounts  all  designate  him  only 
as  a  man  of  deed,  and  distinguish  him  clearly  from  the 
Hasids.^     But  how  many  of  the  numerous  details  of  his 

1  Tos.   Sotah,    XV,    5:    ,nC'yiO   ^L*ON  ll^'Dn    NDH    ]2  X^JH   ^21  JlDK^ro 
nn^Dn   nbc2  n^^D^p   p   ^Or   naX   nrO*^*n;  Baraitha  Sotah  49  b  bottom.- 

5<niJDp  p  ^DV  X3S  nok^'ro  ,  ^t^•y?^  ^mii  ii?D3  son  p  w^jn  ^nn  nr:tro 

Dn''Dn   I^Dn;  jer.   IX,  24  c.  25:   ^KOt^   IpDD   NDH    p   NJ^JH   Ul   DDC^D 

nn^on  '•t^^^x  ^pD2  nd^jdp  ^dv  ^mi  ^n^on  •'DV  ^nn  noC'^D  nt^yon. 

Weiss,  Zur  Geschichte  der  jud.  Tradition,  I,  109,  calls  R.  Haninah,  a  con- 
temporary of  R.  .Johanan  b.  Zakkai  and  R.  Gamaliel  II,  one  of  the  ancient 
pious  men.  His  source  for  that  statement  is  Berakh,  V,  1  :  The  ancient 
pious  men  waited  a  while  before  reciting  the  prayer,  in  order  to  direct 

their  hearts  to  their  Father  in  heaven  ;  i<b  I^Dli^t^'n  bii)^  ^bDil  1^^2S 
p^DD''  id  npV  hv  "]n^  ^^J  ^b'^i^)  ^:2'^\  even  if  the  king  greets  him, 
he  must  not  answer  (during  prayer),  and  even  if  a  serpent  is  wound 
round  his  heel,  he  must  not  interrupt.  Already  the  subjects  and  the 
suffixes  referring  to  them  in  the  singular  make  it  clear  that  the  sentence 
does  not  continue  the  previous  statement  about  the  pious  men  in  the 
plural.  In  addition,  the  first  sentence  reports  a  fact  of  the  past,  while 
the  second  gives  directions  about  the  conduct  of  a  man  engaged  in  prayer, 
so  that  a  connexion  between  the  two  is  not  possible.     Weiss,  of  course, 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  lOI 

life  and  his  activities  agree  with  the  picture  drawn  by  the 
various  writers  of  antiquit}^  of  the  Essenes  ?  Philo  ^  says, 
'Among  all  men  they  alone  are  without  money  and  without 
possessions,  but  nevertheless  they  are  the  richest  of  all, 
because  to  have  few  w^ants  and  live  frugally  they  regard 
as  riches.'  Not  even  this  statement  fits  R.  Haninah  who 
was  living  with  his  family  not  frugally,  but  in  real,  oppressive 
poverty  that  transcended  everything  reported  of  the  Essenes. 
His  truthfulness  and  honesty  could  be  quoted  as  Essenic,  if 
anything  special  concerning  those  virtues  were  known  of 
the  Essenes  that  was  not  equally  strongly  emphasized  by 
the  rabbis.  The  most  characteristic  facts,  his  prayers  for 
the  sick  and  his  strictness  in  tithing,  have  no  parallels  in 
Philo  or  Josephus.  Nor  is  anything  reported  similar  to 
the  advice  and  help  which  individuals  or  a  community  in 
distress  sought  of  him ;  as  even  Hippolytus'  interesting- 
sentence  about  the  Essenes,  '  Special  zeal  they  manifest  in 
offering  sympathy  and  succour  to  those  in  distress  ',  does 
not  suggest  anything  like  R.  Haninah's  attitude,  when  the 
daughter  of  Nehunyah,  the  digger  of  pits,  fell  into  a  pit, 
or  when  several  persons  were  bitten  by  a  serpent.  The 
gift  of  prophecy  which  Josephus  proves  in  several  instances 
as  most  remarkable  in  some  Essenes  wlio  imparted  the 
art  of  prediction  to  their  disciples,  is  not  to  be  found  in 
R.  Haninah  who,  unlike  those  Essenes,  emphatically  declined 

saw  the  difficulty,  but  assumed  that  originally  also  the  second  sentence 
was  an  account  of  the  habits  of  the  pious  men,  but  the  redactor  of  the 
Mishnah  changed  it  into  a  rule.  Now,  as  the  second  part  is  illustrated 
by  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa's  conduct  in  Tos.  Berakh.  Ill,  20;  jer.  V,  9  a.  56, 
he  belonged,  in  the  opinion  of  Weiss,  and  Kohler  in  Jexc.  Enc,  V,  225  btop, 
to  the  ancient  Hasids.  It  is  true  that  the  parallel  Baraitha  Berakh.  32  b 
bottom  reports  the  same  incident  of  a  T*Dn  ;  but  what  happened  in  the 
Babylonian  schools  is  clear,  and  known  from  other  instances  :  in 
the  place  of  the  name  originally  mentioned,  and  still  preserved  in  the 
Baraitha  in  jer.  and  Tos.,  but  lost  in  those  schools,  the  word  T'DH  was 
put.  A  simple  analysis  of  the  Mishnah  and  a  comjjarison  with  the 
Baraithas  preserved  which  formed  its  sources  show  convincingly  that 
the  redactor  of  the  Mishnah  never  intended  any  connexion  between  the 
two  sentences.     Cf.  Kohler  in  Neumark's  Journal,  I,  1919,  31. 

1  Be  vita  contempl.,  ed.  Conybeare,  53, 206  ;  Kohler  in  Jew.  End.,  V,  227a.  ff. 


I02  SOME    TYPES    OF 

to  be  considered  a  prophet.  When  Josephus  referred  to  the 
morning  prayer  of  the  Essenes,  he  would  not  have  missed 
the  opportunity  to  refer  to  the  devotion  which  is  specially 
mentioned  about  the  ancient  pious  men  and  R.  Haninah, 
had  the  Essenes  in  this  respect  surpassed  the  Pharisee 
teachers.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  trace  of  R.  Haninah's 
observance  of  levitical  purit}^  as  he  not  only  mixed,  a^s  far 
as  one  can  see,  freely  with  the  inhabitants  of  his  town  who 
visited  him,  but  even  took  a  dead  serpent  to  the  school,  and 
iofnored  the  immediate  defilement :  no  immersions  or  fre- 
quent  purifications  of  his  are  mentioned.  He  was  a  rabbi 
and  teacher,  while  no  reference  is  made  to  such  among  the 
Essenes.  It  is  true,  the  rabbinic  reports  considered  are  not 
sufficient  to  provide  parallels  to  many  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  Essenism :  but  they  contain  sufficient  material 
for  the  establishment  of  several  essential  diflferences  between 
R.  Haninah  and  the  Essenes.  On  the  other  hand,  he  cer- 
tainly exhibited  in  his  attitude  towards  his  fellow-men  the 
love  and  sympathy  of  the  Hasid,  and  his  humility  and 
deliberate  self-abasement  were  those  of  Hillel ;  so  that  his 
description  as  a  man  of  deed  seems  to  have  viewed  his  acts 
of  love,  and  not  miracles.  As  no  trade  nor  any  regular  daily 
work  seems  to  have  claimed  his  time  and  his  attention,  it 
is  probable  that  he  devoted  his  life  to  the  service  of  his 
fellow-men,  and  that  all  his  energies  and  the  activities  of 
those  who  bore  the  same  title  were  p-iven  to  deeds  of  lovino;- 
kindness.^ 

7.  The  men  of  deed  and  the  pious  men,  as  we  have  seen, 
took  part  together  in  the  popular  Feast  of  Water-drawing 
held  in  the  second  night  of  Tabernacles  on  the  Temple 
Mount ;  this  was  certainly  not  due  to  their  alleged  Essenism, 
unless  the  whole,  still  enigmatic  feast  could  be  proved 
an  Essenic  creation  and  institution.-     But  ao-ain  we  find 

o 

^  See  also  Schlatter,  Jochanan  b.  Zcikkai,  58  ff. 

2  That  the  pious  men  of  both  groups  danced  before  the  assembled 
people  with  burning  torches  in  their  hands  was  certainly  not  peculiar  to 
them  as  Essenes,  as  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I  who  is  well-known  by  his 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 03 

Hillel  on  a  similar  occasion  teaching  in  a  like  manner ;  and 
as  the  pious  men  spoke  about  a  sinless  life,  sin,  repentance, 
and  forgiveness,  he  referred  to  the  relation  between  God 
and  man  as  affecting  conduct  and  religion.  As  his  sentences 
very  probably  reflect  the  same  spirit  as  theirs,  they  deserve, 
for  the  sake  of  the  pious  men,  a  few  words  of  explanation. 
Hillel,  the  old,  said,i '  To  the  place  which  my  heart  loveth, 
my  feet  carry  me ;  (God  says),  If  thou  comest  to  My  house, 
I  shall  come  to  thy  house,  but  if  thou  comest  not  to  My 
house,  I  shall  not  come  to  thy  house,  as  it  says  in  Exod. 
20.  24,  In  every  place  where  I  cause  My  name  to  be  men- 
tioned, I  will  come  to  thee  and  bless  thee.'  The  parallel 
Baraitha  expressly  states  the  occasion :  '  It  is  reported  of 
Hillel,  the  old,  that  when  he  rejoiced  at  the  joy  of  the  Water- 
drawing,  he  said  this,  (God  says).  If  I  am  here,  all  is  here, 
but  if  I  am  not  here,  who  is  here  1  ^  He  also  said.  To  the 
place  which  I  love  my  feet  carry  me.  (God  says).  If  thou 
comest  to  My  house,  &c.^  When  Hillel,  the  old,  saw  the 
people  observe  the  feast  in  a  lighthearted  mood,  he  said  to 
them,  Though -we  are  here,  who  is  here?  (we  count  for 
nothing),  for  does  God  need  our  praises  ?  Is  it  not  written, 
Dan.  7.  10,  Thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  Him,  and 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  Him  ?  When 
he  saw  them  observe  the  feast  properly,  he  said,  If  we  were 
not  here,  who  would  be  here  ?  For  though  praises  are 
offered  to  Him,  Israel's  praises  are  more  pleasing  to  Him 
than   all    the  rest,  according  to  2  Sam.  23.  1 ;  Ps.  22.  4.'  ^ 

activities  during  the  last  war  against  the  Romans  in  66-70,  and  who 
with  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  was  at  the  head  of  the  Beth- din  in  Jerusalem, 
is  reported  to  have  exhibited  similar  clever  tricks  of  a  juggler  on  the 
Temple  Mount,  Tos.  Sukk.  IT,  4;  jer.  V,  55  c.  1  ;  Baraitha  b.  53a. 

1  Tos.  Sukk.  IV,  3  ;  in  Mekhil.  20.  24,  73  b  R.  Eliezer  b.  Jno'  b  appears 
as  the  author;  evidently  he  was  mentioned  only  as  the  tradeut  in  the 
name  of  Hillel,  and  the  latter  fell  out ;  Bacher,  I,  5. 

^  See,  however,  the  different  interpretation  of  the  Tosafoth. 

3  Sukk.  53  a  ;  ARN.  12,  28  a. 

4  Jer.    Sukk.    V,    55  b.    72 ;    in    a   shorter    form   in   2  ARN.  27,  28  a : 

^'  Ni?ni  Dii^D  lynati'i  i3J<*^'  dhj^  n^ynv  Qni?  nox  nib  n3:r  Qms*  nN-> 


I04  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Hillel  tried  to  impress  it  upon  the  large  and  merry  crowd 
on  the  Temple  Mount  that  neither  their  great  numbers  nor 
their  festive  joy  in  themselves  counted  anything  as  a  mani- 
festation of  worship,  unless  God  was  present,  that  is,  unless 
the  purity  of  their  sentiments  and  their  devotion  in  joy 
brought  to  them  God's  acceptance  and  His  presence  in 
their  midst.  Like  David,  Hillel  loved  the  Temple  as  God's 
habitation,  and  that  is  why  he  came  there ;  his  visit  to  the 
Temple  Mount  on  the  festival  of  pilgrimage  was  not  mere 
obedience  to  duty,  but  the  genuine  desire  of  his  heart  to 
appear  before  God.  God  again  wished  the  Jew  to  visit 
His  Temple,  it  was  not  indifferent  to  Him ;  and,  in  Hillel's 
view,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  come  to  His  house.  God 
made  His  visit  to  the  house  of  the  individual  Jew  con- 
ditional on  the  latter's  appearance  in  the  Temple.  As  the 
continuation  shows,  Hillel  did  not  mean  merely  the  physical 
visit  on  the  Temple  Mount,  but  a  true  and  humble  worship 
of  God.  Considering  the  views  of  Professor  Bousset  and 
of  other  prejudiced  historians  of  Jewish  religious  thought 
about  the  alleged  Palestinian-Jewish  conception  of  the 
transcendence  of  God,  it  is  important  to  learn  incidentally 
that,  in  Hillel's  opinion  to  which  he  gave  public  and  popular 
expression,  God  visited  the  house  of  every  obedient  Jew. 

Just  as  the  pious  men  of  both  groups,  so  Hillel,  a  teacher 
of  religious  conduct  like  them,  availed  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity and  taught  the  people,  assembled  for  the  merry  feast 
on  the  Temple  Mount,  in  plain  and  intelligible  language  an 
essential  truth  about  the  relation  between  God  and  man. 
As  it  was  for  the  people  a  feast  of  unrestrained  joy,  and, 
as  the  references  to  the  praise  of  God  indicate,  a  special 
occasion,  perhaps  due  to  the  completed  ingathering  of  all 
fruit,  for  worshipping  Him,  it  was  liable  to  stimulate  self- 
satisfaction.  And  the  sight  of  the  great  masses  may  have 
excited  pride  and  levity  which  would  degrade  the  purer 

^  ♦  ♦  nnb  1c^?  D2b  iTj'rc^  onis  nNTk^». 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  105 

feelings  of  the  worshipper,  and  make  his  praise  and  prayer 
worthless  before  God,  if  not  sinful.  Only  if  they  are,  amid 
the  joy  of  the  day,  offered  with  dignity  and  from  a  humble 
heart,  will  God  accept  them  as  the  joyful  tribute  of  homage 
of  his  people  Israel,  even  in  preference  to  the  glorification 
by  His  ministering  angels.  Thus  Hillel  tried  to  subdue  the 
overjoyous  mood  which  threatened  to  degenerate  into  con- 
ceit, as  unsuitable  for  the  Temple  Mount.  Was  it  perhaps 
also  intended  to  neutralize  the  employment  by  the  pious 
men  of  dances  and  of  the  exhibition  of  the  feats  of  jugglers 
for  winning  the  confidence  and  the  attention  of  the  people  *? 
The  fact  that  his  great-grandson,  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel, 
displayed  the  same  feats  would  be  strong  evidence  against 
such  intentions  of  Hillel.  Just  as  in  his  teaching,  so  also 
in  the  few  words  of  the  pious  men  there  is  no  trace  of 
mysticism  of  any  kind,  no  names  of  God  or  of  angels,  no 
esoteric  thought  of  any  description,  no  word  or  idea  beyond 
the  simple  principles  of  the  school,  nothing  to  justify  the 
identification  of  the  pious  men  with  mystics  or  with  the 
Essenes.  If,  in  spite  of  the  total  absence  of  anything 
characteristic  of  the  latter,  they  were  Essenes,  they  success- 
fully concealed  their  identity  on  the  occasion  of  their  visit 
to  the  Temple  Mount  at  the  Feast  of  Water-drawing.  It  is 
true,  there  is  equally  nothing  in  the  account  about  their  con- 
duct on  the  Temple  Mount  to  explain  their  designation  as  pious 
men  and  men  of  deed.  But  this  observation  alone  should 
wiirn  every  student  of  history  that  even  apparently  unusual 
and  specially  striking  expressions  of  conduct  are  not  neces- 
sarily characteristic  of  the  person's  general  religious  atti- 
tude or  of  the  religious  sect  to  which  he  otherwise  belonged. 
To  declare  such  traits,  without  further  evidence,  as  charac- 
teristic of  Essenism,  will  not  satisfy  the  accepted  standards 
of  scientific  methods  of  research.  As  to  the  date  of  these 
pious  men,  it  lies  within  the  time  extending  from  Hillel  to 
R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I,  which,  according  to  a  statement  of 
an  early  Baraitha,^  covered  the  whole  century  before  the 

1  Baraitha  Shabb.  15  a  bottom. 


lo6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

destruction  of  the  Temple.  The  fact  that  Hillel,  like  the 
pious  men,  addressed  the  people  at  the  Feast  of  Water- 
drawing  on  the  Temple  Mount,  would  suggest  that  they 
were  contemporaries ;  and  so  the  pious  men  would  he  iden- 
tical with  those  who,  like  Baba  b.  Buta,  the  disciple  of 
Shammai,  brought  daily  sacrifices  of  atonement  or  undertook 
frequently  the  vow  of  the  Nazirite  so  as  to  be  able  to  bring 
a  sin-offering.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  probable  that  the 
custom  of  Hillel  and  of  the  pious  men  of  addressing  the 
people  was  continued  by  their  successors,  though  there  has 
been  no  information  preserved  that  K.  Gamaliel  I  or  R. 
Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I  ever  did  so.  And  as  the  latter  did  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Feast  of  Water-drawing  exhibit  feats  of 
jugglery,  and  all  our  information  about  the  details  of  the 
celebration  of  that  feast  refers  to  the  last  years  of  the 
Temple,  the  dancing  of  the  pious  men  with  burning  torches 
and  the  feats  of  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  I  may  have  belonged 
to  the  same  time,  between  the  years  50  and  67. 

8.  We  hear  again  of  the  ancient  pious  men  in  connexion 
with  their  prayers  :^  '  Before  reciting  the  prayer,  the  ancient 
pious  men  waited  a  while,  in  order  to  direct  their  hearts  to 
their  Father  in  heaven '.  It  should  be  noted  first  that  God 
to  whom  they  addressed  their  prayers  was  to  them  their 
Father  in  heaven,  as  to  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  several  of 
his  statements,-  and  to  many  scholars  after  him.  And  it  is 
significant  that  this  their  conception  of  God  was  present  in 
their  minds  just  during  their  prayers,  when  it  must  have 
determined  the  sentiment  with  which  they  approached  Him 
in  their  daily  devotions.  In  those  moments  He  was  to 
them  not  God  the  Almighty  whose  greatness  overawed  His 
creature,  nor  God  the  Creator  and  Master  of  all  beings  to 
whom  the  frail  mortal  and  helpless  worm  from  the  dust 

1  Berakli.   V,    1  :    Q^b^DD^I    JinS*    nV^    Q\Tltt^    VH    D'':itJ'i^in    DH^DH 

D^DK^a5J>  Dn^3N^  nib  ns  I^IID-^K^  HD;  some  texts  of  the  Mishnah  have 

instead  of  the  last  two  words  DlpO^,  see  Rabbinovicz. 

■'  Mekhil.  20.  25,  74  a  ;  Mekhil.  R.  Simeon,  IIG  ;  T.>s.  Baba  kam.  VII, 
6,  7;  jer.  Hagig.  II.  77  a.  66;  Tos.  II,  1. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 07 

appeals  for  mercy,  nor  God  the  king  of  the  Universe  from 
whose  rule  man  cannot  hide  or  escape :  but  the  Father  to 
whom  the  son  without  fear  or  trembling,  but  in  trust  and 
attachment  addresses  himself.    This  was  not  exceptional  nor 
peculiar  to  this  instance  of  the  pious  men ;  it  was  the  general 
rule  with  the  rabbis,  though  it  is  not  only  not  readily  recog- 
nized, but  even  deliberately  minimized  and  obscured  b}' certain 
historians  of  Jewish-religious  thought.     Again,  the  ancient 
pious  men,  like  any  rabbi,  considered  the  concentration  of  the 
mind  towards  God  an  essential  preparation  for  prayer.    The 
term  ini?  ns*  pi^  is  to  be  found  in  numerous  sentences  and 
rules  of  the  rabbis  of  succeeding  generations,  and  we  met 
it  in  K.  Haninah  b.  Dosa's  words  about  his  prayer;^  but 
the  reference  to  the  pious  men  is  evidently  the  earliest,  as 
it    most   probably  belongs  to   the  beginning   of  the   first 
century.     The  exceptionally  high  degree  of  devotion,  how- 
ever, which  they  demanded  of  themselves  could,  as  a  rule, 
not  be  attained  amid  the  distractions  of  human  work  and 
thought,  nor  by  a  momentary  and  quick  collection  and  con- 
centration of  the  mind.     They  required  some  time  for  the 
transition  from  ordinary  thought  to  devotion  in  prayer.-^ 
Here  again  Geiger  ^  sees  in  the  pious  men  Essenes,  without 
however  stating  his  reasons  for  his  assumption,  just  as  little 
as  those  scholars  ^  who  take  every  Hasid  to  have  been  an 
Essene.     As  to  the  probable  date  of  these  pious  men,  their 
designation  as  Q^JiC'Nnn  Dn'cn  points  to  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai 

1  Jer.  Berakh.  V,  9  a.  04  :  r]hzr\2  ]')2nD  ^2^  ■ 

2  The  explanatory  Baraitha  in  Berakh.  32  b  bottom  which  seems  a 
relatively  late  comment,  took  ^V^*  to  mean  an  hour,  multiplied  it  by  nine 
for  the  three  daily  prayers,  each  requiring  a  certain  time  for  concentration, 
the  prayer  itself,  and  for  the  transition  from  devotion  to  common  thought, 
and  so  obtained  nine  hours  required  for  prayers  daily,  and  then  asked, 
when  the  pious  men  found  the  time  for  work  and  study.  Incidentaliy, 
we  learn  that  the  original  report  on  which  the  Baraitha  was  based  had 
stated  that  the  pious  men  waited  a  while  also  after  their  prayers,  before 
proceeding  to  their  occupation. 

3  JM.  Zeitschrift,  IX,  1871,  51. 

4  Low  in  Ben  Chananjo,  V,  100a;  Kohler  in  MGWJ.  37,  1893,  494; 
J.Q.R.,  V,  1893,  403  ;  Neumark's  Jotmud,  I,  1899,  30  ff.. 


lo8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

as  the  author  of  the  statement  used  by  the  redactor  of  the 
Mishnah,  and  to  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  as  the 
date  of  the  pious  men. 

Again,  in  connexion  with  the  old  custom  of  comforting 
the  mourners,  an  early  Baraitha  relates :  '  Associations, 
nnun  in  Jerusalem  visited  the  houses  of  mourning,  or 
places  where  wedding  feasts  or  circumcisions  took  place, 
or  a  temporary  grave  from  which  the  bones  of  a  dead  person 
were  collected  for  their  final  interment.  Whenever  two 
such  functions  were  held  at  the  same  time,  the  members  of 
the  associations  gave  the  preference  to  the  joyous  occasions; 
but  the  ancient  pious  men  preferred  visiting  the  house  of 

• 

the  mourner,  for  it  is  said  in  Eccl.  7.2,  'It  is  better  to  go  to 
the  house  of  mourning  than  to  go  to  the  house  of  feasting  : 
for  that  is  the  end  of  all  men,  and  the  living  will  lay  it  to 
his  heart  '.^  The  custom  of  visiting  and  comforting  mourners 
is  biblical,  and  was  general  in  Jerusalem  also  Ijefore  70,  as 
R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  related  from  his  own  observation,^ 
how  on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  the  men  of  Jerusalem,  with 
the  obligatory  palm -branch  in  their  hands,  visited  the  sick 
and  the  mourners.  The  visiting  of  the  sick  is  expressly 
reported  of  scholars  in  Jerusalem :  '  When  Abba  Saul  b. 
Batnith  was  ill,  our  teacliers  went  to  see  him' " ;  and  also  the 
fact  that  the  Shammaites  prohibited  the  visiting  of  the 
sick  and  the  comforting  of  mourners  on  the  Sabbath,^  shows 
that  both  customs  were  practised  by  those  whose  actions 
those  scholars  could  influence.     And  though  Abba  Saul  is 

1  Semah.  XII :  n^ib^  b^XH  n>3^  \^D'''ipD  VH  D^jv^'Ntn  n^i^on  bn^ 

The  same  report  is  given  by  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  in  Tos.  Megil.  IV,  15, 
but,  in  the  place  of  the  ancient  pious,  R.  Ishmael,  a  younger  contemporary 
of  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  is  mentioned. 

2  Baraitha  Sukk.  41b  bottom;  Tos    II,  10;   in  jer.  Ill,  .54a.  46  the 
words  D"'P3S  Dn^P  seem  to  have  fallen  out. 

3  Jer.  Besah,  III,  62  b.  19:    IDN  ^Ip^i?  imiDI   10:2^1   ht?n  nHN   0^2 

NDK^ip3  ^?b''3»  n^inn  n^d^  snn  pen  pns  pi?-. 

*  Shabb.  12a  bottom. 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAN    PIETY  1 09 

on  account  of  his  title  considered  an  Essene  by  Dr.  Kohler,^ 
his  visitors  during  his  illness  are  expressly  described  as  '  our 
teachervS  '.  Many  years  before  that  the  disciples  visited  their 
master  Hillel,^  and  his  disciple  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  was 
visited  by  his  disciples.^  Only  a  few  years  after  70,  we  see 
the  teachers  visit  R.  Tarfon,  when  he  was  ill,"^  and  R.  Eliezer  f 
R.  Haninah  b.Teradyon  visited  R.  Jose  b.  Kisma/'  And  when 
one  of  R.  Akiba's  disciples  was,  during  his  illness,  not  visited 
by  the  scholars,  the  master  visited  him,  and,  seeing  the 
effect  of  his  call  upon  the  patient,  publicly  taught,  '  He  who 
does  not  visit  a  sick  person  is  sinning  as  though  he  shed 
blood '."^  And  when  R.  Ishmael  lost  two  sons,  R.  Tarfon, 
R.  Jose  the  Galilean,  R.  Eleazar  b.  'Azariah,  and  R.  Akiba 
went  to  comfort  him.^  Consequently,  it  was  not  a  custom 
peculiar  to  the  Hasids ;  apart  from  the  fact  that  none  of  the 
existing  reports  about  the  Essenes  ever  hints  that  these 
specially  cultivated  such  visitation.^  The  dogmatic  state- 
ments of  Dr.  Kohler^^  in  no  way  contribute  to  the  elucidation 
of  the  actual  conditions  and  facts  ;  for  he  saj's  :  '  The  syste- 
matic charity  (of  the  Jews)  is  undoubtedly  a  creation  of  tlie 
Chasid-brotherhoods  or  Essenes  who  devoted  their  whole 
lives  to  such  activity  of  love,  ARN.  Ill,  1 7,  VIII,  36  ff. ;  Moed 
kat.  27  b ;  Semah.  XII.  They  then  also  traced  such  activity 
of  love  to  Abraham,  Job,  and  Daniel,  nay  even  to  Malkise- 
dek.'  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  word  '  undoubt- 
edly '  escaped  from  the  pen  of  that  scholar,  considering  that 
there  is  no  evidence  of  any  kind  to  substantiate  the  sweep- 
ing assertion  that  the  Hasids  had  anything  whatever  to  do 
with  the  institution  of  systematic  charity ;  especially  as  in 
the  only  passage,  Semah.  XII,  as  already  Geiger  pointed 

1  J.  Q.  R.,  XIII,  1901.  .572  ff.  ;  see  my  'Am-ha'ares,  209,  note  &. 

2  Jer.  Nedar.  V,  39  b.  42.  ^  Berakh.  28  b. 

4  Jer.  Pe'ah,  I,  15  c.  37  ;  Pesik.  r.  23,  123  a. 

5  Synh.    101  a.   68  a  ;    jer.   Shabb.    II,   5  b.   67  ;     Mekhil.    20.  23,  73  a  ; 
Berakh.  28  b. 

6  'Abod.  z.  18  a.  "^  Nedar.  40  a  top. 

8  Moed  kat.  28  b,  Baraitha.  ^  Geiger,  Urschrtff,  123  ff,  120. 

10  Berliner's  Festschrift,  199  ff.     Cf.  Mekhil.  Exod.  13.  19,  24  a. 


no  SOME    TYPES    OF 

out,  the  associations  that  were  engaged  in  work  of  loving- 
kindness  are  distinguished  from  the  ancient  Hasids.  And 
is  even  the  slightest  detail  known  about  the  members  of 
the  associations  that  shared  the  grief  and  the  joy  of  others  ? 
And  wlio  were  the  pious  men  who,  according  to  the  con- 
cluding part  of  the  verse  adduced,  for  educational  purposes 
placed  the  visit  to  the  mourner  higher  than  that  to  the 
house  of  joy '?  And  wdiat  do  tlie  passages  referred  to  by 
Dr.  Kohler  prove  ?  A  Hasid  who  used  to  help  the  poor, 
once  journeyed  in  a  terrible  storm  by  sea ;  R.  Akiba  feared 
that  he  had  been  drowned,  but  God  saved  the  man  for  his 
charity.^  This  then  is  the  evidence  for  the  assumed  con- 
nexion between  the  Hasids  and  charity !  But  by  com- 
paring the  Baraitha  in  Yebam.  121a  that  formed  the  direct 
or  indirect  source  of  the  collector  of  ARN.  for  that  story 
we  find  that  he  or  his  immediate  source  turned  the  learned 
disciple  of  R.  Akiba,  R.  Meir,  into  an  anonymous  Hasid. 
As  was  pointed  out  above,^  this  is  one  of  the  numerous 
instances  in  which  a  later  narrator  substituted  for  the 
express  name  of  a  person  or  for  an  unnamed  man "  a  Hasid, 
meaning  thereljy  a  person  distinguished  by  the  one  virtue 
that  constituted  the  point  of  the  incident  related,  in  this 
instance  charity.  The  same  applies  to  the  Hasids  in  the 
other  passage  ^  who  w^ent  to  ransom  some  captive  girls  and 
who,  in  their  strictness  of  morality,  watched  over  the  purity 
of  the  maidens.^  It  is  true  that  already  the  Baraitha^ 
reports  that  incident  of  a  Hasid ;  but  that  it  was  originally 
a  scholar,  probably  even  mentioned  by  name,  who  ransomed 
and  protected  the  girl,  is  evident  from  a  comparison  of  the 
details  of  the  statement  with  another  Baraitha  immediately 
following  about  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah's  political  mission 
to  a  matrona.  In  both  accounts  the  acting  person  was 
one  accompanied  by  his  disciples,  in  both  he  lectured  to 
them  after  the  incident,  and  in  Ijoth  he  had  a  purifj^ing 

1  AEN.  3,  9  a.  ^  j).  41. 

3  ins  5J'"'J^2  r]^])D.  ^  ARN.  8,  19  a. 

5  See  R.  E.  J.,  42,  1901,  220  ff'.,  228.  e  Shabb.  127  b. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  Til 

immersion  before  the  lesson ;  so  that  the  man  in  tlie  first 
report  was  of  the  same  position  as  R.  Joshua,  a  scholar 
whose  name  was  soon  lost.^ 

R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai  has  a  further  report  about  the  ancient 
pious  men  :  they  were  visited  by  a  disease  of  the  bowels 
(diarrhoea)  -  for  about  twenty  days  before  their  death,  in 
order  that  it  should  purge  everything,  so  that  they  might 
come  pure  to  the  w^orld  to  come,  as  it  says  in  Prov.  27.  21, 
The  refining  pot  is  for  silver,  and  the  furnace  for  gold, 
and  a  man  is  tried  by  his  praise."  As  diarrhoea  purges  the 
body  only,  it  is  not  certain  whether  the  visitation  inflicted 
upon  the  pious  men  was  to  effect  merely  physical,  or  also 
moral  cleansing.  As  on  the  other  hand,  R.  Jehudah  ex- 
pressly stated  that  the  object  of  the  illness  was  to  bring 
the  pious  men  to  heaven  |\s*3T,  and  this  word  invariably 
designates  moral  purity,  innocence ;  and  as  the  body  does 
not  after  death  go  to  heaven  (if  this  is  meant,  and  not  the 
time  after  the  resurrection),  it  seems  fairly  certain  that 
the  purging  did  not  refer  to  the  body.  The  word  p"iD ,  how- 
ever, is  used  in  both  senses.  R.  Johanan  says,  On  account 
of  a  tooth  or  an  eye  which  is  only  one  part  of  the  body,  a 
slave  becomes  free,Exod.21.  26, 27  :  how  much  more  should  a 
man  become  free  through  visitations  that  cleanse  the  whole 
body ;  R.  Simeon  b.  Lakish  says,  Visitations  purge  all  sins 
of  man.^  The  first  is  physical,  the  second  moral.  R.  Yannai 
demanded  a  clean  body  for  the  use  of  the  Tefillin ;  he  him- 
self put  them  on  three  days  after  his  illness,  to  indicate 

'  A  rich  man  of  Kabul  in  Galilee,  Pesik.  169  b  ;  Lev.  r.  20.  3 ;  Kohel.  r. 
2.  2.  4,  is  styled  in  Tanh.  ^J''D5i'  2  ;  B.  3  a  Hasid.  R.  Pinhas  again  puts  in 
a  Hasid  in  Pesik.  rab.  23, 119  a  in  a  passage  which  in  Gen.  r.  11.  4  reports 
the  same  of  an  unnamed  man. 

2  Cf.  Shabb.  11a;  Sirach,  25.  13,  19,  Schechter  in  J.Q.R.,  III,  1891. 
697  ff.  ;  Mekhil.  IS.  27,  60  b,  bottom. 

3  Semah.  Ill,  end :   plD^'^nD    1M    Q^JIlJ'S^in    QH^Dn    miH^   ^ni   1?0N 

)bbniD  ^sb  c^^Ni  nnrb  -ii3i  ^iD^i?  ^i-^rD  -idsj:*  N^b  I'nvb.    in  the 

parallel  in  Gen.  r.  62.  2  :   ten  to  twenty  days,  to  indicate  that  illness 
purges.     See  D.  Luria's  note  on  the  last  passage,  and  Tosaf.  Shabb.  118  b. 
*  Berakh.  5  a  bottom. 


112  SOME    TYPES    OF 

that  illness  purged,  as  it  says  in  Psalm  103.  3,  Who  for- 
giveth  all  thine  iniquity,  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases.^ 
The  account  began  with  physical  purging  and  finished  up 
with  the  removal  of  sin,  as  in  the  rabbi's  mind  the  two 
were  closely  connected.  The  same  variation  is  met  also  in 
Tannaitic  statements.  R.  Jonathan  says,  Moses  in  Exod. 
24.  16  had  to  wait  on  Mount  Sinai  six  days  for  God's  reve- 
lation, in  order  that  the  food  and  the  drink  in  his  body  be 
purged  and  he  become  like  the  ministering  angels.^  Here 
the  physical  meaning  is  clear.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
R.  Ishmael's  well-known  sentence  about  the  various  means 
and  occasions  of  atonement,  P"i?o  is,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
pious  men,  connected  with  suffering  and  followed  by  death, 
both  to  atone  for  a  grave  sin."^  So  that  the  idea  underlying 
seems  to  have  been  that  God  sent  a  severe  illness  upon  the 
pious  men  to  purge  them  by  suffering  of  their  few  sins, 
so  that  their  souls  should  arrive  in  heaven  free  from  sin. 
So  R.  Jos^  b.  Halaftha  expressed  the  wish  to  share  the  lot 
of  those  who  died  of  diarrhoea ;  ^  and  a  Baraitha  ^  says,  It 
is  a  good  sign  for  a  man  that  he  dies  of  diarrhoea,  since 
most  of  the  righteous  men  die  of  that  disease.  It  is  an 
application  of  the  great  idea  expressed  later  by  R.  Akiba, 
One  should  rejoice  more  at  suffering  than  at  good  fortune : 
for  if  one  enjoys  happiness  throughout  life,  the  sins  which 
one    commits   are    not   simply    forgiven   to   one,    as  only 

1  Jer.  Berakh.  II,  4  c.  6. 

2  Baraitha  Yoma,  4  b  top  ;  ARN.  I,  1  a  ;  Bacher,  Tannaiten,  II,  363. 

3  Yoma,  86  a  and  parallels  ;    Baclier,   I,    250.   S :   FlinnD    bv  "H^V  .  .  . 

pp-iDD  piiD^^i  p^Jin  DnicDH  DVT  niiKTi  r\y\^r\  nt^yi  pn  nn  n^n^Di 
D^n  bib'-n  ^^'^  ^?o  biN  ,D3iy  D^j;;ijni  ny::>D  to^c^n  '^r\i\>^^  -i^Nrj* 
piion  xh  -iss^i?  Dma^n  Dm  x^i  nibnb  naicrin  n^  '6  p^?  n^2 

.pmron  ny  o^b  nrn  y\v^  nsn^ ;  jer.  viii,  45  c.  7 :  p^nnr:'  '•d  i^as  .  . . 
xbi  '\^:h  DniMn  Dra  sS  mbnb  nn^e^nn  ^b  n^  p«  d^dk>  qk^  n 
pnMD  p-nD^^^1  \^'h^  piDSD  n^niDsn  dim  nn^^n  n^jj^  \r\'ob  pniD"'U 
.  .  ♦  pniD^^a  npiDD  nn^roni  v'b^. 

4  Shabb.  118  b.  s  Kethub.  103  b. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  II3 

suffering  brings  one  forgiveness.^  When  R.  Eiiezer  fell  ill, 
and  all  his  former  disciples  stood  round  liis  bed  mournin<^, 
R.  Akiba  was  calm  and  composed ;  for,  so  he  said  to  his 
colleagues,  when  I  saw  my  teacher  enjoy  a  materially  un- 
disturbed life,  I  thought,  perhaps,  God  forbid,  he  has 
received  his  reward  here  on  earth  (and  punishment  awaits 
him  after  death) ;  but  now  that  I  see  him  suffer,  I  am  glad.^ 
Another  account  of  R.  Eiiezer 's  last  illness  relates  there 
that,  while  R.  Joshua,  R.  Tarfon,  and  R.  Eleazar  b.  *Azariah 
bewailed  the  impending  loss,  R.  Akiba  said  to  R.  Eiiezer, 
iniD''  p2^3n,  'beloved  is  suffering',  because  it  brings  about 
repentance.  Already  R.  Akiba's  master,  Nahum  of  Gimzo, 
when  suffering  terribly  from  the  effects  of  leprosy,  taught 
his  disciple  not  to  complain  of  suffering,  not  to  raise  any 
questions  and  doubts  about  it,  but  to  welcome  it.^  R. 
Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  taught  that  God  sends  suffering  upon 
the  righteous  in  this  world,  so  that  they  may  inherit  the 
world  to  come ;  *  the  latter  term  denoting,  as  the  context 
shows,  the  life  after  death. 

And  such  was  already  the  idea  of  the  pious  men  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  century,  who,  as  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai's 
report  indicates,  were  conscious  of  not  being  entirely  free 
from  sin.  as  there  is  no  human  being  totally  sinless  (Eccl. 
7.  20).  For,  in  his  statement  about  the  suffering  of  the 
pious  men,  R.  Jehudah  did  not  give  his  own  interpretation  of 
the  effects  of  their  illness,  but  merely  recorded  the  views  of 
the  pious  men  about  God's  providence  and  His  object  in 
meting  out  physical  suffering.  God  watches  the  indi- 
vidual actions  and  the  whole  life  of  every  human  being 
separately,  notes  among  others  the  approaching  end  of  a 
pious  man,  reviews  the  sum  total  of  his  deeds,  and  appor- 
tions bliss  to  his  soul.     But,  wlien  He  finds  that  a  few  errors 


'  Mekhil.  20.  23,  72  b  ;  Sifre  Deut.  6.  5.  32,  73  b  top. 
2  Synh.  101  a  bottom,  Halevy.  Q^:rj>N"in   nnn  le,  149  a. 
■■  Jer.  Shekal.  V,  49b.  19  ;  b.  Ta'an.  21  a  ;  cP.  E.  Akiba  in  Semah.  VIII; 
Bacher,  I,  320  ff. 

*  Kidd.40b;  ARN.  39,  60a. 

H 


114  SOME    TYPES    OF 

and  wrong  actions  of  the  righteous  may  impair  and  reduce 
the  future  happiness  of  his  soul,  God  in  His  love  for  the 
pious  reminds  him  by  the  suffering  inflicted  on  him  of  his 
few  transgressions,  and  thus  leads  him  to  repentance  of  them, 
and  purges  all  his  sins.  There  is  in  God's  arrangements 
a  close  connexion  between  visitation  as  a  punishment  on 
earth  and  sin  ;  and  when  God,  by  an  illness  of  about  twenty 
days'  duration,  has  removed  the  few  stains  from  the  soul  of 
the  righteous,  He  rewards  it  in  heaven  for  his  consistent 
obedience  to  His  will.  All  this  was  the  generally  accepted 
doctrine  of  the  rabbis  of  the  first  century,  and  there  is  in  the 
belief  of  the  pious  men  nothing  to  suggest  that  they  were 
in  this  respect  anything  but  Pharisees  ;  as  J.  Lehmann^ 
already  rightly  emphasized  that  not  a  single  fact  reported 
about  the  ancient  pious  men  in  rabbinic  literature  agreed 
with  the  details  given  by  Josephus  about  the  Essenes.  If 
Baba  b.  Buta,  the  contemporary  of  Herod,^  might  be  taken 
as  a  typical  Hasid,  he  was  certainly  not  an  Essene.  For  he 
was  a  man  of  wealth,  just  as  another  Hasid  who  owned 
cattle  and  land,  which  decidedly  appears  to  be  opposed  to 
Essenic  principles ;  he  was  a  disciple  in  the  school  of 
Shammai  whose  teachings  he  followed,  zealous  for  God's 
Temple,  altar,  and  sacrifices,  and  brought  daily  a  guilt- 
offering  for  doubtful  sins.  The  Hasids  were  married,  and 
had  children.  If  they  formed  in  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere 
associations  of  their  own,  as  they  appeared  as  a  body  of 
two  groups  on  the  Temple  Mount  at  the  Feast  of  Water- 
drawing,  and  recruited  their  adherents  from  among  the 
pious  and  the  repentant ;  and  if  they  engaged  in  regular 
deeds  of  loving-kindness :  no  distinctly  Essenic  trait  of 
character  or  action  can  be  detected  in  all  that.  Only  in  one 
respect  do  they  seem  in  their  religious  practice  more  active 
and  even  more  zealous  than  the  Pharisee  teachers  of  their 
time :  in  frequent  sacrifices  of  atonement.  Apart  from 
their  exaggerated  fear  of  sin  committed  and  their  desire  for 
frequent   atonement,  their  contemporary   Hillel   was  like 

1  R.  E.  J..  30,  1895,  185.  2  g.^i^^  b.  3  b  ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 15 

them  a  Hasid.  Thoucrh  modern  scholars  have  come  to 
admit  that,  in  spite  of  Josephus'  ambiguous  assertion,  the 
Essenes  did  not  refrain  from  offering  sacrifices,^  the  un- 
paralleled zeal  of  the  Hasids  in  their  fre(|uent  offerings  of 
atonement  is  certainly  not  Essenic.-^ 

9.  Several  Tannaitic  statements  refer  to  D^:vc^^5"^^  D''PT, 
the  ancient  scholars,  mainly  in  connexion  with  rules  of 
levitical  purity.  And  as  Frankel,  Weiss,  and  Kohler  identify 
them  with  the  ancient  pious  men,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
analyse  at  least  one  of  the  traditions,  to  ascertain  the  exact 
date  of  the  reference,  and  to  show  how  hasty  the  interpre- 
tation and  how  flimsy  the  evidence,  and  how  little  justifica- 
tion there  is  for  the  way  in  which  some  scholars  use  sound 
halakhic  information  to  support  their  preconceived  ideas. 
In  a  Baraitha  R.  Eleazar  (b.  Sha;nmu'a)  of  the  school  of  Usha 
(136-160)  reports  the  stages  of  the  development  of  a  strictly 
levitical  rule,  and  mentions  as  the  representatives  of  the 
first  stao-e  the  ancient  scholars :  '^ '  R.  Eleazar  said,  Some  of 
the  ancient  scholars  said,  Half  a  kabh  of  human  bones  and 
half  a  log  of  human  blood  have  defiling  force  for  every- 
thing, but  a  quarter  of  a  kabh  of  bones  and  a  quarter  of  a 
log  of  blood  have  not  such  defiling  force  for  everything ; 
others  of  the  ancient  scholars  said,  Also  a  quarter  of  a  kabh 

1  Geiger,  .J!\d.  ZS.,  IX,  1871,  34;  Kohler  in  Jerv.  Eucydo}).,  Y,  228  b; 
Leszynsky,  Sadduzaer,  150.  1. 

2  Weiss,  Zur  Geschichte,  I,  110,  who  places  the  ancient  pious  men  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Maccabean  rising,  points  out  that  they  could  not  have  been 
Essenes  on  account  of  their  numerous  sacrifices,  and  that  they  were  not 
an  organized  sect,  but  individual  pious  men  of  an  extreme  strictness. 
The  incident  at  the  Feast  of  Water-drawing  he  places  after  the  defeat  of 
the  Syrians  by  the  Maccabees,  and  refers  it  to  such  as  had  sinned  during 
the  Hellenistic  movement  and  were  now  repentant. 

3  Nazir,  53  a;    Tos.  V,  1,   and  Ahil.  IV,  13;  jer.  Nazir,  VII,  56  c.  30 : 

^11  -IDS*  ,nb'\:h):  p  IN  rmc^  iro  nns*  Dvy  -itdin  ^Ncr^  v?^*^  xn 

vnn  5]N  nn?oiN  i^n  fnvp?oi  ,^2^  i6  ni  n^r::ni  niro^'V  vi')'^  b:ib 
^^n)  nim*y  np  "i-n  TiDn*  nnnns*  bi:^  pi  n'l  ,b^b  dt  n^yuni  mrovy 
1^3^  i6  bi^  D-c^npi  nr^r^nb  ni  n^v^mi  ni?ovy  ynn  .^^i?  di  i^b 
HDD  nrtyi. 

H   2 


Il6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

of  bones  and  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood  have  such  defiling 
force.  A  later  Beth-din  (authority)  said,  Half  a  kal)h  of 
bones  and  half  a  log  of  blood  have  defiling  force  for  every- 
thing ;  but  a  quarter  of  a  kabh  of  bones  and  a  quarter  of  a 
log  of  l)lood  have  defiling  force  only  for  tlie  priestly  heave- 
offering  and  for  sacrifices,  but  not  for  the  Nazirite  and 
a  person  about  to  offer  the  Passover  sacrifice '.  Who  the 
two  groups  of  ancient  scholars  were,  is  not  indicated,  and 
can  only  be  established  by  inference. 

The  earliest  authorities  that,  in  the  records  preserved, 
dealt  with  the  defilincr  minimum  of  human  bones  were  the 
two  schools  of  the  Shammaites  and  the  Hillelites.  '  The 
Shammaites  say,  The  quarter  of  a  kabh  of  bones  must  be 
made  up  of  several  bones,  of  two  or  three  (at  least) ;  the 
Hillelites  say,  It  must  be  njade  up  of  the  body,  either  of 
the  greater  part  of  tlie  structure  (skeleton)  or  the  greater 
number  of  the  bones ;  Shammai  said,  Even  a  bone  of  the 
spine  or  the  skull  '.^  As  their  dispute  mentions  no  distinc- 
tion between  the  various  things  to  which  the  defilement 
might  apply,  it  seems  that  Shammai  and  the  two  scliools 
knew  only  the  quarter  of  a  kabh  as  the  minimum  measure 
of  bones  defiling  in  all  possible  cases  and  degrees.  And 
as  R.  Joshua  tried  to  reconcile  the  divergent  views  of  the 
two  schools  Avithout  introducing  any  qualification  as  to 
the  application  of  that  measure,  he  agreed  with  them  on 
that  point ;  as  he  also  on  another  occasion  stated  that  the 
requirement  of  the  greater  part  of  the  structure  or  a  quarter 
of  a  kabh  of  bones  applied  to  the  human  corpse.^     Also 

1  Baraitha  Nazir,  52  b;  'Eduy.  I,  7;  Tos.  Ahil.  Ill,  5:  \S'?OC^  n^3  N'^JH 

':ib)2'  v^in^  m  -i?ON  .|^:)Dn  D-^rD  in*  p^zn  did  n^)}n  p  ynin 
ib^DN  -iroiN*  ^s?^^'  .  .  .  insD  bSi  nu  nmi  \SDr  n^n  ^iii  nr^^vb 

2  'Eduy.  VI,  end  ;   Nazir,  51  b  :   -\r\ob   D^N^   HD  V^^ri^  ^2^^   )b  n^^N 

nroNn  npn  yniii  nn  n  c'^r  nnn  onnroN  on  xb  nrh  nrox  ,n^"•Jt^'a 

y2\>~\)  VZ)-))  3n  n  pNK^  ^nn;  the  same  without  the  name  of  the  author 
in  Tos.  'Eduy.  II,  10:  mrON   DN  i6   .DniL'^n  ^6"'  N'-Jin:  ^1  HN  )2^t*n 

.  .  .  3p-i  yan  2)-\  n  ::'^c'  nr^a. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  II7 

R.  Akiba  who  allowed  the  minimum  measure  of  bones  t(j 
be  made  up  by  bones  from  two  corpses,  as  also  his  oppo- 
nents name  as  that  measure  without  any  qualification  a 
quarter  of  a  kabh.^  Witli  tliis  view,  shared  by  all  the 
scholars  just  enumerated,  agrees  the  opinion  of  one  group 
of  the  ancient  scholars  who  say  that  a  quarter  of  a  kabh  of 
bones  and  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood  have  defiling  force  for 
everything.^  As  to  the  date  of  these  teachers,  they  could 
be  either  earlier  than  the  two  schools  of  the  Shammaites 
and  Hillelites,  or  identical  w^ith  them,  or  later  than  those. 
But  as  the  two  schools  and  also  Shammai  agreed  on  the 
minimum  measure  required,  and  there  is  quoted  neither 
a  contemporary  nor  an  earlier  scholar  who  would  have 
difl'ered  from  that  accepted  rule,  it  is  most  improbable  that 
Shammai's  teachers,  Shema'yah  and  Abtalyon,  if  they  knew 
the  problem  at  all,  held  a  different  opinion.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  agreement  between  the  two  schools  continued  in 
the  schools  of  Jamnia  and  Lydda,  as  R.  Joshua  and  his 
opponent,  and  R.  Akilja  and  his  opponents  were  all  unani- 
mous on  the  quarter  of  a  kaljh  of  bones.  And  so  we  are 
forced  to  look  for  the  origin  of  the  controversy  between  the 
two  groups  of  the  ancient  scholars  about  the  absolute  or 
relative  defiling  force  of  a  quarter  of  a  kabh  of  bones  in  the 
school  of  R.  Akiba  at  the  earliest ;  and  as  there  exist  two 
versions  of  his  opinion  on  this  point,  a  contemporary  of  his 
may  have  raised  the  problem,  and  forced  him,  in  his  later 
years,  to  qualify  his  original  view.  If  the  inference  from 
the  existinof  information  about  the  minimum  measure  of 
bones  is  correct,  the  dispute  between  the  two  groups  of  the 

'  Ohal.  II,  6  ;  Tos.  'Eduy.  I,  7  :    H^Illl    D-HC  ^yj'D   nS^^l^m    n^l^n 

-I3N1  D^nro  ':^D  nron  p  nasi  n^no  •'scro  mj:vy  yam  d^dd  'y^i2  m 
jnniOD  n^D^ni  ncud  m^pv  '21  n^^:i<  ^yj'D  ^nn  p.   As  to  the  parallel 

Baraitha  Nazii\  52  a  bottom,  where  R.  Akiba  requires  for  the  same 
defilement  half  a  kabh,  instead  of  a  quarter  of  a  kabh,  of  bones,  see 
further. 

-  In  Tos.  and  jer.  this  view  is  quoted  in  the  first  place,  not,  as  in  b.,  in 
the  second. 


Il8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

ancient    scholars  about   the    minimum    measure   of   blood 
should  lead  to  the  same  conclusion. 

Unfortunately  no  statement  of  the  view  of  tlie  two 
schools  on  that  subject  has  been  preserved,  and  in  itself 
the  rule  is  very  difficult.  For  Num.  19,  the  biblical  source 
of  all  the  laws  on  the  defiling  force  of  the  corpse  and  its 
parts,  refers  to  blood  neither  under  the  defilement  in  the 
tent  in  vv.  14, 15,  nor  even  under  the  defilement  by  touch 
in  V.  16  where  the  bone  is  expressly  mentioned.  And  still, 
when  there  appears  to  have  been  a  dispute  about  the 
defiling  force  of  l»lood  altogether,^  it  was  only  as  far  as  its 
biblical  derivation  was  concerned,  the  defiling  force  of  it 
being  accepted  b}^  all  the  teachers.  The  earliest  report 
about  the  question  states,  '  R.  Akiba  said,  I  once  argued 
before  R.  Eliezer,  Since  a  bone  of  the  size  of  a  grain  of 
barley,  which  does  not  defile  a  man  in  the  tent,  still  defiles, 
by  being  touched  or  carried,  the  Nazirite  so  that  he  has  to 
cut  his  hair:  how  much  more  should  a  quarter  of  a  log  of 

1  Sifre  Num.  19.  11.  125,  44  b:    U"!   nm   IDT   DN   i^^^)r\b  D^N   ^Di2 

i?Dn  ns  N*^2nb  din*  i^'dj  b:h  -ir^is*  NTpy  ^ii   biiv^'\y\  e.  ishmaei 

excludes  it  from  the  words  Q*^^{  t^'3J2  in  Num.  19.  13,  which  I'efer  to 
defilement  by  touching  the  corpse  ;  R.  Akiba  includes  it  on  the  generalizing 
word  !pD^  (different  in  Hull.  72  a).  Zuckermandel  in  MGWJ.,  22, 1873, 157, 
rightly,  but  without  adducing  any  evidence,  notes  that  in  this  dispute 
not  the  law  itself  is  in  question,  but  only  its  biblical  source.  In  Ohal.  II,  2 
an  anonymous  teacher  holds  that  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood  from 
a  corpse,  and  also  a  mixture  of  blood  part  of  which  came  from  the  body 
when  still  alive,  and  the  rest  from  the  same  body,  when  already  dead, 
are  defiling ;  R.  Akiba  extends  the  rule  to  blood  of  the  same  kind  even 
when  it  came  from  two  bodies.  In  Ohal.  Ill,  5  R.  Akiba  and  E.  Ishmaei 
differ  about  the  measures  of  the  two  parts  of  the  mixed  blood :  DT  IHT^S 

^Ni^y  '^"i  "^^'^  iJ^'''-^  no^?2cn  v^nn  n^mc  "ijcd  nv^c'  non  .noun 
iniroa  n^y^nni  v^na  n^y^nn  hdin*  i^Nync^^  ui,  R.  ishmaei  holding  that 

the  resulting  mixture  should  be  two  quarters  of  a  log  of  blood.  This 
shows  that  he  accepted  the  defiling  force  of  blood ;  but  it  is  not  certain 
from  the  dispute  whether  he  also  agreed  as  to  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood 
as  the  minimum  measure  in  normal  cases,  or  whether  he  required  half 
a  log.  It  seems  that  the  word  C^£!:  in  DHX  t^^Di  Num.  19. 11,  13  suggested 
the  extension  of  the  law  of  defilement  to  blood,  since  in  Lev.  17.  11 : 
«in  D"ia  neon  CSJ  ^D  the  Crs:  is  declared  to  be  in  the  blood,  Sifre  zuta 
Num.  19.  11,  136.  3  Horovitz. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  II9 

blood  which  does  defile  a  man  in  the  tent,  defile,  by  being 
touched  or  carried,  the  Nazirite  so  that  he  should  have  to 
cut  his  hair.  R.  Eliezer  objected,  What  is  this,  Akiba,  we 
cannot  argue  here  a  mino7'i  ad  niajtis.  When  I  submitted 
the  argument  to  R.  Joshua,  he  said,  You  are  right,  but  the 
scholars  have  thus  enunciated  the  rule '}  R.  Akiba  takes 
it  for  granted  that  a  quarter  of*  a  log  of  blood  has  in  the 
tent  the  same  high  grade  of  defiling  force  as  a  corpse. 
R.  Eliezer  and  R.  Joshua,  his  masters,  raise  no  objection  to 
that  premise,  but  only  to  his  inference  from  it,  so  that 
evidently  he  had,  as  their  disciple,  learned  that  rule  from 
them ;  though  no  source  is  indicated  from  which  the  strict 
rule  was  derived.^  But  whether  earlier  scholars  had  already 
extended  to  blood  the  defiling  force  of  a  corpse,  and  had 
fixed  a  quarter  of  a  log  as  sufficient  for  that,  is  nowhere 
stated.  As  R.  Akiba,  like  his  teacher  R.  Joshua,  consis- 
tently represented  the  view  of  the  Hillelites  as  against 
the  Shammaites,  and  R.  Eliezer  was  a  champion  of  the 
latter,  the  agreement  of  the  three  would  suggest  that 
the  two  schools  before  them  were  of  one  and  the  same 
opinion.  And  the  fact  that  R.  Akiba  put  side  by  side, 
without  the  registration  of  another  view,  the  quarter  of  a 
kabh  of  bones  and  the  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood,  also 
suggests  that  they  were  unopposed  measures  of  an  earlier 
date  of  the  two  schools.  ^Yhen,  therefore,  one  group  of  the 
ancient  scholars  taught  that  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood 
would  defile  everything,  they  agreed  with  R.  Eliezer,  R. 
Joshua,  and  R.  Akiba ;  and  as  up  to  their  time  no  divergent 
opinion  had  existed,  the  dispute  between  them  and  the  other 

1  Nazir,  VII.  4  :    Di'J?   DX   n?0    ITV^SX   ^21    ^JD^   >n:T   N*Tpj;   ^21   "IJ^wS 

,1XC''D  bv)  wr2  bv  nb:D  -in:n  brnii  onx  nddd  irNC*  n-nyc'j 
nj;:o  hv  nb:^  Tnn  n.t-j*  pn  irs*  bnni  ms  njdd^c'  di  n^y^ai 
^aN3:r:3i  ,-icim  bpjD  \i<2  pjn  pN  iii'pv  nr  .id  'b  -^r-^^  /Inc^'d  bv) 

In  Sifre  zuta  Num.  G.  12,  41  R.  .Joshua  said  :  ^3S*  TDnnijI  bpnb  '2i^  HNn 

:)b  ^i*n  bv  n'}2jn  nucr  n\^Vi<  na. 

2  See  Baraitha  Nazir  57  a  top,   and   cf.  Sifr^   zuta  Num.  19.  11,   136, 
note  3  bottom. 


I20  SOME    TYPES    OF 

group  of  tlie  ancient  scholars  must  be  of  a  later  date  than 
R.  Akiba's  arpfument  before  R.  Eliezer  and  R.  Joshua  which 
he  submitted  to  them,  when  he  was  still  their  disciple  in 
Lydda.  This  date  of  the  dispute  about  the  measure  of 
blood  is  the  same  as  that  obtained  for  the  measure  of  bones. 
Now,  of  R.  Akiba's  disciples  R.  Jose  b.  Halaftha  still 
adhered,  without  any  qualification,  to  the  measure  approved 
of  by  his  master  ;^  similarly  two  other  disciples,  R.  Jehudah 
and  R.  Simeon,  give  varying  traditions  about  R.  Akiba's 
dispute  with  one  of  his  colleagues  about  a  quarter  of  a  log 
of  blood  which  came  from  two  corpses,^  and  neither  sug- 
gests any  limitation  as  to  the  measure.  And  the  same  two 
disciples  define  the  mixture  of  blood  part  of  which  came 
from  the  body  when  still  alive,  and  the  remaining  part  from 
the  same  body  after  death,  and  the  measure  of  the  blood  in 
their  rule  is,  as  in  R.  Akiba's,  a  quarter  of  a  log."'  This 
would  show  conclusively  that  R.  Akiba  at  the  time,  w^hen 
R.  Jose,  R.  Jehudah,  and  R.  Simeon  were  his  disciples,  still 
taught  that  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood  defiled  everything 
like  a  corpse. 

10.  But  different  seems  to  have  been  the  attitude  of  the 
greatest  of  R.  Akiba's  disciples,  of  R.  Meir."*  '  R.  Eleazar 
said,    When   I  went   to   'Ardiskos,  I  found    R.   Meir   and 

1  Tos.  Kelim,  1.  I.  3  :  ^fyD",  )V'\1  n3rC'1   ipm  3?  b^  13ir  IDIX  ^DV  '2") 
TiDn    |D   rT'yD'n   Vb^"),  see  the  wording  in  the  ordinary  editions. 

2  Tos.  Ahil.  Ill,  1. 

3  Tos.  Ahil.  IV,  11  ;  Mishnah.  Ill,  5  ;  Sifre  zuta  Num.  19.  11,  137. 

*  Tos.  Nazir,  V,  1  ;  b.  56  b;  Mi-shnah,  VII,  4  :  ^riDi^.Tk^a  iryi^S  ^m  -l?0^^ 

pn^^n  pNi  n'bv  r\b:^  nn^  px  on  nT^"i  "i^in*  n-i^na  p  min^  ^n:ibn2 
pnc'  /pn^n  ID  nbp  nxr  N*nni  n\s'?3  ni  )b  n?:s*  ;cnpi2  nx"'n  bv  ^'bv 
in^^  pi  li^s  nnvoni*'  m  n^v'^i  'cnpizn  nx^n  bv  vi?y  pn^^n  S^pn 
bi<  TND  )b  ^hd:  ^m^ns  p  n-n.T  ^3-1  pn'l^*  ^^iptzn  nso  bv  ri^bv  p:i''n 
,nM  ni3^n  bv2)  |n  )b  nns  ,bvDJ2  p  y^rin^n  (nnN)  Nin  v^  ii^  Tun 
'•\'^:n^  nron  \d  nxroin  ^13  ynn-  un  n1t^•D  '^b  icn  n]n  pt^^i^n  )b  ^n?o: 
T-nn  pNtr  DDH  po  ^^<D^D  bi  ciprzn  nNU  bv  n^bv  \'2''n  r\>bv  ni?:n 
\:^^pr2n  hnu  bv  n^bv  P^'^n  p^<  ri>bv  n^^r^. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  121 

Jehudah  b.  Pethera  sitting  and  discussing  a  rule ;  Jehudah 
b.  Pethera  said,  The  Nazirite,  when  defiled  by  a  quarter  of 
a  loo*  of  blood,  need  not  cut  his  hair,  and  if  a  man  defiled 
by  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  l)lood  enter  the  Temple,  he  is 
not  guilty.  To  this  R.  Meir  remarked,  Should  that  defile- 
ment be  less  grave  than  that  by  a  dead  insect  ?  Since  one 
defiled  by  a  dead  insect,  which  is  a  lighter  defilement,  by 
entering  the  Temple  incurs  guilt,  how  much  more  should 
one  defiled  by  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  l)lood,  which  is  a 
graver  defilement,  be  guilty.  Jehudah  b.  Pethera  answered 
nothing '.  Here  we  see  the  defiling  strength  of  a  quarter 
of  a  log  of  blood  disputed  for  the  first  time,  and  a  declaration 
that  that  measure  of  blood  is  too  weak  to  defile  a  Nazirite, 
or  to  make  a  man  guilty,  when  he  enters  the  Temple  after 
that  defilement.  R.  Meir  did  not  dispute  the  first  part  of 
the  rule  stated  by  Jehudah  b.  Pethera ;  and  when  he  raised 
an  objection  against  the  second,  he  was  reminded  by 
R.  Eleazar  that  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah  had  declared  the 
two  parts  of  the  rule  interdependent.  From  whom  Jehudah 
b.  Pethera  learned  the  altered  rule,  cannot  be  traced,  as 
nothing  is  known  about  his  teachers;  but  R.  Meir  who 
had  nothing  to  say  against  the  first  part  and  therefore 
agreed  with  Jehudah  b.  Pethera  on  that  point,  must  have 
heard  of  it  before.  And  as  his  master  R.  Akiba  had  taught 
his  disciples  the  old  rule,  was  perhaps  the  other  teacher  of 
R.  Meir,  R.  Ishmael,^  responsible  for  the  new  formulation 
of  it,  who,  in  connexion  with  the  measure  of  the  component 
parts  of  the  mixture  of  blood,-^  required  half  a  log?  If 
there  were  any  probability  in  this  suggestion,  the  early 
scholars  who  disputed  about  the  minimum  of  blood  to 
defile  the  Nazirite,  would  have  been  R.  Akiba  and  R. 
Ishmael,  though  for  the  corresponding  measure  of  bones  no 
contemporary  of  R.  Akiba  who  would  have  differed  about 
that  from   him,  could  so  far  be  found."     The  scholars  of 

1  Jer.  Sotah,  II,  18  a.  7-5  ff.  ;  b.  'Erub.  13  a. 

2  noun  on,  Ohal.  III,  5,  above,  p.  118,  1. 

3  That  the  original  minimum  was  a  quarter  of  a  log,  is  evident  from 


122  SOME    TYPES    OF 

R.  Meir's  time  adopted  his  view,  and  it  was  incorporated 

all  the  passages  quoted  ;  also  the  report  of  E.  Eleazar,  as  preserved  in 
jer.  Nazir  and  Tos.,  puts  first  that  group  of  the  ancient  scholars  that  held 
that  view.  As  to  the  wording  of  R.  Eleazar's  report,  it  is  clear  that  the 
first  view  consisted  only  of  the  words  :  D^JpT  VH  n31t:'N-|2  ITP^N*  Ul  ir^X 

3p  ^i*n  nnDix  fm'pr^i  niD^^y  yam  ni  n^y^nn  Dnrois  \n)ipD  n'p)bn 

DT  ^)?  ''Vm  niD!»'y ,  as  Tos.  and  jer.  have  it,  containing  only  the  respective 
measures  in  dispute,  as  it  was  only  Jehudah  b.  Pethera  who  the  first 
time  mentioned  the  distinction  between  the  defilement  of  the  Nazir  and 
the  Temple  on  the  one  hand,  and  that  of  other  things  or  persons  not 
named  on  the  other.  As  R.  Meir  in  the  end  agreed  with  him,  the 
Mishnah  Nazir,  VII,  2  codified  his  view:   .  .  .  ni?:n  in^H  mSDin  I^N  hv 

yam  ...  on  n^y^ani  (3)  ...  d*i  3ii?  ^^*n  bv^  ni?oi-y  ip  ^vn  ^yi 

n7:iD  T'T^n  px  ...  niDify;  asalsoSymmachos,  hisdlsclple,  InBaraitha 
Nazir,  49  b  says  that  R.  Meir  taught  him  that  Mishnah  of  which,  it  is 
true,  he  only  quotes  the  beginning.  Accordingly,  the  conclusion  of 
R.  Eleazar's  report  in  Tos.  Nazir,  V,  1  :  Jl^yUl  n?DN*  QnnnS   b^  pi  H-'J 

mj^  on  31^  ^vm  niDvy  2p  ^^*n  n'^ipb)  mroinn^  niDi;y  y3T\"i  di 

K^TpDpl,  that  a  later  authority  held  that  a  quarter  of  a  log  of  blood 
and  a  quarter  of  a  kabh  of  bones  had  defiling  force  for  the  priestly  heave- 
offering  and  sacrifices,  but  that  only  half  a  log  of  blood  and  half  a  kabh  of 
bones  could  defile  the  Nazirite  and  a  man  for  entering  the  Temple,  refers 
to  the  adoption  of  Jehudah  b.  Pethera's  and  R.  Meir's  view  by  the  school 
of  Usha  of  which  R.  Meir  was  a  member.  (In  b.  N*i?  ^53^  Q'^'CHp)  HDnni? 
riDD  ^t^'")y1  "T'^^b  instead  of  the  general  j^rohibitlon  from  visiting  the  Temple 
the  special  instance  of  one  is  selected  who  has  to  enter  the  Temple  to  do 
his  duty  and  bring  the  Passover  sacrifice  ;  see  the  commentators.)  The 
version   of  R.   Eleazar's   report  in  jer.   Nazir  is  altogether  incomplete  ; 

fm*p?o  ppii^n  pn  \-in  vn  njic'N-in  nryi^N*  p  pyr^c*  '2i  nros  *jn 
2p  "-vn  DT  :)b  ''^n  Dnr:ix  |nvpD  m?:vy  v:i'\'\  d"i  n^y^m  onrois* 
ui  n'C'2  n\x  -in  2pv'  ^m  .vcnpi  cnpro  riNDVjh  nnn^i?  movy 

^2i6^)  nnnr  ^3n  ^DD  nnCN  ^nir^  pyOCJ'.  The  reference  to  the  final 
decision  is  missing  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  four  words  from  n"l"l^Tjb 
are  certainly  out  of  place,  as  no  corresponding  details  were  stated  in  the 
first  part.  As  the  statement  of  the  Amora  R.  Jacob  b.  Iddi  agrees  with 
that  in  b.,  and  refers  to  the  final  decision,  it  is  evident  that,  owing  to 
a  homoioteleuton,  a  whole  part  has  fallen   out  in  j.,  and  the  sentence 

must  have  read :  movy  V2)'\  D1  n^y^ni  nD^^  DnnnN  ^c^  p*7  n^2 
VK^npi  cnpD  nN*DiDi?i  nn^ni'  m?^vy  np  ^vn  dt  :ii7  ••vn  n^'cnp)  n?onn^. 

Rashi  on  R.  Jacob  b.  Iddi  in  Nazir,  53  a  has :  ^DD  NinK>  ii)n  "^p^VP  l^ti' 
'>2i6D)  nnnr  '^n  ^DD  nDND'  nCNI  n\Nl  p^i?t23w\*T  n^y^C^,  and  presupposes 
in  the  text  of  the  Talmud,  beside  the  reference  to  the  tradition  of  the  last 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  123 

by  the  redactor  of  the  Mislmah  as  the  accepted  rule.^  The 
difficulty  however  remains,  how  R.  Eleazar  who  himself 
was  a  colleague  of  R.  Meir  in  the  school  of  Usha,  could  have 
spoken  of  the  scholars  of  his  own  time  as  Dnnns  b^  pT  n"'3, 
when  he  himself  had  participated  in  the  final  decision,  and  he 
himself  reported  how  he  had  heard  Jehudah  b.  Pethera  and 
R.  Meir  discuss  the  whole  question,  when  all  was  still 
undecided. 

First  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  in  R.  Eleazar's  report 
about  his  visit  to  *Ardiskos  where  he  heard  that  discussion, 
the  relation  of  R.  Eleazar  to  R.  Meir  is  not  at  all  clear :  did 
he  go  there  to  meet  him  as  his  equal,  and  was  it  a  visit  of 
respect  paid  to  a  scholar  who  happened  to  be  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, or  was  he  a  regular  visitor  to  that  place,  and 
was  the  meeting  accidental  ?  From  the  not  quite  clear 
wording  of  the  report  it  is  not  even  evident,  whether 
R.  Eleazar  in  the  discussion  spoke  to  R.  Meir,  as  he  seems 
to  have  addressed  himself  to  Jehudah  b.  Pethera  who  was 
younger  than  R.  Meir,  and  spoke  to  the  latter  as  a  disciple.'-^ 
In  addition,  other  accounts  of  R.  Meir's  stay  in  'Ardiskos 
introduce  another  teacher  who  reported  R.  Meir's  decisions 
in  that  place.  '  R.  Simeon  b.  Eleazar  says.  Once  we  were 
sitting  before  R.  Meir  in  the  school  of  'Ardiskos,  when  a 
man  said  to  him',  &c.^  It  was  R.  Meir's  well-known 
disciple,  R.  Simeon  b.  Eleazar,  who,  as  in  the  previous  report 
Jehudali  b.  Pethera,  sat,  with  other  disciples,  before  his 
master,  when  in  'Ardiskos.  '  R.  Simeon  b.  Eleazar  reports, 
When  an  old  man  in  'Ardiskos,  for  purposes  of  exact 
tithing,  weighed  his  basket  first  full  and  afterwards  empty, 
R.  Meir  praised  him  '.*  This  seems  to  make  it  most  pro- 
prophets,  another  which  mentioned  in  the  first  phice  a  tradition  of 
Shema'yah  and  Abtalyon, 

1  Nazir.  VII,  2  ;  Ohal.  II,  1,  2. 

2  Ij.  HD^nn  l^N'O  ^2")  OD^  pi  X'^V  HM,  see  Rashi  and  Tosafoth. 

3  Tos.  'Erub.  IX,  4  ;  in  the  parallel  Baraitha  'Erub.  29  a  bottom  :  Once 
R.  Meir  was  in  'Ardiskos  for  the  Sabbath  ;  jer.  Ill,  20  c.  60  :  R.  Jehudah 
says.  Once  R.  Meir  was  in  'Ardiskos  for  the  Sabbath. 

4  Tos.  Terum.  III.  4. 


124  SOME    TYPES    OF 

bable  that  also  in  the  report  about  the  discussion  Ijetween 
Jehudah  b.  Pethera  and  R.  Meir  in  'Ardiskos  not  R.  Eleazar, 
but  R.  Simeon  b.  Eleazar  came  to  that  place  to  meet  his 
master  and,  as  in  the  other  instances,  heard  a  statement 
of  his  in  the  school.  But,  if  this  is  correct,  it  follows  also 
that  the  final  decision  about  the  rule,  discussed  in  'Ardiskos 
and  reported  by  R.  Eleazar  in  connexion  with  the  dispute 
between  the  early  scholars  about  the  defiling  force  of  blood 
and  bones,  was  related  not  by  R.  Eleazar  but  by  R.  Simeon 
b.  Eleazar.  In  fact,  in  jer.  this  very  name  is  given  ;  and 
though  this  part  of  the  wording  of  the  account  is  not  at  all 
free  from  doubt,  it  is  certain  that  the  name  is  correct.^  But 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  ancient  scholars  whom 
Frankel,  Weiss,  and  Kohler  identified  with  the  ancient 
Hasids,  and  whom  they  placed  in  the  early  years  of  the 
Maccabean  movement,  w^ere  rabbis,  at  the  earliest,  of  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century ;  exactly  as  the  ancient 
scholars  referred  to  by  R.  Jose  b.  Dormaskith^  were  mem- 
bers of  the  school  in  Jamnia. 

Of  an  earlier  date  were  the  ancient  scholars  mentioned 
in  connexion  with  another  point  of  levitical  purity.  The 
account  reads,  '  And  the  woman  that  is  sick  in  her  separa- 
tion. Lev.  15.  33,  the  ancient  scholars  said.  She  should  not 
paint  her  eyelids,  nor  rouge  her  face,  nor  adorn  herself  with 
a  coloured  dress  ;  until  R.  Akiba  came  and  taught  that,  if  you 
insist  on  that,  you  make  her  look  ugly  in  the  sight  of  her 
husband,  and  he  will  divorce  her'.''  These  ancient  scliolars 
lived  before  R.  Akiba  ;  but  how  long  before  cannot  be  deter- 

1  See  the  different  arguments  of  Zuckerniandel   in   MGWJ..   22,   1873, 
153-163. 

-  Tos.  Yad.  II,  16,  above  p.  78,  note  2. 

3  Baraitlia  Shabb.  64  b  ;  jer.  Gitt.  IX,  50  d.  42  ;   Sifra  Lev.  15.  33,  79  e  : 

nmn  nr\i:2  nMr\)  iJ2)b  niD^n  riD  wS^x  ,ri^n:^j2  n^ya  n'V?oji  rhv2 

W'Dl  N*3n::^  IV  Xnn.  in  Sifra:  the  matter  will  lead  to  ill-feeling,  and 
the  husband  will  desire  to  divorce  her.  Neither  Sifra  nor  jer.  has  the 
coloured  dress. 


JEWISH- PALESTINIAN    PIETY  125 

mined.^  Their  strictness  in'  the  separation  of  tlie  menstru- 
ous  wife  is  the  same  as  reported  by  R.  Simeon  b.  Eleazar  of 
some  unnamed  early  authority  ;  he  said,^  '  How  far  levitical 
purity  spread  in  Israel !  The  early  (scholars)  did  not  pre- 
scribe that  a  levitically  pure  person  must  not  eat  with 
a  menstruous  woman,  for  the  early  (men)  did  not  eat  with 
menstruous  women ;  but  they  said,  A  man  who  has  a 
runnino;  issue  shall  not  eat  witli  a  woman  who  has  a  run- 
ning  issue,  because  it  offers  an  occasion  for  sin '.  As  the 
Shammaites"  prohibited  a  man  who  observed  the  law  of 
levitical  purity  on  his  food,  but  who  had  a  running  issue,  from 
eatiner  with  a  man  who  did  not  observe  the  law  of  levitical 
purity  and  who  had  a  running  issue,  while  the  Hillelites 
permitted  it,  it  is  most  probable  that  the  early  scholars 
just  mentioned  were  the  Shammaites.  Apart  from  this, 
R.  Akiba  opposed  and  displaced  from  practice  other  strict 
rules  of  the  Shammaites  which  were  in  vogue  in  his  time ;  * 
so  that  it  follows  with  great  probability  from  liis  opposi- 
tion in  this  case  that  the  authors  of  the  earlier  rule  were 
the  Shammaites.  In  any  case,  there  is  no  occasion  for 
seeing  in  the  ancient  elders  any  but  scholars  of  the  school 
of  the  Shammaites  between  70  and  100;^     But  it  is  hardly 

1  Frankel,  Hodegetica,  41  ;  I.  Halevy,  D^J1t^>N*nn   nnH,  I  c,  285a. 

2  Tos.  Shabb.  I,   U  :    mnD   niHE   pM   IV    nTy!?N*   \2    ])V^'C*  U1   IDN 

i^nn  •'J2D  nnrn  oy  nrn  bs^  i6  nDS*  s^n*  niTJn  oy  pbiN  vn  Nb 

riTny  ;  in  jer.  I,  3b.  73  and  b.l3  a  D"'J1t:^X"in  is  missing. 

3  Baraitha  jer.  Shabb.  I,  3  c.  3  ;  Tos.  I,  15  ;   b.   13  a:    ^NOC^  r\'2  ':n 

pTno  bbr\  n^ni  )nsn  ny  nr  cy  '^'na  nr  b^^'  i6  onciN'. 

*  Tos.  Pesah.  I,  7;  b.  21  a;  Tos.  Moed  kat.  II,  10;  Nedar.  IX,  6; 
Tos.  V,  1 ;   cp.  Nedar.  Ill,  2  ;  Ma'as.  sheni,  V,  8  ;  II,  4  ;  'Eduy.  I,  8. 

^  In  the  rule  of  the  ancient  scholars  about  levitical  purity  quoted  by 
E.  Jose  in  Tos.  Ahil.  IV,  6,  there  is  no  indication  whatever  of  a  date, 
except  the  Greek  word  DIDDp  which  may  have  been  substituted  later  for 
a  Hebrew  word  ;  but  E.  Jose's  tradition  would  probably  not  take  us 
beyond  the  Shammaites.  The  same  applies  probably  to  the  argument  of 
the  ancient  scholars  about  the  levitical  defilement  in  Lev.  5.  2  in 
Sifra22d  bottom,  as  it  is  not  clear  whether  E.  Akiba's  different  inter- 
pretation had  theirs  in  view. 


126  SOME    TYPES    OF 

necessary  to  add  that  in  all  these  passages  no  reference  to 
Essenes  was  intended  ;  for  the  strict  separation  of  the  men- 
struous  woman  is,  as  far  as  our  information  goes,  nowhere 
stated  or  even  suggested  as  a  peculiarity  of  the  Essenes,  as 
little  as  the  strict  observance  of  the  points  of  levitical 
purity  discussed  above.  Beyond  dogmatic  assertions 
neither  Frankel,  nor  Weiss,  nor  Kohler  have  adduced  the 
slightest  evidence  of  a  scientific  character  to  prove  the 
identity  of  the  ancient  scholars  with  the  Essenes. 

Naturally,  there  must  have  been  many  points  of  strict 
religious  observance  common  to  the  rabbis  and  the  Essenes  ; 
but  this  very  fact  should  be  sufficient  warning  to  scholars 
against  the  favourite  inference  from  a  peculiar  observance 
or  practice  of  any  man  in  rabbinic  literature  who  can- 
not otherwise  be  classified,  that  he  was  an  Essene.  Let 
this  warning,  in  conclusion,  be  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  a 
non-legal  instance  taken  from  Josephus.  He  reports^  that 
Sameas  and  Pollion  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  fealty  to 
Herod,  just  as  did  the  Essenes.  The  reason  of  the  latter  was 
their  principle,  never  to  swear,  for  in  their  opinion  it  was 
worse  than  perjury.^  And  what  was  the  reason  of  the 
Pharisee  teachers  ?  Instead  of  admitting  that  in  matters  of 
oaths  these  observed  the  same  principle  as  the  Essenes, 
Dr.  Kohler"  says,  '  Whether  Sameas  and  Pollio,  the  leaders 
of  the  Academy,  who  also  refused  to  take  an  oath,  belonged 
to  the  Essenes,  is  not  clear '.  The  question  and  the  doubt 
have  no  foundation  whatsoever.  For  Josephus  reports  first 
that  the  Pharisees  refused  to  take  the  oath,  the  Essenes 
followed  only  in  the  second  place;  and  then  he  expressly 
states  in  the  account  itself  ^  that  not  only  the  two  leaders, 
but  also  their  followers  and  their  disciples — note  the  two 
groups  in  his  words  —were  asked  by  Herod  and  refused  to 

1  Antiqiiit.  XV,  10.  4.  370. 

2  Josephus,  Wars,  II,  8.  0.  135  ;  Philo,  Quod  omnis  probus  12,  II,  458. 
^  Jeio.  Encycl.  V,  224  b. 

*   Herod  aweneiOev  8e  nal  toIs  -rrepl  UoXXiajva  tuv  ^apiaaiov  Kal  'Sa^aiav  koi 

TOJV  €K€IV01S  (JVl>SiaTpi/36vTaJU  TOVS  TTX€IGT0VS  vfjivveiv. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  127 

take  the  oath ;  and  thirdly,  PoUion  at  least  is  described  as 
a  Pharisee  by  the  adjective  '  the  Pharisee '  which  probably 
referred  also  to  Sameas.^  The  Essenes  only  adopted  the 
Pharisee  principle ;  any  other  explanation,  at  least  in  tliis 
instance,  is  unnatural  and  inadmissible.  Had  our  literature 
preserved  more  information  of  that  kind  about  rules  of 
action  and  religious  doctrines  and  practices  common  to  both 
sections  of  Palestinian  Jews,  scholars  would  have  been  more 
cautious  in  their  unjustified  reference  of  rabbinic  material 
to  the  Essenes.  And  even  the  prophetic  gift  or  the  train- 
ing in  prophesying  of  which  Josephus  is  speaking  as 
frequently  and  as  emphatically  as  possible,^  he  reports  once 
of  the  Pharisees  ^  who  prophesied  to  Pheroras  and  his  wife 
and  their  descendants  that  they  would  rule  over  Judaea, 
and  to  the  eunuch  Bagoas  that  he  would  be  called  father 
and  benefactor.'*  The  Pharisees  were  believed  to  know  the 
future  by  the  appearance  of  God  (in  a  dream).  Unless  we 
assume  that  Nicolas  of  Damascus,  the  author  of  Herod's 
biography,  copied  by  Josephus  often  verbally,  mistook  the 
Essenes  for  Pharisees,  but  intended  here  Essenes  as  prophets, 
we  shall  have  to  concede  the  prophetic  gift  of  an  entirely 
different  kind  to  some  Pharisee  teachers  of  Hillel's  time,^^ 
and  not  infer  from  the  attribution  of  that  capacity  to  a 
man  whose  religious  position  is  otherwise  unknown,  that 
he  was  an  Essene. 

1  In  Antiquit.  XVII,  2.  4.  42  Josephus  gives  as  their  number  more  than 
six  thousand,  and  expressly  states  that  they  were  Pharisees ;  as  Dr.  Koliler 
himself  admits  in  adding  that  they  were  scarcely  different  from  those 
elsewhere  called  Essenes. 

2  Antiquit  XIII,  11.  2.  311.  XV,  10.  5.  373,  XVII,  13.  3.  346  :  Wars,  I,  3.  5. 
78,  II,  7.  3.  113,  II,  8.  12.  159. 

3  Antiquit.  XVII,  2.  4.  43.  "  See  Schiirer,  Geschichte,  IV,  599. 
5  Josephus  speaks  of  his  own  capacity  as  an  interpreter  of  dreams, 

Wars,  III,  8.  3.  351,  ;  his  prophecy  of  Vespasian's  emperorship,  Wars,  III, 
8.  9  ;  Sucton.,  Vesp.  5  ;  Dio  Cassius,  66  ;  Schiirer,  I,  76  ;  and  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  portenta  in  Wars,  VI,  5.  3.  291. 


Ill 

THE  PIOUS  MEN  IN  THE  PSALMS  OF  SOLOMON 

The  eighteen  psalms  which  form  this  collection  and  are 
known  as  Psalms  of  Solomon,  have  been  preserved  in  Greek, 
but  are  assumed  to  have  originally  been  composed  in  Hebrew 
by  one  or  several  Pharisees  in  Jerusalem  between  the  years 
70  and  40B.C.E.  They  express  the  religious  views  and 
sentiments  of  a  section  of  Jews  in  Jerusalem  who  called 
themselves  or  were  termed  octlol,  by  which  word  LXX 
renders  "j^on  in  the  biblical  Psalms.^  From  the  numerous 
references  to  the  pious  men  in  the  Psalms  of  Solomon 
Wellhausen  and  Ryle- James  ^  reconstructed  the  character  of 
the  piety  of  the  Judaean  Pharisee  of  the  year  50  b.  c.  e.  ; 
and  without  entering  more  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  his 
special  type  in  these  poems,  they  declared  that  he  closely 
approached  the  type  drawn  in  the  New  Testament.  As  the 
commentators  agree  that  these  pious,  righteous,  God-fearing- 
men  were  evidently  not  Essenes,  they  could  very  well  have 
been  the  immediate  predecessors  and  teachers,  and  in  many 
instances  even  the  fathers,  of  the  pious  men  in  the  time  of 
Hillel,  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter,  if  only  the  type 
of  their  piety  proves  to  be  the  same.  It  is  true,  these 
psalms  deal  with  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  Pompey 
and  the  slaughter  of  many  thousands  of  Jews ;  a  catas- 
trophe which  by  its  suddenness  and  greatness  brought  out 
certain  features  of  the  religious  character  of  the  pious,  made 
manifest  by  terror,  submission,  resignation,  and  faith,  and 
consequently  different  from  the  traits  of  piet}^  preserved  in 
rabbinic  literature.     The  fear  of  the  approaching  Roman 

1  Wellhausen,  Pharisder  unci  Saddncder,  116,  and  other  commentators. 

2  Psalms  of  the  Pharisees,  by  H.  E.  Ryle  and  M.  R.  James,  Cambridge,  1891, 


SOME    TYPES    OF    JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 29 

army,  the  siege  and  the  conquest  of  the  city,  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  Temple,  the  overthrow  of  the  Sadducean  king 
Aristobul  II,  the  destruction  of  rulers  and  warriors,  and  the 
suffering  of  the  whole  population,  including  the  pious,  form 
the  subjects  of  the  author's  religious  meditations.  They 
afford  him  the  opportunity  for  expressing  his  feelings  about 
God's  justice  and  its  execution,  about  sin  and  atonement, 
the  love  of  God  and  patient  submission,  and  various  other 
religious  problems  of  life.  Naturally,  it  was  a  one-sided, 
though  varied  experience ;  but  its  instructive  details  con- 
stitute important  evidence  of  the  religious  attitude  of  the 
pious  men  in  Jerusalem,  especially  as  they  offer  a  few^ 
characteristic  points  identical  with  the  rabbinic  data  about 
the  pious,  and  supplement  our  knowledge  about  them  to  a 
considerable  extent.  And  as  the  psalms  represent  non- 
rabbinic  literature,  they  enable  us  to  test  some  of  the 
results  of  the  preceding  chapters. 

1.  An  incident  in  the  author's  private  life,  in  no  way 
connected  with  his  relations  to  his  neighbour,  allows  an 
insight  into  his  thoughts  about  a  terrifying  dream  which 
stirred  his  fears  and  his  hopes,  his  religious  belief,  and  his 
faith  in  God.  (6.  6),^  '  He  ariseth  from  his  sleep,  and 
blesseth  the  name  of  the  Lord :  (7)  when  his  heart  is  at 
peace,  he  singeth  to  the  name  of  his  God,  and  he  en- 
treateth  the  Lord  for  all  his  house.  (8)  And  the  Lord 
heareth  the  prayer  of  every  one  that  feareth  God,  and  every 
request  of  the  soul  that  hopeth  for  Him  doth  the  Lord 
accomplish.  (9)  Blessed  is  the  Lord,  who  showeth  mercy 
to  those  who  love  Him  in  sincerity.'  As  he  is  referring  to 
his  own  dream,  he  describes  in  those  lines  his  own  mental 
and  relioious  attitude  as  of  one  who  fears  God,  loves  Him 
sincerely,  and  trusts  in  Him.  No  explanation  of  these 
qualities  is  given,  nor  is  the  way  indicated  in  which  they 
were  realized  in  his  actions  and  his  life.  But  they  are 
familiar  as  characteristic  of  the  pious  man  in  the  biblical 

1  The   translation   of  Prof.    B.    Gray   in    Charles,    The  Apocnjpha   and 
Pseudepigrajiha,  1913,  vol.  II.  =  ' 

I 


130  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Psalms ;  and  already  his  stress  on  the  sincere  love  of  God 
proves  him  a  truly  religious  man  who  is  attached  to  his 
God.  As  he  does  not  boast  of  those  his  qualities,  and  in  the 
whole  psalm  never  even  refers  to  himself  directly,  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  belonged  to  the  self-righteous.  He  shared 
the  belief  of  his  time  and  of  his  class  that  evil  dreams  fore- 
told trouble.  But  (4)  '  at  what  he  sees  in  his  bad  dreams, 
his  soul  shall  not  be  troubled ;  (5)  when  (in  his  dream)  he 
passes  through  rivers  and  the  tossing  of  the  seas,  he  shall 
not  be  dismayed '.  He  differed  from  some  of  his  neighbours 
by  the  firmness  of  his  heart  which  rested  on  his  faith ;  and 
this  prompted  him,  immediately  on  rising  from  his  disturbed 
sleep,  to  bless  and  praise  God,  and  to  pray  to  Him  to  obviate 
the  trouble  indicated  by  the  dream,  and  to  grant  him  and 
his  house  mercy.  He  felt  reassured  that  God  had  listened 
to  his  prayer^  and  will  fulfil  his  request.  And  such  cer- 
tainty he  did  not  derive  from  the  great  number  of  'works' 
performed  in  accordance  with  the  law,  nor  did  he  present 
those  to  God  as  a  bill  of  claims,  nor  accompany  it  by  an 
insistent  demand  for  the  equivalent  reward;  but  all  he 
expected  in  his  firm  reliance  was  that  God  would  show 
'  mercy '  to  those  who  love  Him  sincerely.  It  is  true,  Well- 
hausen  interprets  mercy  to  be  merely  another  word  for 
reward ;  but  such  assertions  may  be  ignored.  The  psalmist's 
true  piety  is  evident  from  his  plain  words,  and  need  fear  no 
comparison.^  The  opening  lines  contain  further  informa- 
tion about  his  faith :  (1)  '  Happy  is  the  man  whose  heart  is 
fixed  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  (2)  when  he 
remembereth  the  name  of  the  Lord,  he  will  be  saved. 
(3)  His  ways  are  made  even  by  the  Lord,  and  the  works  of 
his  hands  are  preserved  by  the  Lord  his  God '.  It  is  not 
given  to  the  worldly  man,  when  his  mind  is  anxious,  to  be 
ready  for  prayer  ;  for  God  is  not  his  first  thought.  But  He 
is  near  to  the  soul  of  the  pious  man,  and  he  traces  his  weal 
and  his  woe  so  naturally  to  God  that,  on  rising  from  his 

1  The  parts  of  his  prayer  deserve  attention  :  first  he  blessed  God,  then 
he  sang  praise  to  Him,  and  last  came  the  personal  request. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  13 1 

disquieting  dream,  he  at  once  turns  to  Him  for  protection. 
Such  a  prayer  is  wholly  dissociated  from  any  artificial 
preparations  with  which  some  scholars,  without  any  justifi- 
cation, credit  the  Pharisee ;  it  is  the  natural,  spontaneous 
outpouring  of  his  religious  feeling.  Such  a  man  is  happy, 
for  his  heart  is  ever  ready  for  invoking  the  help  of  God 
which,  in  his  conviction,  will  soon  be  granted.^  God  re- 
moves the  trouble  indicated  by  the  dream,  smoothes  the 
path  of  the  pious  man,  and  preserves  his  work  undisturbed.^ 
In  calling  Him  his  God,  he  expresses  his  close  and  intimate 
attachment  to  Him. 

2.  Trouble  and  distress  of  another  kind  stirred  up  and 
revealed  other  sentiments  of  our  author.  (5.  7)  '  0  God, 
when  we  are  in  distress,  we  call  upon  Thee  for  help,  and 
Thou  dost  not  turn  back  our  petition,  for  Thou  art  our 
God.  (8)  Cause  not  Thy  hand  to  be  heavy  upon  us,  lest 
through  necessity  we  sin.  (9)  Even  though  Thou  restore 
us  not,  we  will  not  keep  awa}^ ;  but  unto  Thee  will  we 
come.'  Though  the  biblical  Psalms  may  have  suggested  to 
the  writer  the  expression,  the  urgency  of  the  prayer  and 
the  assurance  of  God's  hearino-  on  his  own  behalf  and  on 
that  of  his  fellow-sufferers,  which  found  such  words,  were 
his  own.  Some  trouble  was  weighing  upon  them  ;  he 
knows  that  it  is  due  to  the  hand  of  God.  It  had  continued 
for  some  time,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  prospect  of  relief ; 
but  the  repeated  disappointment  not  only  did  not  turn 
away  the  pious  men  from  God,  but  attached  them  to  Him 
all  the  more  closely,  and  our  author,  their  spokesman, 
prayed  again.  For  he  was  firmly  convinced  that  God 
alone  was  sending  all  the  distress,  and  that  He  alone 
could,  and  certainly  would,  remove  it.  To  press  his  urgent 
call  for  relief,  he  reminded  God  that  the  sustained  suffering 
might  break  the  strained  faith  of  the  heart,  which  was  only 
human,  and  lead  him  thereby  to  sin.     As  to  the  nature  of 

^  See  Hebrew  Psalm  18.  4. 

2  The  same  in  10.  3  :  For  He  maketh  straight  the  ways  of  the  righteous, 
and  doth  not  pervert  (them)  by  His  chastening. 

I  2 


132  SOME    TYPES    OF 

such  sin,  Ryle-James  refer  to  Prov.  30.  8,  Feed  me  with  the 
food  that  is  needful  for  me, . . .  lest  I  be  poor,  and  steal,  and 
use  profanely  the  name  of  my  God  ;  and  to  Isa.  8.  21,  It 
shall  come  to  pass  that,  when  they  shall  be  hungry,  they 
shall  fret  themselves,  and  curse  by  their  king  and  their 
God'.  Though  the  two  commentators  continuously  point 
to  the  dependence  of  our  author  on  the  Bible  ;  and  though 
the  two  parallels  adduced  fully  cover  the  case ;  and  though 
it  is  borne  out  by  v.  19,  'If  a  man  abound  overmuch,  he 
sinneth ',  which  is  identical  with  the  continuation  of 
Prov.  30.  9,  Ryle-James  are  not  satisfied  with  their  natural 
explanation.  Urged  on  by  some  instinct  to  search  for 
hidden  meanings,  they  suggest  a  forced,  impossible  alter- 
native :  '  The  prayer  .  .  .  contains  a  hidden  allusion 
to  the  laws  of  cleanliness  in  matters  of  food,  concerning 
which  the  Pharisees  were  minutely  particular.  In  times 
of  scarcity,  the  difficulty  of  keeping  to  the  letter  the  rules 
which  regulated  their  food,  became  increasingly  formidable  ; 
and  the  liability  to  sin,  i.  e.  to  transgression  of  the  law, 
was  proportionately  aggravated.'  The  learned  authors' 
information  about  Jewish  life  under  the  leofislation  of  the 
Pharisees  is  but  pure  imagination ;  for  the  law  assumed 
b}^  them,  as  far  as  I  know,  never  existed,  and  unless  they 
quote  in  full,  and  give  the  date  and  place  of  their  source, 
their  statement  is  void  of  all  force.  Were  they  speaking  of 
'priests  of  the  first  century  B.  c.  e.  and  of  priestly  food  of 
a  sacred  character,  the  bare  possibility  of  the  existence 
of  such  a  rule  could  be  granted ;  but  where  is  a  trace  to 
be  found  of  its  observance  in  those  days  by  a  non-priest  ? 
Even  a  full  century  after  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  (and 
levitical  law  did  develop  in  a  century),  few  priests,  and 
non-priestly  scholars  only  in  exceptional  cases,  still  handled 
their  food  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  levitical  purity, 
and  such  scholars  are  enumerated  by  name  in  the 
Mishnah.^  'Jose  b.  Joezer  was  a  pious  man  among  the 
priests,  and  his  mantle  was  impure   for  sacrificial  meat; 

1  Hagig.  II,  7. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 33 

Johanan  b.  Gudgeda  (the  Levite)  ate  his  food  throughout 
his  life  in  the  purity  of  sacrificial  meat,  and  his  mantle  was 
impure  for  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer.'  Both  lived  in  the 
last  decades  of  the  second  Temple  in  Jerusalem.^  After 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple  R.  Gamaliel  II  and  Akylas 
the  proselyte  are  reported  to  have  kept  their  food  in 
levitical  purity ;  ^  and  even  priests  were  either  ignorant 
of  those  rules,^  or  did  not  observe  them.* 

And  as  a  closer  parallel  to  the  conduct  of  the  Pharisee 
assumed  by  Ryle-James,  the  following  incident  may  be 
quoted.  '  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  said,  When  I  learned  Torah 
with  R.  Johanan  of  Hauran,  I  noticed  in  a  year  of  drought 
that  he  was  eating  dry  bread  with  salt  (nothing  with  it). 
When  I  told  my  father  of  it,  he  sent  olives  to  him  through 
me ;  but  when  R.  Johanan  saw  that  they  were  wet,  he 
said  to  me  that  he  did  not  like  olives.  When  I  reported  it 
to  my  father,  he  said,  Tell  him  that  the  cask  (from  which 
the  olives  were  taken)  had  a  hole  (in  its  bottom)  and  only 
the  lees  stopped  it  (that  is  why  the  olives  were  in  the  juice 
and  wet,  and  still  not  fit  for  receiving  defilement  from,  the 
touch  of  an  unobservant  person).^  Here  we  have,  on  the 
one  hand,  R.  Sadok  the  priest  keeping  his  olives  in  a  way 
that  prevented  their  possible  defilement ;  on  the  other  hand, 
a  scholar  in  Jerusalem  of  whose  priestly  descent  we  are  not 
informed,  refuses  to  eat  olives  which  might  possibly  have 
been  touched  by  a  levitically  unobservant  person.  Though 
R.  Sadok  was  a  priest,  the  scholar  did  not  trust  him,  because 
he  belonged  to  the  school  of  Shammai  which  on  this  point 
was  exceptionally  lenient,  as  it  held  that  the  juice  of 
fruit  did  not  make  the  fruit  liable  to  receive  defilement ; 

1  See  above,  34  ff. 

2  Tos.  Hagig.  Ill,  2,  3.  ^  See  the  noble  priest  above,  p.  35. 

4  E.  Gamaliel  the  old  gave  his  daughter  to  Simeon  b.  Nethan'el  the 
priest  for  a  wife,  and  stipulated  with  his  son-in-law  that  she  should  not 
have  to  prepare  levitically  pure  food  for  her  husband.  To  this  report 
R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II  remarked,  There  was  no  need  for  that  stipulation, 
as  an  observant  person  is  not  forced  to  prepare  levitically  pure  food  for 
a  non-observant  person,  Tos.  'Abod.  zar.  Ill,  10. 

5  Baraitha  Yebam.  15  b  top  ;  Tos.  Sukk.  II,  3. 


134  SOME    TYPES    OF 

but  in  fact  R.  Saclok  followed  the  stricter  view  of  the 
Hillelites.  The  incident  probably  occurred  during  the 
famine  in  48,^  when  R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  was  a  boy. 
The  point  of  levitical  purity  in  question  was  based  on 
a  dispute  between  the  two  schools  to  whom  the  develop- 
ment of  the  rules  of  levitical  purity  was  mainly  due.^  It  is 
instructive  to  see  how  the  Pharisee  behaved  in  a  famine. 
'  when  the  difficulty  of  keeping  to  the  letter  the  rules  which 
regulated  their  food,  became  increasingly  formidable ' ; 
there  was  on  his  part  not  a  moment's  hesitation  to  decline 
the  gift,  though  it  was  not  even  actually  defiled,  but  only 
liable  to  receive  possible  defilement.  To  my  knowledge, 
this  incident  of  the  year  48  c.E.  is  the  earliest  reference 
to  such  observance.  But  Ryle- James,  in  proceeding  from  the 
New  Testament,  easily  bridged  the  interval  of  100  years, 
and  saw  no  difiiculty  in  appljdng  conditions  which  in 
themselves  cannot  be  proved  as  having  ever  obtained  in 
any  part  of  Palestine  in  the  first  century,  to  a  date 
100  years  earlier,  when  rabbinic  levitical  legislation  was 
in  its  infancy."  The  author  of  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  did 
not  think  and  could  not  have  thought  of  such  a  sin;  he 
was  rather  afraid  that  in  his  suffering  he  might  succumb 
to  his  human  weakness  and  give  up  his  trust  in  God. 

The  psalmist  proceeds  (5.  10),  '  For  if  I  hunger,  unto 
Thee  will  I  cry,  O  God ;  and  Thou  wilt  give  to  me.  (11)  Birds 
and  fish  dost  Thou  nourish,  in  that  Thou  givest  rain  to 
the  steppes  that  green  grass  may  spring  up,  to  prepare 
fodder  in  the  steppe  for  every  living  thing;  (12)  and  if 
they  hunger,  unto  Thee  do  they  lift  up  their  face.  (13)  Kings 
and  rulers  and  peoples  Thou  dost  nourish,  0  God ;  and  who 
is  the  help  of  the  poor  and  needy,  if  not  Thou,  O  Lord  ? 

1  Josephus,  Antiquit.  XX,  5.  2.  101  ;  2.  6.  51  ;  III,  15.  3.  320 ;  Schiirer, 
Geschichte,  I^,  567.  8. 

-  'Ecluy.  IV,  6  ;  Tos.  II,  2  ;  Schwarz,  Die  Erleichterungen  cler  Schamtnaiten, 
49.  The  account  of  Tos.  adds,  It  teaches  you  that  the  teacher  ate  his 
ordinary  food  in  levitical  purity.  This  is  important,  as  it  draws  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  as  not  frequent. 

3  Shabb.  15a  ;  jer.  I,  3d.  43-7  ;  Weiss,  Ziir  Geschichte,  I,  105,  143 ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  135 

• 

(14)  And  Thou  wilt  hearken— for  who  is  good  and  gentle 
but  Thou  ]— making  glad  the  soul  of  the  humble  by  opening 
Thine  hand  in  mercy ! '  He  then  describes  the  difference 
between  the  hesitating  help  of  a  friend  and  God's  ample 
gift  in  loving-kindness,  and  proceeds,  (16)  '  And  he  whose 
hope  is  on  Thee  shall  have  no  lack  of  gifts.  (17)  Upon  the 
whole  earth  is  Thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  in  goodness.  (18)  Happy 
is  he  whom  God  remembereth  in  (granting  to  him)  a  due 
sufficiency  ;  (19)  if  a  man  abound  overmuch,  he  sinneth. 
(.20)  Sufficient  are  moderate  means  with  righteousness,  and 
hereby  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  (becomes)  abundance  with 
righteousness.  (21)  They  that  fear  the  Lord  rejoice  in 
good  (gifts),  and  Thy  goodness  is  upon  Israel  in  Thy 
kingdom.  Blessed  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  for  He  is  our 
king.'  The  w^riter  of  these  lines  was  poor,  and  starved 
during  a  famine  ;  he  feared  God  and  was  humble.^  He 
believed  that  God's  providence  extended  to  the  needs  of 
every  individual,  whether  high  or  low  ;  all  food  was  granted 
by  Him  and  provided  according  to  His  will.  He  watches 
the  doings  of  every  being,  and  neither  good  nor  evil 
escapes  His  attention  (9.  5,  6).  Therefore  our  writer 
prays  to  God  for  food,  but  not  for  abundance,  for  it  would 
lead  to  self -sufficiency  and  arrogance ;  only  a  moderate 
provision,  as  in  Prov.  30.  8,  with  righteousness  is  a  blessing. 
The  meaning  of  righteousness  here  is  evident  from  the  sin 
resulting  from  poverty  as  also  from  abundance :  in  one  case 
it  tends  to  cursing  God,  in  the  other  to  forgetting  Him ; 
to  avoid  in  the  first  instance  those  two  sins  constitutes 
righteousness.  But  it  undoubtedly  meant  more  than  that, 
and  included  obedience  to  the  will  of  God  expressed  in  the 
Torah ;  for  not  to  forget  God  (Deut.  8.  11)  meant  not  only 
gratitude,  but  the  recognition  of  Him  as  the  giver  of  every- 
thing, and  submission  to  His  commandments.  The  first 
step  towards  righteousness  was  the  avoidance  of  sins,  as 
the   Pharisee  knew  human   nature  and   its  struggle  with 

1  It  seems  that  here,  as  in  the  biblical  Psalms,  ""jy  and  Ijy  were  used 
side  by  side. 


136  SOME    TYPES    OF 

weakness ;  and  the  rest  led  to  positive  duties  which  were 
not,  as  the  commentators  would  like  us  to  believe,  in  the 
first  instance  legal,  but,  as  will  be  shown  later,  chiefly 
moral  and  religious.  But  even  the  legal  side  of*  righteous- 
ness, not  to  steal,  and  not  to  curse  God,  should  not  be 
belittled,  as  without  it  no  foundation  for  honesty  and 
religion  could  be  laid. 

The  introduction  to  the  cry  of  distress  is  not  less 
instructive,  (5.  1),  '  O  Lord  God,  T  will  praise  Thy  name 
with  joy,  in  the  midst  of  them  that  know  Thy  righteous 
judgments.  (2)  For  Thou  art  good  and  merciful,  the 
refuge  of  the  poor ;  (3)  when  I  cry  to  Thee,  do  not  silently 
disregard  me.  (4)  For  no  man  taketh  spoil  from  a  mighty 
man ;  (5)  who,  then,  can  take  aught  of  all  that  Thou  hast 
made,  except  Thou  Thyself  givest?  (6)  For  man  and  his 
portion  (lie)  before  Thee  in  the  balance ;  he  cannot  add  to, 
so  as  to  enlarge,  what  has  been  prescribed  by  Thee.'  Here 
again  the  author  declares  his  belief  in  the  providence  of 
God  that  measures  out  the  portion  of  food  to  every 
individual ;  and  he  adds  the  negative  formulation  of  the 
same  idea  that  no  man  can  increase  his  share.  This 
certainly  goes  too  far,  as  it  discourages  man  from  bending 
his  energy  to  the  hard  task  :  and  perhaps  it  only  intended 
to  say  that  in  those  days  of  famine  and  want  nobod}^  could 
obtain  more  food,  unless  God  of  His  own  will  provided 
such.  And  still  he  feels  confident  that  his  repeated  prayer 
will  be  accepted,  and  as  his  opening  line,  so  the  conclusion 
of  the  psalm  breathes  joy  and  triumph.  The  words  of  the 
last  verse,  '  And  Thy  goodness  is  upon  Israel  in  Thy  kingdom. 
Blessed  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  for  He  is  our  king,'  are 
most  impressive,  though  their  meaning  is  not  quite  clear. 
Ryle-James  interpret  God's  kingdom  as  being  identical  with 
Israel ;  but  where  is  Israel  ever  so  called  ?  Their  alternative 
explanation :  '  in  Thy  reign ',  seems  more  natural.  But  just 
as  '  He  is  our  king '  must  have  been  intended  as  the  climax 
of  the  poet's  repeated  certainty  of  God's  help,  and  meant : 
He    is   our  protector,    He   ivill   help   us,  so  also  'in  Thy 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 37 

kingdom'  means:  in  Thy  capacity  of  our  king,  our 
saviour  (17.  1).^  In  his  certainty  that  God  will  supply 
food,  the  poet  opens  this  psalm  with  the  praise  of  God  to 
be  recited  in  the  assembly  of  those  who  in  the  past  had 
many  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  God's  merciful  decisions, 
first  to  visit  the  pious,  but  in  the  end  to  relieve  him  from 
distress.  This  established  way  of  God  in  dealing  with 
those  who  are  attached  to  Him,  our  author  will  also  this 
time  describe  in  the  assembly  to  those  who  are  his  fellows 
in  conviction  and  in  suffering. - 

3.  The  judgments  of  God  which  the  righteous  experiences 
in  his  own  vicissitudes,  reveal  to  him  his  sins,  and  to  God 
his  attitude  to  his  trials.  (3.  3)  '  The  righteous  remember 
the  Lord  at  all  times,  Avith  thanksgiving  and  declaration 
of  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord's  judgments.  (4)  The 
righteous  despiseth  not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord  ;  his  will 
is  always  before  the  Lord.  (5)  The  righteous  stumbleth 
and  holdeth  the  Lord  righteous  :  he  falleth  and  looketh  out 
for  what  God  will  do  to  him ;  he  seeketh  out  whence  his 
deliverance  will  come.'  Misfortunes  of  various  degrees, 
represented  as  stumbling  and  falling,-^  befell  the  pious,,  who 
saw  in  them  God's  visiting  hand ;  and  though  he  suffers, 
and  perhaps  cannot  find  in  his  past  actions  the  reason  for 
it,  he  declares  the  chastening  inflicted  on  him  by  God  as 
just,*  and  thanks  Him  for  it.  He  does  not  call  it  un- 
deserved and  unjust,  and  does  not  criticize  it,^  and  his 
willingness   to  submit    to   it   is   noticed    b}^   God.*"      Such 

'  In  the  conclusion  of  the  first  of  the  Eighteen  Benedictions  of  the 
daily  prayer  God  is  called  prOI  V^t;'!^")  '\]^V  "J^D,  where  the  epithets 
describe  Him  not  as  the  Master  of  the  Universe,  but  as  the  helping, 
saving,  and  protecting  king  of  His  people,  1  Sam.  8.  20  ;  12.  12,  and  below 
in  Honi's  prayer,  p.  220. 

2  Cf.  Hebr.  Psalm  31.  24.  ^  Hebr.  Psalm  -37.  24;   Prov.  24.  16. 

4  It  is  the  rabbinic  piH  HN'  vbv  pH^^D ;  the  parallelism  in  v.  5 
requires  and  looks  out  for  further  visitation,  and   then  pei-Laps  n^i^DI 

my  i^T  pND. 

^  Ryle-James  rightly  point  to  Prov.  8.  11  ;  Job  5.  17. 
6  That  is,  according  to  the  parallelism,  the  sense  of  r/  €v5oKia  avrov  dia 
navTus  evavTi  Kvpiov  =  M  ''jsi'  I^IOT)  1J1^"1V 


138  SOME    TYPES    OF 

firmness  in  adversity  is  in  itself  a  gift  from  God,  the 
deliverer  (7).  When  the  righteous,  by  his  own  exertions, 
successfully  struggled  against  temptation,  it  was  God  that 
gave  him  the  moral  strength  for  the  fight.^  ^  Is  not  all  this 
clear  evidence  of  the  poet's  genuine  piety  ?  And  as  he  is 
termed  here  four  times,  therefore  evidently  with  delibera- 
tion, the  righteous  man,  is  it  not  clear  that  what  constituted 
a  righteous  man's  religious  character  was  true  fear  of  God, 
full  trust  in  Him,  patient  and  ready  acceptance  of  visita- 
tion, and  submission  even  with  gratitude  to  it  ?  He  reminds 
us  of  the  often  quoted  vstatement  :  ^  'To  such  as  are 
humiliated,  but  humiliate  not,  hear  themselves  reviled, 
but  reply  not,  do  all  from  love,  and  rejoice  at  their 
suffering.  Judges  5.  31  applies,  Those  who  love  Him  are 
as  the  sun,  when  he  goeth  forth  in  his  might.'  Such  stress 
on  the  religious  character  of  the  pious  will  not  appear 
superfluous,  considering  the  interpretation  put  upon  the 
continuation.  (7  b)  '  There  lodgeth  not  in  the  house  of  the 
righteous  sin  upon  sin.  (8)  The  righteous  continually 
searcheth  his  house,  to  remove  utterly  (all)  iniquity  (done) 
by  him  in  error.  (9)  He  maketh  atonement  for  (sins  of) 
ignorance  by  fasting  and  afflicting  his  soul,  (10)  and  the 
Lord  counteth  guiltless  every  pious  man  and  his  house.' 
Having  recognized  that  suffering  comes  from  God,  and  that 
He  metes  it  out  in  justice,  the  righteous  man  tells  himself 
that  it  is  a  just  punishment  for  sins  committed.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  is  conscious  of  no  deliberate  sin,  as  he  has 
ever  been  on  his  guard  against  any  intentional  trans- 
gression ;  he  therefore  concludes  that  the  cause  of  his 
suffering  must  be  some  offence  committed  unwittingly.  So 
his  search  turns  not  only  in  distress,  but  continually  and 
without  hesitation,  to  his  house,,  to  remove  therefrom  all 
iniquity  done  in  error. 

Why  just  to  his  house  and  not  to  himself?    Ryle-James 

1  Line  7  a  does  not  belong  to  the  following  paragraph,  but  is  the  con- 
cluding part  of  the  preceding. 

2  Baraitha  Shabb.  88  b. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 39 

assert  ^  that  the  righteousness  of  the  poet  was  fulfilled 
especially  in  such  deeds  as  carried  out  the  rules,  or  avoided 
the  violation  of  the  ceremonial  law,  3.  8-10,  5.  20.  There 
is,  however,  not  only  no  express  mention  of  ceremonial 
sins,  but  not  even  the  remotest  suggestion  of  such.  The 
author  unmistakably  used  here  Job  11.  14,  If  iniquity  be 
in  thine  hand  put  it  far  away,  and  let  not  unrighteousness 
dwell  in  thy  tents.  And  just  as  this  verse  does,  he  is  refer- 
ring to  actions  clearly  defined  by  the  terms  jlN  and  n7iy,  to 
sins  against  the  fellow-man's  property,  to  the  acquisition  of 
goods  by  dishonest  means,  be  it  theft,  robbery,  deceit,  or 
the  unlawful  retention  of  a  deposit  or  a  pledge.  That  is 
why  the  house  of  the  righteous  is  twice  mentioned  in  con- 
nexion with  the  sin  in  question  :  he  searches  his  house 
carefully  and  thoroughly  for  any  goods  of  his  neighbour 
that  ma}^  not  have  come  there  legitimately.  If  he  dis- 
covers there  anything  of  such  an  origin,  he  removes  it,  that 
is,  restores  it  to  its  rightful  owner,  for  he  makes  scrupulous 
honesty  the  strict  rule  of  his  dealings.  Having  thus 
rectified  his  error  by  restitution,  he  follows  it  up  by 
genuine  repentance  for  his  mistake  and  by  self-humiliation 
expressed  by  fasting.  Such  voluntary  fasts  of  repentance 
were  known  to  Sirach,-  the  Testaments,"  and  to  the  rabbis 
of  the  first  and  second  centuries;^  it  is  not  one  of  the 
alleged  frequent  fasts  of  the   Pharisees,  but  one  of  true 

1  p.  xlix.  2  34  (^31),  25,  26.  ^  Testam.  Simeon,  8.  4. 

■*  K.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah  fasted  for  many  years,  because  he  had  in  a  hala- 
khic  discussion  made  an  offensive  remark  about  the  school  of  the  Sham- 
maites,  Baraitha  Hagig.  22  b.  His  contemporary  and  friend,  R.  Tarfon, 
fasted  to  the  end  of  his  life,  because  once,  when  the  guards  of  tlie  fields 
had  taken  him  for  a  thief  of  fruit  and  beaten  him,  he  mentioned  his 
name  to  them,  and  thereby  saved  his  life,  jer.  Shebi'ith,  IV,  35  b.  17  ff. ; 
in  the  parallel  in  Nedar.  62  a  he  merely  grieved  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
R.  Simeon  b.  Yohai  fasted  many  a  day  for  having  made  a  slighting 
remark  about  his  teacher  after  his  death,  Baraitha  Nazir,  52  b.  R.  Eleazar 
b.  'Azariah  fasted,  because  his  cow  was,  against  the  adopted  law,  driven 
out  on  the  Sabbath  with  a  leather-strap  between  her  horns,  jer.  Shabb. 
V,  7  c.  30.  R.  Eliezer  b,  Hyrkanos  said  that  Reuben  had  fasted  in  repen- 
tance for  his  sin,  Sifre  Deut.  31,  72  b  ;  Midr.  Tann.  Deut.  6.  4,  24;  Pesik. 
159  a;  Pesik.  r.  199  a  ;  Midr.  Prov.  1.  12. 


I40  SOME    TYPES    OF 

contrition.^  The  oral  tradition  of  the  Pharisees  instituted 
days  of  joy  in  commemoration  of  great  and  happy  events, 
and  included  them  in  the  Scroll  of  non-fast  days ;  but,  to 
my  knowledge,  it  decreed  no  fixed  fast  days  either  in 
Judaea  or  Galilee,  either  in  the  days  of  Jesus  or  in  the  sad 
times  of  the  Psalms  of  Solomon,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  no 
such  fast  days  are  recorded  in  rabbinic  literature.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  learn  whence,  if  not  by  hasty 
inference  from  the  New  Testament,  Ryle- James  derived 
their  remarkably  definite  information.^  Again,  by  a  change 
in  the  punctuation  and  by  the  transposition  of  a  w^ord, 
Ryle-James  found  in  kv  TrapaTrTco/iarL  avrov  a  reference 
to  an  atoning  trespass- offering  by  which,  in  accordance 
with  Lev.  5.  1  fif.,  the  transgressor  would  have  brought 
offerings  for  sins  of  which  he  had  been  guilty  through 
ignorance.  But  apart  from  their  misunderstanding  of  the 
nature  of  the  sin  involved,  the  manuscript  reads,^  rod  e^dpai 
dSiKLav  kv  TrapaTTTcofxaTL  avrov,  to  remove  utterly  (all) 
inif[uity  (done)  by  him  in  error.'*  There  is  no  trace  here 
of  an  atonement  by  the  sacrifice  prescribed  in  Lev.  5.  21-6 
in  a  case  of  misappropriation  by  the  embezzlement  of  a 
deposit,  a  pledge  or  a  thing  found,  or  by  robbery,  or  by 
deceit,  when  the  denial  is  followed  by  a  false  oath ;  and 
it  is  noteworthy  that  the  author  of  these  psalms  never 
refers  to  a  sacrifice  of  atonement  or  any  other  sacrifice. 

In  trying  to  account  for  the  destruction  of  the  sinners  in 
the  recent  catastrophe  by  their  transgressions,  the  psalmist 
says,  (1.7)  'Their  sins  were  in  secret,  and  even  I  had  no 
knowledge  (of  them).  (8)  Their  transgressions  (went) 
beyond  those  of  the  heathen  before  them  ;  they  utterly 
polluted  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord '.  The  context  shows 
that  the  defilement  of  which  the  author  is  speaking,  refers 

^  F.  Perles,  Zur  ErMdrnng  der  Psalmen  Salomo's   (reprint  from    Oriental. 
Literaiurseitung,  V,  1902),  on  3.  8,  p.  21  suggests  as  the  original  Hebrew 

-  About  the  old  fast-day  of  Abh  9th,  see  'Erub.  41  a  bottom. 

^  Gebhardt.  Die  Psalmen  Salomo''s,  99,  75. 

*  TlapavTcufxa  is  used  also  in  13.  4,  9,  but  not  for  a  sacrifice. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  141 

to  actions  comparable  with  those  of  the  Canaanites,  mean- 
ing clearly  the  kind  of  immorality  described  in  8.  10-14, 
where  also  the  list  concludes,  '  They  left  no  sin  undone, 
wherein   the^^   surpassed  not  the  heathen '.      Such  defile- 
ments may  to  modern  distinctions  appear  to  be  ceremonial ; 
to  the  Jew  they  were  grave  offences  against  his  religion, 
because  they  were  sins  against  the  holiness  of  God,  against 
human  natural  feeling,  and  man's  higher  instincts.     Simi- 
lai'ly  in  (2.  -3),  '  Because  the  sons  of  Jerusalem  had  defiled 
the   holy  things  of  the   Lord,  had    profaned  with  iniqui- 
ties   the  offerings  of    God ',  the   profanation   was    caused 
by    iniquities ;  consequently,  the  parallel   defilement    was 
brought  about  in  the   same   way,  not  by  ceremonial  im- 
purity.    Ryle-James  rightly  point  to  Ezek.  5.  11,  '  Because 
thou   hast   defiled    My  sanctuary  with  all  thy  detectable 
things  and  with  all  thine  abominations ' ;  but  the  parallel 
extends  not  only  to  the  meaning  of  the  single  word  ra  ayta, 
'  sanctuary ',  but  to  the  whole  verse  which  unmistakably 
influenced  the  poet,  as  also  Ezek.  23.  38, '  They  have  defiled 
My  sanctuary  in  the  same  day  (by  adultery  and  idolatry)  '. 
Not  levitical  laws  relating  to  the  priests  are  meant,  but,  as 
in  the  prophet,  immorality.     So  our  author  says   (2.  11), 
'  For  no  man  upon  it  (the  earth)  had  done  what  they  did '. 
For  levitical  defilement  even  of  the  holy  things  such  lan- 
guage is  too  strong;  and  he  expressly  mentions  (13)  harlots 
and  the  unnatural  intercourse  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  he  again  terms  such  doings  iniquities  (14).     So 
(8.  24),  '  He  led  away  their  sons  and  daughters,  whom  they 
had    begotten    in    defilement'.      Ryle-James    remark,    kv 
l3€^7]X(o(T€L    seems    to  mean  here  'in  the  time  when  they 
disregarded  all  laws  of  ceremonial  uncleanness '.     But  the 
parallel   (2.  14)  reads,  'And  the   daughters  of   Jerusalem 
l3i(37]\oL,  were  defiled  in  accordance  with  Thy  judgement, 
(15)  because  they  had  defiled  themselves,  eixiaipov  eavras, 
with  unnatural  intercourse ';  here  certainly  not  ceremonial 
uncleanness,  but  immorality,  is  termed  defilement.     (8.  25) 
'They  did  according  to  their  uncleanness,  even  as  their 


142  SOME    TYPES    OF 

fathers  (had  done):  (26)  they  defiled  Jerusalem  and  the 
things  that  had  been  hallowed  to  the  name  of  God '.  Ryle- 
James  say,  '  Priests  who  were  neglectful  of  the  levitical 
ceremonial '.  But  how  was  Jerusalem  defiled  thereby  ?  Or 
is  this  merely  poetical  exaggeration  ?  The  land  of  Canaan 
was  defiled  by  incest,  bestiality,  and  immoral  idolatry, 
Lev.  18.  25-28,  as  bloodshed  would  defile  the  land  of  Israel, 
Num.  35. 33, 34  ;  and  as  Jer.  13.  27  said  to  Jerusalem,  '  I  have 
seen  thine  adulteries  and  thy  neighings,  the  lewdness  of 
thy  harlotry,  and  thine  abominations  on  the  hills  in  the 
field.  Woe  unto  thee,  O  Jerusalem  !  thou  wilt  not  be  made 
clean  !  When  shall  it  ever  be  ? '  Within  the  list  of  stern 
reproaches  of  heathen  immorality  the  only  ceremonial  point 
is  (8. 13),  'They  trode  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  (coming  straight) 
from  all  manner  of  uncleanness ;  and  with  menstrual  blood 
they  defiled  the  sacrifices,  as  (though  these  were)  common 
flesh.  (14)  They  left  no  sin  undone,  wherein  they  surpassed 
not  the  heathen '.  According  to  the  context  those  priests 
plundered  the  property  of  the  Temple  for  their  adultery 
a-nd  their  unnatural  mingling,  and  coming  from  such  moral 
uncleanness  they  ascended  the  altar  of  God  and  officiated. 
And  when  eating  at  home  of  the  sacrifices  which  they 
received  as  their  dues,  with  their  wives  and  children,  they 
treated  the  sacred  portions  with  indifference,  as  though 
they  were  common  fiesh.^  Perhaps  a  parallel  in  Testament 
Levi  14.  5  will  make  this  interpretation  more  certain  :  '  The 
offerings  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  rob,  and  from  His  portion 
shall  ye  steal  choice  portions,  eating  (them)  contemptuously 
with  harlots.  (6)  And  out  of  covetousness  ye  shall  teach  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  wedded  women  shall  ye  pollute, 
and  the  virgins  of  Jerusalem  shall  ye  defile ;  and  with 
harlots  and  adulteresses  shall  ye  be  joined,  &c.  (8)  For  ye 
shall  contemn  the  holy  things  with  jests  and  laughter  '.  The 
reference  to  the  menstrual  blood  in  connexion  with  the 
sacrifices  only  serves  to  illustrate  the  terrible  irreverence  of 
the  priests  toward  everything  holy.  And  even  here  the  cere- 
monial defilement  is  quoted  only  as  relating  to  the  priests, 

^  Epistle  of  Jeremy,  v.  29. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 43 

the  Temple  and  its  sacrifices ;  outside  those  it  did  not  apply- 
to  anything,  not  even  yet  to  the  priestly  heave-offering,  the 
Terumah. 

In  any  case,  there  is  no  trace  in  3.  8-10  of  any  levitical 
defilement  as  suggested,  without  the  slightest  justification, 
by  Ryle- James.     And  it  may,  at  the  same  time,  be  stated 
that  the  common  mistaken  assumption  of  modern  Christian 
historians  of  rabbinic  Judaism   that   the  contraction  of  a 
levitical   defilement   implied   a    sin,   is   totally   foreign   to 
rabbinic  law,  especially  with  reference   to  Temple   times. 
Not  even   if   the    high -priest   accidentally  contracted  the 
gravest  defilement  from  a  human  corpse,  did  he  incur  the 
slightest   sin,   unless    he,  in   his   defiled  state,  entered   the 
Temple  or  handled  holy  things.^  And  when  Ryle-James  with 
particular   insistence    point   several    times   to  the   alleged 
countless  methods  of  purification  multiplied  by  tradition ; 
and  when  they  assert,  without  adducing  any  evidence,  that 
the  Sadducees  were  on  that  point  not  as  scrupulous  as  the 
Pharisees,^  I   confess   that   any  early  information  in   the 
existing  Jewish  literature  to  support  the  statements  just 
quoted  is  not  accessible,  and  unknown  to  me.     It  is  true, 
the  righteous  in  3.  8-10  is  extremely  watchful  not  to  com- 
mit a  sin ;  but  his  anxiety  did  not  concern  levitical  purity 
or  the  ceremonial  law,  but,  as  stated  before,  a  possible  mis- 
appropriation  of   any   goods   belonging   to  a   fellow-man. 
This  is  a  principle  worthy  of  the  highest  recognition,  as, 
far  from  leading  to  a  perversion  of  the  noblest  ethics,  it 
inculcated  the  duty  of  extreme  honesty  in  business  dealings. 
In  the  absence  of  an  earlier  instance,  an  incident  may  be 
mentioned  that   occurred  in  Jerusalem  in   the    last  years 
of  the  Temple.^     R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok  and  i\.bba  Saul 

^  On  the  Day  of  Atonement,  when  the  high-priest  had  to  take  part  in 
the  sacrificial  service  and  to  enter  the  Holy  of  Holies,  an  accidental 
defilement  was  unwelcome  to  him,  as  it  prevented  him  from  officiating, 
Josephus,  AntiquiL,  XVII,  6.  4.  166  ;  Tos.  Yoma,  I,  4  ;  jer.  II,  38  d.  2  ; 
b.  12  b  about  the  self-defilement  of  Matthia  b.  Theophilos  by  pollution,  of 
Simeon  b-  Kamhith  by  spittle  in  Tos.  Yoma,  IV,  20  ;  jer.  I,  38  d.  8 ;  b.  47  a  ; 
cf.  also  Tos.  Nid.  V,  3  ;  b.  33  b.  2  p.  ^Iv,  xlvii. 

3  .Ter.  Besah,  III,  62  b.  13  ;  b.  29  a  bottom  ;  Tos.  Ill,  8  ;  Mishnah,  III,  8. 


144  SOME    TYPES    OF 

b.  Batnith  who  were  grocers  in  Jerusalem,  filled  their 
measures  on  the  day  before  the  festival,  and  gave  them 
to  their  customers  on  the  festival ;  accordino*  to  R.  Haninah 
b.  'Akabyah  they  did  the  same  also  on  the  intermediary 
days  of  the  festival  for  the  sake  of  exact  measuring.  From 
the  drops  which  remained  in  the  measures,  one  of  them 
collected  three  hundred  casks  of  oil,  and  his  companion 
three  hundred  casks  of  wine.  These  the^^  brought  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  Temple  who,  however,  informed  them 
that  it  was  not  their  duty  to  hand  over  the  oil  and  the 
wine  to  the  Temple.  But  when  they  still  refused  to  keep 
the  liquids  as  not  belonging  to  them,  the  treasurer  of  the 
Temple  said,  As  you  impose  upon  yourselves  such  strictness, 
let  the  equivalent  of  the  oil  and  the  wine  be  used  for  public 
purposes.  When  Abba  Saul  fell  ill  and  the  teachers  visited 
him,  he  said  to  them.  Look  at  this  my  right  hand  that 
measured  honestly  !  As  one  of  the  two  scrupulous  men, 
R.  Eleazar  b.  R.  Sadok,  was,  as  his  title  shows,  a  scholar 
and  not  an  Essene,  probably  also  his  companion  who  bore 
the  title  Abba,  was  not  an  Essene,  especially  as  there  is  no 
proof  of  any  force  that  Abba  denoted  an  Essene.^  In  any 
case,  the  scholar  was  most  particular  in  his  measuring  of  oil 
to  his  customers,  and  would  not  keep  for  himself  the 
accumulated  drops  as  not  belonging  to  him ;  and  so  Abba 
Saul  on  his  death-bed  felt  reassured  that  he  had  observed 
during  his  life  at  least  this  one  duty  of  scrupulous  honesty.^ 
It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that,  like  the  author  of  the 
Psalms  of  Solomon,  Abba  Saul  b.  Batnith  denounced 
the  violence,  avarice,  injustice,  and  favouritism  of  the  high 
priestly  families  of  his  own  times.^ 

1  Kohlei-  in  J.Q.E.,  XIII,  1901,  5(i7-80,  above,  pp.  34,  108. 

2  Another  instance  of  the  most  scrupulous  honesty  was  that  of  Abba 
Hilkiah,  the  grandson  of  Honi  the  circle-drawer,  in  Ta'an.  23  a,  b. 
According  to  a  report  preserved  in  Aramaic,  he  did  not  turn  his  face  to 
the  two  teachers  sent  to  him  by  the  authorities  to  ask  him  to  pray  for 
rain,  because  he  was  working  as  a  hired  labourer  in  the  field,  and  would 
not  waste  time  by  returning  their  greeting,  see  R.  E.  J.,  48,  1904,  275. 

^  Tos.  Menah.  13.  21  ;  b.  Pesah.  57  a,  Baraitha. 


t 

\ 

JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 45 

4.  The  righteous  man  who  in  a  similar  way  removed 
from  his  house  all  that  had  been  acquired  in  error  and 
was  not  his  property,  atoned  for  his  sin  of  ignorance  by 
humbling  himself  and  by  fasting,  and  prayed  for  for- 
giveness. (3.  9)  '  And  the  Lord  counteth  guiltless  every 
pious  man  and  his  house.'  His  sin  still  exists,  even  after 
such  atonement  on  his  part,  until  God  purifies  him  of  his 
guilt.  This  grace  of  His  forgiveness  is  expressed  in 
Lev.  4.  20-5.  .26  by  )b  rho:) ,  here  by  KaOapi^co,  probably  cor- 
responding with  "ino  or  nii)3.  So  also  in  9. 12, '  He  cleanseth 
from  sins  a  soul  when  it  maketh  confession,  when  it  maketh 
acknowledgement,'  where  it  is  the  great  act  of  the 
admission  of  sin  that  obtains  for  man  God's  forgiveness. 
Also  in  10.  1,  'Happy  is  the  man  whom  the  Lord 
remembereth  wdth  reproving,  and  whom  He  restraineth 
from  the  way  of  evil  with  strokes,  that  he  may  be  cleansed 
from  sin,  that  it  may  not  be  multiplied.  (2)  He  that 
maketh  ready  his  back  for  strokes  shall  be  cleansed,  for 
the  Lord  is  good  for  them  that  endure  chastening.'  As 
above,  also  here  chastening  is  inflicted  for  sin;  it  is,  how- 
ever, not  implied  that  thereby  alone  God  cleanses  the 
guilt,  as  only  submission  to  the  chastisement  obtains  God's 
grace.  On  the  other  hand,  (13.  9)  '  the  Lord  spareth  His 
pious  ones,  and  blotteth  out  their  errors  by  His  chastening,' 
the  latter  alone  may  be  regarded  by  God  as  sufficient. 
The  great  stress  which,  for  the  removal  of  sin,  the  author  lays 
on  repentance  and  atonement  appears  again.  (9.  11)  'Unto 
whom  art  Thou  good,  O  God,  except  to  them  that  call 
upon  the  Lord?  (12)  He  cleanseth  from  sins  a  soul  when 
it  maketh  confession,  when  it  maketh  acknowledgement ; 
(13)  for  shame  is  upon  us  and  upon  our  faces  on  account 
of  all  these  things.  (14)  And  to  whom  doth  He  forgive 
sins,  except  to  them  that  have  sinned?  (15)  Thou  blessest 
the  righteous,  and  dost  not  reprove  them  for  the  sins  that 
they  have  committed ;  and  Thy  goodness  is  upon  them  that 
sin,  when  they  repent.'  First  the  admission  of  the  sin,  and 
then  repentance  are  necessary  for  obtaining  God's  forgive- 

K 


146  SOME    TYPES    OF 

ness  and  His  mercy.  The  wording  of  the  confession  giv^en 
here  and  moulded  on  biblical  patterns,  expresses  the  shame 
which  the  sinner  feels  in  having  to  admit  that  sin  is  a 
grave  oifence  against  God,  that  could  have  been  avoided  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  forgiveness  exists  only  for  the  sinner 
who,  if  repentant,  has  almost  a  claim  to  it.  Expecting  his 
repentance,  God  does  not  really  punish  the  pious  for  his  sin 
of  ignorance,  and  even  rewards  him  for  his  contrition.  The 
author  means  by  this  real  and  not  outward  piety  of  which 
there  is  no  trace  in  the  whole  book,  nor  of  the  exhibition  of 
the  religious  attitude  which  some  theologians  call  Jewish- 
legalistic.  It  is  true,  Ryle-James  have  detected  in  7.  8  a 
reference  to  the  yoke  alleged  to  have  been  laid  by  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  upon  the  Jewish  people.  There  the 
poet  prays  to  God  that,  if  the  well-deserved  punishment 
must  be  inflicted.  He  should  rather  send  it  in  the  form  of 
a  pestilence  than  in  that  of  a  foreign  nation ;  for  God  is 
merciful,  whereas  the  nations  would  consume  Israel.  (7,  5) 
'  While  Thy  name  dwelleth  in  our  midst,  we  shall  find 
mercy ;  (6)  and  the  nations  shall  not  prevail  against  us. 
For  Thou  art  our  shield,  (7)  and  when  we  call  upon  Thee, 
Thou  hearkeneth  to  us  ;  (8)  for  Thou  wilt  pity  the  seed  of 
Israel  for  ever  and  Thou  wilt  not  reject  (them):  but  we 
(shall  be)  under  Thy  yoke  for  ever,  and  (under)  the  rod  of 
Thy  chastening.  (9)  Thou  wilt  establish  us  in  the  time 
that  Thou  helpest  us,  showing  mercy  to  the  house  of  Jacob 
on  the  day  wherein  Thou  didst  promise  (to  help  them).' 
The  whole  chapter  deals  with  one  single  idea,  chastisement, 
and  contrasts  that  inflicted  directly  by  God  with  that 
imposed  by  the  Roman  conqueror.  As  in  2  Sam.  24.  13, 
there  is  no  escape  here  from  the  alternative,  and  9  b 
describes  the  aflliction  by  God  preferred  by  the  psalmist. 
Already  the  parallelism  in  8  b  is  sufficient  to  establish 
punishment  as  the  meaning  of  God's  yoke ;  for  the  rod  of 
chastening  is  actually  found  in  parallelism  with  yoke  in 
Isa.  9.  3  where  the  defeat  of  the  Assyrian  conqueror  and 
tyrant  is  described  thus  :  '  For  Thou  hast  broken  the  yoke 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  147 

of  his  burden  and  the  stafi'  of  his  shoulder,  the  rod  of  his 
oppressor.'  And  also  in  Tsa.  10.  24 :  '  Be  not  afraid  of 
Asshur,  though  he  smite  thee  with  the  rod,  and  lift  up  his 
staff  against  thee ',  for  which  the  parallel  in  v.  27  has  the 
burden  and  the  yoke.  In  addition,  yoke  is  actually  used  in 
Isa.  47.  6  in  connexion  with  the  harsh  treatment  of  the 
Judaeans  in  the  Babylonian  captivity,  'Thou  didst  show 
them  no  mercy ;  upon  the  aged  hast  thou  very  heavily  laid 
thy  yoke'.  As  it  expresses  there  the  heavy  and  hard 
labour  aggravated  by  the  severity  of  punishment,  so  here 
it  means :  we  prefer  to  be  under  God's  burden,  rod,  and 
yoke,  and  suffer  His  visitation  rather  than  be  under  the 
cruel  rule  of  the  Romans. 

The  object  of  the  chastisement  of  the  righteous  by  God 
is  stated  to  be,  to  cleanse  him  from  the  few  sins  which  he 
committed,  and  to  prevent  him  from  multiplying  them 
(10.  1).  He  must  at  all  times  expect  suffering,  and  be  ever 
ready  to  receive  more,  and  endure  chastening  without 
murmuring.  (3)  '  For  He  maketh  straight  the  ways  of  the 
righteous,  and  doth  not  pervert  (them)  by  His  chastening. 
(4)  And  the  merc}^  of  the  Lord  (is)  upon  them  that  love 
Him  in  truth,  and  the  Lord  remembereth  His  servants  in 
mercy  ...  (6)  Just  and  kind  is  our  Lord  in  His  judgements 
for  ever,  and  Israel  shall  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord  in 
gladness.  (7)  And  the  pious  shall  give  thanks  in  the 
assembly  of  the  people,  and  on  the  poor  shall  God  have 
mercy  in  the  gladness  (?)  of  Israel ;  (8)  for  good  and  merci- 
ful is  God  for  ever,  and  the  assemblies  of  Israel  shall 
glorify  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  The  righteous  who  not 
only  submit  without  complaint  to  the  affliction  sent  by  God, 
but  are  ready  for  more  to  come,  are  described  as  those  who 
love  God  in  truth,  as  His  servants,  the  pious  and  the  poor, 
clearly  defining  the  character  of  those  who  in  the  terrible 
calamity  of  their  time  proved  their  love  of  God  by  their 
stoic  attitude  to  suffering.  But  the  central  idea  of  the 
author  is  more  fully  elaborated  in  the  short  psalm,  and  the 
various   effects   of    affliction   upon   the   religious   mind  of 

K  2 


148  SOME    TYPES    OF 

the  pious  are  considered  from  several  points  of  view. 
God's  mercy  and  goodness,  and  His  kindness  in  executing 
strict  justice  are  repeatedly  emphasized;  when  He  punishes 
the  righteous,  He  does  not  pervert  the  ways  of  his  life  by  too 
heavy  chastening,  nor  make  it  so  miserable  as  to  lead  him, 
as  in  the  case  of  Job,  to  sin.  While  suffering  or  after  pass- 
ing through  affliction,  the  pious  give  thanks  ^  to  God  in  the 
assembly  of  the  people,  and  the  assemblies  of  Israel  glorify 
Him.  The  people  are  those  who  shared  the  religious  views 
of  the  pious,  and  assembled  either  on  the  Temple  Mount  or 
in  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city  to  hear,  as  in  Ps.  107.  32,  the 
public  recognition  of  God's  help  afforded  to  the  pious  men. 
The  assemblies  of  Israel  may  have  been  private  meetings  of 
their  adherents  to  whom  they  explained  the  ways  of  God 
as  revealed  in  the  experiences  of  the  hard  tried  righteous, 
and  whom  they  confirmed  in  their  faith  and  their  hopes 
and  convictions  as  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  their  cause. 
They  derived  their  expectations  from  the  repeated  assur- 
ances given  by  God  to  the  obedient  in  the  Torah,  and  from 
the  way  in  which  God  visits  the  pious  for  their  sins  of  error. 
This  idea  is  the  subject  also  of  13.  1  fF.  where  the 
poet  states  how  God  saved  him  and  his  fellows  from  the 
sword  that  passed  through  the  land,  and  from  famine,  and 
from  the  death  of  sinners.  (4)  '  The  righteous  was  troubled 
on  account  of  his  errors,  lest  he  should  be  taken  away  along 
with  the  sinners ;  (5)  for  terrible  is  the  overthrow  of  the 
sinner ;  but  not  one  of  all  those  things  touched  the 
righteous.  (6)  For  not  alike  are  the  chastening  of  the  right- 
eous (for  sins  done)  in  ignorance,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
sinners.  (7)  Secretly  (?)  is  the  righteous  chastened,  lest 
the  sinner  rejoice  over  the  righteous.  (8)  For  He  correcteth 
the  righteous  as  a  beloved  son,  and  his  chastisement  is  that 
of  a  first-born.  (9)  For  the  Lord  spareth  His  pious  ones, 
and  blotteth  out  their  errors  by  His  chastening '.  After 
a  long  siege  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  blood-thirsty  army 
of  Pompey;  while  thousands  of  Jews  were  cut  down  by 

1  If  the  original  was  Hebrew,  nV  meant  declare  and  acknowledge. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 49 

the  Romans,  the  righteous  did  not,  as  some  Christian 
theologians  and  historians  would  make  us  believe  of  the 
Pharisees,  rely  on  his  righteousness,  nor  expect  in  return 
for  his  numerous  deeds  an  equivalent  amount  of  protection. 
Just  the  reverse  is  stated  here :  he  trembles  lest  he  be 
carried  off  with  the  sinners  on  account  of  his  lesser  sins  of 
error ;  though  he  is  not  actually  conscious  of  any,  and  they 
were  of  a  minor  character,  in  judging  them  and  himself 
most  strictly  he  considers  them  as  sufficiently  weighty  and 
certain  to  cause  his  death.  When  he  suffered  along  with 
sinners,  he  did  not  for  a  single  moment  protest  his  inno- 
cence to  God,  as  Job  had  done,  and  therefore  think  himself 
as  suffering  undeserved  affliction ;  but  on  the  contrary,  he 
expressed  gratitude  to  Him  for  his  special  protection  in 
saving  him  from  utter  destruction.  His  suffering  differed 
only  in  degree  and  by  its  privacy  from  that  of  the  sinners. 
Thus  his  justification  of  his  sore  trials  by  his  sins,  and  his 
whole  religious  attitude  to  his  suffering,  mark  a  consider- 
able advance  beyond  Job.  This  difference  finds  fitting- 
expression  more  than  a  century  later  in  the  statement  of 
R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  that  Job  had  served  God  only  from 
fear,  while  the  true  service  of  Him  should  be  from  love.^  In 
our  psalm  it  is  expressly  stated  that  in  his  true  love  of  God 
the  pious  patiently  submitted  to  all  the  trials  to  which  He 
subjected  him,  and  even  justified  Him  and  His  justice  by 
his  errors  unknown  to  himself.  As  to  the  reward  of  the 
righteous  the  author  says,  (9  b)  '  For  the  life  of  the  right- 
eous shall  be  for  ever ;  (10)  but  sinners  shall  be  taken  away 
into  destruction,  and  their  memorial  shall  be  found  no 
more.  (11)  But  upon  the  pious  is  the  mercy  of  the  Lord, 
and  upon  them  that  fear  Him  His  mercy'.  The  words 
'for  ever'  in  v.  9  sound  at  first  sight  strange,  and  were 
by  Ryle-James  referred  to  the  life  after  death.  But  the 
contrast  between  the  visitation  of  the  sinner  and  that  of 
the  righteous  merely  suggests  that  the  pious  is  not  carried 
away  into  destruction,  as  in  vv.  3b-5,  and  is  not  forgotten 

1  Sotah,  V,  5. 


150  SOME    TYPES    OF 

by  the  next  generation ;  so  that  '  for  ever '  seems  only  to 
mean :  prolonged  life  and  continued  protection  to  the  end 
of  his  life.^  And  even  the  more  definite  terms  in  the 
parallel  (9.  9)  appear  to  signify  the  same :  '  He  that  doeth 
righteousness  layeth  up  life  for  himself  with  the  Lord ;  and 
he  that  doeth  wrongl}"  forfeits  his  life  to  destruction ; 
(10)  for  the  judgements  of  the  Lord  are  (given)  in  right- 
eousness to  (every)  man  and  (his)  house '.  Here  the  just 
judgment  of  God,  as  also  the  whole  context  shows,  clearly 
refers  to  the  Roman  slaughter  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  de- 
struction, as  elsewhere  in  numerous  passages  of  these 
psalms,  is  that  of  the  sinners  by  Pompey  ;  and  the  contrast 
meant  for  the  pious  their  escape  from  the  terrible  slaua^hter 
and  their  survival  for  several  years  after  the  catastrophe. 
Consequently,  there  is  no  reference  here  to  life  after  death 
as  the  reward  of  the  righteous. 

5.  A  pious  man,  whether  the  same  person  as  in  the 
psalms  considered  so  far  or  another,  reviewed  in  chapter  16 
a  recent  phase  of  his  life,  when  on  account  of  his  associa- 
tion with  sinners  he  nearly  forgot  God  and  was,  within 
a  little,  carried  off  in  their  destruction.  Again  the  sins  of 
the  pious,  the  merciful  reminder  by  God,  the  tlianks  and 
the  prayer  of  the  righteous  reveal  some  characteristic 
features  of  their  piety  and  some  of  their  ideals.  (16. 1)' When 
my  soul  slumbered  (being  afar)  from  the  Lord,  I  had  all 
but  slipped  down  to  the  pit,  when  (I  was)  far  from  God, 
(2)  my  soul  had  been  wellnigh  poured  out  unto  death, 
.nigh  unto  the  gates  of  Sheol  with  the  sinner,  (3)  when  my 
soul  departed  from  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, — had  not  the 
Lord  helped  me  with  His  everlasting  mercy.  (4)  He 
pricked  me,  as  a  horse  is  pricked,  that  I  might  serve  Him, 
my  saviour  and  helper  at  all  times  saved  me.  (5)  I  will 
give  thanks  unto  Thee,  O  God,  for  Thou  hast  helped  me 
to  (my)  salvation ;  and  hast  not  counted  me  with  sinners 
to  (my)  destruction.'  He  was  in  the  compan}-  of  sinners, 
and  through  that,  so  he  feels,  he  temporarily  turned  away 

1  Cf.  Hebr.  Psalm  37.  9,  10. 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAX    PIETV  151 

his  thoughts  from  God;  but  He,  ^v\n\e  destroying  his 
companions,  merely  grazed  him  with  the  grave  danger,  and 
not  merely  saved  his  physical  life,  but  restored  his  soul  to 
salvation.!  (6)  '  Remove  not  Th}-  mercy  from  me,  O  God, 
nor  Thy  memorial  from  my  heart  until  I  die.  (7)  Rule  me, 
0  God,  (keeping  me  back)  from  wicked  sin,  and  from  every 
wicked  woman  that  causeth  the  simple  to  stumble.  (8)  And 
let  not  the  beauty  of  a  lawless  woman  beguile  me,  nor' 
any  one  that  is  subject  to  (i)  unprofitable  sin.'  Here  his 
sin  is  fairly  clearly  stated  :  the  sinners  with  whom  he 
associated  brought  him  into  the  company  of  women, 
perhaps  of  their  families,  to  induce  him  to  marr}"  one  of 
them.  From  the  injurious  influence  that  seemed  to  con- 
tinue even  after  his  separation  from  the  sinners,  it  appears 
that  he  was  attached  to  one  of  those  women  ;  so  that  he  can 
be  saved  onl}'  if  God  helps  him  to  keep  the  thought  of 
Him  in  his  heart.  (9)  '  Establish  the  works  of  my  hands 
before  Thee,  and  preserve  my  goings  in  the  remembrance 
of  Thee.  (10)  Protect  my  tongue  and  my  lips  with  words 
of  truth  ;  anger  and  unreasoning  wrath  put  far  from  me. 
(11)  Murmuring,  and  impatience  in  affliction,  remove  far 
from  me,  wdien,  if  I  sin.  Thou  chasteneth  me  that  I  may 
return  (unto  Thee).  (12)  But  with  goodwill  and  cheerful- 
ness support  my  soul ;  when  Thou  strengthenest  my  soul, 
what  is  given  (to  me)  will  be  sufficient  for  me.  (13)  For  if 
Thou  o-ivest  not  streno-th.  who  can  endure  chastisement 
with  poverty  ?  ( 14)  When  a  man  is  rebuked  by  means  of 
his  corruption,  Th}'  testing  (of  him)  is  in  his  flesh  and  in 
the  affliction  of  poverty.  (15)  If  the  righteous  endureth 
in  all  these  (trials),  he  shall  receive  mercy  from  the  Lord.' 
When  God  chastizes  the  pious  for  his  sin,  or  in  order  to 
pull  him  back  from  sin,  he  does  not  pray  for  the  removal 
of  his  suflfering  by  God  ;  but  whereas  the  rigjiteous  of  other 
psalms  bore  the  trials  patiently  and  in  his  love  of  God  sub- 
mitted to  them,  and  felt  reassured  that  his  firm  endurance 

^  Israel,  as  Ryle-Janif s  note,  means  not  the  whole  people,  but  only  its 
pious  section. 


152  SOME    TYPES    OF 

would  obtain  for  him  God's  mercy,  in  this  psalm  he  bears 
his  affliction  impatiently  and  murmurs.  Like  Job,  he  is 
full  of  anger,  and  words  of  wrath,  unworthy  of  the 
righteous,  escaped  from  his  lips.  His  soul  is  deficient  in 
moral  strength,  and  his  prayer  for  patience  and  cheerfulness 
betrays  the  unsatisfactory  state  of  his  mind.  His  doings 
and  his  life  are  endangered  by  his  conduct,  because  in  his 
sufferings  of  poverty  and  physical  pain  he  did  not  remember 
God.  He  could  bear  poverty  calmly,  if  only  God  granted 
him  the  strength  to  stand  illness.  His  prayer  reflects  not 
only  the  frank  admission  of  his  sin  and  of  his  relative  moral 
weakness,  but  also  the  ideals  of  the  pious  which  we  found 
similarly  stated  in  other  psalms. 

The  religious  and  moral  character  of  the  righteous  is 
again  reflected  in  14.  1,  '  Faithful  is  the  Lord  to  them  that 
love  Him  in  truth,  to  them  that  endure  His  chastening, 
to  them  til  at  walk  in  the  righteousness  of  His  command- 
ments,^ in  the  law  which  He  commanded  us  that  we  might 
live.  (2)  The  pious  of  the  Lord  shall  live  by  it  for  ever ; 
the  Paradise  of  the  Lord,  the  trees  of  life,  are  his  pious 
ones.  (3)  Their  planting  is  rooted  for  ever ;  they  shall  not 
be  plucked  up  all  the  days  of  heaven :  for  the  portion  and 
the  inheritance  of  God  is  Israel.  (4)  But  not  so  are  the 
sinners  and  transgressors.  .  .  (6)  but  the  pious  of  the 
Lord  shall  inherit  life  in  gladness.'  The  description  of  the 
pious  as  those  that  love  God  in  truth  and  bear  His  trials 
patiently  was  analysed  before.  New  is  here  the  statement 
that  they  walk  in  the  righteousness  of  His  commandments 
by  which  life  is  obtained.  Of  course,  nobody  had  the 
slightest  doubt  that  the  pious  observed  the  enactments  of 
the  Torah ;   and  as  that  was  understood,  no  special   and 

'  The  meaning  of  the  phrase  is  not  clear,  but  it  is  certainly  not  the 
righteousness  consisting  in  the  observance  of  the  enactments  of  the  law. 
As  it  is  intended  as  a  praise  of  the  Torah,  as  in  Hebr.  Psalm  19.10,  'The 
ordinances  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether',  and  119.  144, 
*The  righteousness  of  Thy  testimonies  is  everlasting',  it  means  the  per- 
fectness  of  the  laws.  To  obey  them  is  one  of  the  ways  of  loving  God, 
Deut.  10.  12,  13. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  I53 

emphatic  reference  to  it  by  the  poet  was  necessary,  nor 
expected.  Did  he  mention  it  only  to  contrast  with  it 
the  disobedience  of  the  sinners  1  The  meanino-  of  his 
words  is  clear :  God  gave  Israel  the  Torah  to  show  them 
the  way  to  life,  to  the  prolongation  of  life.  The  pious 
man  acts  in  accordance  with  its  commandments,  and  there- 
by will  live  long,  while  the  sinners  are  carried  off  before 
their  time.  Ryle-James  see  also  here  eternal  life,  as  it  is 
referred  to  in  the  question  of  the  young  Pharisee  in 
Mark  10.  17,  '  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ? '  and 
in  'the  day  of  mercy'  they  see  the  resurrection  in  the 
messianic  kingdom.  For  this  interpretation  they  find 
a  support  in  3.  13,  '  The  destruction  of  the  sinner  is  for 
ever,  (14)  and  he  shall  not  be  remembered,  when  the 
righteous  is  visited.  (15)  This  is  the  portion  of  sinners 
for  ever.  (16)  But  they  that  fear  the  Lord  shall  rise  to 
life  eternal,  and  their  life  (shall  be)  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord,  and  shall  come  to  an  end  no  more.'  But  let  us 
clearly  realize  the  situation  from  which  these  sentences 
arose.  God's  chastening  had  fallen  upon  both,  the  sinners 
and  the  righteous,  but,  as  several  passages  state,  with  this 
difference :  the  sinner  was  completely  crushed,  and  dis- 
appeared for  ever,  while  the  pious  was  sparingly  hit,  and, 
as  he  hoped,  only  temporarily.  (15.  13)  'And  sinners  shall 
perish  for  ever  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  judgement,  (14)  when 
God  visiteth  the  earth  with  His  judgement.  (15)  But  they 
that  fear  the  Lord  shall  find  mercy  therein,  and  shall  live 
by  the  compassion  of  their  God ;  but  sinners  shall  perish 
for  ever.'  God  will  not  allow  hira  to  suffer  long,  but  visit, 
remember  him  again,  while  the  sinner  is  destroyed  for  ever, 
and  is  never  again  remembered  by  God.  '  When  the 
righteous  is  visited '  would  be  a  strange  expression  for  the 
resurrection,  or  for  the  bliss  of  the  soul  in  the  presence  of 
God.  Not  one  single  word  in  the  poem  suggests  that  the 
pious  died,  and  that  the  change  promised  would  only  come 
after  his  death.  (3.  13) '  But  the  sinner  falleth  .  . .  and  riseth 
no  more.     (16)  But  they  that  fear  the   Lord  rise  to  life 


154  SOME    TYPES    OF 

eternal,  and  .  . .  shall  come  to  an  end  no  more.'  ^  God  visits 
in  either  of  two  ways,  either  by  judgment,  that  is  punish- 
ment, or  with  His  mercy,  to  help  those  who,  by  His  decree, 
temporarily  suffer  for  their  sins  of  ignorance,  and  will  be 
lifted  out  of  their  affliction  by  Him.  The  righteous  con- 
tinues to  live  in  happiness  in  the  presence  of  God  in 
Jerusalem  for  many  years  after  the  sudden  end  of  the 
sinner.^  This  does  not  mean  to  say  that  the  pious  men 
of  Jerusalem  in  the  year  63  b.c.e.  did  not  believe  in 
a  life  after  death  or  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
Daniel  12.  2,  3  is  sufficient  evidence  for  it.  But  the 
strikingly  different  fate  of  the  sinners  and  of  the  righteous 
in  the  catastrophe  under  Pompey  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  poet  to  the  complete  destruction  of  the  lawless  men 
and  to  the  miraculous  survival  of  the  pious,  and  to  his  hope 
for  a  speedy  recovery  from  the  sudden,  but  still  sufficiently 
heavy  punishment.  And,  as  he  was  thus  absorbed  by  the 
recognition  of  God's  punishing  justice,  in  confession  of  sin, 
in  thanks  for  his  rescue,  and  in  prayer  for  help,  he  had  no 


'  Cf.  Hebr.  Psalm  37.  27  :  '  Depart  from  evil,  and  do  good  ;  and  dwell  for 
evermore.  (28)  For  the  Lord  loveth  justice,  and  forsaketh  not  His  saints  ; 
they  are  preserved /or  eier ;  but  the  seed  of  the  wicked  shall  be  cut  off. 
(29)  The  righteous  shall  inherit  the  land,  and  dwell  therein  for  ever. 
Deut.  15.  17  :  And  he  shall  be  thy  bondman /or  ever.' 

2  This  Pharisee,  unlike  that  drawn  from  imagination  and  prejudice  by 
Wellhausen,  Schiirer,  Bousset,  and  other  theological  historians  of  Judaism, 
did  not  work  for  reward,  as  no  such  idea  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
book,  nor  did  that  thought  obsess  his  religious  mind.  Wlien  Wellhausen, 
Pharisder,  119,  says  that  the  poet  did  not  refer  to  a  mathematical 
compensation  for  his  deeds,  because  lie  was  dealing  not  with  an 
individual,  but  with  the  whole  community,  he  did  iiot  prove  his  case  as 
to  the  reward  of  the  individual.  In  Chapter  1  the  poet  introduces  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  or  the  nation  speaking  as  a  person  of  its  own  perfect 
righteousness  as  proved  by  its  wealth  and  the  multitude  of  its  children. 
As  the  writer  does  not  combat  the  force  of  the  proof,  it  would  seem  that 
he  agreed  with  it.  But  as  he  was  poor,  we  should  have  expected  him 
either  to  pray  for  wealth  to  prove  him  righteous,  or  to  show  that  worldly 
possessions  were  no  proof  of  a  man's  righteousness.  As  he  never  refers  to 
wealth  except  in  Chapter  1,  where  he  in  fact  shows  that  the  wealthy 
Sadducees  were  sinners,  it  is  clear  that  property  and  treasures  were  no 
evidence  of  a  man's  piety  to  him. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  155 

thought  left  for  the  reward  of  the  righteous  in  the  distant 
future,  in  heaven. 

6.  Righteousness  is  referred  to  in  9.  5  in  a  very  instruc- 
tive way :  '  For  from  Thy  knowledge  none  that  doeth 
unjustly  is  hidden,  (6)  and  the  righteous  deeds  of  the  pious 
ones  (are)  before  Thee,  O  Lord;  (7)  our  works  are  subject 
to  our  own  choice  and  power  to  do  right  or  wrong  in  the 
works  of  our  hands  ;  ...  (9)  He  that  doeth  righteousness 
la^^eth  up  life  for  himself  with  the  Lord  ;  and  he  that 
doeth  wrongly  forfeits  his  life  to  destruction.'  The  author 
is  speaking  of  actions  which  are  either  good  or  bad  ;  as  the 
latter,  like  stealing,  robbery,  cheating,  Ijang,  are  trans- 
gressions of  bil  »lical  prohibitions,  good  deeds  carry  out  one 
or  several  of  the  numerous  positive  commandments  of  the 
Torah.  And  the  only  pertinent  question  is,  whether  Ijy 
the  righteous  deeds  the  writer  referred  indiscriminately 
to  all  of  those  positive  duties,  or  had  a  special  class  of 
good  actions  in  mind.  The  comment  of  Ryle-James  on 
this  is :  'To  the  Jewish  mind  the  acts  included  would  be 
of  two  kinds  principall}'  :  (a)  ceremonial  observances, 
(b)  works  of  mercy.  .  .  .  The  general  conclusion  of  the  fore- 
going is  that  we  seem  to  be  justified  in  attaching  the  special 
meaning  of  works  of  mere}'  to  SiKaLocrvvaL  in  this  passage.' 
For  one  not  trained  in  that  peculiar  method  of  interpretation 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  righteous  deeds  of  the 
pious  which  are  set  over  against  the  dSiKa  of  the  sinners 
could  have  a  meaning  so  different  in  idea  and  compass  from 
ddLKa.  One  would  think  that  as  these  denoted  every  kind 
of  wrong,  so  at  diKatocrvi^aL  meant  every  kind  of  proper 
actions.  LXX  renders  Gen.  15.  6,  '  And  he  beheved  in  the 
Lord ;  and  He  counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness ',  by 
Kal  iXoyLo-Orj  avTcp  e/y  SLKaLoavvrjv,  and  undouVjtedly  the 
translators  thouo-ht  neither  of  a  ceremonial  observance  nor 
of  an  act  of  charity.  In  the  similar  application  of  the 
Hebrew  7\\n'^  and  of  the  Greek  translation  of  Psalm  106.  30, 
'  Then  stood  up  Phinehas  and  wrought  judgement,..  .(31)  and 
that  was  counted  unto  him  for  righteousness  unto  all  genera- 


156  SOME    TYPES    OF 

tions  for  ever',  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  its  meaning. 
Nor  were  in  Deut.  6.  25,  '  And  it  shall  be  righteousness 
unto  us,  if  we  observe  to  do  all  this  commandment ',  where 
LXX  has  eXeij/jLocrvurj,  as  has  been  observed  by  scholars, 
charity  or  ceremonial  acts  intended  by  that  strange  Greek 
word.  The  nine  cases  in  which  LXX  has  the  plural  form 
of  the  word  SiKaLocrvvr],  are  in  no  way  more  instructive  for 
the  present  purpose  than  the  Hebrew  mplV  which,  when 
referring  to  God's  righteous  deeds,  can  undoubtedly  include 
neither  ceremonial  nor  charitable  works.  And  when  Psalm 
11.  7  says,  '  For  the  Lord  is  righteous,  He  loveth  righteous- 
ness', the  juxtaposition  of  the  adjective  and  the  noun, 
formed  from  the  same  root  and  describing  God's  character 
and  man's  deeds,  makes  the  meaning  of  mplVand  SiKaLocrvvaL 
clear,  at  least  to  this  extent  that  it  cannot  refer  even  in 
the  case  of  man  to  ceremonial  works  and  to  charity.  The 
same  applies  to  Ezek.  18.  24;  33.  13  where  the  tradition 
hesitates  between  the  plural  and  the  singular  form,  but 
where  the  prophet  must  have  used  '  righteous  deeds '  in 
the  same  sense  as  repeatedly  in  the  rest  of  the  chapter, 
and  that  was,  as  will  be  shown  presently,  neither  charity 
nor  ceremonial  observances. 

As  that  chapter  in  Ezekiel  is  frequently  referred  to  as 
the  earliest  legalistic  and  Pharisean  exposition  of  righteous- 
ness, a  few  words  on  its  spirit  will  not  be  superfluous.  In 
four  paragraphs  Ezek.  18.  5-21  deals  with  the  right  acts  of 
the  good  man  and  the  sins  of  the  sinner.  The  shortest  is 
VV.21,  22:  ^nipn  ^"2  nx  "i?:*j'i  ntry  l^^?  rnxDn  Sjdd  2W^  o  ^'^^'\r\^ 
T\uv  "iti'N*  vvlTD  b  (22)  .nic^  ^b  n^n^  n-'n  npnvi  D2C>d  nt^^yi 
.nm^  nc'y  T.^^x  inpnv3  'h  '\'^2V  vh  The  repentance  of  the 
sinner  is  expressed  by  his  observance  of  God's  statutes 
and  by  his  practice  of  equity  and  justice,  and  both  are 
summed  up  in  rwv  itJ'N*  inpivn.  The  only  doubt  that  could 
arise  is,  whether  npnvi  dsd*^  nc^'yi  is  an  explanation  of 
Tilpn  i?D  nx  "IDC'I  or  not.  But  v.  19  says  of  the  righteous 
son  of  the  sinner:  "iDC^  ^nipn  b^  ns  n*j»j;  r]\>^'i'\  D2C^d  pm 
Dms  nc^v^i,  and   not  only  the  inversion  of  the  parts,  but 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  157 

also  the  two  verbs  Dms*  nL'Tl  l^C'  referring  to  Tilpn  are  in 
favour  of  distinguishing  between  the  statutes  and  the  rules 
of  equity.  And  with  reference  to  the  same  righteous  son 
of  the  sinner,  v.  17  says:  l^n  ^mpna  n:^v  ^t^sc'?^  where  ^DSC'Q 
stands  for  npnvi  na'i^^n,  and  ^nipnn  is,  by  having  its  own  verb, 
clearly  separated  from  it.  The  three  or  two  nouns  with 
their  respective  verbs  sum  up  verj-  briefl}^  the  abstention 
from  the  sins,  and  the  practising  of  the  right  actions, 
enumerated  in  vv.  15-17:  'That  hath  not  eaten  upon  the 
mountains,  neither  hath  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  the  idols  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  hath  not  defiled  his  neighbour's  wife, 
(16)  neither  hath  wronged  any,  hath  not  taken  aught  to 
pledge,  neither  hath  taken  by  robbery,  but  hath  given 
his  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  hath  covered  the  naked  with 
a  garment,  (17)  that  hath  withdrawn  his  hand  from  the 
poor,  that  hath  not  received  interest  nor  increase,  hath 
executed  Mine  ordinances,  hath  walked  in  My  statutes.' 
The  parallel  left  in  vv.  5-9  is  even  more  explicit.  '  But  if 
a  man  be  just,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right, 
(6)  and  hath  not  eaten  upon  the  mountains,  neither  hath 
lifted  up  his  eyes  to  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel,  neither 
hath  defiled  his  neighbour's  w4fe,  neither  hath  come  near 
to  a  woman  in  her  impurity ;  (7)  and  hath  not  w^ronged 
any,  but  hath  restored  his  pledge  for  a  debt,  hath 
taken  nought  by  robbery,  hath  given  his  bread  to  the 
hungry,  and  hath  covered  the  naked  with  a  garment ; 
(8)  he  that  hath  not  given  forth  upon  interest,  neither 
hath  taken  any  increase,  that  hath  withdrawn  his  hand 
from  iniquity,  hath  executed  true  justice  between  man  and 
man,  (9)  hath  walked  in  My  statutes,  and  hath  kept  Mine 
ordinances,  to  deal  truly ;  he  is  just.'  Apart  from  the 
introductory  line,  every  group  contains  the  same  division 
of  the  duties  enumerated  into  ^nipn  and  npi)i)  ddc^d;  and 
it  seems  that  the  obligations  termed  mpn  are  of  a  nature 
different  from  that  of  those  contained  in  npi)i)  u^'C*^.^    Now 

1  Cf.  Lev.  25.  18  ;  18.  4,  26  ;  Exod.  1.5.  26,    and  especially  Lev.  18.  80: 

nni  i«DDn  Ni?i  D2':^b  )^v^  ik^n  nnyinn  mpnro  nicy  ^nbnS  about 

peculiar  forms  of  idolatrous  worship  and  of  immorality. 


158  SOME    TYPES    OF 

it  is  a  striking  fact  that  in  the  list  in  vv.  6-8  the  prophet 
most  clearly  grouped  his  roll  of  duties,  in  so  far  as  v.  8 
deals  exclusively  with  the  relations  between  a  man  and 
his  fellows,  whereas  v.  7  exclusively  refers  to  so-called 
ceremonial  laws.^  Would  it  not  be  natural  that  np1)i)  t:s^D 
should  refer  to  vv.  7,  8,  and  Tiipn  to  v.  6  ?  But  pnv  and  np^)i 
are  also  used  as  tlie  comprehensive  terms  for  both  groups 
of  laws  together ;  and  there  is  no  justification  for  Smend's 
remark  -  that  the  standard  of  morality  set  by  the  moral- 
social  duties  that  are  more  numerous  than  the  rest  in 
Ezek.  18,  is  not  sufficiently  high.  All  that  one  could  safely 
say  is  that  modern  social  life  has  not  succeeded  yet  in 
realizing  the  prophet's  postulates  of  righteousness. 

Wellhausen^  says  about  the  Jewish  righteousness  of  the 
Psalms  of  Solomon :  '  As  the  New  Testament  shows  and 
Josephus  repeats  many  times,  righteousness  is  on  the 
one  hand  the  goal  of  the  whole  of  Jewry j'^  on  the  other 
hand  the  special  cue  of  the  Pharisees,  as  the  same  sources, 
especially  Matt.  5  and  Antiquit.,  XIII,  10.  5  prove.  When 
Hyrkanos  saw  that  the  Pharisees  were  in  a  good  mood,  he 
told  them  that,  as  they  knew,  he  endeavoured  to  be  right- 
eous and  to  do  everything  to  please  God  and  them;  and 
he  asked  them,  if  he  should  deviate  from  the  righteous 

^  The  first  two  prohibitions  refer  to  two  forms  of  idohitry,  the  fourth 
to  the  intercourse  with  menstruous  women,  and  the  third  to  adultery- 
expressed  in  a  peculiar  way.  The  parallels  in  vv.  11, 15  do  not  mention 
No.  4,  and  consequently  put  No.  3  next  to  the  two  forms  of  idolatry. 
Does  not  all  this  suggest  that  the  defilement  of  the  neighbour's  wife  took 
place  in  connexion  with  some  idolatrous  worship  of  Astarte,  as  also  in 
Ezek.  22.  9  :  '  And  in  thee  they  have  eaten  upon  the  mountains;  in  the 
midst  of  thee  they  have  committed  lewdness.  (10)  In  thee  have  they 
uncovered  their  father's  nakedness  ;  in  thee  have  they  humbled  her  that 
was  unclean  in  her  impurity.  (11)  And  one  hath  committed  abomination 
with  his  neighbour's  wife  ;  and  another  hath  lewdly  defiled  his  daughter- 
in-law  ;  and  another  in  thee  hath  humbled  his  sister,  his  father's 
daughter.'  Here  it  is  my  impression  that  all  the  cases  of  immorality  and 
incest  belonged  to  the  cult  of  Astarte,  as  in  the  earlier  Canaanite- 
Phoenician  service  in  Hos.  4.  13,  18  ;  Amos  2,  7,  and  later  in  the  Psalms 
of  Solomon  8.  9,  10. 

-  Commentary  on  Ezekiel,  p.  117.  ^  Pharisder,  17  ft'. 

•*  Antiquit.  XVI,  2.  4  ;  5.  4 ;  6.  8. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 59 

way,  to  bring  him  back  to  it.  Then  a  certain  Eleazar 
answered  him,  ^If  thou  really  wishest  to  be  righteous,  do 
this',  &c.  Now,  it  must  have  been  clear  to  Wellhausen 
that,  in  order  to  please  God,  even  the  ordinary  Jew  had  to 
live  according  to  His  will  and  to  observe  the  command- 
ments of  the  Torah,  as  far  as  and  when  they  applied  to 
him,  and  in  order  to  please  the  Pharisees,  he  had  to  fulfil 
the  very  same  enactments  according  to  their  interpretation. 
To  observe  one  of  those  commandments  and,  at  the  same 
time,  to  neglect  another,  could  not  obtain  God's  pleasure 
for  him ;  so  that  to  be  righteous  or  to  walk  in  the  right 
way  ^  unmistakably  comprised  not  a  selection  of  a  certain 
group  of  duties,  say  of  the  ceremonial  rules,  but  the  fulfil- 
ment of  all  the  laws  of  the  Torah  applying  to  the  indi- 
vidual concerned.  Hyrkanos  consequently  must  have 
known  about  himself  that  he  had  always  lived  and  acted  in 
accordance  with  the  law  ;  and  that  was  confirmed  by  the 
fact  that  his  opponent  had  to  single  out  the  violation  of 
a  rule  on  his  part  for  which  not  the  high-priest,  but  the 
alleged  captivity  of  his  mother  was  responsible.  That 
Hyrkanos  could  have  pleased  God  by  his  observance  of  the 
ceremonial  laws  only,  nobody  would  suggest ;  for  even  only 
as  the  ruler  of  his  people  he  had  according  to  Deut.  17.  19 
to  possess  a  copy  of  the  Torah,  and  to  read  in  it  throughout 
his  life,  '  that  he  may  learn  to  fear  the  Lord  his  God,  to 
keep  all  the  words  of  this  Torah  and  these  statutes,  to  do 
them  '.  Consequently,  '  righteous '  in  Hyrkanos'  case  de- 
scribed him  as  obeying  the  Torah,  therefore  as  religiously 
and  morally  blameless,  good,  pious.  So  when  Josephus^ 
says  of  Onias  whose  prayer  for  rain  in  the  days  of  Aris- 
tobul  II  and  H^^rkanos  11  was  accepted  by  God :  Slkulos 
dprjp  Kal  OeocpLXfj^,  a  righteous  man  and  loved  by  God,  he 
undoubtedly  wanted  to  describe  his  piety  as  great,  so  as  to 
justify  the   special   distinction  bestowed  on   him  by  God. 

1  The  translation  of  ttjs  u8ov  ttjs  SiKalas  cannot  be  :  righteous  way,  but, 
as  the  identical  rendering  in  LXX  of  l*^''  IIT,  the  right  and  proper  way. 

2  Antiqtdt.,  XIV,  2.  1.  22  ;  of.  Assumptio  Mosis,  7.  3. 


l6o  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Of  Sameas  he  says  ^ :  a  righteous  man  and  on  account  of 
that  fearless;  of  Herod's  father,  Antipater,^  that  he  was 
distinguished  by  righteousness  and  piety,  and  of  liis  own 
father  Matthias  ■'  that  he  was  not  only  distinguished  by 
noble  descent,  but  was  praised  for  his  righteousness.  In  all 
these  instances  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the 
general  piety  of  the  men  enumerated  was  meant.'*  And  of 
the  Essenes  he  reports,^ '  They  teach  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  that  the  reward  of  righteousness  is  worth  fighting 
for';  especially  worthy  of  praise  is  their  righteousness,  to 
SiKaioi/,  as  an  example  of  which  he  quotes  their  community 
of  property  and  their  organization. 

As  the  dictionaries  tell  us,  SiKaioa-vi'T]  is  the  way  in  which 
the  SiKaLos  acts,  and  this  is  a  person  who  acts  in  accordance 
with  the  established  custom,  one  who  fulfils  his  duties 
towards  God  and  men.  In  that  sense  Josephus  uses  it  ^ : 
'  Herod  wished  to  be  honoured,  but  the  Jewish  people  was 
averse  from  all  such  things  on  account  of  its  law,  Kal  o-vi^ec- 
OLarat  to  SiKaLov  olvtI  tov  npo?  86^av  rjyaTrrjKevaL,  and  was 
accustomed  to  esteem  more  highly  the  religious  (require- 
ment) than  outward  honour,  .  .  .  and  they  were  not  in  a 
position  to  flatter  the  king's  vanity  either  by  statues  or  b}^ 
temples  or  by  other  similar  things.'  Here  to  SiKaiou  is  an 
attitude  in  keeping  with  the  law  that  prohibited  the  things 
stated  later.  In  his  description  of  the  Pharisees  '  Josephus 
says  that  according  to  their  principles  to  /xer  wpaTTeLv  to, 
BiKaia  Kol  fir]  KaTcc  to  TrXeTa-Tou  enl  tol9  dv6pa)TroLS  KeTaOaL, 
to  do  or  not  to  do  the  right  things  depended  to  a  great 
extent  on  man  himself.-     In  comparing  Philo's  picture  of 

1  Aniiquit.,  XIV,  9.  4.  172.  2  i^id.,  11.  4.  283. 

3  Vita,  2.  7.  *  Of  Ezra  in  Antiquit,  XI,  5.  3.  139. 

5  Antiquit,  XVIII,  1.  5.  18,  20.  ^  Ibid.,  XVI,  5.  4.  158. 

7  Wars,  II,  8.  14.  163. 

^  Wellhausen,  Pharisder,  22  ;  Bousset,  Religion"^,  p.  435,  in  his  usual  style 
remarks  :  '  Sie  niussten  der  Uebei'zeugung  sein,  dass  der  Gerechtigkeit  — 
schon  der  Name  provociert  auf  das  Gottesurtheil  —  endlich  audi  zu 
Reehte  werde  verholfen  werden.'  But  he  failed  to  adduce  one  single 
passage  to  prove  that  righteousness  even  in  its  root  referred  to  the 
judgment  of  God.     Josephus  certainly  measured  it  by  the  Jewish  law  and 


JEAYISH-PALESTIXIAN    PIETY  l6l 

the  Essenes,^  we  find  that  they  were  instructed  in  holiness, 
piety ;,  and  righteousness ;  and  the  author  explains  that 
among  the  numerous  laws  of  the  Torah  that  are  expounded 
by  the  Jews  generally  in  their  meetings  on  the  Sabbath, 
there  are  two  chief  principles,  one  referring  to  the  Godhead 
and  dealing  with  piety  and  holiness,  the  other  relating  to 
men,  and  its  contents  are  love  of  man  and  righteousness.^ 
Here  StKaoa-vvr]  is  expressly  defined  as  referring  only  to  the 
duties  of  man  to  his  fellow.  And  in  the  account  of  Hippoly- 
tus  ^  about  the  oath  taken  by  the  Essenes  on  their  admis- 
sion into  the  brotherhood  we  read :  They  swear  to  fear 
God  and  to  practise  righteousness  towards  men,  and  to  do 
wrong  in  no  way  to  anybody,  nor  to  hate  anybody  who  did 
them  wrong,  not  even  an  enemy,  but  to  pray  for  them.  As 
in  Philo's  report,  so  here  the  duties  are  divided  into  two 
groups,  one  toward  God,  the  other  to  men,  righteousness 
meaning  not  merely  strict  justice,  but  including  the  higher 
duties  of  fairness  and  loving-kindness.  Josephus  also 
supplies  several  instances  of  that  denotation  of  the  word. 
In  his  account  of  King  David's  grave  sin  ^  he  states : 
ouTL   (pv(T€L    SiKaLcp  Kal   Oeoo-e/SeL    Kal    roi)?   irarpLovi  vofiov^ 

custom  ;  and  though  the  Torah  is  the  embodiment  of  God's  will,  he  did 
not  mean  to  say  that  the  Pharisee  weighed  every  action  of  liia  by  what 
God  would  say  to  it.  It  is  true,  in  Antiquit,  YI,  7.  4.  147  he  freely  renders 
1  Sam.  15.  22  by  these  words  :  God  delights  not  in  sacrifices,  but  in  good 
and  righteous  men  ;  good  and  righteous,  however,  are  those  who  obey  the 
will  and  the  orders  of  God,  and  who  consider  good  and  laudable  only 
what  God  Himself  commanded  to  do.  Though  here  the  text  of  the  Bible 
influenced  Josephus,  we  have  a  welcome  definition  of  a  righteous  man  : 
one  that  obeys  the  commandments  of  God.  See  also  1  Mace.  2.  29,  where 
the  strictly  observant,  pious  men  are  described  as  seeking  righteousness 

and  justice. 

1  Quod  omn.  prob.  liber,  13.  83,  II,  458:  baionira  Kal  difcmoavvrjv ; 
of  the  treasurer  of  the  Temple  who  trusted  Crassus,  Aniiquit.,  XIV,  7.  1 .  106 
says  :  dyadbs  yap  ^v  Kal  SiKaios. 

2  De  Septen.,  II,  282  =  De  spec,  leg.,  II,  63  ;  the  saintliness  of  the  Essenes, 
oaioTTjs,   is  referred  to   by  Philo   several  times  (Schiirer,   Geschichte,   IP, 

654.  3). 

3  Refutatio  haeres.  IX,  23  ;  Kohler  in  Jeiv.  Encycl,  V,  228  ff.  and  in 
Hermann  Cohen's  Festschrift,  Judaica,  p.  476. 

4  Aniiquit.,  VII,  7.  1.  130. 

L 


l62  SOME    TYPES    OF 

laxvpws  (j)vXd(T(TouTL,  '  he  was  by  nature  righteous  and  God- 
fearing, and  kept  the  ancient  laws  zealously '.  The  same 
terms  are  applied  to  King  Hezekiah :  (pvo-i^  S'  r\v  avrcd 
XPV^^^V  '^^^  SiKaia  Kal  deocre^rj^}  The  distinction  between 
righteous  and  God-fearing  at  once  suggests  that  the  first 
meant  the  king's  conduct  towards  men,  as  the  command- 
ments of  the  Torah  which  he  conscientiously  obeyed,  deal 
with  the  duties  to  both  God  and  men.  At  the  dedication  of 
the  Temple  King  Solomon  prayed  to  God^  that  He  might 
keep  their  minds  pure  from  all  wickedness  er  SiKaLoo-vi/T] 
Kal  dprjoTKeta,  in  righteousness  and  the  fear  of  God,  and  in 
the  practice  of  the  laws  which  He  had  given  them  through 
Moses  for  all  times.  Then  the  king  warned  the  people  that 
as  they  had  obtained  their  well-being  8l'  evaePeLav  Kal  SiKaio- 
(Tvvrjv,  they  could  preserve  it  only  by  the  same  means. 
King  Jehoshaphat  ruled  SiKaLoa-wrj  Kal  rfj  Trpo?  to  B^lou 
^va-ePela?  Menahem  the  Essene,'^  in  predicting  to  the  boy 
Herod  his  future  greatness,  warned  him,  el  Kal  SiKaLoorvv-qv 
dyairrjaeLa's  Kal  npo^  rov  Oeov  evo-e^etav  kiruLKeLav  Se  Trpo? 
Tovs  7roXLTa9,  if  only  he  would  love  righteousness,  and  piety 
towards  God  and  gentleness  towards  the  citizens.^  In  a 
speech  put  into  the  mouth  ot*  Nikolaos  of  Damascus  and 
addressed  to  Marcus  Agrippa  in  defence  of  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  by  the  Jews  ot*  Asia  Minor.  Josephus  says :  "^ 
EOcou  re  Tcou  rj/ierepcoi'  0.770.1/6 pcoirou  fxeu  ovSev  ecrriv,  evcre^rj 
Se  TTOvra  koI  rfj  aco^ovcrr]  Slkoloo-vj/t]  avyKoOcccncofxevo'  koI 
ovre  dTTOKpVTrrofieOa  rd  TropayyeXixara,  019  \p(jc>ixe6a  irpos  rov 
^Lop  VTrofXPij/iaaiu  rij^  evcre/Seia^  koI  tcoi^  dvOpodTrtvoop  eTnrrj- 
Sevfidrcou ;  he  divides  the  Jewish  laws  into  two  classes,  one, 
evo-elBeia,  referring  to  the  honouring  of  God,  the  other, 
SiKoioavpT],  to   the  conduct   towards   men.^     And  just   as 

1  Antiquit,  IX,  13.  1.  260. 

2  Antiquit.,  VIII,  4.  4.  120  ;  cf.  IX,  10.  4.  222. 

3  Antiquit.,  IX,  1.  4.  16.  *  j_yuiquit.,  XV,  10.  5.  375, 

^  In  the  next  sentence  he  varies  the  expression  :  K-qdrjv  S'  evaefieias  e^cis 
jtal  Tov  diKaiov,  the  last  word  being  identical  with  SiKaioavvrj. 
p  Antiquit.,  XVI,  2.  4.  42. 
■^  Aristobul,  the  Jewish-Hellenistic  philosopher,  describes  the  contents 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  163 

explicit  is  that  distinction  in  his  statement^  that,  while  the 
customs  (of  worship)  of  one  and  the  same  nation  vary  in 
almost  every  town,  to  SiKatou  is  recognized  as  most  useful 
by  both,  Greeks  and  barbarians  ;  our  laws  have  the  greatest 
sense  of  to  SiKaLov,  so  that,  if  we  only  keep  them  properly, 
we  must  be  kind  and  friendly  to  all  men.  Here  Josephus 
explains  as  clearly  as  possible  that  to  BiKaiov  is  the  proper 
conduct,  prescribed  by  our  law,  towards  the  fellow-man.^ 
John  the  Baptist^  taught  the  Jews  Kal  ttj  Trpo?  dXXrjXov^ 
SiKaLocrvuT]  Kal  7rpo9  rbu  Beov  evcreffeia  )(pco/x€uov9  (3a7TTLa-/x(p 
a-vvLevai,  to  practise  two  things,  righteousness  towards  one 
another,  and  piety  towards  God,*  clearly  stating  that  the 
proper  and  perfect  conduct  towards  the  neighbour,  as  he 
understood  it,  was  SLKaioavur],  as  that  towards  God  eva-e^eia, 
exactly  as  in  the  passages  quoted  from  Philo  and  Josephus.-^ 

of  the  Jewish  law  book  in  the  same  way,  Eusebius,  Praepar.  evang.,  XIII, 
12.  666  d;  Bernays,  Ueler  das  Phokylicleische  Gedicht,  XXXIII,  1  ;  Gescanm. 
Ahhandlungen,  I,  248. 

'  Antiquit,  XVI,  6.  8.  176. 

2  Cf.  Contra  Apion.,  I,  12.  60  :  We  most  of  all  things  strive  to  educate  our 
children  to  keep  the  laws  and  the  ancient  piety.  The  last  word,  though 
Ood  is  not  added,  undoubtedly  means  the  same  as  above,  as  the  parallel 
in  I.  22.  212  has  it:  the  observance  of  the  laws  and  piety  towards  God. 
Montgomery  in  J.  Q.  B.,  XI,  1921,  297.  26  adopts  the  view  of  Schlatter  in 
his  'Wie  sprach  Josephus  von  Gott?'  in  Beitrdge  zar  Forderung  chris/l. 
Theologie,  1910,  part  I,  76,  and  Briine,  Flavins  Josephus,  98,  that  evaePeia 
meant  the  practice  of  the  cult.     See  Antiquit.,  XIV,  4.  3.  65. 

3  Antiquit.,  XVIII,  5.  2.  117. 

^  Cf.  Matt.  21.  32  :  For  John  came  unto  you  in  the  way  of  righteousness, 
and  ye  believed  him  not  ;  see  G.  Klein,  Der  dlteste  christl.  Katechis^nus, 
142  ff.,  162;  Abrahams,  Studies  in  Pharisaism,  1,  30. 

5  In  Matt.  5.  20  Jesus  says,  For  I  say  unto  you.  That  except  your 
righteousness  shall  exceed  that  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  not 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  illustrates  his  meaning  by  'Thou  shalt 
not  commit  murder '  (21),  extending  it  to  one  who  is  angry  with  his 
brother  and  calls  him  names  (22),  and  warning  him  to  be  first  reconciled 
to  his  brother  and  then  offer  a  sacrifice  (23,  24),  and  to  agree  with  his 
adversary,  while  with  him  on  the  way  (25,  26).  The  second  illustration 
is,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  (27) ;  and  he  extends  the  prohibition 
to  lust  by  looks  (28),  and  warns  the  tempted  rather  to  pluck  out  his  eye 
and  cut  off  his  right  hand  (29,  30),  and  about  divorce  (31,  32).  The  third 
illustration  is,  Thou  shalt  not  swear  falsely  (33),  and  not  swear  at  all 
(34-7)  ;  the  fourth  is,  Eye  for  Eye  (38),  with  the  extension,  not  to  resist 

L  2 


164  SOME    TYPES    OF 

And  so  also  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  which  term  the  pious 
the  fearers  and  lovers  of  God  and  also  the  righteous,  cannot 
thereby  have  referred  to  their  observance  of  the  ceremonial 
law,  but  to  the  justice,  kindness,  and  love  which  they  con- 
sistently practised  in  their  dealings  with  their  fellow-men. 
The  righteousness  of  the  pious  in  the  psalms  is  seemingly 
contradicted  by  the  terrible  curses  which  the  poet  levelled 
against  the  lawless,  strongly  reminiscent  of  Psalm  109, 
though  not  approaching  in  severity  and  bitterness  the 
woes  put  into  the  mouth  of  Jesus  in  Matt.  23.  The  curses 
follow  immediately  after  the  description  of  the  sinner  in  his 

the  malicious  (39-42)  ;  the  fifth  is,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  (43), 

extended  to  the  enemy  (44-48).     So  far  go  the  examples  introduced  by 

Ye  have  heard,  and  all  of  them  deal  with  man's  attitude  to  his  neighbour, 

his  life,  his  wife,  his  property  leading  to  lawsuits  and  oaths  to  support 

them,  and  his  body.     All  this  comes  under  the  head  of  righteousness,  as 

it  was  understood  by  Josephus,  the  Pharisees  and  their  teachers.     But 

in  Matt.  3. 15  Jesus  insists  on  being  baptized  by  John,  and  says,  Suffer  it 

to  be  so  now,  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness.     What  is 

the  meaning  of  the  last  word  here?      Not  the  correct  attitude  to  the 

fellow-man,  nor  an  action  according  to  law;  but  it  describes  a  dip  in 

the  Jordan,  a  purely  ceremonial  act  to  account  for  which  somehow  the 

commentators   have   to   employ  all   possible   and    impossible   means  of 

so-called    interpretation.      If    the    same    statement   were   found   about 

a  Pharisee  of  any  description,   the   act   and  the  declaration  would  be 

characterized  with  the   usual  vocabulary  as  Pharisaic    empty,  lifeless, 

meaningless  ceremonial,  as  inward  hypocrisy  that  ousted  honesty,  love, 

and  God  Himself  from  the  heart  of  the  Jew.     Evidently  the  author  of 

Matt.  3.  15  no   longer  knew  the   meaning  of  Jewish   righteousness  in 

Palestine,  and  by  a  wrong  use  of  the  term  caused  all  the  trouble  (see 

Abelson    in    Hastings,  Encydop.   of  Religion  and   Ethics,   X,   1918,  807  ff.). 

In  his   essay,    'Righteousness    in   the  Gospels',   ProceccU)igs  of  the  British 

Academy,  vol.  VIII,  1918,  Dr.  Abbott  examined  the  passages  in  Matthew 

containing    righteousness    in    Jesus'   sayings.      As   he    starts   from   the 

unwarranted   assumption   that   Pharisee   righteousness   meant   levitical 

purity  and  tithing,   he   barred  for  himself  the  plain  understanding  of 

Matt.  3.  15,  and  had  to  resort  to  an  interpretation  hardly  in  accord  with 

the  great  scholar's  scientific  method.   Even  more  forced  is  his  explanation 

of  Matt.  5.  6,  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness. 

Can  there  be  any  doubt  about  the  meaning  of  the  term,  after  all  the 

passages  in  Philo  and  Josephus  have  been  examined  objectively?    But 

the  word  here  is,  as  has  been  suggested,  an  addition  by  Matthew  ;  it  was 

a   year   of  drought  and  famine,  and  many  hungered  and  thirsted,   as 

Luke  6.  21  has  it.     To  encourage  them  to  hold  out  and  not  despair,  the 

words,  without  '  after  righteousness,'  were  addressed  to  them. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 65 

capacity  as  judge,  when  he  sentences  criminals  (4.  1-6),  and 
after  that  of  his  guile  produced  by  greediness  against  inno- 
cent men  (4.  7-15).  As  a  judge  acting  in  court  he  is  accused 
by  the  psalmist  of  transgressions  (1);  while  he  is  severe 
in  speech  in  condemning  sinners  (2),  and  his  hand  is  first 
upon  them  in  zeal  (3),^  he  is  himself  guilty  of  manifold 
sins  and  of  wantonness.  Two  kinds  of  sin  are  mentioned 
here  the  second  of  which  is  sensuality ;  and  also  the  first 
which  represents  a  whole  group  of  transgressions  must 
have  been  grave,  as  the  author  seems  to  put  it  on  the 
same  level  as  that  for  which  the  judge  imposes  a  severe 
sentence.  As  the  continuation  of  the  psalm  fully  explains, 
it  was  immorality  and  robbery  (4-6,  11-15),  as  in  the 
denunciation  of  the  Pharisees  (1)  in  Matt.  23.  25,  extortion 
and  excess.  The  second  crime  was  directed  against  the 
property  of  a  prosperous  neighbour  (11).  The  suggestion 
of  Ryle-James,  taken  up  by  Kittel  and  Gray,  that  the  mis- 
appropriation was  brought  about  by  the  seduction  of  his 
good  wife,  is  not  favoured  by  the  text  and  is  in  itself 
not  probable  ;  for  how  could  the  miscreant  have  in  that 
way  obtained  the  house  of  the  deceived  husband  ?  Y.  15 
clearly  says,  •  He  fills  one  (house)  with  lawlessness,  and  his 
eyes  (are  then  fixed)  upon  the  next  house,  to  destroy  it 
with  words  that  give  wing  to  (desire  ?) ; '  and  v.  23  reads, 
'  For  they  have  laid  waste  many  houses  of  men,  in  dis- 
honour, and  scattered  (them)  in  (their)  lust  .  .  .  (25)  be- 
cause with  deceit  they  beguiled  the  souls  of  the  flawless  .  .  . 
(27)  The  Lord  shall  deliver  them  from  guileful  men  and 
sinners,  and  deliver  us  from  every  stumbling-block  of  the 
lawless.'     All  these  lines  expressly  mention  words  of  guile 

1  The  phrase  is  taken  from  Deut.  18.  10  (9),  Thine  hand  shall  be  first 
upon  him  to  put  him  to  death,  and  afterwards  the  hand  of  all  the  people  ; 
and  17.  7,  The  hands  of  the  witnesses  shall  be  first  upon  him  to  put  him 
to  death,  and  afterwards  the  hands  of  all  the  people.  This  would  suggest 
that  the  psalmist  was  referring  to  a  grave  crime  punishable  by  death. 
But  as  the  man  concerned  is  acting  as  a  judge  and  not  as  a  witness,  the 
phrase  is  to  be  taken  figuratively  :  he  is  the  first  to  give  his  vote  for 
sentencing  the  accused  person  to  death  or  some  other  severe  punishment. 


1 66  SOME    TYPES    OF 

and  deceit  as  the  means  by  which  the  sinners  misled  the 
unsuspecting  neighbour.  By  some  clever  suggestion  the 
greedy  man  placed  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
innocent,  probably  a  political  snare  by  which  his  property 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  cunning  schemer.  Let  us 
only  remember  that,  when  Aristobul  II  deprived  his  brother 
Hyrkanos  II  of  his  throne,  Antipater  the  Idumaean  began 
to  intrigue  for  the  reinstatement  of  the  weak  prince.  The 
nation  was  divided;  a  supporter  of  Aristobul  may  have 
visited  the  house  of  a  wealthy,  inactive,  and  harmless 
Pharisee,  and  by  cunning  advice  involved  him  into  a  hasty 
remark  about  the  king  or  even  into  more  serious  trouble, 
and  then  betrayed  him  to  the  authorities.  The  unfortunate 
man  had  to  flee  for  his  life,  and  the  obvious  punishment 
was  the  confiscation  of  his  property,  by  which  the  deceitful 
Sadducee  was  rewarded,^  In  any  case,  it  seems  clear  that 
his  words  of  perverse  wisdom  drew  the  unsuspecting  owner 
of  the  house  into  the  net  of  destruction.  Such  unscrupulous 
wickedness  roused  the  just  anger  of  the  poet  which  he 
poured  out  in  harsh  curses  (16-22).  They  are  sad  reading; 
but  they  were  merely  the  retaliation  in  powerless,  helpless 
words  of  the  writer,  wishing  that  the  very  same  forms 
of  distress  and  suffering  might  fall  upon  the  head  of  the 
successful  swindler  as  he  had  in  terrible  reality  brought 
upon  several  innocent  men,  their  wives  and  their  children. 
The  dishonour  which  recurs  here  several  times  (16,  18,  21, 
23),  means  in  the  case  of  these  men  that,  when  they  had 
to  flee  in  order  to  escape  death  or  other  punishments,  they 
wandered  about  homeless  and  suffering  privations,  till  they 
died  in  the  wilderness,  and  their  bones  lay  there  unburied, 
exposed  to  beasts  and  ravens  (see  21).  Against  such 
political  slanderers  psalm  12  is  directed,  '  0  Lord,  deliver 
my  soul  from  (the)  lawless  and  wicked  man,  from  the 
tongue  that  is  lawless  and  slanderous,  and  speaketh  lies 

^  Unfortunately  v.  11  wliich  described  his  machinations,  is  obscured 
by  a  textual  mistake,  see  Gebhardt,  75  if.  Could  the  participle  of  8oKi6oj, 
doXiuv  perhaps  be  substituted  ? 


JE^YISH-PALESTI^:IA^'  piety  167 

and  deceit  ...  (4)  to  involve  households  in  warfare  by 
means  of  slanderous  lips.  May  God  remove  far  from  the 
innocent  the  lips  of  transgressors  by  (bringing  them  to) 
want,  and  may  the  bones  of  slanderers  be  scattered  (far) 
away  from  them  that  fear  the  Lord !  (6)  Mslj  the  Lord 
preserve  the  quiet  soul  that  hateth  the  unrighteous ;  and 
may  the  Lord  establish  the  man  that  followeth  peace  at 
home.'  The  righteous  man  had  no  interest  in  conspiracies, 
he  was  for  peace  in  his  house  and  kept  awa}^  from  dangerous 
politics,  as  also  Psalm  120  puts  it;  he  was  not  a  quietist, 
but  a  peaceful  and  peace-loving  citizen. 

7.  There  is,  however,  one  idea  that  absorbed  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  author's  attention  and  pervades  all  the 
psalms  of  the  book  :  the  interpretation  of  God's  justice 
revealed  in  the  recent  sudden  destruction  of  the  sinners, 
the  suffering  of  the  righteous,  and  their  religious  attitude 
to  the  grave  affliction  during  and  after  the  conquest  of 
Jerusalem  by  Pompey.  When  in  the  course  of  the  terrible 
events  many  noble  men  and  their  families  wer^  killed  and 
others  degraded  and  sold  into  slavery  ;  when  King  Aristobul 
himself  was  deposed  and,  along  with  his  sons  and  his  sur- 
viving supporters,  was  taken  to  Rome  into  capti^dty ;  and 
when  on  the  da}'  of  the  great  disaster  the  lives  and  the 
substance  of  the  wealthy  inhabitants  were  annihilated :  the 
author  of  our  psalms  was  stunned  and  dumb  (3.  1).  He 
found  no  word  to  express  his  despair  ;  for  all  that  he  could 
grasp  was  the  fact  of  the  downfall  of  his  people,  incapable 
of  collecting  his  thoughts,  and  of  searching  for  God's  reason 
and  object  in  sending  so  great  a  calamity  upon  His  people. 
Only  after  a  time  he  began  to  meditate,  and  he  soon  recog- 
nized that  it  was  the  w^ork  of  God's  punishing  justice  ; 
and  his  old  conviction  of  His  perfect  justice  assisted  him 
in  the  interpretation  of  His  intentions.  In  looking  round, 
he  found  that  chiefly  the  active  military  and  political 
section  of  the  people  had  been  crushed,  while  the  pious 
had  suffered  comparatively  less  ;  and  his  religious  explana- 
tion of  the  sad  events  was  definitely  formulated.     Those 


1 68  SOME    TYPES    OF 

had  openly  and  heavily  sinned  against  God,  and  even  more 
gravely  in  secret ;  hence  their  overwhelming  destruction 
by  which  His  justice  was  revealed  to  the  earth  (2.  36).  For 
as  rulers  and  priests  they  had  sinned  grievously  against 
God,  His  Temple,  and  His  holy  things,  against  justice  and 
morality,  and  against  the  righteous  by  oppressing  him 
(2.  39).  Though  the  approach  of  the  Roman  army  and 
its  progress,  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  the  desecration  of 
the  sanctuary,  the  mocking  and  the  cruelties  of  the  enemy, 
and  the  fearful  humiliation  of  the  Jewish  heads  and  leaders 
by  the  conquerors  had  struck  awe  into  the  psalmist  and 
had  filled  him  with  deep  pain  and  grief,  he  still  acknow- 
ledged the  unequalled  visitation  as  sent  by  God  and  as 
fully  justified  (2.  12 ;  4.  9 ;  8.  7,  8,  27,  30,  31,  40  ;  9.  3,  4), 
with  uprightness  of  heart  (2.  16).^     As  the  king  of  Assyria 

^  Bousset,  Religion"^,  473,  says  that  the  author  of  the  Psahiis  of  Solomon 
exulted  over  the  punishment  which  God  had  decreed  against  the 
unlawful  ruling  house,  a  profligate  race  of  priests,  as  also  later  against 
the  arch-enemy  of  Israel,  the  dragon  Pompey.  First  of  all,  I  am  unable 
to  discover  in  the  whole  book  a  trace  of  exultation.  Bousset  misunderstood 
the  fundamental  idea  of  the  book  :  to  prove,  perhaps  against  some  writer 
who  declared  the  catastrophe  an  undeserved  and  harsh  punishment  and 
questioned  God's  justice,  that  it  was  fully  merited,  and  that  God's  justice 
was  vindicated  by  having  jDunished  the  sinners  measure  for  measure. 
That  is  also  the  reason  why  the  avithor  dealt  so  frequently  with  the 
problem  of  punishment,  and  only  very  incidentally  and  casually  with 
that  of  the  reward  of  the  righteous.  In  this  connexion  one  of  Hillel's 
difficult  theological  sentences  deserves  to  be  mentioned  (Aboth,  II,  6) : 
'  He  saw  also  a  skull  floating  on  the  surface  of  the  water  :  he  said  to  it, 
Because  thou  drownedst  others,  they  have  drowned  thee,  and  at  the  last 
they  that  drowned  thee  shall  themselves  be  drowned.'  Only  a  natural 
death  in  old  age  required  no  explanation  ;  but  death  by  drowning  must  have 
had  a  reason  in  a  specially  grave  sin  of  the  victim.  As  God  alone  guides 
man  and,  as  the  judge  of  the  world,  punishes  sinners,  we  must  try  to 
understand  His  principles  of  justice.  Hillel  and  others  before  him  found 
that  God  punished  measure  for  measure,  so  that  the  punishment  revealed 
the  sin  for  which  the  man  was  drowned  :  he  had  drowned  somebody. 
Though  he  may  have  been  God's  instrument  in  executing  His  punishment, 
he  knew  nothing  of  his  employment  as  God's  instrument  and  committed 
a  crime  of  his  own  free  will,  for  which  he  deserved  to  be  drowned. 
Of  course,  the  first  case  of  drowning,  as  Abel's  death,  must  have  had  in 
God's  providence  a  special  reason.  See  also  Testam.  Zebul.  5.  4 ; 
JuUl.  4.  31,  and  Oppenlieim  in  Kobak's  Jeschunm  V,  1866,  102  ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 69 

in  Isa.  10,  so  the  Roman  conqueror  executed  God's  charge 
too  zealously  and  far  beyond  the  orders  given  to  him ; 
therefore  he  will  also  be  punished  by  God,  the  King  of 
the  Universe,  the  judge  of  kings  and  rulers  (2.  34) ;  and 
here  again  God's  justice  will  be  made  manifest  to  the 
world  (2.  36).  It  is  true,  in  the  catastrophe  also  the 
righteous  suffered  :  it  was,  because  they  also  had  sinned. 
But  as  their  sins  had  been  committed  only  in  ignorance 
and  error,  God  separated  between  the  pious  and  the 
wicked  (2.  38)  by  marking  them  differently  (15.  8,  10)  and 
by  showing  mercy  to  the  righteous  (2.  39,  40),  so  that  they 
were  not  destroyed  (13.  1-11)  by  the  sword,  famine,  and 
pestilence,  and  by  poverty  (15.  6-8;  4.  19;  16.  13;  18.  3). 
Without  the  faintest  inclination  to  self-righteousness  the 
pious  patiently  submitted  to  God's  visitation  (2.  40 ;  10.  2  ; 
14.  1),  without  murmur  (16.  11)  and  without  losing  their 
faith  in  Him  (16.  9-12).  They,  moreover,  recognized  their 
sufferings  as  a  sparing  punishment  for  their  sins  (10.  1 ; 
16. 11 ;  18.  4, 5)  committed  in  ignorance  (13.  6)  ^  and  blotted 
out  by  God's  chastening  after  their  confession  and  repen- 
tance (9.  12,  15).  God's  object  in  His  visitation  was  also 
to  awaken  the  pious  from  temporary  sloth  (16.  4),  and  to 
warn  him  as  a  beloved  son  (13.  8  ;  18.  4),  and  to  restore  his 
soul  to  salvation  (16.  4,  11).  Therefore  the  righteous  not 
only  did  not  despise  chastening  (3.  4),  but  justified  God  by 
their  own  errors  (3.  5  ;  10.  6),  and  in  their  distress  praised 
God  full  of  trust  in  Him  (15.1-8;  6.1;  2.40)  and  His 
mercy  (2.  37,  40 ;  6.  9  ;  9.  15 ;  13.  11),  thanking  Him  in  the 
assembly  of  the  people  (10.  7,  8)  for  rousing  their  soul  by 
affliction  from  torpor  (16.  4-6),  and  because  sufiering 
brought  God's  mercy  (2.  39  ;  10.  3) ;  and  they  called  him 
whom  He  chastised,  happy  (10.  1). 

^  18.  4 :  Thy  chastisement  is  upon  us  as  (upon)  a  first-born,  only- 
begotten  son,  (5;  to  turn  back  the  obedient  soul  from  folly  (that  is 
wrought)  in  ignorance,  a-nb  df^adlas  kv  dyvoia  (in  13.  6  only  ev  dyvoia). 
The  phrase  is  evidently  taken  from  Ezek.45.20:  TlDDI  .135^  'C"N»,  where 
LXX  is  in  a  hopeless  condition  ;  see  Cornill,  and  the  second  tradition  about 
Symmachos'  translation  in  Field's  Bexapla. 


I70  SOME    TYPES    OF 

8,  Strange  appears  to  be  the  psalmist's  attitude  to  the 
Temple  and  the  sacrifices.  Unlike  the  biblical  Psalms,  the 
Psalms  of  Solomon  never  mention  a  vow  in  distress  or  any 
sacrifice,  which  in  a  pious  man  who  lived  in  Jerusalem 
between  70  and  40  b.c.e.,  seems  rather  strange.  In  his 
prayer  for  the  future  king  of  the  house  of  David  (17.  23  i¥.) 
he  refers  to  the  purging  of  Jerusalem  (32)  '  making  it  holy 
as  of  old :  (34)  so  that  nations  shall  come  from  the  ends 
of  the  earth  to  see  His  glory,  bringing  as  gifts  her  sons 
who  had  fainted,  (35)  and  to  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
wherewith  God  hath  glorified  her'.  Here  a  reference  to 
the  Temple  and  its  sacrifices  would  not  only  have  been 
natural,  but  is  even  demanded  by  the  context  in  Isa.  66.  18- 
20  whence  v.  34  was  taken.  ^\hy  did  he  leave  out  the 
offering?  Did  he  disapprove  of  the  Temple  and  its 
sacrifices  on  principle,  or  was  there  some  special  reason 
for  his  attitude?  It  was  noticed  by  scholars  that  not  in 
a  single  passage  did  he  even  allude  to  the  high-priest 
Hyrkanos  II  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Temple  before  the 
Roman  invasion,  and  was  reinstated  by  Pompey  after  the 
Temple  had  been  cleansed  by  the  latter's  order.  Or  did  all 
the  blame  in  2,  3  If.  refer  to  him  and  his  management,  and 
was  the  writer  not  reconciled  to  his  high-priesthood,  when 
the  terrible  catastrophe  had  atoned  for  the  sins  of  the  past  ? 
Was  he  opposed  to  the  Temple,  as  was  suggested,  because 
he  considered  the  Maccabean  high-priests  usurpers  of  the 
dignity,  and  therefore  the  altar  and  its  sacrifices  dis- 
qualified ?  This  seems  hardly  warranted,  as,  in  connexion 
with  the  sins  of  the  Sadducean  priests  committed  in  the 
service  of  the  Temple,  he  refers  to  '  the  holy  things  of  the 
Lord  which  they  polluted  (1.  8),  the  sons  of  Jerusalem  had 
defiled  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord,  and  profaned  with 
iniquities  the  offerings  of  God  (2.  3),  they  plundered  the 
sanctuary  of  God  (8.  12),  as  though  there  was  no  avenger. 
They  trode  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  (coming  straight)  from  all 
manner  of  uncleanness ;  and  with  menstrual  blood  they 
defiled   the   sacrifices  as  common  flesh   (13).    They  defiled 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  17 1 

Jerusalem  and  the  things  that  had  been  hallowed  to  the 
name  of  God  '  (8.  26).  In  all  this  he  blames  the  noble 
priests  ministering  immediately  before  Pompey's  invasion. 
And  though  once  (8.  25)  he  says,  '  They  did  according  to 
their  uncleanness,  even  as  their  fathers  (had  done) :  (26)  they 
defiled  Jerusalem  and  the  things  that  had  been  hallowed  to 
the  name  of  God  ',  extending  the  blame  to  their  fathers, 
it  is  almost  certain  that  he  is  referring  to  the  im- 
morality and  the  Sadducean  indifference  to  holy  things  pre- 
vailing under  Alexander  Jannaeus.  Had  he  objected,  as  the 
author  of  the  Assuinjotio  Mosis  (6.  1)  did,  to  the  whole  race 
of  the  Maccabean  high-priests,  he  would  not  have  described 
the  sanctuary  as  of  God,  the  altar  as  of  God,  the  offerings 
as  of  God,  the  things  of  the  Temple  as  holy,  but  defiled  and 
polluted  by  their  occasional  uncleanness,  as  he  would  have 
considered  them  permanently  unholy.  It  is  from  the  same 
point  of  view  that  he  says  of  the  Roman  conqueror  (2.2), 
'  Alien  nations  ascended  Thine  altar, they  trampled  it  proudly 
with  their  sandals  ;  (3)  because  the  sons  of  Jerusalem  had 
defiled  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord,  had  profaned  with 
iniquities  the  offerings  of  God '.  Should  he  not  have  rather 
said :  (3)  Because  unworthy  priests  had  ascended  Thine 
altar  and  had  defiled  the  sacrifices  and  the  Holy  of 
Holies  ? 

Again,  the  attack  of  our  author  on  the  assumption  of  the 
royal  title  by  the  Hasmonaean  high-priests  (17.  5-12)  also 
shows  that  he  did  not  assail  their  high-priestly  position. 
(5)  '  Thou,  0  Lord,  didst  choose  David  (to  be)  king  over 
Israel,  and  swaredst  to  him  touching  his  seed  that  never 
should  his  kingdom  fail  before  Thee.  (6)  But,  for  our  sins, 
sinners  rose  up  against  us ;  they  assailed  us  and  thrust  us 
out;  what  Thou  hadst  not  promised  to  them,  they  took 
away  (from  us)  with  violence.  (7)  They  in  no  wise  glori- 
fied Thy  honourable  name ;  they  set  a  monarchy  in  place 
of  (that  which  was)  their  excellency ;  (8)  they  laid  waste 
the  throne  of  David  in  tumultuous  arrogance.  But  Thou,  O 
God,  didst  cast  them  down,  and  remove  their  seed  from  the 


172  SOME    TYPES    OF 

earth,  (9)  in  that  there  rose  up  against  them  a  man  that 
was  alien  to  our  race  .  .  .  (11)  God  showed  them  no  pity  ; 
he  sought  out  their  seed  and  let  no  one  of  them  go  free  '. 
As  Ryle-James  rightly  pointed  out,  according  to  v.  14, 
'  In  the  heat  of  his  anger  he  sent  them  away  even  to  the 
west  .  .  . ',  only  Pompey's  treatment  of  Aristobul  and  his 
family  can  be  referred  to  here,  as  he  took  all  the  members 
of  the  royal  family,  except  Hyrkanos,  to  Rome  into  cap- 
tivity. Consequently,  the  whole  group  of  the  verses  quoted 
above  blames  the  Hasmonaean  high-priests  for  their  as- 
sumption of  the  royal  title  since  Aristobul  1  in  104  B.C.  E. 
But  the  interpretation  of  the  individual  sentences,  as  Ryle- 
James's  notes  show,  is  very  difficult.  The  author  does  not 
object  on  principle  to  a  monarch,  as  he  prays  for  the  restora- 
tion of  David's  dynasty  in  accordance  with  God's  promise  ; 
but  he  opposes  the  Hasmonaean  kings  as  usurpers.  And 
the  way  in  which  he  refers  to  the  treatment  of  David's 
descendants  by  the  Hasmonaeans,  sounds  rather  strange. 
Was  there  an  obvious  possibility  of  restoring  the  old 
dynasty  ?  Was  there,  besides  the  line  living  in  Babylonia 
and  descended  from  King  Jehoiachin,  any  representative 
of  the  family  in  Judaea?^  Would  Aristobul  I  and  his  suc- 
cessors have  allowed  him  to  live  in  that  country "?  The 
pronouns  of  the  first  person  plural  are  certainly  strange 
(6),  and  are  accounted  for  by  Ryle- James  in  this  way :  '  We 
believe  that  he  represents  not  only  the  Pharisees,  but  the 
priests  who  had  been  alienated  by  the  setting  aside  of  the 
legitimate  line  of  the  High  Priesthood.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  the  fourfold  repetition  of  the  first  Person  Pronoun  is 
followed  by  the  mention  of  this  spoliation '.  But  not  in 
a  single  word  is  there  a  reproach  raised  against  their  priest- 
hood ;  and  also  the  introduction  (i-4)  emphasizes  only  God's 
kingdom  to  lead  over  to  David's  eternal  rule,  and  v.  7  speaks 
only  of  QaatX^Lov,  and  there  is  not  even  a  faint  allusion  to 
their  high-priesthood.     Was  the  author  himself  a  descen- 

1  The  MishnahTa'an.  IV,  5  mentions  min''  ]2  "IH  ^33  in  the  last  years 
of  the  second  Temple  ;  but  were  descendants  of  David  meant  ? 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  173 

dant  of  one  of  the  lines  of  the  Davidic  dynasty?^  That 
would  certainly  make  the  attack  and  the  pronouns  clear. 
But  did  Aristobul  I  assail  and  thrust  out  a  Davidic  represen- 
tative ?  or  are  those  verbs  merely  poetical  expressions  for 
Aristobul's  usurpation?  ^  Only  Testament  Levi,  8.  14  asserts 
that  God  promised  the  kingship  to  Levi ;  and  against  such 
attempts  at  legitimation  our  author  protests,  and  declares 
that  the  priests  violently  appropriated  the  dignity,  and 
destroyed  David's  throne.  Up  to  that  time  they  had  v\lros 
for  which,  however,  they  substituted  (Saa-LXetoy ;  the  first 
may  be  an  allusion  to  the  title  of  the  high-priests,  Pnj  jn^ 
]vbv  bith,^  in  which  God's  name  occurs,  'they  in  no  wise 
glorified  Thy  honourable  name  '.  Here  the  author,  if  he  had 
objected  to  the  high-priestly  dignity  of  the  Hasmonaeans, 
could  have  added  that  even  that  was  usurped.  As  they 
were  legitimate  priests  just  as  others,  there  could  have  been 
no  objection  to  their  ministration ;  and  Josephus  reports 
that  the  priests  who  were  on  duty,  when  the  Romans  under 
Pompey  penetrated  into  the  Temple,  continued  the  sacri- 
ficial service,  and  were  cut  down  before  the  altar.^  So  it 
was  not  on  this  head  that  our  author  never  vowed  a  thank- 
ofifering,  and  that  he  eliminated  from  his  messianic  picture 
a  reference  to  the  Temple  and  sacrifices.  The  author  of  the 
book  of  Enoch  89.  73  declared  all  sacrifices  offered  in  the 
second  Temple  unclean,  and  added  that  in  the  messianic 

1  Interesting  is  15.  5  :  '  A  new  psalm  with  song  in  gladness  of  heart, 
the  fruit  of  the  lips  with  the  well-tuned  instrument  of  the  tongue,  the 
firstfruits  of  the  lips  from  a  pious  and  righteous  heart— (6)  he  that 
offereth  those  things  shall  never  be  shaken  by  evil.'  As  it  seems,  the 
imagery  is  taken  from  the  bringing  of  the  firstfruit  or  of  an  offering  with 
joy,  song,  and  music,  and  the  realities  of  the  offering  are  turned  into 
a  song  of  gratitude.  He  knew  all  these  details,  but  did  not  refer  to  a  real 
sacrifice.     Cf.  Hebr.  Psalm  119.  108. 

2  Two  usurpers,  John  Hyrkanos  and  Herod,  are  reported  to  have  opened 
David's  grave  (Josephus,  Antiquit.,YII,  15.  3.393  ;  XIII,  8.  4.  249 ;  XVI,  7. 1. 
179)  for  money ;  perhaps  they  tried  to  obtain  the  insignia  of  the  ancient 
royalty. 

3  Assumptio  Mosis,  6.  1  ;  Jubil.  32.  1  ;  (36.  16)  ;  Josephus,  AntiquiL, 
XVI,  6.  2.  163  ;  Charles  on  Test.  Levi,  8.  14  ;  KoshhaShan.,  18b  bottom; 
Geiger,  Urschri/t,  32  ff.  ^  AntiquiL,  XIV,  4.  3.167. 


174  SOME    TYPES    OF 

times  that  building  would  be  removed  and  a  new  one 
erected  in  its  p]ace.^  But  our  author,  as  just  mentioned, 
does  not  refer  at  all  to  the  new  Temple  in  his  messianic 
picture.  As&uimptio  Mosis,  4.  7,  in  referring  to  the  return 
of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian  exile  says,  '  Then  some 
portions  of  the  tribes  shall  go  up  and  they  shall  come  to 
their  appointed  place,  and  they  shall  anew  surround  the 
place  with  walls.  (8)  And  the  two  tribes  shall  continue  in 
their  prescribed  faith,  sad  and  lamenting  because  they  will 
not  be  able  to  offer  sacrifices  to  the  Lord  of  their  fathers.' 
Charles  remarks,  *  For  the  low  value  set  on  the  worship  of 
the  restored  Temple,  cf.  2  Baruch  68.  5,  6,^  "  not  as  fully 
as  in  the  beginning".  The  sacrifices  were  unacceptable, 
cf.  "  the  polluted  bread  "  of  Mai.  1.  7,  and  1  Enoch  89, 73.  The 
objection  here  indeed  is  not  an  Essene  one  to  sacrifice  as 
such,  but  to  the  imperfection  of  the  worship  of  God's  people 
as  long  as  they  were  subject  to  heathen  powers.  God  would 
restore  their  glory  and  freedom  when  they  repented,  1.  17, 
but  on  no  other  condition,  IX  '.  But  all  this  is  in  the  case  of 
our  author  beside  the  point,  as  he  did  recognize  the  Temple, 
the  altar  and  its  sacrifices ;  and  the  reasons  of  his  attitude 
must  be  sought  elsewhere.  His  poverty  could  account  for 
the  absence  of  vows  and  voluntary  sacrifices,  but  certainly 
not  for  that  of  a  reference  to  the  Temple  and  the  public 
offerings. 

9.  The  psalms  refer  several  times  to  the  relations  between 
God  and  Israel,  and  their  point  of  view  is  the  biblical.  (7.  1) 
'  Make  not  Thy  dwelling  afar  from  us,  0  God ;  lest  they 
assail  us  that  hate  us  without  cause.  (5)  While  Thy  name 
dwelleth  in  our  midst,  we  shall  find  mercy '.  God  Himself, 
or,  as  also  the  Bible  expresses  it,  His  name  dwells  in  Israel.^ 
But,  as  this,  as  a  rule,  refers  to  His  presence  in  the  Temple 
and  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  the  prayer  would  suggest  that 

1  90.  29;  MGWJ.  39,  1895,  20  £f. 

2  The  words  of  Baruch  do  not  criticize  the  sacrifices,  but  merely  state 
that  the  number  of  the  worshippers  will  be  smaller,  which  is  no 
criticism. 

3  Lev.  15.  31  ;  26.  11 ;  Deut.  12.  11,  &c. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  175 

God  was  about  to  leave  His  sanctuary ;  as  in  connexion 
with  the  destruction  of  the  second  Temple  the  Apocalypse 
of  Baruch  8.  1  says,  '  A  voice  was  heard  from  the  interior  of 
the  Temple,  after  the  wall  had  fallen,  saying:  (2)  Enter,  ye 
enemies,  and  come  ye,  adversaries,  for  He  who  kept  the 
house  has  forsaken  it '}  Accordingly,  the  prayer  was 
written,  when  the  poet  had  reason  to  fear  that  the  Temple 
might  soon  he  taken  and  entered  by  the  Romans  under ^ 
Pompey.  Wellhausen  refers  it  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem 
by  Sosius  for  Herod ;  but  Ryle-James  adduced  cogent  argu- 
ments against  that  explanation.  In  addition,  v.  2  is  difficult 
to  understand :  '  For  Thou  hast  rejected  them,  O  God ;  let 
not  their  foot  trample  upon  Thy  holy  inheritance '.  If  this 
refers  to  the  Romans,  as  Ryle- James  suggest,  '  rejected '  is 
not  appropriate,  and  too  strong.  More  probable  is  their 
other  explanation  that  it  refers  to  the  rejection  of  Aris- 
tobul  II  and  his  followers  by  God,  w^ho  are  now  trying  to 
come  back  and  to  take  possession  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
Temple ;  the  danger  is  that  their  return  might  bring  a  new 
siege  by  Pompey,  who  could  not  allow"  an  overthrow  of  the 
Roman  conquest,  and  the  destruction  of  the  city  and 
the  sanctuary.  Now,  Josephus-  reports  how  Aristobul's 
son  Alexander  with  ten  thousand  men  tried  to  regain  Judaea 
and  the  capital ;  but  he  retired  before  Gabinius  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Jerusalem  w^here  he  was  defeated.  From  the 
statement  (5.  4)  that  Gabinius  brought  Hyrkanos  to  Jeru- 
salem and  handed  over  to  him  the  care  of  the  Temple,  it 
follows  that  the  high- priest  had  left  the  city  during  the 
military  operations.  Immediately  after  Alexander's  failure 
Aristobul  escaped  from  Rome,  came  to  Judaea,  and  gathered 
many  Jews  round  him  ;  ^  and  though  he  also  was  soon 
defeated,  the  poet  of  the  psalm  might  have  trembled  lest, 
if  Aristobul  succeeded  in  entering  Jerusalem,  the  Romans 
would  soon  follow  him.  In  any  case,  God  was  still  dwelling 
in  Jerusalem. 

1  Charles  refers  to  Tacitus,  Hist,  V,  13 :  '  Et  apertae  repente  delubri  fores 
et  audita  maior  humana  vox,  excedere  deos '. 

2  Antiquit.,  XIV,  5.  2.  ^  Ibid.,  6.  1. 


176  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Ryle-James  see  in  this  an  emphasis  on  Israel's  privi- 
leged position  with  Gocl.^  '  But  the  universality  of 
Divine  mercy  and  justice  in  no  way  affects  the  peculiar 
relations  of  Israel  with  God.  He  is  the  God  of  Israel, 
4.  1;  9.2;  12.6;  18.6;  cf.  8.  37 ;  9.16,  and  the  God 
of  Jacob,  16.  3.  Israel  is  His  portion  and  heritage,  14.  3. 
The  seed  of  Abraham  was  cliosen  above  all  the  nations,  the 
Divine  name  set  upon  it,  the  holy  covenant  established  with 
the  patriarchs,  9.  17-20.  God's  love  and  mercy  are  always 
towards  Israel,  5.  21  ;  7.  8 ;  18.  2-4.  Israel  is  His  servant, 
12.  7;  17.  23,  for  whom  He  hath  promised  blessings,  11.  8; 
cf.  17.  50.  Jerusalem  is  the  holy  city,  18.  4.'  This  is  all 
quite  correct :  the  spokesman  of  his  down-trodden  nation 
still  believes  in  his  Bible,  all  parts  of  which  taught  him  and 
every  Jew  those  ideas ;  and  also  many  a  warning  and,  at 
the  same  time,  several  reassuring  messages  of  the  prophets 
told  him  that  Israel  would  for  all  times  and  in  all  circum- 
stances remain  God's  people.  The  universality  of  Divine 
mercy  and  justice  did  not  affect  in  his  mind  Israel's 
privileged  position  with  God.  But  the  two  commentators 
of  the  psalms  did  not  pursue  their  inquiry  into  the  close 
relations  of  Israel  with  God,  though  Amos  could  have  given 
them  the  clue  to  it.  Does  He  grant  Israel  special  protec- 
tion even  when  it  is  sinning,  or  the  favour  of  a  remission  of 
iniquity  1  Does  not,  moreover,  the  author  of  the  short 
psalm  7  that  emphasizes  the  presence  of  God  in  Jerusalem 
and  His  protection  of  it  (7.  5,  6),  at  the  same  time  tremble  at 
His  anger  at  Israel  (7.  4),  at  His  impending  withdrawal  from 
the  capital,  His  rejection  of  His  people,  and  His  most  severe 
punishments  (7.  4)  ?  God's  presence  in  Jerusalem  not  only 
condones  no  failings,  but,  on  the  contrary,  brings  with  it 
quicker  visitation  for  them,  and  even  the  righteous  feel 
His  stern  justice.  God  sends  against  privileged  Israel  the 
punishing  enemy,  and  it  does  not  occur  to  the  psalmist,  just 
as  little  as  to  Amos  7,  to  pray  to  Him  to  withdraw  all  afflic- 
tion ;  but  all  he  requests  with  King  David  in  2  Sam.  24. 14, 

1  L.  ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 77 

is  that   God   may   execute  the   severe    punishment    Him- 
self and  not  emplo}^  the  Romans.     Again  and   again   he 
prays  for  God's   mercy,  but   for   no  privilege  ;    only   His 
mercy  will  have  the  effect  that  the  nations  will  not  prevail 
over  Israel  (7.  5,  6),  and  He  will  pity  the  seed  of  Israel  for 
ever  and  not  reject  them  (7.  8).     The  prayer  concludes  witlf 
the  self-assurance  (9),  '  Thou  wilt  establish  us  in  the  time 
that  Thou  helpest  us,  showing  mercy  to  the  house  of  Jacob  ^ 
on  the  day  wherein  Thou  didst  promise  (to  help  them).' 
Sins  provoke  the  God  of  Israel  (4.  1),  and  their  consequences 
for  every  individual  Israelite  are  emphatically  stated  again 
and  again.     Even  when   God   will   remember   His  people 
(II.  2),  it  will  be  due  to  His  mercy;  and  the  prayer  for  the 
messianic  redemption  (II.  9)  reads,  'The  mercy  of  the  Lord 
be  upon  Israel  for  ever  and  ever '.     And  as  throughout  the 
book,  as  Ryle-James  note,  Israel  includes  only  the  pious  part 
of  the  nation,  the  servant  of  God,  even  His  mercy  is  granted 
in  the  first  instance  only  to  such  as  merit  it  by  their  piety. 
The  special  love  of  God  for  the  seed  of  Abraham  (18. 1-6) 
deserves  a  short  consideration.     (1)   '  Lord,  Th}'  mercy  is 
over  the  works  of  Thy  hands  for  ever  ;  Thy  goodness  is 
over  Israel  with  a  rich  gift.      (2)  Thine  eyes  look  upon 
them,  so  that  none  of  them  suffers  want ;  (3)  Thine  ears 
listen  to  the  hopeful  prayer  of  the  poor.     Thy  judgements 
(are  executed)  upon  the  whole  earth  in  mercy  ;  (4)  and  Thy 
love  (is)  toward  the  seed  of  Abraham,  the  children  of  Israel. 
Thy  chastisement  is  upon  us  as  (upon)  a  first-born,  only- 
begotten  son,  (5)  to  turn  back  the  obedient  soul  from  folly 
in  ignorance.     (6)  May  God  cleanse  Israel  against  the  day 
of  mercy  and  blessing,  against  the  day  of  choice  when  He 
bringetli  back  His  anointed '.     These  lines  were  composed 
after  God  had  accepted  the  prayer  of  the  starving  and  poor 
righteous   men,   and  everybody  had  food  again.     God  is 
merciful  to  all  His  creatures  at  all  times  (la),  but  to  Israel 
with  a  rich  gift  (lb),  which,  in  the  grateful  and  exaggerat- 
ing words  of  the  humble  poet,  merely  means,  as  he  himself 
explains,  that  everybody  has   sufficient.     God  judges   the 

M 


178  SOME    TYPES    OF 

whole  earth  in  mercy  (3  b),  but  towards  Israel  there  is  love 
(4  a) ;  and  what  does  that  great  distinction  imply  ?  The 
next  line  explains  it  as  clearly  as  possible.  According  to 
Prov.  3. 12,  '  For  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  correcteth,  even 
as  a  father  the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth' ;  and  Deut.  8.  5, 
*  As  a  man  chasteneth  his  son,  so  the  Lord  thy  God  chasteneth 
thee  ,  our  author  states,  (13.  8) '  For  He  correcteth  the  right- 
eous as  a  beloved  son,  and  His  chastisement  is  as  that  of  a 
firstborn '.  The  only  expression  of  God's  love  and  its 
special  object  is  correction  for  the  purpose  of  cleansing  the 
beloved  pious  man  from  sin.  This  is  what  the  pious  Pharisee 
saw  in  his  God's  special  love  to  him,  and,  as  he  suffered,  in 
his  own  love  to  God :  he  not  only  readily  submitted  to  His 
chastening,  but  bore  it  patiently  and  without  a  murmur,  as 
he  saw  in  it  the  love  of  his  Father  in  heaven.  This  deeply 
religious  idea  of  the  Pharisee  would  have  deserved,  on  the 
part  of  the  commentators  and  of  the  historians  of  Jewish- 
religious  thought,  greater  attention  and  appreciation. 

Another  instance  is  8.  29,  '  Worthy  to  be  praised  is  the 
Lord  that  judgeth  the  whole  earth  in  His  justice.  (30) 
Behold  now,  O  God,  Thou  hast  shown  us  Thy  judgement  in 
Thy  justice ;  (31)  our  eyes  have  seen  Thy  judgements, 
O  God.  We  have  justified  Thy  name  that  is  honoured 
for  ever ;  (32)  for  Thou  art  the  God  of  justice,  judging 
Israel  with  chastening.  (33)  Turn,  O  God,  Thy  mercy  upon 
us,  and  have  pity  upon  us;  (34)  gather  together  the  dis- 
persed of  Israel,  with  mercy  and  goodness;  (35)  for  Thy 
faithfulness  is  with  us.  And  (though)  we  have  stiffened 
our  neck,  yet  Thou  art  our  chastener  ;  .  .  .  (38)  and  we  will 
not  depart  from  Thee,  for  good  are  Thy  judgements  upon  us. 
(40)  The  Lord  is  worthy  to  be  praised  for  His  judgements 
with  the  mouth  of  the  pious  ones '.  The  last  lines  quoted 
praise  God  for  His  special  goodness  to  Israel ;  and  again, 
what  favour  did  it  bestow  upon  them?  Sparing  punish- 
ment !  Special  thanks  are  offered  b}^  the  poet  for  God's 
judgments  which  are  acknowledged  by  the  people  as  just 
and  fully  deserved  for  their  sins,  and  because  towards  Israel 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 79 

He  exercises  special  kindness  by  judging  it  with  chastening ; 
and  He  keeps  His  promise  to  the  patriarchs  by  not  allowing 
Israel  to  perish  completely.  And  all  that  the  poet  is  pray- 
ing for,  is  mercy  and  pity  in  the  catastrophe  that  threatens 
to  swallow  up  the  people.  The  beautiful  prayer  of  the 
Pharisee  writer  deserves  special  attention,  as  it  is  full  of 
deep  sentiment  and  true  inwardness  (31-8).  Again,  when- 
ever the  psalmist  stresses  the  special  love  of  God  to  Israel 
in  the  past,  it  is  in  distress.  (9.  16)  '  And  now,  Thou  art  our 
God,  and  we  the  people  whom  thou  hast  loved :  behold  and 
show  pity,  O  God  of  Israel,  for  we  are  Thine ;  and  remove 
not  Thy  mercy  from  us,  lest  they  assail  us.  (17)  For  Thou 
didst  choose  the  seed  of  Abraham  before  all  the  nations, 
and  didst  set  Thy  name  upon  us,  O  Lord,  (18)  and  Thou  wilt 
not  reject  (us)  for  ever.  Thou  madest  a  covenant  with  our 
fathers  concerning  us;  (19)  and  we  hope  in  Thee,  when  our 
soul  turneth  (unto  Thee).  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  be  upon 
the  house  of  Israel  for  ever  and  ever '.  The  author's  whole 
mind  is  sunk  in  the  terrible  suifering  of  his  people,  caused 
by  Pompey's  cruelty ;  he  points  to  no  merit  of  his  own,  to 
no  privileged  position  or  claim  of  Israel.  At  the  time  of 
the  prayer  he  saw  nothing  favourable  in  the  life  of  the 
nation  by  which  to  support  his  supplication ;  and  amid 
the  depression  and  the  despair  of  his  heart  and  the  pre- 
vailing distress  his  mind  turned  to  the  past,  and  he 
reminded  God  of  all  that  he  knew  of  the  glorious  position 
of  his  ancestors.  There  is  no  trace  of  pride  at  the  descent 
of  Israel  from  the  patriarchs  or  at  God's  particular  measures 
for  the  people ;  nothing  but  the  humble  cry  of  an  anguished 
heart  for  mercy,  that  Israel  may  not  be  rejected.  And  the 
same  spirit  is  evident  in  14.  3,  '  For  the  portion  and  inheri- 
tance of  God  is  Israel '.  where  Deut.  3."2.  9  is  applied  to  the 
pious  men  who  loved  God  in  truth,  endured  patiently  His 
chastening,  and  obeyed  His  commandments ;  they  will  not 
be  uprooted,  for  they  are  God's  portion.  Xo  idea  of  Israel's 
distinctive  position  or  its  closer  relations  with  God  was 
intended  here. 

31  2 


l8o  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Neither  in  his  meditations  nor  in  his  prayers  does  the 
poet  ever  refer  in  the  same  definite  way  to  a  reward  merited 
by  the  righteous  as  he  refers  to  the  punishment  incurred  by 
the  sinner.  Though  incidental  reference  was  repeatedly 
made  in  these  notes  to  his  conception  of  God's  intervention 
on  earth,  a  short  explanation  of  his  connected  statement 
about  the  problem  (2.  32-40)  will  give  a  clearer  view  of 
it.  '  He  (Pompey)  reflected  not  that  he  was  a  man,  (32)  and 
reflected  not  on  the  latter  end ;  (38)  he  said  :  I  will  be  lord 
of  land  and  sea;  and  he  recognized  not  that  it  is  God  who 
is  great,  mighty  in  His  great  strength.  (34)  He  is  king  over 
the  heavens,  and  judgeth  kings  and  kingdoms.  (35)  (It  is 
He)  who  setteth  me  up  in  glory,  and  bringeth  down  the 
proud  to  eternal  destruction  in  dishonour,  because  they 
knew  Him  not.  (36)  And  now  behold,  ye  princes  of  the 
earth,  the  judgement  of  the  Lord,  for  a  great  king  and 
righteous  (is  He),  judging  (all)  that  is  under  heaven. 
(37)  Bless  God,  ye  that  fear  the  Lord  with  wisdom,  for 
the  mercy  of  the  Lord  will  be  upon  them  that  fear  Him,  in 
the  judgement ;  (38)  so  that  He  will  distinguish  between  the 
righteous  and  the  sinner,  (and)  recompense  the  sinners  for 
ever  according  to  their  deeds  ;  (39)  and  have  mercy  on  the 
righteous,  (delivering  him)  from  the  affliction  of  the  sinner, 
and  recompensing  the  sinner  for  what  he  hath  done  to  the 
righteous.  (40)  For  the  Lord  is  good  to  them  that  call 
upon  Him  in  patience,  doing  according  to  His  mercy  to 
His  pious  ones,  establishing  (them)  at  all  times  before  Him 
in  strength.  (41)  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  ever  before 
His  servants.'  Most  of  the  ideas  referring  to  the  arrogant 
conqueror  are  familiar  from  Isa.  10  and  37,  and  Hannah's 
psalm  in  1  Sam.  2.  The  poet  reminded  Pompey  that  not  he, 
but  God  alone  was  the  ruler  of  the  Universe,  and  that 
kings  and  kingdoms  were  called  to  account  by  Him  for 
their  wantonness.  Also  the  Roman  conqueror  had  been 
raised  by  Him  for  His  own  purposes,  as  He  brought  low 
the  Jewish  king  and  his  supporters,  because  they  had  not 
known  God.     The  same  sin  had  been  committed  by  them 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    TIETY  l8l 

(4.  24)  '  (In  robbing  people  of  tlieir  houses  and  driving  them 
away),  they  have  not  rememljered  God,  nor  feared  God  in 
all  these  things  ;  (25)  but  they  have  provoked  God's  anger 
and  vexed  Him,'  and  they  were  punished  by  Him  through 
the  Romans.  His  justice  was  manifest,  and  should  be 
recognized  by  rulers.  But  the  chief  interest  of  the  poet 
was  in  those  of  his  own  section,  the  pious,  and  their  religious 
convictions.  They  should  thank  God,  for  they  would  be' 
rewarded  by  Him  for  their  deeds  by  His  mercy  in 
judgment,  by  giving  them  the  strength  to  stand  firm  in 
the  catastrophe  and  not  be  crushed  ;  that  is  His  great 
goodness  to  them. 

So  we  see  that  God  watches,  on  the  one  hand,  the  deeds 
of  the  rio^hteous  and  the  sinners  in  Judaea,  on  the  other 
the  treatment  of  both  sections  by  the  Romans  whom  He 
called  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  execute  His  punish- 
ment. The  principle  of  God's  providence  and  of  man's  free 
will  the  poet  explains  in  9.  5,  '  For  from  Thy  knowledge 
none  that  doeth  unjustly  is  hidden,  (6)  and  the  righteous 
deeds  of  Thy  pious  ones  (are)  before  Thee,  O  Lord ;  where, 
then,  can  a  man  hide  himself  from  Thy  knowledge,  O  God  ? 
(7)  Our  works  are  subject  to  our  own  choice  and  power  to 
do  right  or  wrong  in  the  works  of  our  hands ;  and  in  Thy 
righteousness  Thou  visitest  the  sons  of  men.'  And  in  14.  4, 
'  But  not  so  are  the  sinners  and  transgressors,  who  love 
(the  brief)  day  (spent)  in  companionship  with  their  sin; 
their  delight  is  in  fleeting  corruption,  (5)  and  they  remember 
not  God.  For  the  ways  of  men  are  known  before  Him  at 
all  times,  and  He  knoweth  the  secrets  of  the  heart  before 
they  come  to  pass.  (6)  Therefore  their  inheritance  is 
Sheol  and  darkness  and  destruction,  and  they  shall  not  be 
found  in  the  day  when  the  righteous  obtain  mercy ;  (7)  but 
the  pious  of  the  Lord  shall  inherit  life  in  gladness.'  This 
emphatic  statement  seems  to  have  deliberately  set  out  one 
of  the  essential  difierences  of  religious  doctrine  between 
the  Pharisees  and  the  most  advanced  among  the  Sadducees. 
As  m  Psalms  10.  4;  14.  1 ;  36.  2;  53.  2,  and  Job  22.  12  fF., 


1 82  SOME    TYPES    OF 

SO  ill  the  passage  quoted  the  wicked  maintains  that  God 
cares  nothing  for,  nor  sees,  the  doings  of  man ;  so  that  there 
is  before  Him  neither  acconnt  nor  responsibility,  neither 
reward  nor  punishment  for  anybody,  and  life  may  be 
enjoyed  without  any  restraint  as  long  as  it  lasts.  Against 
that,  probably  fairly  general,  teaching  our  author  stresses 
the  conviction  that  God  does  see  and  know  every  deed  of 
man  and  even  the  intention  rising  in  his  heart,  and  that 
He  does  take  an  interest  in  man's  actions,  as  He  recom- 
penses good  and  evil.  On  the  other  hand,  there  seem  to 
have  been  others  who  held  that  man  was  not  responsible 
for  his  deeds,  as  they  were  not  a  matter  of  his  choice,  but 
probably  of  fate.^  Against  those  our  poet  emphasizes  our 
free  will  and  power  in  our  actions,  and  the  consequences 
for  the  sinners  of  their  transgressions.  When  they,  not 
thinking  of  God,  enjoy  life  too  freely,  they  will  suffer  for 
it ;  for  God  sees  even  their  secret  sins  (8.  9-15),  their 
hypocrisy,  their  injustice  in  judgment,  their  dishonesty, 
their  immorality  and  their  enormities,  and  their  contempt 
for  things  hol}^  to  God.  Without  respect  for  any  person, 
meaning  the  nobles  and  the  king.  He  punishes  them  justly, 
even,  where  possible,  measure  for  measure. 

All  classes  of  the  population  were  sinful  (17.  21,  22),  and 
the  rio-hteous  lived  amonp;  them  as  innocent  lambs  and 
remained  pious,  though  associating  with  the  sinners ;  they 
were  poor,  modest  and  humble,  and  acted  always  in 
accordance  with  God's  will,  His  commandments.  Their 
prayers  were  submitted  in  humility,  accompanied  by  the 
admission  of  sin  committed  in  ignorance,  by  repentance, 
and  b}^  fasts  to  humble  themselves.  Even  in  the  greatest 
affliction  their  faith  in  God  never  wavered ;  for  they  knew 
that  His  justice  even  in  their  own  case  of  suffering  was 
unassailable  ;  therefore  they  bore  it  with  resignation  as  a 
punishment  not  as  full  as  deserved,  and  as  the  father's 
chastisement  of  his  beloved  son.  In  true  devotion  and 
inwardness,  and   from    a    pure   and   obedient   heart   they 

^  Schiirer,  Geschichie,  IP,  463.  about  free  will. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  '  183 

thanked   God  for  His   sparino-  visitation,  and  pra^'ed  for 
mercy  for  themselves  and  their  people.     He  showed  them 
pity,  fortified  their  souls  to  endure  suffei'ino-,  saved  them, 
and  prolonged  their  lives,  while  the  sinners  were  crushed 
before  their  ej^es.     On  that  day  God  distinguished  l»etween 
the  pious  and  the  transgressors,  for  He  is  just  and  kind  for 
ever  (10.  6),  merciful  and   good  for  ever  (10.  8),  the  hope 
and  the  refuge  of  the  poor  (15.  2  :  5.  2),  has  mercy  upon  the 
needy  (10,  7),  He  is  good,  gentle,  merciful,  sparing,  helping 
the  poor  and  the  humble  in  loving-kindness,  feeding  the 
hungry  in  a  famine,  keeping  away  all  the  forms  of  destruc- 
tion from   the  pious,  and   delivering   the   righteous   from 
deceitful  and  sinful  men  (4.  27).     When  speaking  of  God, 
the  poet  often  says  name  of  God ;  this  tendency,  marked 
already  in  the  biblical  Psalms,  grew  in  the  course  of  the 
succeeding  centuries,  though  in  our  psalms  it  is  not  used 
as    frequently    and    as    consistently    as    we   would    have 
expected.     It  seems   that  the  author  resorted   to   it  only 
in  certain  definite  phrases  (8.  31),  '  Our  e^^es  have  seen  Thy 
judgements,  O  God.     We  have  justiBed  Thy  name  that  is 
honoured  for  ever.    (10.  6)  Just  and  kind  is  our  Lord  in 
His  judgements  for  ever,  and  Israel  shall  praise  the  name 
of  the   Lord  in  gladness.     (8)   For  good   and  merciful   is 
God   for  ever,  and  the  assembhes  of  Israel    shall  glorify 
the  name  of  the  Lord.^     (15.   1),  I  called  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord  ;  (4)  in  giving  thanks  to  Thy  name  :  (17.  7)  they 
in  no  wise  glorified  Thy   honourable  name  ;   (7.  5)  while 
Thy  name  dwelleth  in  our  midst.    (11.  9)   Let  the   Lord 
raise  up  Israel  by  His  glorious  name,  and  (5.  22)  Blessed 
be  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  for  He  is  our  king,'  were  prepar- 
ing the  ground  for,  or  perhaps  already  presupposing,  the 
formula    iniD^^O   nUD   DL"  inn   used  in  the  Temple  service 
on  the  Day  of  Atonement.^  (6.  2)  '  Wlien  he  remembereth 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  he  will  be  saved ;  (8.  26)  they  defiled 

^  So  5.  1  ;  6.  6,  7. 

2  Yoma,  III,  8;  IV,  1,  2  ;  VI,  2;  and  in  the  service  of  the  public  fast 
on  the  Temple  Mount,  Barnitha  T:ran.  16  b. 


184  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Jerusalem  and  the  things  that  had  been  hallowed  to  the 
name  of  God;  (9.  17)  and  didst  set  Thy  name  upon  us, 
O  Lord'. 

God  only  in  extreme  cases  brings  great  catastrophes  to 
punish  the  sins  of  kings  and  of  the  leaders  of  the  people ; 
in  the  normal  course  of  life  He  employs  the  affliction  of 
drought  with  which  Deut.  11.  17  threatens  disobedience. 
Our  book  refers  to  such  a  calamity  once ;  after  a  statement 
of  Pompey's  cruelties,  he  proceeds  (17.  17),  'And  the 
children  of  the  covenant  in  the  midst  of  the  mingled 
peoples  surpassed  (?)  them,  there  was  not  among  them 
one  that  wrought  mercy  and  truth  in  the  midst  of  Jeru- 
salem. (18)  They  that  loved  the  assemblies  of  the  pious 
lied  from  them,  as  sparrows  that  fly  from  their  nest. 
(19)  They  wandered  in  deserts  that  their  lives  might 
be  saved  from  harm,  and  precious  in  the  eyes  of  them 
that  lived  .abroad  was  any  that  escaped  alive  from 
them.  (20)  Over  the  whole  earth  were  they  scattered  by 
lawless  (men).  (21)  For  the  heavens  withheld  the  rain 
from  dropping  upon  the  earth,  springs  were  stopped  (that 
sprang)  perennial(ly)  out  of  the  deeps,  (that  ran  down)  from 
lofty  mountains.  For  there  was  none  among  them  that 
wrought  righteousness  and  justice;  from  the  chief  of 
them  to  the  least  (of  them)  all  were  sinful ;  (22)  the  king 
was  a  transgressor,  and  the  judge  disobedient,  and  the 
people  sinful.'  The  w^ording  of  the  whole  passage  is  not 
at  all  clear,  and  the  historical  references  w^ere  not  suffi- 
ciently elucidated  by  the  commentators ;  and  as  they  bear 
on  the  problem  of  sin  and  punishment  in  question,  a  few 
words  of  explanation  are  necessary.  As  v.  17  follows 
immediately  after  the  description  of  the  Roman  conquest 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  offensive  Roman  practices,  Pompey's 
garrison  is  stationed  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  new  administra- 
tion is  at  work  (17).  As  Aristobul  and  his  followers  were 
gone,  who  were  now  the  leaders  of  whom  the  author 
expected  loving-kindness?  01  viol  rrj^  SiaOrJKr]?  kv  fx^crco 
kOvcov  avpLfXiKTOdv  are  at  first  sight  obscure,  and  Ryle- James 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 85 

offer  as  the  only  help  to  understanding  LXX  on  Ezek,  30.  5  : 
Kal  7rduT€9  ol  eTrifiLKTOi  Kal  rcoi/  vlcov  rrjs  SLadiJKr]^  fj.ov  for 
nnnn  ps  ':2)  niDi  niyn  bi.  The  similarity  is  indeed  very 
close,  and  may  contain  the  clue  to  a  satisfactory  interpre- 
tation of  the  line.  From  Josephus  ^  we  learn  that  Antipater 
was  already  in  63/2  assisting,  at  Hyrkanos'  order,  the 
Roman  representative  of  Pompey  in  Syria,  Aemilius  Scaurus ; 
so  that  he  was,  from  the  day  of  Hyrkanos'  reinstatement  by  ~ 
Pompey,  by  his  side  in  Jerusalem  as  in  former  years, 
and  governed  Judaea  on  his  behalf.^  He,  his  sons,  and  his 
friends  could  in  a  twofold  sense  be  referred  to  as  the  sons  of 
the  covenant,  as  they  were  circumcised,  and  were  Hyrkanos' 
allies  and  friends.  The  Romans  who  were  also  represented, 
might  have  been  described  as  3"ivn  ^22,  the  sons  of  the 
west,  Italy  being  termed  the  west  (17.  14),  and  the  trans- 
lator took  the  words,  as  in  Ezekiel,  to  mean  mingled  people. 
The  poet  expected  Antipater  to  be  more  kind  to  the  Jews 
than  the  Romans,  but  he  proved  worse.  The  adherents  of 
the  pious,'^  from  reasons  not  indicated,  were  forced  to  flee 
from  Jerusalem  ;  they  scattered  in  various  directions,  and 
wandered  for  safety  in  deserts,  probably  hoping  to  be 
allowed  soon  to  return.  At  this  point  (19)  some  new 
persons  are  introduced  by  the  poet,  called  TrapocKLa,  Jews 
w^ho  had  settled  outside  Judaea,  and  who  valued  every 
life  of  those  who  wandered  in  the  deserts  and  who  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping,  as  most  precious.  To  those  sojourners 
in  countries  outside  Judaea  the  next  lines  are  devoted. 
As  the  king  who  was  never  referred  to  before,  was  still  in 
power,  when  the  lawless  drove  out  those  men,  it  was  before 
Pompey 's  invasion ;  perhaps  they  were  identical  with  those 
who  were  deprived  of  their  property  by  guile  (4.  11-15) 

1  Antiquit.,  XIV,  5.  1.  80. 

-  '  And  Gabinius  settled  the  affairs  of  Jerusalem  according  to  Antipater's 
wishes,'  Antiquit,  XIV,  6.  4. 103 ;  Wars,  I,  8.  7.  175  ;  Schiirer,  Geschichie,  I, 
843,  14;  Wellhausen  in  Gottinger  Gelehrte  Anzeigen,  1899,  245. 

3  In  10.  7,  'And  the  pious  sliall  give  thanks  in  the  assembly  of  the 
people,'  we  see  that  those  who  loved  the  assemblies  of  the  pious,  belonged 
to  the  people. 


1 86  SOME    TYPES    OF 

and  driv^en  out  from  Jerusalem.  At  first  they  fled  probably 
to  the  mountains  of  Judaea  where,  for  some  time,  they 
found  the  most  necessarj^  food  and  water ;  but  on  account 
of  a  long  drought  the  water  supply  failed  them,  manj- 
perished,  and  others  emigrated  to  neighbouring  countries. 
Naturally,  they  took  deep  interest  in  the  safety  of  their 
former  adherents  and  friends  who  under  Antipater's 
administration  were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives  from 
Jerusalem.  The  drought  was,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer, 
due  to  the  sinfulness  ^  of  the  whole  population  of  Judaea ; 
not  only  of  the  king,  the  rulers  and  the  judges  of  whose 
mjustice  and  lawlessness  other  psalms  speak,  but  even  of 
the  ordinary  men  of  the  people  to  whose  sins  no  other 
passage  refers.  Was  this  addition  necessary  to  account 
for  the  terrible  drought  b}'  which  many  pious  men  and 
others  of  the  people  had  perished,  as  without  the  sin  of  the 
ordinary  man  the  calamity  would  not  have  been  so 
general  ? 

10.  The  author  of  the  psalms  and  his  friends  were 
bitterl}^  disappointed  in  their  expectations  that  the  rein- 
statement of  Hyrkanos  by  Pompey  as  the  ruler  and  high- 
priest  would  inaugurate  conditions  more  fair  and  just  to 
the  section  of  the  pious.  Antipater  saw  his  own  interests 
best  served  by  an  absolute  support  of  the  Roman  rule  and  by 
the  unconditional  suppression  of  everybody  and  every  thing- 
opposing  him,  whether  political  or  religious  ;  and  conse- 
quently' many  a  pious  man  was  expelled.  Such  violence 
only  strengthened  the  messianic  longing  and  hope  which 
the  recent  catastrophe  and   the    Roman   yoke   had  again 

^  The  words  ZiKaioavvrj  kol  Kpifia  cover  the  sins  of  all,  as  they  correspond 
with  DDt^'O  r\p1)S  in  Gren.  18.  19  and  elsewhere,  and,  as  was  shown 
above,  p.  160-64,  refer  neither  to  ceremonial  law  nor  to  charity,  but  to  the 
general  good  conduct  of  every  individual  in  his  own  sphere  in  conformity 
with  the  Torah.  The  judge  was  reproached  by  the  poet  not  for  his 
neglect  of  the  ceremonial  rules,  but,  as  in  4.  1-7,  with  partiality  in 
his  public  and  with  immorality  in  his  private  life.  The  king's  sins  are 
nowhere  mentioned  ;  but  if  what  is  said  against  the  priests  and  leaders, 
refers  also  to  him,  he  treated  the  altar  and  the  holy  things  with 
irreverence,  and  was  immoral. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 87 

aroused.  The  impressive  and  clear  picture  of  the  messianic 
king  was  fully  analysed  by  Ryle-James;^  1)ut  as  tlieir  chief 
interest  centred  round  the  person  of  tlie  Messiah  and  his 
character,  one  eminently  characteristic  qualit}^  of  the  essen- 
tial figures  in  the  picture,  holiness,  though  mentioned 
several  times,  did  not  attract  their  attention,  and  its  mean- 
ing was  not  sufficiently  realized.  Holy  is  the  adjective  of 
Jerusalem,  of  the  people  of  Israel  and  of  the  king.  The 
author  says  of  the  messianic  king  (17.  32),  '  And  he  shall 
have  the  heathen  nations  to  serve  him  under  his  yoke ;  and 
he  shall  glorify  the  Lord  in  a  place  to  be  seen  of  (?)  all  the 
earth  ;  (33)  and  he  shall  purge  Jerusalem,  making  it  holy  as 
of  old  :  (34)  so  that  nations  shall  come  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  to  see  his  glory,  bringing  as  gifts  her  sons  who  liad 
fainted,  (35)  and  to  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  wherewith 
God  hath  glorified  her.  And  he  (shall  be)  a  righteous 
king,  taught  of  God,  over  them,  (36)  and  there  shall  be  no 
unrighteousness  in  his  days  in  their  midst,  for  all  shall  be 
holy  and  their  king  the  anointed  of  the  Lord '.  In  describ- 
ing the  attitude  of  the  king  to  the  nations,  the  author 
distinguished  between  the  heathen  whose  cruel  and  offen- 
sive conduct  he  had  recently  witnessed  in  Jerusalem,  and 
other  peoples  outside  Judaea.  Of  his  attitude  to  the 
Romans  he  said  (24),  'And  gird  him  (the  king)  with  strength, 
that  he  may  shatter  unrighteous  rulers,  (25)  and  that  he 
may  purge  Jerusalem  from  nations  that  trample  (her)  down 
to  destruction.  Wisely,  righteously  (26)  he  shall  thrust  out 
sinners  from  (the)  inheritance,  he  shall  destroy  the  pride  of 
the  sinner  as  a  potter's  vessel.  With  a  rod  of  iron  he  shall 
break  in  pieces  all  their  substance,  (27)  he  shall  destroy  the 
godless  nations  with  the  word  of  his  mouth  :  at  his  rebuke 
nations  shall  flee  before  him,  and  he  shall  reprove  sinners 
for  the  thoughts  of  their  heart '.  That  he  sincerely  wished 
such  conquerors  to  be  shattered  and  Jerusalem  j)urged  of 
them,  is  only  natural.  He  places,  however,  the  Jewish 
violent  and  sinful  rulers  on  the  same  level,  and  his  first 

^  p.  lii-lviii,  cf.  Bousset,  Religion^,  200-77. 


l88  SOME    TYPES    OF 

wish  was  that  they  might  be  removed  from  the  Jewish 
inheritance  ;  for  he  was,  in  the  first  instance,  thinking  of 
the  Idumaean  Antipater  and  his  non-Jewish  followers. 
Their  power  and  their  pride  with  which  they  oppressed^ 
their  fellow-Jews,  deserved  the  same  thorough  destruction, 
and  their  evil  plans  frustration.  His  hope  of  the  removal 
of  the  Romans  and  of  Antipater,  one  would  think,  would 
appeal  as  obvious  to  every  fair-minded  commentator. 
When  these  foreign  oppressors  have  been  purged  away  by 
the  messianic  king,  he  will  proceed  to  gather  together  the 
exiles,  and  place  the  returned  all  over  Palestine,  so  that  no 
room  will  be  left  in  the  territories  of  the  various  tribes  for 
the  sojourner  and  the  alien  (28-31).  The  psalmist  did  not 
apply  to  the  inhuman,  blood-thirsty  conquerors  the  words 
of  Isa.  52. 1  about  the  Babylonians  :  '  O  Jerusalem,  the  holy 
city ;  for  henceforth  there  shall  no  more  come  into  thee  the 
uncircumcised  and  the  unclean '.  Though  the  opportunity 
for  it  would  have  been  most  appropriate,  no  adjective 
except  '  lawless '  is  applied  to  the  Romans  ;  for  it  was  not 
any  uncleanness  attaching  to  his  person,  but  the  cruelty 
and  the  haughty  conduct  that  were  to  the  pious  man 
unclean  in  the  Roman.  And  when  he  said  (17.  51),  'May 
the  Lord  hasten  His  mercy  upon  Israel !  May  He  deliver 
us  from  the  uncleanness  of  unholy  enemies,  diro  aKaOap- 
(Tias  e^Opcou  (Be^rjXcoy ',  he  meant  their  desecration  of  the 
Temple  and  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  with  reference  to  which 
even  the  pious  layman  was  only  little  less  unclean;^  and 
Ryle-James's  remark,  '  notice  the  prominence  given  to  the 
uncleanness  of  the  oppressors,'  is  entirely  misleading.  The 
word  ccKadapo-ca  is  applied  three  times  in  ch.  8,  once  or 
twice  not  to  any  non- Jews,  but  to  the  leading  priests ;  them 
(13)  the  writer  accuses  of  having  gone  up  to  the  altar 
coming  from  every  uncleanness,  meaning  immorality  and 

^  Pride,  or  more  correctly  haughtiness  and  presumption  revealed  in  the 
oppression  of  others,  17.  46;  4.  28. 

2  Josephus,  Antiquit.,  XIV,  4.  4.  72  :  Pompey  and  not  a  few  of  his  com- 
panions went  inside  (the  Temple)  and  saw  the  things  which  no  other 
men  but  tlie  high-priests  only  are  permitted  to  see. 


JEWISH-PALESTIXIAX    PIETY  189 

sin.  And  (24) '  He  led  away  their  sons  and  daughters,  whom 
they  had  begotten  in  defilement  {^y  ^€(3r]Xcoa€i).  (25)  They 
did  according  to  their  uncleanness  (Kara  ray  ccKadapcTLa^), 
even  as  their  fathers  (had  done) '}  And  that  Pompey 
should  have  appeared  to  the  author  of  the  psalm  more 
moral  and  purer  than  those  priests,  could  not  possibly  be 
expected.  When,  in  the  progress  of  the  messianic  king,  the 
whole  of  Palestine  is  free  from  all  non-Jews,  the  heathen 
nations  submit  to  the  rule  of  the  king  of  the  Jews,  as  they 
see  him  from  all  parts  of  the  earth  glorify  God  on  the 
high  mountain  of  Zion.  He  only  now  purges  Jerusalem  in 
holiness  or  sanctification  (eu  dyLaaficp),  as  of  old  ;  probably  in 
the  same  sense  as  King  Josiah  purged  the  city  of  all  idola- 
try- to  the  last  vestige,  so  he  removes  all  that  Roman  and 
Idumaean  worship  and  their  unjust  and  violent  administra- 
tion left  behind.  In  the  now  holy  city  no  wrong  will  be 
done,  everybody  will  be  holy  (36).  This  last  statement 
shows  the  moral  and  spiritual  meaning  of  holiness  which 
excludes  every  kind  of  wrong-doing. 

The  same  is  expressed  in  17.  28,  'And  he  shall  gather 
together  a  holy  people,  whom  he  shall  lead  in  righteousness, 
and  he  shall  judge  the  tribes  of  the  people  that  has  been 
sanctified  by  the  Lord  his  God.  (.29)  And  he  shall  not 
suffer  unrighteousness  to  lodge  any  more  in  their  midst, 
nor  shall  there  dwell  with  them  any  man  that  knoweth 
wickedness,  (30)  for  he  shall  know  them,  that  they  are  all 
sons  of  their  God '.  The  Israelites  gathered  from  abroad 
are  termed  here  a  holy  people,  as  also  in  v.  48,  '  In  the 
assemblies  he  will  judge  the  peoples,  the  tribes  of  the  sanc- 
tified. (49)  His  words  (shall  be)  like  the  words  of  the  holy 
ones  in  the  midst  of  sanctified  peoples'.  God  sanctified, 
that  is,  purified  them,  as  in  the  messianic  prophecy  in 
Ezek.  36.  24-9  God  will  bring  the  people  back  from  the 

1  In  8.  23,  •  He  poured  out  the  blood  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
like  the  water  of  uncleanness ',  is,  no  doubt,  a  wrong  rendering  of  '  unclean 
water';  for  the  Avater  used  for  the  purification  of  a  person  defiled  by 
a  corpse  in  Num.  19.  9,  17,  18,  21 ;  31.  23  is  holy  and  not  unclean. 


190  SOME    TYPES    OF 

exile,  and  purify  them  from  all  their  impurities,  and  give 
them  a  new  spirit ;  and  in  37.  23,  '  But  I  will  save  them 
out  of  all  their  dwelling-places,  wherein  they  have  sinned, 
and  will  cleanse  them ;  so  shall  they  be  My  people,  and  I 
will  be  their  God.  (24)  And  David  my  servant  shall  be 
king  over  them '.  Again  we  see  that  holiness  implied  the 
exclusion  of  unrighteousness  and  even  the  knowledge  of 
wickedness,  and  that  the  holy  man  is  a  son  of  God.  The 
king  will  see  to  it  that  that  spirit  continue  in  the  holy 
people,  (41)  '  he  will  rebuke  rulers,  and  remove  sinners  by 
the  might  of  his  word ;  (46)  he  will  lead  them  all  aright, 
and  there  will  be  no  pride  among  them  that  any  among 
them  should  be  oppressed '.  And  his  qualifications  are,  (35) 
'he  (shall  be)  a  righteous  king,  taught  of  God,  over  them, 
(36)  the  anointed  of  the  Lord,  he  will  not  increase  horses, 
riders  and  bows,  nor  gold  or  silver  nor  big  armies  (37),  but 
(38)  God  Himself  is  his  king,  the  hope  of  him  that  is  mighty 
through  (his)  hope  in  God  '.  The  contrast  here  clearly 
shows  that  God  Himself  will  be  Israel's  protector,  as  in 
1  Sam.  12.  12,  making  all  other  means  of  defence  super- 
fluous. Consequently,  the  king  will  have  to  use  only  his 
word  (39),  and  wisdom  and  righteousness  for  the  removal 
of  sinners  (17.  25,  31,  42 ;  18.  8),  and  bless  the  people  with 
wisdom  and  gladness  (40).  He  will  be  pure  from  sin  (41),^ 
that  is,  he  will  be  holy,  so  that  he  may  rule  a  great  people. 
(42)  '  God  will  make  him  mighty  by  means  of  (His)  holy 
spirit,  and  wise  by  means  of  the  spirit  of  understanding, 
with  strength  and  righteousness '.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  author  used  Isa.  11.  2  here,  but  introduced  some  very 
interesting  changes.  It  is  very  probable  that  for  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  he  put  the  spirit  of  holiness,  an  expression 
occurring  already  in  Isa.  63.  10,  '  But  they  rebelled,  and 
vexed  His  holy  spirit;  (11)  where  is  He  that  put  His  holy 
spirit  in  the  midst  of  them"?  and  in  LXX  Dan.  4.  5,  15  ; 
Susanna  44.  Accordingly,  it  was  used  already  a  generation 
before  Hillel  in  whose  time  it  denoted  the  prophetic  gift, 

'  See  Apoc.  Baruch,  9.  1. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  191 

called  in  the  Bible  the  spirit  of  the  Lord.  By  that  holy 
spirit  the  messianic  king  will  be  the  ideal  ruler  of  his 
people  (37-46),  and,  like  David  (2  Sam.  15.  2-4  ;  Ps.  122.  5) 
and  Solomon  (1  Reg.  3.  16,  28  ;  7.  7),^  the  chief  judge  who 
(48)  decides  disputes  in  the  assembly  ^  and  instructs  the 
people  (47) :  his  words  will  be  wisdom  as  precious  as  the 
teachings  of  Wisdom  (Prov.  8. 10-21).  As  a  good  shepherd 
he  will  tend  the  flock  of  God  faithfully  and  in  righteous- 
ness (45),  his  spirit  will  be  that  of  wisdom  and  righteous- 
ness (25,  28,  31,42  ;  18.  8),  '  that  he  may  direct  (every)  man 
in  the  works  of  righteousness  by  the  fear  of  God,  that  he 
may  establish  them  all  before  the  Lord  (9),  a  good  genera- 
tion (living)  in  the  fear  of  God  in  the  days  of  mercy'  (10). 
Even  Ryle-James  do  not  refer  the  righteousness  of  the 
messianic  king  to  ceremonial  rules,  but  concede  here  a 
wider  and  fuller  meaning  to  it.  As  the  king,  however, 
directs  every  man  in  the  works  of  righteousness,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  virtue  which  he  teaches  others,  must  be  the 
same  as  he  himself  also  possesses,  it  follows  that  the  works 
of  righteousness  are  of  the  highest  moral  character.  It 
was  only  natural  that  the  writer  applied  the  virtues  that 
characterized  the  actions  of  the  pious,  righteousness  and  the 
fear  of  God,  to  the  lives  of  those  who  under  the  messianic 
king  would  be  free  from  sin  and  holy,  and  would  possess 
the  most  perfect  righteousness,  the  highest  possible  piety. 

For  the  comparison  of  the  piety  of  the  pious  men  in  the 
Psalms  of  Solomon  with  that  of  the  Hasids  and  of  Hillel 

1  Cf.  2  Reg.  15.  5  ;  Prov.  2'.).  U  ;  Jer.  21.  12  ;  22.  15,  16  ;  Ps.  72.  i,  14. 

2  'Ev  avi'a-yojyais  biaKpivei  \aovs,  he  will  judge  peoples  in  assemblies  ; 
the  peoples  do  not  fit  well  in  the  context  which  is  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  king's  activities  within  Israel.  At  a  criminal  trial  Hhe  people'  is 
mentioned  not  only  in  Deut.  13.  10;  17.  7,  but  1  Reg.  21.  9,  and  the 
proceedings  take  place  in  an  assembly,  .Jer.  26. 11,  16  ;  Prov.  5.  14  ;  Siiach, 
23.  21 ;  42^  11  ;  Ezek.  16.  37-40;  23.  22-6  ;  MGWJ.,  55,  1911,  198,  207,  214. 
The  king  would  hear  cases  either  in  the  gate  of  the  city  or  in  some  other 
open  space  and  in  the  presence  of  the  people  constituting  the  assembly. 
His  words  will  be  accepted,  as  those  of  the  most  pious  men  are  accepted, 
by  the  now  sanctified  people.  A  reference  to  angels  would  give  no 
satisfactory  sense  in  the  context.      But  Gebhardt  reads  Xaov  (pvKas. 


192  SOME    TYPES    OF 

there  are,  as  stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  only 
few  points  of  contact  preserved  in  the  respectively  most 
characteristic  traits.  The  psalms  were  occasioned  by  the 
terrible  events  of  Pompey's  conquest  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
subsequent  destruction  of  the  Sadducean  rulers  and  nobles ; 
and  all  the  meditations  and  prayers  of  the  author  referred, 
as  was  shown,  mainly  to  two  subjects  :  the  just  punishment 
of  the  sinners  and  the  protection  of  the  pious  men.  On 
that  line  of  thought  nothing  is  recorded  of  the  Hasids  in 
the  rabbinic  literature,  though  they  witnessed  Jerusalem's 
conquest  by  Herod  followed  by  a  slaughter  similar  in  its 
character  and  extent.  Instead,  the  records  inform  us  of 
their  love  of  God  as  the  guiding  principle  of  their  actions, 
their  humility,  their  active  love  and  kindness  to  their 
neighbours  as  the  determining  features  of  their  character, 
their  attachment  to  God  and  their  close  relations  with  Him 
expressed  in  their  general  piety,  their  devout  prayer,  their 
humble  interpretation  of  their  illness  as  a  cleansing  of  sin, 
their  overgreat  fear  of  unknown  transgressions,  and  the 
frequent  atonement  for  such  by  sacrifices.  The  meditations 
of  the  psalmist  fortunately  extended  to  a  number  of  reli- 
gious subjects  on  which  he  held  the  same  views  as  the 
Hasids,  and  which  are  sufficiently  characteristic  to  prove 
that  he  belonged  to  the  stock  of  the  Hasids.  God  watches 
the  actions  of  every  individual,  determines  in  His  provi- 
dence even  his  daily  sustenance,  rewards  good  deeds  by 
protection  from  misfortune  and  by  the  prolongation  of  life, 
leaves  no  transgression  unpunished,  but  punishes  sometimes 
measure  for  measure  or  by  a  sudden  and  violent  death  for 
which  He  employs  human  agents  or  beasts.  In  His  love 
God  sends  illness,  poverty,  and  other  sufferings  upon  the 
pious  to  purge  him  of  his  unintentional  sins,  and  then 
rewards  him  for  all  his  good  deeds.  God  is  ever  present  in 
the  mind  of  the  pious  who  in  all  adversity  trusts  abso- 
lutely in  Him  and  is  not  discomfited  by  misfortune ;  but  in 
his  love  of  God  patiently  submits  to,  and  even  rejoices  at, 
His  trials,  and  in  humility  and  devotion  prays  to  Him. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  1 93 

Contented  with  his  lot,  he  thanks  God  for  his  daily  susten- 
ance and  protection.  In  strict  obedience  to  His  will,  ex- 
pressed in  the  precepts  of  the  Torah,  and  in  his  love  of  God, 
he  detests  haughtiness  and  lawlessness,  practises  the  com- 
mandments, especially  works  of  righteousness  which  com- 
prise scrupulous  honesty,  love  of  peace,  and  loving-kindness 
to  the  fellow-man,  and  also  strict  sexual  morality,  reverence, 
for  the  Temple  and  all  that  is  holy  to  God.  Even  the  pious 
does  not  trust  his  own  religious  and  moral  firmness,  as  he 
discovered  himself  sinning  in  his  dealings  with  his  neigh- 
bour ;  he,  therefore,  continually  searches  his  house  for  possi- 
ble transgressions,  and  frequently  atones  for  his  errors  :  the 
psalmist  for  an  established  sin  by  confession,  restitution, 
and  fasts,  the  Hasid  for  suspected  mistakes  by  frequent 
sacrifices  of  atonement.  The  pious  men  in  Jerusalem 
formed  a  group  of  their  own,  met  on  certain  special  occa- 
sions to  relate  to  each  other  their  religious  experiences,  to 
thank  God  for  His  spiritual  help,  and  to  teach  the  people 
important  religious  truths  derived  from  their  own  lives. 
The  psalmist  and  his  fellows  met  in  assemblies  in  the  city, 
the  Hasids  on  the  Temple  Mount. 

There  were,  accordingly,  two  schools  of  thought  among 
the  pious  about  the  necessity  of  sacrifices  for  obtaining 
God's  forgiveness  and  for  rendering  Him  homage  and 
thanks.  One  saw  in  the  love  and  fear  of  God,  in  strict 
obedience  to  the  life-giving  Torah  and  its  precepts,  in  the 
works  of  righteousness,  in  repentance  and  fast,  in  sub- 
mission to  suff'ering  and  in  holiness  the  only  right  and,  at 
the  same  time,  sufficient  means  of  atonement  for  sins  of 
error,  and  of  gratitude  to  God.  Sacrifices  of  any  kind 
were  io-nored :  and  the  author  went  so  far  as  to  exclude 
the  Temple  and  its  sacrifices  from  the  glorification  of  God 
by  the  nations  on  Mount  Zion  in  the  messianic  age,  when 
even  the  Jewish-Hellenistic  Sibyl  (III,  772-6)  announced 
that  incense  and  gifts  would  be  brought  from  all  parts  of 
the  earth  to  the  house  of  God  which  will  be  the  only  one 
in   the   world.      In   determined    opposition   to   that   new 

N 


194  SOME    TYPES    OF 

tendency  that  contradicted  the  Torah,  tlie  other  school  of 
the  pious  men  took  a  different  stand.  They  not  only 
clung  to  the  ways  of  atonement  by  sin-  and  guilt-offerings 
prescribed  by  the  Torah,  but,  as  a  conscious  defence  of 
established  law  and  custom  naturally  would,  overstressed 
the  indispensability  of  the  atoning  sacrifices.  They 
demanded  as  frequent  a  sin-offering  as  possible,  and  Baba 
b.  Buta  even  brought  every  day  a  trespass-offering  for  sins 
only  suspected.  How  much  older  than  the  year  63  B.c.E. 
this  most  important  difference  of  opinion  and  practice  was, 
cannot  easily  be  proved.  Professor  Cheyne^  and  other 
Bible  commentators  found  the  two  schools  of  thought  in 
the  biblical  Psalms,  in  Proverbs  and  Job :  and  among  the 
various  passages  quoted  by  him  as  evidence,  Pro  v.  16.  6 
expresses  the  tendency  of  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  most 
clearly,  '  By  mercy  and  truth  (true  loving-kindness, 
DDNl  iDnn)  iniquity  is  expiated  (atoned  for,  "(W),  and  by 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  men  depart  from  evil  '.^  But  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  identify  the  first  school  with  the  Essenes ; 
for  there  is  in  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  not  only  nothing  to 
indicate  an  Essene  as  their  author,  but  there  is  much  to 
oppose  it.  Even  if  we  take  the  statement  of  Josephus 
about  the  attitude  of  the  Essenes  to  sacrificino-  in  the 
Temple  to  be  exact  in  all  its  details,  they  recognized  the 
Temple  and  sent  dvaOrnxara,  gifts  to  it,^  whereas  our  author 
never  mentions  any  contribution  of  his  or  of  the  pious 
men  to  it ;  they  would  have  also  offered  sacrifices,  if  their 
stricter  purifications  had  been  adopted  in  the  sacrificial 
service.  There  is  no  reference  in  the  psalms  to  the  laws  of 
purity  which  the  pious  observed,  though  the  attacks  on  the 

1  The  origin  and  religious  contents  of  the  Psalter,  1891,  364-8. 

-  See  Sirach  35  (  =  32).  1  ff.,  He  that  keepeth  the  law  bringeth  offerings; 
he  that  taketh  heed  to  the  commandments  offereth  a  peace-offering. 
(2)  He  that  requitetli  a  good  turn  offereth  fine  flour  ;  and  he  that  giveth 
alms  sacrificeth  a  thank-offering.  (3)  To  depart  from  wickedness  is 
a  thing  pleasing  to  the  Lord  ;  and  to  forsake  unrighteousness  is  a 
propitiation.     Cf.  Schmitz,  Opferanschauung,  65.  66  ff. 

3  Antiquit.  XVIII,  1.  5. 19  ;  Cheyne  37.5. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  195 

defiling  priests  would  have  afforded  the  author  a  very  good 
opportunity  for  it.  Leaving  further  negative  arguments 
aside,  the  doctrine  of  the  free  will  and  man's  responsibility 
for  his  actions^  so  strongly  emphasized  seems  deliberately 
to  oppose  the  view  of  the  Essenes  about  the  determination 
of  all  things  by  destiny.  In  his  just  anger  at  the  violent 
and  unscrupulous  practices  of  the  lawless,  the  psalmist  not 
only  did  not  pray  for  his  enemies,  but,,  as  he  expressly 
stated  (12.  6),  hated  and  cursed  them  most  vehemently. 
He  was  not  an  Essene.  but  a  pious  man  of  the  type 
described,  distinguished  by  his  strong  attachment  to  God 
and  by  his  righteous,  loving  attitude  to  his  fellow-men,  who, 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  a  school  of  the  Hasids 
in  Jerusalem,  worshipped  his  Father  in  heaven  without 
sacrifices. 

1  Ryle- James,  95  b  ff. 


N  2 


TV 
HONI  THE  HASID  AND  HIS  PRAYER  FOR  RAIN 

The  personality  of  Honi  the  circle-drawer  and  his 
alleged  Essenism  have  often  been  casually  referred  to ;  but 
his  prayer  for  rain  and  his  sacrifice  which  express  very 
interesting  and  instructive  religious  thought  and  reflect 
important  ideas  of  his  school  about  God  and  His  providence, 
have,  to  my  knowledge,  never  been  analysed  and  appre- 
ciated. It  would  be  most  important  to  ascertain  the  section 
of  the  population  of  Jerusalem  or  Judaea  of  70-63  b.c.e. 
which  he  represented,  and  the  religious  doctrine  which  his 
words,  spoken  on  a  solemn  occasion,  implied.  Both  can 
undoubtedly  be  inferred  at  least  with  as  high  a  degree 
of  certainty  from  his  purely  personal  and  highly  charac- 
teristic prayer  as  from  one  single  detail  of  his  external 
conduct  in  preparation  for  the  prayer.  Unfortunately,  the 
information  preserved  in  the  rabbinic  accounts  about  Honi 
is  too  scanty  to  help  to  establish  the  share  of  the  peculiar, 
personal  contribution  of  the  pious  man  to  the  characteristic 
features  of  his  prayer  and  its  distinctive  religious  thought, 
and  the  part  representing  the  religious  ideas  common  to  all 
pious  men  of  his  type  and  his  time.  The  censure  which 
the  oflicial  representative  of  Pharisaim,  Simeon  b.  Shetah 
passed  on  Honi's  conduct  towards  God  on  that  occasion, 
would  not  necessarily  imply  that  Honi  did  not  share  fully 
the  views  of  the  Pharisees.  But  he  certainly  represented 
a  characteristic  type  of  Jewish  piety  that  deserves  greater 
attention  than  it  has  so  far  found. 

1.    A  Baraitha   reports,^  '  Once   they   asked  a  Hasid  to 

1  Tos.  Ta'an.  Ill,  1 :  n^^t'^  nn"c>  i^i^Dnn  ii?  nDNC'  nnx  n^Dnn  nc^y^ 


SOME    TYPES    OF    JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY         1 97 

pray  for  the  rain  to  fall;  when  he  had  prayed  and  the 
rain  fell,  they  asked  him  to  pray  for  the  rain  to  stop,  as  he 
had  prayed  for  the  rain  to  fall.  He  replied,  Go  and  see 
whether  a  man  standing  at  the  corner  of  'Ophel  shakes  his 
feet  in  the  brook  of  Kidron ;  if  so,  we  shall  pray  for  the 
rain  not  to  fall ;  but  we  are  confident  that  God  will  not 
bring  a  flood  upon  the  world  according  to  Gen.  9.  15.',^ 
'  'Ophel  was  situated  on  the  eastern  hill  on  which  Jerusalem 
is  built,  somewhere  between  the  southern  end  of  the 
Temple  and  Siloam.  This  is  a  spur  which  becomes  narrow 
to  the  south  until  above  Siloam  it  ends  abruptly  and 
precipitously  '.^  That  the  water  of  the  Kidron  could  have 
ever  risen  500  feet,  is  naturally  out  of  the  question ;  and 
to  that  impossibility  the  Hasid  referred  in  order  to  reassure 
the  anxious  people.  The  reference  to  the  'Ophel  and  the 
Kidron  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  whole  incident 
happened  in  Jerusalem  before  the  year  70.  A  similar 
incident  is  reported   of    Honi :  ^  '  When   once   they    asked 

pcWD  i?DN  ]^p  bv  DIN*  i^y  Q^^  iN*"Ti  iN*^*  cni?  -iCN*  ^Drh  )Jp^)  ]n'bv 
i^N*  rniDn  b^<  n'Dm  in-i"  i6i:^  pfeno  i:n*  jmp  i^mn  vb:^  ns* 
i?n?^i?  D^D.-i  my  hm^  i^b)  "ir^xrc^  Di?iyi?  bine  ^<•'3c  Dipcn  pN'c^. 

1  The  second  part  of  tliis  statement  is  quoted  by  R.  Eliezer  in 
jer.  Taan.  Ill,  67a.  5;  b.  22b  bottom:  ^When  they  asked  R.  Eliezer, 
When  do  they  pray  for  the  rain  to  go  away,  he  answered  them,  When 
a  man  is  standing  at  the  corner  of  'Ophel  and  shakes  his  feet  in  the  brook 
of  Kidron  ;  but  we  are  confident  that  the  God  of  mercy  will  not  bring 
a  flood  upon  the  world  according  to  Isa.  54.  9,  For  this  is  as  the  waters  of 
Noah  unto  Me  ;  for  as  I  have  sworn  that  the  waters  of  Noah  should  no 
more  go  over  the  earth,  so  have  I  sworn,  &c.'  R.  Eliezer  quoted  probably 
to  his  disciples,  between  90  and  120,  the  rule  of  an  earlier  time  in 
Jerusalem  which  was  pronounced  at  the  latest  between  60  and  70,  when 
he  was  a  disciple  of  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  in  the  capital;  but  it  could  be 
of  an  earlier  date.     b.  reads  "JC^^I^D,  moving  the  feet  in  the  brook  to 

wash  them. 

2  Warren  in  Hastings,  DB.,  Ill,  626  b. 

3  Ta'an.iii,  8 :  n?DS*  p'J:^}  "iin^t^'  i^i^Dnn  b:v^r]  ^:in^  ^b  noN*^  ni^'yD 
iiT  N^i  bb^nr]  ,"ipi?o^  n^c^  ^^n^a  D^noa  ni:n  iD^:3m  inv  nn^ 
T:i:i  nb^v  b'C'  i:u-i  v:>h  iroNi  n^inn  iDyi  njiy  :y  n^^y  n?3  ^n'^^zm 
n  ^rsu^  ijH^n  -irou^n  ^:n  ynr:  y^zb  n^i  pD  ^:xl:'  "^y  cn^:^  ict:' 


igS  SOME    TYPES    OF 

Honi  the  circle-drawer  to  pray  for  the  rain  to  fall,  he  said 
to  them,  Go  out  and  take  in  the  ovens  for  the  Passover 
sacrifice  so  that  they  may  not  be  dissolved  (by  the  rain). 
When  he  had  prayed  and  no  rain  fell,  he  drew  a  circle  (or 
dug  a  pit),  stood  up  in  it  and  prayed  to  God,  *  Master  of 
the  Universe,  Thy  children  have  set  their  faces  upon  me, 
because  I  am  before  Thee  like  a  son  of  the  house  ;  I  swear 
by  Thy  great  name  that  I  shall  not  move  hence  until  Thou 
hast  had  mercy  upon  Thy  children.'  When  it  began  to 
rain  in  small  drops,  he  said,  '  Not  such  rain  have  I  asked, 
but  rain  to  fill  pits,  ditches,  and  caverns ' ;  when  now  the  rain 
fell  in  anger  (storm),  he  said,  '  Not  such  rain  have  I  asked, 
but  rain  of  favour,  blessing  and  gift '.  Then  it  rained 
normally,  (but  so  long)  that  the  Israelites  went  out  on 
account  of  the  rain  from  Jerusalem  to  the  Temple  Mount. 
When  they  came  and  asked  him,  '  As  thou  hast  prayed  for 
the  rain  to  fall,  pray  now  that  it  should  go  away,'  he  said, 
Go  and  see,  whether  the  stone  of  the  erring  has  dissolved.'  ^ 
The  account  about  the  incident  stops  here,  and  is  evidently 
incomplete,  as  also  the  parallels,  to  be  quoted  presently, 
show. 

The  continuation  of  the  Mishnah  describes  Honi  as  a 
contemporary  of  Simeon  b.  Shetah.     According  to  rabbinic 

'nbi^i^  13  i6  "i?ox  psiD^D  n^^m  ib^nnn  ^y:2  bv  Dn-intj>  iv  jn^d 
p  i6  "ID^5  ?iyT3  i-rb  li'^nnn  ^nnyDi  pn-'tr  nnn  "dsj'j  N*i?N* 
ijN"ic^^  iNV^K^  ^V  ]^?^r\2  ni^  ,r\2i2)  nDin  |iv"i  'r^m  n^j5  Thi^^if 

p^<  JT^no:  Di^  "iN"n   inv  nrh   "idn  jnb  )2b^^  i^^ann  -jd   •m^:^ 

1  This  rock  is  mentioned  again  in  Baiaitha  Baba  mes.  28  b  ;  jer.  Ta'an. 
Ill,  66  d.  72  :  There  was  the  stone  of  the  erring  in  Jerusalem  to  which 
anyone  who  had  lost  or  found  a  thing,  turned  ;  the  finder  announced  his 
find,  the  loser  gave  a  description  of  his  lost  article  and  received  it  back. 
The  position  of  the  rock  is  nowhere  indicated.  Jerusalem  in  the  account 
suggests  a  part  of  the  city  as  opposed  to  the  Temple  Mount ;  and  riTIDJ  , 
as  in  the  other  report  the  reference  to  the  'Ophel,  suggests  the  certainty 
of  Honi  that  either  the  rising  floods  could  not  reach  the  rock,  or  the  rain 
was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  dissolve  it. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  199 

reports,  Simeon  was  a  brother  of  Salom^  Alexandra,  the 
queen  of  Alexander  Jannaeus,  and  a  leader  of  the  Pharisees 
and  a  scholar  under  that  king  and  his  successor,  Salome 
Alexandra.  Hence  the  correct  and  generally  accepted 
view  is  that  Honi  is  identical  with  the  Onias  mentioned 
by  Josephus,^  who  was  in  the  camp  of  Hyrkanos  II,  when 
he  with  Aretas  besieged  his  brother  Aristobul  II  in 
Jerusalem.  The  account  of  Josephus  says  :  '  A  certain 
Onias,  a  righteous  and  God-beloved  man  who  had  once  in  a 
drought  prayed  to  God  for  rain,  and  to  whom  God  listened 
and  sent  rain.  Owing  to  the  prolongation  of  the  war  he  hid, 
but  was  brought  to  the  camp  and  was  asked  by  Hyrkanos' 
followers  to  curse  Aristobul  and  his  supporters.  He 
refused  to  do  so ;  and  when  the  crowd  tried  to  force  him, 
he  stood  up  and  prayed,  0  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
since  those  who  are  standing  around  me  are  Thy  people, 
and  the  besieged  are  Thy  priests,  I  pray  that  Thou  mayest 
not  listen  to  these  against  those,  nor  realize  that  which 
these  ask  against  those.'  So  far  the  interesting  report  of 
Josephus.  The  Jews  attributed  to  Onias'  prayer  an 
immediate  effect,^  and,  as  far  as  the  account  goes,  Onias 
did  not  protest  against  their  belief.  The  two  adjectives 
applied  to  him  by  Josephus  do  not  suggest  that  Onias  was 
an  Essene  "^ ;  for,  as  shown  above,*  '  righteous '  was  a  com- 
prehensive term  for  piety  and  was  applied  also  to  men  who 
undoubtedly  were  not  Essenes.  '  Beloved  by  God '  is  a  rare 
attribute,  and  refers  to  the  acceptance  of  Onias'  prayer  by 
God.  Josephus  never  misses  an  occasion  to  point  to  the 
Essenes  and  their  wonderful  gifts,  and  would  not  have 
failed  to  do  the  same  here,  if  his  source  had  even  only 
alluded  to  the  Essenic  character  of  Onias  ;  and  to  himself 

1  Antiquit.,  XIV,  2.  1.  22. 

2  Goldziher,  Abhandhmgen,  I,  43,  compares  witli  it  tlie  force  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  Balak,  Balaam's  curse  in  Num.  22.  6  had. 

3  Kohler  in  J.  Q.  B.,  V,  1893,  415,  and  in  Kohut's  Semitic  Studies,  284  ; 
Abrahams  in  J.Q.R.,  20,  1908.  291;  Egers  in  Steinschneider's  Hebr. 
Bibliogr.,  16,  1876,  17  ff.  ;  Griitz,  Geschichte,  III,  4th  edition,  157. 

*  p.  158-164. 


200  SOME    TYPES    OF 

neither  the  public  intercession  of  the  pious  and  recognized 
man,  nor  the  acceptance  of  his  prayer  suggested  such  a 
character.  An  in  many  respects  interesting  rabbinic  parallel 
which  contains  a  Hebrew  equivalent  of  '  God-beloved '  in 
connexion  with  a  prayer  for  rain,  confirms  the  above  con- 
clusion. In  a  year  of  drought  Nikodemos  b.  Goryon,  one 
of  the  well-known  wealthy  citizens  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
last  twenty  years  of  the  second  Temple,  on  his  own 
responsibility  borrowed  of  a  non-Jewish  hegemon  for  the 
great  number  of  pilgrims  who  had  come  up  to  the  capital 
for  the  festival,  twelve  cisterns  of  water  on  the  condition 
that  he  would,  by  a  certain  date,  return  the  water  in  kind 
or  pay  a  very  large  sum  of  money.  When  the  day  arrived, 
the  drought  still  continued  unbroken,  and  Nikodemos  was 
in  great  trouble.  He  went  to  the  Temple,  wrapped  himself 
and  prayed,  *  Master  of  the  Universe,  it  is  known  and 
manifest  to  Thee  that  I  acted  not  for  mine  honour  nor  for 
that  of  my  father's  house,  but  in  Thine  honour,  that  the 
pilgrims  for  the  festival  might  have  water '.  At  once  the 
skies  were  covered  with  clouds,  the  rain  fell,  and  the  twelve 
and  even  more  cisterns  were  filled  with  water.  But  as  the 
sun  was  already  going  down  on  the  fixed  day,  Nikodemos 
went  to  the  Temple,  wrapped  himself  and  prayed,  '  Master 
of  the  Universe,  show  that  Thou  hast  beloved  men,  D^ninN*, 
in  Thy  world  ! '  At  once  the  clouds  dispersed  and  the  sun 
shone. ^  We  have  here  the  intense  prayer  of  an  unselfish, 
good  and  pious  man  who  prayed  for  himself,  and  inci- 
dentally obtained  relief  for  the  whole  population  of 
Jerusalem.  He  was  an  adherent  of  the  Pharisee  R.  Johanan 
b.  Zakkai  and  evidently  not  an  Essene  ;  and,  according  to 
the  report,  his  personal  character,  his  generous  act,  and  his 
general  worthiness  induced  God  to  break  the  drought. 
The  whole  account  rests  on  the  prevailing  conviction  that 
in  a  calamity  God  accepts  the  interceding  prayer  of  worthy 
individuals,  and  even  more  readily  than  that  of  the  whole 
community   or    congregation ;    for    their    supplication    is 

^  Baraitha  Ta'an.  19  b  ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTI^^IAN    PIETY  20I 

supported  before  God  by  their  piety.  For  the  further 
miraculous  intervention  of  God  Nikodemos  referred  to 
such  men  as  were  distinguished  by  His  special  love  ^ ;  and 
the  granting  of  his  prayer  showed  Nikodemos,  as  also  to 
Onias,  that  they  were  beloved  by  God.- 

Nor  does  the  fuller  rabbinic  account  of  Honi's  prayer 
afford  any  more  definite  evidence  about  his  Essenism.  As 
in  various  passages  in  the  Pentateuch  and  in  1  Reg.  17.  1  ; 
Jer.  14.  1,  7,  20-22  ;  Amos  4.  7,  8,  so  in  Honi's  words  the 
drought  was  a  punishment  inflicted  by  God  upon  the  whole 
country  for  provocation  by  sin.  The  degree  of  the  drought 
and  its  duration  were  commensurate  to  the  sins  of  the 
people,  and  fixed  by  God  beforehand,  as  in  the  days  of 
King  Ahab,  1  Reg.  17. 1 ;  and  unless  mercy  and  forgiveness 
were  granted  to  them,  no  prayer  could  reduce  the  sentence. 
But  from  their  past  history  the  Jews  knew  that  the  prayer 
of  Moses  had  on  several  occasions  averted  the  impending- 
doom  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,^  as  also  the  intercession 
of  Samuel,*  of  Isaiah,^  Jeremiah,'^'  and  Noah,  Daniel,  and 
Job.'  And  in  a  drought  Jeremiah  had  prayed  for  rain^; 
and  though  God  refused  to  accept  his  intercession,  he  still 
continued  his  prayer.  Such  entreaty  for  rain  was  naturally 
attempted  on  many  an  occasion  in  post-exilic  times,  though 
no  information  about  it  and  the  various  intercessors  has 
been  preserved ;  and  even  about  the  practice  of  the  first 
century  very  little    has    been  recorded.      Two  grandsons 

'  Josephus,  Wars,  I,  17.  4.  331.  Siraeh,  45. 1  says  that  Moses  was  loved  by 
God  and  men,  and  in  46.  13  that  Samuel  was  beloved  of  God  ;  4  Ezra  3.14. 

2  See  Abrahams  in  J.  Q.  E.,  XX,  1908,  273  fif.  .  If  Midr.  Tanh. 
XINT  B.  22, 19  a,  which  describes  Honi  as  a  direct  descendant  of  Moses,  is 
to  be  taken  literally,  he  was  a  Levite.  Yuhasin,  ed.  Philipowski,  63  b 
quotes  from  'Arukh.  s.  v.  ]*hiJ2  R.  SemahGaon's  statement  that  Honi  lived 
in  a  town  called  iS^JD.  In  'Arukh,  V,  76  b  the  quotation  is  wanting,  and 
Kohut  refers  to  the   explanation    of  R.   Simeon  b.  Semah   Duran,  N3p 

3  Exod.  32.  11 ;  Deut.  9.  18,  26 ;  Num.  14.  13  flf. ;  16.  22 ;  21.  7. 

4  1  Sam,  12.  19,  23  ;  Jer.  15.  1.  '^  Isa.  37.  4. 

6  Jer.  42.  2,  9,  20.  ''  Ezek.  14.  13-20  ;  cf.  Job  42.  8  ;  Gen.  20.  7. 

«  Jer.  14.  n,  19-22. 


202  SOME    TYPES    OF 

of  Honi  were  invited  to  pray  for  rain,  but  only  in  their 
houses  and  not  in  public ;  were  they  really  Essenes,  as 
was  suggested  ?  Two  scholars  were  sent  to  one  of  them,  to 
Abba  Hilkiah,  to  ask  him  to  pray  for  rain ;  as  he  was  not 
at  home,  they  went  after  him  to  the  field  where  he  was 
working  as  a  hired  labourer.  He  did  not  return  their 
salutation,  nor  pay  any  attention  to  their  presence,  because 
every  second  of  his  time  belonged  to  the  farmer  for  whom 
he  was  working.  The  mantle  which  he  wore  on  his  way 
home,  he  treated  with  the  greatest  care,  for  he  had  borrowed 
it.  His  wife  came  fully  adorned  to  meet  him,  thus  to  attract 
all  his  attention  and  to  prevent  his  eyes  from  turning  to 
another  woman  ;  and  as  she  entered  the  house  first,  he 
would  not  allow  the  scholars  to  follow  her  before  him, 
because  he  did  not  know  them  and  their  moral  character. 
At  the  table  he  did  not  offer  them  of  his  food  which  was 
scantily  measured  for  his  wife  and  his  children  ;  for  he 
would  not  utter  an  untruth  even  in  the  form  of  a  social 
compliment.  After  the  meal  he  and  his  wife  left  the  room 
and  prayed  on  the  roof  for  rain,  the  wife  being  favoured 
by  God  with  the  first  cloud  which  appeared  over  her  head : 
and  when  the  rain  fell  immediately,  they  claimed  no  merit 
in  it.^  Another  grandson  of  Honi,  Hanan  N*nn]n,  was  also 
approached  by  the  scholars ;  whenever  rain  was  wanted, 

'  The  report  is  in  Aramaic,  Ta'an.  23  a  ff.  Kohler  in  J.  Q.  R.,  XIII,  1901. 
571,  not  deterred  by  the  humble  circumstances  of  the  man,  ingeniously- 
tried  to  identify  him  with  Hilkiah  the  Great  in  Josephus,  Antiquit, 
XVIII,  8.  4.  273.  But  there  is  a  very  serious  objection  to  that  identifica- 
tion. Josephus  introduces  his  Hilkiah  by  these  words:  'Aristobul, 
a  brother  of  King  Agrippa,  and  Helkias  the  Great,  and  other  most  noble 
members  of  the  same  house,  and  the  leaders  (of  the  community)  with 
them  ',  stating  expressly  that  Hilkiah  was  one  of  the  members  of  the 
royal  house  of  Agrippa,  who  went  at  the  head  of  a  deputation  to  Petronius, 
the  governor  of  Syria  under  Caligula ;  so  that  the  suggestion  has  no 
foundation.  In  jer.  Ta'an.  I,  (54  b.  63,  the  same  is  reported  of  a  Hasid  in 
K'far-Imme  as  of  Abba  Hilkiah,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  find  here  a  Hasid 
chosen  by  the  scholars  to  pray  for  rain.  If  he  is  identical  with  Abba 
Hilkiah,  the  latter  would  have  lived  in  a  village  or  a  small  town  ;  as  also 
the  fact  that  the  scholars  invited  him  to  pray  suggests  that  he  lived  not 
far  from  a  school  in  the  country.     See  Levi,  R.  K  J.,  48,  1904,  275. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  203 

they  sent  school-children  to  him  to  invite  him  to  pray  for 
rain.     He  evidently  lived  in  a  village  or  a  small  town. 

Where  now  is  the  character  of  the  Essene  evident  in  the 
two  pious  men  ?  Is  it  in  Abba  Hilkiah's  personal  qualities, 
in  his  wife  or  his  children,  in  his  scrupulous  honesty,  in  his 
extremely  strict  morality,  or  in  his  prayer?  As  we  have 
seen,  his  title  Abba  was  claimed  b}'  Dr.  Kohler  as  charac- 
teristic of  an  Essene  ;  but  in  his  learned  article  not  a  single 
real  proof  is  to  be  found  for  it.  It  is  true,  Abba  Hilkiah 
neither  knew  nor  trusted  the  scholars  that  visited  him, 
because  he  did  not  belong  to  their  ranks,  nor  probably  to 
any  school.  The  same  would  apply  to  some  of  the  men 
who  are  quoted  in  the  rabbinic  literature  with  the  title 
Abba;  while  others  were  scholars,  like  Abba  Hanin,  the 
disciple  of  R.  Eliezer,  and  Abba  Saul,  the  author  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  halakhic  and  haggadic  sentences.  As 
Abba  Saul  b.  Batnith  in  Jerusalem,  so  Abba  Hilkiah  in 
some  provincial  town  was  a  pious  man,  distinguished  by 
several  practical  virtues,  and  as  such  was  considered  by 
public  opinion,  and  therefore  by  the  scholars  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood, worthy  to  pray  to  God  for  the  community ;  and 
his  title  may  reflect  the  rare  fact  that  he  practised  the 
virtues  taught  and  realized  in  the  schools  without  being 
a  scholar.  The  same  may  have  applied  to  Honi  who  is  not 
mentioned  with  the  title  Abba,  probably  because  it  did  not 
yet  exist,  but  who  states  himself  the  reason  for  his  being 
called  upon  to  pray :  because  I  am  like  a  son  of  the  house 
before  Thee.  This  means  an  intimate  slave  who  enjoys 
his  master's  confidence^  and  may,  without  hesitation  and 

1  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  said  of  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  whom  he  had 
requested  to  pray  for  his  son  who  was  seriously  ill  :  He  is  like  a  slave 
before  the  king,  while  I  am  like  a  high  official  before  the  king,  Berakh. 
34  b  bottom.  Rashi  explains  this  by  n^3  p,  belonging  to  the  household 
and  going  in  and  out  without  having  to  ask  permission.  It  corresponds 
with  the  JjSLtin  faviiliar is,  as  familia  appears  in  the  Baraitha  jer.  Sotah, 
V,  20  c.  73  in  R.  Ishmael's  sentence,  and  in  Abba  SauPs  in  Sifra  Lev. 
19. 1,  86  c  for  all  the  slaves  in  the  household  ;  also  in  Sifre  Num.  25.  1. 131, 
47  b ;  jer.  Synh.  X.  28  d.  12  n^3  \2. 


204  SOME    TYPES    OF 

fear,  approach  him  and  intervene  for  a  friend  who  has  been 
sentenced  to  death ;  his  request  is  listened  to  and  often 
granted.  In  addition,  Honi  may  have  had  a  good  knowledge 
of  the  special  prayers  for  the  exceptional  occasion ;  as  we 
find  another  Honi  who  was  probably  his  grandson  acting  as 
a  reader  of  public  prayers.  A  discussion  took  place  between 
the  two  schools  as  to  whether,  on  the  festival  that  falls  on 
the  Sabbath,  in  the  prayer  usually  consisting  of  seven  bles- 
sings the  special  reference  to  the  Sabbath  should  be  inserted 
in  the  blessing  about  the  festival,  or  should  form  a  separate, 
eighth  blessing.  The  Hil] elites  said  to  the  Shammaites,  Did 
not  Honi  the  Small  act  as  the  reader  in  the  presence  of  all 
of  you,  elders  of  the  Shammaites,  and  he  recited  only  seven 
blessings,  and  all  the  people  expressed  their  satisfaction? 
The  Shammaites  replied,  Because  there  was  reason  for 
shortening  the  prayer;  to  which  the  Hillelites  retorted.  If 
there  was  reason  for  shortening  the  prayer,  all  the  blessings 
should  have  been  shortened  !  ^  This  happened  undoubtedly 
before  the  year  70  in  Jerusalem,  not  only  because  the  elders 
of  the  Shammaites  are  referred  to,'-  but  because  even  the 
legendary  Honi  III  lived  before  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple."  The  service  mentioned  on  tliat  holy  day  was 
public,  and  was  attended  by  the  leading  members  of  the 
two  schools  and  by  a  large  congregation.  As  far  as  can  be 
seen  from  the  Tannaitic  accounts,  tlie  prayers  even  for  the 
festivals  were  not  yet  written  down,  and,  consequently,  it 
required  special  knowledge  to  master  them  by  heart,  and 
even  great  learning  to  know  the  formulation  of  the  occa- 
sional insertions  which  were  a  matter  of  learned  tradition 

1  Tos.  Rosh  haShan.  IV,  11  :  1J2VD2   N^m   ^SOC   n^3^    bbn  n^a  nDN 

^2  ^b  )'^i2ii)  y3ir  i6i<  i?::n*  sbi  ]Dpn  ^:in  in^  'i^^iy  nu  ':p^  nJp)2 

n^isn  r\]^i^'r]  nriM^r  ^jsd  'iir2^  n'2  nnb  ncs*  .iI^m  nn  nm  nyn 

nvpi?  )b  HM  ^-^pb  n^ixn  nv^n  nn\T  ii?\s  i^^n  n^n  nni?  n?0N»  ,ivpi' 
]b)2  ns. 

2  Cf.  R.  Joshua's  reference  in  Baraitha  Hagig.  22  b  top  ;  Tos.  Ohal.  V,  11  ; 
Sifre  Num.  15.  38.  115,  34  a;  Menah.  41b  bottom  ;  Sukkah  II,  7. 

3  Jer.  Ta'an.  III.  66  d.  53,  cf.  Heller  in  R.KJ.,  49,  1904,  206. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  205 

and  not  yet  fixed,  for  those  reasons  even  after  70  scholars 
were  acting  as  readers  :  and  so  this  Honi  was  either  a 
scholar  or  a  specialist  on  the  prayers.  As  he  recited  them 
at  a  place  of  worship  where  the  leading  members  of  the  two 
schools  attended  the  service,  he  was  considered  a  well-in- 
formed and  reliable  reader ;  and  he,  in  that  instance,  formu- 
lated the  special  blessing  in  question  according  to  the  opinion 
of  the  Hillelites.  He  was  evidently  a  member  of  neither 
school, as  otherwise  the  Shammaites  would  not  have  accepted 
his  formulation  as  a  proof:  and  still  he  was  recognized 
as  an  authority  on  the  prayer,  as  both  schools  entered  into 
a  discussion  of  his  formulation  as  correct.  That  his  assumed 
Essenic  character  would  have  obtained  for  him  such  recoof- 
nition  on  a  question  that  constituted  a  matter  of  dispute 
between  the  schools  of  Pharisee  teachers  and  was  based  on 
a  principle  and  on  learned  argument,  is  very  far  from 
probable ;  and  in  addition,  nothing  whatever  is  known 
from  any  source  about  the  special  authority  of  the  Essenes 
on  the  formulation  of  the  prayers.^ 

2.  The  place  in  Jerusalem  where  in  the  drought  Honi  I 
prayed  for  rain,  is  evident  from  the  statement  that,  when 
later  the  people  urged  him  to  pray  for  the  rain  to  stop,  he 
asked  them  to  bring  him  a  bull  for  a  sacrifice,  and  when 
they  had  brought  one  to  him.  he  laid  his  hands  upon  it  and 
prayed.-  As  the  laying  of  the  hands  upon  the  sacrifice 
could  only  be  performed  in  the  inner  forecourt  of  the 
Temple,  Honi  must  have  spoken  his  last,  and  consequently 
also  his  first  prayers  in  the  same  place,  or  close  by  it  on  the 
Temple    Mount.     This   is   in  fact    expressly  stated  about 

1  Though  scholars  refer  Megil.  IV,  8,  '  He  who  says,  I  am  not  going  to 
step  before  the  ark  in  coloured  garments  (to  ]-ead  the  prayer \  must  not 
read  even  in  white  garments  ;  I  am  not  going  before  the  ark  in  sandals, 
must  not  read  even  barefoot',  to  the  Essenes  who  on  certain  occasions 
dressed  in  white,  it  is  just  as  probable  that  it  refers  to  priests  who  per- 
formed the  sacrificial  service  in  white  garments  and  barefoot.  Kohler  in 
ifGW.I.,  37,  1893,  447  ff.  ascribes  the  earliest  prayers,  without  any  proof 
whatever,  to  the  Essenes. 

2  Baraitha  Ta'an.  23  a. 


2o6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

another  occasion  for  prayers  for  rain  in  Jerusalem.  When 
once  in  the  days  of  R.  Halaftha  and  R.  Hananiah  b. 
Teradyon  a  service  was  held  on  a  fast-day  and  the  congre- 
gation did  (not)  respond  to  the  benedictions  with  Amen,  the 
scholars  who  heard  of  their  unusual  procedure,  remarked 
that  such  was  the  practice  only  at  the  eastern  gates  on  the 
Temple  Mount.^  For  both  religious  and  political  meetings 
were  held  in  that  place  throughout  the  centuries  of  the 
second  Temple,  as  alread}^  in  Joel  1.  14  the  whole  nation 
was  convened  in  the  Temple  to  pray  to  God  in  the  terrible 
calamity  caused  by  locusts,  2.  16,  17.  Ezra  10.  9  relates 
how  all  the  men  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  assembled  in  the 
broad  place  before  the  Temple.^  The  prayer-meeting  in 
Neh.  8.  1  was  held  in  the  broad  place  before  the  water- 
gate  '^  which  is  rendered  by  Josephus :  ^  in  the  open  space 
of  the  Temple,  which  looks  towards  the  eastern  gate.^ 
The  assembly  convened  by  Nehemiah  for  the  building  of 
the  city  wall  was  held,  according  to  Josephus,^  in  the  middle 
of  the  Temple.  Joseph,  the  son  of  Tobias,  went  up  to  the 
Temple  and  called  the  people  together  to  a  (political)  meet- 
ing.'^ Jonathan,  the  Hasmonaean,  convoked  the  people  to 
the  Temple ;  ^  this  detail  Josephus  did  not  find  in  1  Mace. 
12.  35,  but  added  the  same  place  here  and  to  1  Mace.  13,  2 
about  Simeon's  assembly'^  from  his  own  time.  For  during 
the  revolution  the  high-priests  assembled  the  people  in  the 

1  Ta'an.  II,  5 :  H^DH  "1.131  mTD  nyc^2  J<i?N  p  p^Hi:  VH  i6,  see 
Eabbinovicz,  EN.  and  RI.Trani  ;  Halevy,  D'^JIC^Nln   Dlin,  le,  76aff. 

2  Josephus,  Aniiquit,  XI,  5.  4.  149  renders  it  by  the  upper  storey  of 
the  Temple. 

3  In  Tos.  Sotah,  VII,  13  ;  Baraitha  Yoma,  69  b  top,  R.  Eliezer  b.  Jacob 
who  was  well  informed  about  the  Temple,  says  that  the  king  read  from 
the  Torah  (Deut.  31.  10-13)  on  the  Temple  Mount  and  not  in  the  inner 
forecourt  of  the  Temple,  and  supports  his  statement  by  Neh.  8.  1. 

■*  Antiquit.,  XI,  5.  5.  154. 

^  In  2  Chron.  20.  5,  9  King  Jehoshaphat  assembled  the  people  to  a  fast 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord  before  the  new  court,  and  prayed  to  God,  If  evil 
come  upon  us,  .  .  .  we  will  stand  before  this  house,  and  before  Thee. 

6  Antiquit.,  XI,  5.  7.  168.  '  Ibid.,  XII,  4.  2. 164. 

8  Ibid.,  XIII,  5.  11.  181.  9  Ibid.,  XIII,  6,  3.  197. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  207 

Temple,^  and  King  Agrippa  went  up  to  the  Temple  and 
called  the  people  together.-  After  the  repulse  of  Cestius,^ 
the  leaders  of  Jerusalem  held  a  meeting  in  the  Temple  in 
order  to  appoint  additional  generals  for  the  war.  The 
place  is  more  exactly  described,  when  the  nobles  and  the 
high-priests  assembled  the  people  in  front  of  the  brass  gate 
which  was  situated  in  the  inner  space  of  the  Temple 
towards  the  east.'*  The  same  is  meant  by  the  eastern 
gates  in  the  Mishnah  about  the  service  on  the  public  fast 
quoted  before,^  and  in  the  account  about  the  agreement 
which  in  67  b.c.e.  Aristobul  II  and  Hyrkan  II  made  in  the 
Temple  and  confirmed  by  an  oath  and  joining  of  hands,  and 
after  which  they  embraced  each  other  before  the  eyes  of  the 
assembled  people."  After  his  return  from  Rome,  King- 
Herod  went  up  to  the  Temple  and  gave  to  the  people 
convoked  an  account  of  his  success  ;^  and  his  son  and 
successor  Archelaos,  after  a  week's  mourning  for  his  father, 
put  on  a  white  garment  and  went  up  to  the  Temple  where 
the  people  received  him  with  many  blessings,  and  he  in  his 
turn  greeted  the  people  from  a  golden  throne."^     As  on  all 

1  Wars,  II,  15.  3.  320. 

2  Tray-s,II,16. 2.  340 ;  in  11,16. 3.344  he  assembled  the  i)eoi)le  attheXystos 
which  was  connected  with  the  Temple  by  a  bridge,  placed  his  sister  in  such 
a  way  by  his  side  that  she  could  be  seen  by  all,  and  addressed  the  gathering 
in  front  of  the  palace  of  the  Hasmonaeans  which  stood  over  the  Xystos 
on  the  border  of  the  upper  city.  This  was  not  a  public  meeting  of  the 
people,  and  for  such  scenery  the  Temple  was  not  a  suitable  place. 

3  Wars,  II,  20.  3.  562. 

^  Wars,  11,17.3.411  ;  the  same  was  intended  in  the  obscure  description 
in  Antiquit.  XI,  5.  5. 154  quoted  above,  as  already  1  Ezra  5.  47  added  to  the 
words  taken  fromEzra  3  1  the  same  explanatory  note  as  Josephus  :  But  when 
the  seventh  month  was  at  hand,  and  when  the  children  of  Israel  were 
every  man  in  his  own  place,  they  came  altogether  with  one  consent  into 
the  open  place  before  the  east  gate. 

5  Ta'an.  II,  5  ;  the  Cambridge  Mishnah,  the  Mishnah  in  the  Palestinian 
Talmud,  and  Tos.  Ta'an.  I  end,  Kabbinovicz,  42  a,  note,  line  3,, omit  the 
words  JVin  "in3.  The  eastern  gates  are  those  of  Nikanor  in  Midd.  II,  3, 
see  J.  Q.  R.,  X,  1898,  714  ff.,  XI,  1899,  59,  and  Buehler,  Synhedrion,  126, 
note  on  Wars,  II,  16.  2.  340  ff.,  and  128. 

6  Antiquit,  XIV,  1.  2.  7  ;  Wars,  I,  6.  1.  ''  Antiquit .  XVI,  4.  6. 132. 
«  Wars,  II,  1.  1. 1 ;  Antiquit,,  XVII,  8.  4.  200. 


2o8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

those  public  occasions,  when  the  people  were  present,  so  also 
at  the  public  prayer  of  Honi  for  rain,  all  were  gathered  on 
the  Temple  Mount  and  listened  to  the  words  recited,  and 
probably  joined  in  the  service  of  the  devout  reader. 

As  to  the  time  of  the  year,  when  Honi  was  asked  to  pray 
for  rain,  his  order  to  the  people  to  remove  under  shelter 
the  ovens  prepared  in  the  open  yards  for  roasting  the 
Passover  sacrifices,^  points  to  a  date  not  far  from  Nisan  14th ; 
and  a  note  in  the  Palestinian  Talmud  thinks  of  that  date 
only.^  But  a  Baraitha  quoted  immediately  after  that  says, 
On  the  20th  of  the  month  everybody  fasted  for  rain  and  it 
fell.^  This  is  taken  from  the  note  in  the  Scroll  of  Fasts  on 
Adar  where,  however,  the  entry  itself,  owing  to  its  brevity, 
mentions  neither  the  day  of  the  occurrence  nor  Honi's 
name.  But  there  must  have  been  known  to  the  Palestinian 
teachers  of  the  Talmud  and  to  the  glossator  of  the  Scroll  of 
Fasts  a  definite  tradition  that  the  entry  referred  to  the  day 
on  which  Honi,  with  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  had  success- 
fully prayed  for  rain.  For  also  the  Baraitha  '^  about  Honi's 
prayer  opens  with  the  words  :  'When  once  the  greater  part  of 
Adar  had  passed  and  no  rain  had  fallen,  they  sent  to  Honi 
and  asked  him  to  pray  for  rain'.  This  account  would,  at  the 
same  time,  appear  to  imply  that  no  public  prayer  and  fast  had 
preceded  his  intercession ;  this,  however,  seems  most  im- 
probable, as  the  autumn  rains  were  due  towards  the  end  of 
October,  and  the  anxiety  of  the  farming,  that  is  the  whole, 
population,  must  have  grown  daily,  as  the  season  advanced 
and  the  rain  continued  to  fail.  Is  it  probable  that  the 
intervening  four  or  five  months  should  have  been  allowed 
to  pass  without  public  fasts  and  prayers,  and  none  were 
instituted  by  the  religious  authorities  ?  Unfortunately,  no 
early  information  on  this  point  is  afforded  by  the  reports 
preserved.  Only  the  Mishnah  ^  records  that,  when  the  rain 
had  not  fallen  by  Marheshvan  17,  the  select  men  observed 

1  Ta'an.  Ill,  8.  2  j^y^  Ta'an.  Ill,  66  d.  51. 

4  Ta'an.  23  a.  s  Ta'an.  I,  4-7. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  209 

three  fast  days,  then  on  Kislev  1st  the  authorities  decreed 
three  general  fasts  which  were  followed  by  another  three, 
and  ultimately  by  another  seven,  each  successive  group  of 
fasts  increasing  in  the  severity  of  observance.  But  as  the 
source  and  the  authors  of  the  rule  are  not  stated,  it  probably 
reflects  only  the  custom  which  obtained  in  Galilee  in  the 
second  half  of  the  second  century.  On  the  other  hand, 
Rabbi's,  the  Mishnah  redactor's  discussion  with  his  father, 
R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II,  as  to  why  only  thirteen  fasts  were 
instituted,^  presupposes  these  fasts  as  a  custom  established 
for  some  time.  And  apart  from  several  anonymous  Barai- 
thas  all  of  which  belong  to  the  second  century,'^  colleagues 
of  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II  discuss  some  details  of  the 
observances  and  the  services  of  the  thirteen  fasts.^  But 
the  father  of  R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II,  R.  Gamaliel  II,  and 
his  colleagues  (90-120)  had  already  referred  to  the  several 
fasts.  '  The  authorities  must  not  decree  public  fasts  on  the 
day  of  the  new  moon,  on  Hanukkah  or  on  Purim ;  but  if 
the  fasts  began  before  one  of  those  days,  they  need  not  be 
interrupted  according  to  R.  Gamaliel.  R.  Meir  remarked, 
Though  R.  Gamaliel  said  that  they  need  not  be  interrupted, 
he  agreed  that  the  fast  observed  on  one  of  those  days  should 

^  Baraitha  Ta'an.  14  b :  b])  nv:yn  niK^y  ^h^D  inv  pin:!  ^^^  N^jn 
'i'W^'c^  P"!  /:n  ""121  ^NHO  -inv  iu^m  nx  pnnDD  pxci'  'zh  ninvn 
nyn-i  b^  nroT  nv^i;*  ■•jdd  Ni^^<  nr  xin  n^r\  p  i6  idin  ^s^^i^o:  p. 

^  Ta'an.  13  b  ;  14  a  ;  14  b  ;  Tos.  Megil.  I,  8  ;  b.  Ta'an.  13  b  bottom. 

3  Baraitha  Ta'an.  15  b:    D^DJIJD   flVr^l    miVki't^l   nv:yn    C^i'K^   M^^DII 

mrnnx  yy^m  n^iD  n:cM  b^  ]'bbznJ2'c^  "I-n^  pi^^Dnni  nDj^n  n^n? 
K^snm  nn^nn  'i:  bv  "idn*  r^n):)  n^y  bi^  nmnni?  nn^nn  n^?  'i^i^'^)^^ 
iDi  m  .ic^N'-in  iniJi  bD)^  nns'i  nn^s  ^31  pn  n^n  3X  c'^^-la1  N^:rjn 

PS>30  fn  nbp'O  ISN  f]S  irOlN,  where  K.  Nathan  differs  from  an 
anonymous  colleague  of  his  on  one  point  of  the  ceremonial  during  the 
last  seven  of  the  thirteen  fasts ;  (the  Mishnah  Ta'an.  II,  1  codified 
R.  Nathan's  view).  R.  Jose  b.  Halaftha,  a  leading  member  of  the  school 
of  Usha  and  Sepphoris  between  137  and  170,  fixed  in  the  Baraitha 
Ta'an.  6  a,  Tos.  I,  3,  jer.  I,  64  a.  69  as  the  date  of  the  first  fast  of  the 
select  Kislev  1st,  differing  from  his  anonymous  colleague,  either 
R.  Jehudah  or  R.  Meir  whose  view  the  Mishnah  codified. 

O 


2IO  SOME    TYPES    OF 

not  be  observed  till  nightfall ;  and  the  same  applies  to  the 
fast  of  Abh  9th,  when  it  falls  on  the  Friday.^  That  this 
was  not  merely  an  academic  rule,  is  evident  from  another 
Baraitha :  '  It  is  reported  that  after  the  death  of  R.  Gama- 
liel R.  Joshua  tried  to  carry  the  abolition  of  that  rule,  but 
R.  Johanan  b.  Nuri  prevented  it'.^  And  it  is  stated  ex- 
pressly that,  when  R.  Eliezer,  the  leading  scholar  in  Lydda 
before  1.20,  once  decreed  thirteen  fasts,  the  rain  did  not  fall.^ 
As  he  was  a  very  conservative  Shammaite  scholar,  it  may 
be  assumed  as  very  probable  that  those  numerous  fasts 
were  not  only  not  introduced  by  him,  but  would  not  have 
been  decreed  with  his  approval,  if  he  had  not  known  them 
as  an  institution  established  and  practised  in  earlier  times 
in  Jerusalem. 

Of  its  earlier  existence  the  Mishnah  gives  evidence.  '  On 
the  first  three  fast-days  the  division  of  the  priests  (who 

1  Ta'an.  II,  10 :  DniD3i  Hii^na  ^iH  tTNi^  nuvH  bv  nvjyn  tnn:i  px 
^2  bv  PIS  n\xD  '•31  ^?^^5  ,bi^'bi2:  pi  nm  pposD  ps  i^j^nnn  dni 
3N*3  nyt:^n  pi  \'D'b^D  ps^  n\-i  mio  PiTdqd  px  i'^^^i?D:  pn  -i?0Nt:^ 
ni^  n-iyn  nvnb  i'n*^. 

2  'Erub.  41  a  ;  Tos.  Ta'an.  II,  5.  The  Talmud  refers  the  controversy  to 
the  question  about  '^''W^D,  whether  on  the  days  of  joy  enumerated  the 
fast  may  be  observed  till  nightfall ;  though  it  was  only  R.  Meir  who 
introduced  the  subject,  and  R.  Gamaliel  had  not  mentioned  it.  It  seems 
more  probable  that  the  dispute  referred  to  pp"'DDID,  whether  a  gi-oup  of 
fast-days  which  was  begun  before  one  of  those  days  of  joy,  might  be 
continued  on  those  days ;  so  that  R.  Joshua  differed  on  that  point. 
Now  Tos.  Ta'an.  II,  5;  jer.  Ill,  66a.  43  reports:  'When  once  a  public 
fast  was  decreed  in  Lydda  for  Hanukkah,  R.  Eliezer  demonstrated  his 
disapproval  by  having  his  hair  cut,  and  R.  Joshua  by  bathing,  and  the 
latter  told  the  congregation  that  they  would  have  to  fast  for  the  sin 
committed  by  fasting  on  Hanukkah.  Immediately  after  this  follows 
the  report  of  R.  Joshua's  attempt  to  overthrow  R.  Gamaliel's  rule ; 
and  the  juxtaposition  suggests  that  the  fast  in  Lydda  was  based  on 
R.  Gamaliel's  opinion.  As  in  foct  R.  Joshua  fully  agreed  with 
R.  Gamaliel  on  the  prohibition  of  decreeing  a  new  fast  for  Hanukkah, 
his  opposition  in  Lydda  could  only  have  referred  to  the  continuance  of 
a  group  of  fasts  begun  before  Hanukkah,  so  that  the  fast  in  Lydda  was 
one  of  several. 

3  Baraitha  Ta'an.  25  b  ;  cf.  jer.  Ill,  66  c.  75. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  2il 

are  on  a  Aveek's  duty  in  the   Temple)   fasts,  but  not   till 
nightfall,  wliile  the  section  of  it  (who  are  on   the  clay's 
duty)  did  not  fast  at  all ;  on  the  second  three  fast-days  the 
division  of  the  priests  fasts  till  nightfall,  while  the  section 
of  the  priests  fasts,  but  not  till  nightfall ;  on  the  last  seven 
fast-days  the  division  and  also  the  section  fast  till  night- 
fall according  to  R.  Joshua;  but  his  opponents  hold  that 
on  the  first  three  fast-days  neither  fasts.'  ^     It  is  true,  this 
controversy  may  have  been  one  of  the  numerous  academic 
discussions  carried  on  in  the  school  of  Jamnia  after  the 
year  90  about  the  priests  and  their  services  in  the  Temple. 
But  R.  Joshua  was  not  only  born  in  Jerusalem  and  attended 
there   as   a  grown  up  disciple   the  school  of    R.   Johanan 
b.  Zakkai,  but  acted  as  a  levitical  singer  in   the  choir  of 
the  Temple.    As  he  had  many  an  opportunity  for  observing 
things  connected  with  the  service  of  the  priests,  and  the 
life  and  the  customs  of  the  capital,  his  references  to  an 
observance  of  the  priests  should  not  be  treated  as  academic. 
His  anonymous  opponent  here  was,  as  in  many  instances, 
probably  R.   Eliezer  who,  though  not  born  in   Jerusalem, 
attended  the  same  school,  and  acquired  a  good  knowledge 
of  old  traditions  about  the  Temple  and  the  priests  ;    ac- 
cording to  his  rule,  he  would  not  have  contradicted  R.  Joshua 
without  such  information  at  his  disposal.      And  so  both 
teachers  presuppose  the   observance  of   the  thirteen  fasts 
alreadj^  in  Temple  times  in  Jerusalem  in  connexion  with 
some  serious  calamity.     It  cannot,  however,  be  denied  that 
some  reports  about  actual  occurrences  seem    to  refer   to 
only  one  day's  fast,  and  appear  to  know  nothing  of  groups 
of  fasts.     When  once  a  fast  was  decreed  in  Lydda,  and 
the  rain  fell  before  noon,  R.  Tarfon  told  the  congregation 

I  Ta'an.  II,  6:  pro^^-iTD  i6)  pjyno  lo^'o  ^^ii<  ni^Vi'xin  nvjyn  'c*b^ 
pjynD  -iD'j'D  '•::•:^<  nvy\y  t^'i>c'  ,^b  pjynro  vn  id  3n*  n^a  ^-jOvXt 

nuit^Nnn  nv:vr\  ^yb'C'  on^iN  D-'^^m  ^J;•L^♦1^•'  ^ai  nm  pD^i':^*?oi  p:ynD 

0  2 


212  SOME    TYPES    OF 

to  go  home,  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  to  have  a  holiday.^ 
And  tlie  same  seems  to  have  been  the  case  on  the  two 
occasions^  when  Samuel  the  Small  decreed  fasts,  and  when 
on  one  of  them  the  rain  fell  before  sunrise,  and  on  the 
other  after  sunset.^  But  the  formula  n"'jyn  "W:  could  just 
as  well  refer  to  any  day  in  the  series  of  continued  fasts,  as 
in  the  incident  of  the  fast  in  Lydda  decreed  for  Hanukkah, 
where  one  of  several  fast-days  was  meant.  Difficult,  how- 
ever, is  the  short  and  not  at  all  clear  account  of  a  fast  of 
R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai.  '  When  once  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai 
wished  that  the  rain  should  fall,  he  said  to  his  barber, 
Stand  up  before  the  Temple  (and  say),  My  Master  is 
grieved,  because  he  wants  his  hair  to  be  cut  and  must  not 
do  so ;  and  immediately  the  rain  fell.'  ^  This  occurred  in 
Jerusalem  before  70,  when  the  Temple  still  stood.  Owing 
to  the  long  drought  R.  Johanan  must  have  observed  for 
several  days  the  same  degree  of  abstention  as  a  mourner ; 
for  had  it  been  only  one  fast-day,  even  if  he  should  have 
followed  the  custom  of  some  persons  of  high  standing  and 
had  his  hair  cut  every  week,  he  would  not  have  felt  it  so 
heavily,  as  he  could  have  had  his  hair  cut  next  day.  He 
sent  his  barber,  and  did  not  go  himself  to  the  Temple, 
perhaps  on  account  of  his  weakness  due  to  the  fast ;  the 
barber  did  not  fast,  because  it  was  one  of  the  first  three 
fast-days,  when  only  the  select  fasted."^  The  message  was 
intended  for  the  congregation  that  was  assembled  at  the 
service  of  the  fast  in  front  of  the  Temple,  and  was  perhaps 
waiting  for  the  rabbi  to  join  in  their  prayer ;  and  his 
reference  to  his  own  discomfort  was  intended  to  stimulate 
their  devotion.  But  all  this  scanty  information  does  not 
take  us  further  back  than  the  years  50—70 :  and  it  leaves 
without  the  support  of  earlier  and  direct  evidence  the  very 

J  Ta'an.  Ill,  9.  2  Ta'an.  25  b  bottom. 

s  Jer.  Ta'an.  Ill,  67a.  46:  mn  N-)D^D  mn''  ^Vn  mn  ID  '^3T  p  pHV  p"l 

^  Ta'an.  I,  4. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  213 

probable  inference  that,  before  Honi  was  invited  on 
Adar  20th  to  pray  for  rain,  several  public  fasts  had  been 
observed  with  public  prayers  in  the  presence  of  congre- 
gations specially  convoked,  and  that  perhaps  other  pious 
men  had  already  interceded  before  Honi,  though  with- 
out avail. 

3.  For  public  prayers  in  connexion  with  a  general  calamity 
are  known  not  only  from  Joshua  7.  6-9 ;  Judges  20.  2-6 ; 
1  Sam.  7.  5  ;  Jer.  14.  11-22  ;  36.  9  ;  Joel  2.  12-17 ;  Judith  4. 
9-15  ;  2  Mac.  13.  12,  but  even  outside  Palestine  and  from 
other  sources.^  In  describing  the  terrible  drought  under 
King  Ahab,  Josephus  quotes  a  statement  of  the  Phoenician 
historian  Menander  about  the  same  visitation  to  this 
effect :  ^  Under  King  Ithobal  of  Tyre  a  drought  prevailed 
for  a  whole  year;  .  .  .  when  he  ordered  urgent  prayers, 
terrible  storms  are  said  to  have  come.  And  of  a  much 
later  occurrence  in  Gaza  Marcus  Diaconus  in  the  Life  of 
St.  Porphyry  ^  reports  that  in  a  drought  the  inhabitants 
gathered  in  the  temple  of  their  god  Marnas  and  for  seven 
days  offered  up  many  sacrifices  and  prayers,  and  then  went 
outside  the  city  to  a  place  called  that  of  the  sermon.  And 
of  Carthage  Tertullian  states  :  *  '  But  more  than  that :  the 
heathen  recognize  every  form  of  self-humiliation.  When 
the  heaven  is  rigid  and  the  year  arid,  barefooted  proces- 
sions are  enjoined  by  public  proclamation ;  the  magistrates 
lay  aside  their  purple,  reverse  the  fasces,  utter  prayer,  offer 
a  victim.  There  are,  moreover,  some  colonies  where,  besides, 
the  people,  by  an  annual  rite,  clad  in  sackcloth  and  besprent 
with  ashes,  present  a  suppliant  importunity  to  their  idols, 
while  baths  and  shops  are  kept  shut  till  the  ninth  hour. 
They  have  one  single  fire  in  public,  on  the  altars ;  and  no 

^  The  letter  of  Baruch  to  tlie  ten  tribes  in  Apoc.  Bar.  86.  1,  2  asks 
these  to  read  the  letter  in  their  assemblies  with  care,  and  to  meditate 
thereon,  above  all  on  the  days  of  their  fasts.  The  author  seems  to  have 
known  a  custom  of  reading  appi'opriate  literature  on  some  definite  fast 
days  ;  Baruch  1.  3-6.  Thackeray,  Septaagint  and  Jeicish  Worship,  80  ff. 
2  AntiquiL,  VIII,  13.  2.  324.  3  j,  g,  j^.^  xill,  1901,  593  ff.      ' 

•*  Dejejuniis,  16,  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library y  XVIII,  151. 


214  SOME    TYPES    OF 

water  even  in  their  platters.  There  is,  I  believe,  a 
Ninevitan  suspension  of  business!  A  Jewish  fast,  at  all 
events,  is  universally  celebrated  ;  while,  neglecting  the 
temples,  throughout  all  the  shore,  in  every  open  place,  they 
<jontinue  long  to  send  prayer  up  to  heaven.  And  though 
by  the  dress  and  ornamentation  of  mourning  they  disgrace 
the  duty,  still  they  do  affect  a  faith  in  abstinence,  and 
sigh  for  the  arrival  of  the  long-lingering  star  to  sanction 
(their  eating).'  About  the  Jewish-Palestinian  rites  the 
rabbinic  sources  have  more  detailed  accounts.  Already  in 
the  course  of  the  several  fasts,  according  to  a  Baraitha,^ 
on  the  last  seven  of  the  thirteen  fast-days,  when  the  ark 
was  brought  from  the  synagogue  to  the  market,  the  place 
of  these  public  prayers  outside  Jerusalem,  an  old  man  or 
a  scholar,  specially  chosen  for  the  occasion,  addressed  the 
congregation.  '  The  eldest  among  them  ^  addressed  them 
with  words  of  humiliation :  Brethren,  of  the  people  of 
Nineveh  it  says  not,  God  saw  their  sackcloth  and  their 
fast,  but  God  saw  their  deeds,  that  they  turned  from  their 
evil  way,  Jonah  3.  10  ;  and  in  the  prophets,  Joel  2.  13, 
it  says,  Rend  your  hearts  and  not  your  garments,  and 
return  to  your  God.  (2)  When  about  to  begin  the  prayer, 
they  send  down  before  the  ark  an  old  man  versed  in  the 
prayer,  who  has  children  and  a  house  empty  of  food,  so 
that  his  heart  may  be  fully  devout  in  the  prayer;^  and 

I  Ta'an.  15  b.  2  Ta'an.  II,  1. 

^  In  the  Baraitlia  Ta'an.  16  a  bottom  R.  Jehudah  says,  He  should  be 
a  man  with  children  and  no  means,  who  lias  work  in  the  field  and  an 
empt}'  house,  who  has  an  unblemished  past,  is  humble  and  is  liked  by 
the  people,  who  knows  the  tune  and  has  a  pleasant  voice,  is  versed  in  the 
Torah,  the  prophets,  and  the  holy  writings,  in  Midrash,  Halakhah,  and 
Haggadah,  and  in  all  the  blessings  (in  jer.  II,  65  b.  74  much  shorter). 
Accordingly,  in  tlie  middle  of  the  second  century  the  rule  may  have  been 
to  select  a  poor  and  humble  scholar ;  but  E.  Jehudah  may  have  derived 
that  rule  from  his  experience  in  Judaea  or  in  Galilee,  as  an  interesting 
reference  suggests.  In  jer.  Berakh.  V,  9  b.  18,  R.  Samuel  b.  Nahman, 
of  the  second  half  of  the  third  century  in  Tiberias,  says,  When  Israel 
come  to  sins  and  evil  deeds,  and  on  account  of  those  the  rain  is  withheld, 
they  take  a  scholar  like  R.  Jose  the  Galilean,  and  when  he  entreats  for 
them,  the  rain  falls.    Though  very  little  has  been  preserved  about  R.  Jose's 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  215 

he  recites  before  them  the  twenty-four  blessings.^  The 
words  of  the  speaker  aim  at  stirring  up  genuine  confession 
of  sin  and  repentance,'- just  as  the  fast  is  not  imposed  for 
its  own  sake,  but  as  a   means   of  humiliation.     As  some 

personal  character,  one  very  instructive  trait  of  it  is  important  for  our 
question  (Gen.  r.  17.  3  ;  Lev.  r.  34.  14;  jer.  Ketliub.  XI,  34  b.  62).  His 
wife  who  was  his  sister's  daughter,  was  very  bad,  and  abused  him  before 
his  disciples  ;  when  they  suggested  to  him  to  divorce  her,  because  she  did 
not  honour  him,  he  replied  that  he  did  not  possess  the  means  to  pay  her 
her  marriage  settlement,  and  therefore  could  not  divorce  her.  When 
once  he  invited  R.  Eleazar  b.  'Azariah  to  his  house  and  his  wife  again 
behaved  disrespectfully,  R.  Eleazar  suggested  to  him  to  divorce  her,  and, 
on  learning  of  his  financial  difficulty,  offered  to  advance  him  the  amount 
required.  She  then  became  the  wife  of  a  watchman  of  the  town  ;  when 
he  lost  his  eyesight,  he  had  to  beg  and  she  had  to  lead  him  round. 
When  she  refused  to  go  near  the  house  of  R.  Jose,  her  husband  beat  her 
and  caused  public  scandal  in  the  town.  When  R.  Jose  heard  of  it  and 
saw  the  shame  of  his  former  wife,  he  took  the  couple  into  his  house 
and  provided  for  them  to  the  end  of  their  lives.  In  Lev.  r.  34.  14  and 
Gen.  r.  33.  3  it  is  further  reported,  how,  in  a  drought,  R.  Tanhuina  ordered 
a  public  fast ;  when  two  fasts  had  proved  unsuccessful,  he,  on  the  third 
day,  called  on  the  congregation  to  distribute  charity.  One  man  then 
fetched  all  that  he  had  at  home,  and,  when  about  to  distribute  it  among 
the  poor,  he  met  his  divorced  wife ;  when  she  asked  him  for  assistance 
and  he  saw  her  poverty,  he  gave  her  some  money.  The  morally 
objectionable  conversation  between  them  and  the  handing  of  money 
were  reported  to  R.  Tanhuma  who  summoned  the  man  and  reproved 
him  ;  but  when  he  learned  the  facts,  he  lifted  up  his  face  to  heaven  and 
prayed,  Master  of  the  Universe,  this  man  who  is  mortal  and  had  no 
obligation  to  maintain  that  woman,  was  filled  with  pity  and  gave  her 
money  :  we  who  are  Thy  children,  the  sons  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  whose  maintenance  depends  on  Thee,  how  much  more 
shouldst  Thou  be  filled  with  mercy  for  us  I  Then  the  rain  fell  and 
people  were  again  relieved. 

^  According  to  the  parallel  in  Baraitha  Ta'an.  16  a  the  elder  said  to  the 
congregation,  Brethren,  not  sackcloth  and  fasting  bring  it  about,  but 
repentance  and  good  deeds,  as  we  find  about  the  men  of  Nineveh.  In 
another  account  in  Tos.  I,  8,  jer.  II,  65  a.  70  he  said,  My  sons,  let  no  one 
be  ashamed  (to  admit)  before  his  fellow-man,  no  one  (to  admit)  his  deeds  ; 
it  is  better  that  a  man  be  ashamed  before  his  fellow-man  and  of  his  deeds 
than  that  he  and  his  children  should  starve.  .  .  ,  While  a  man  is  holding 
a  dead  insect  in  his  hands,  even  if  he  bathe  in  the  Shiloah  or  any  water, 
he  will  never  become  pure  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  throws  away  the  insect,  a  dip 
in  a  bath  of  forty  Se'ahs  will  be  effective,  for  it  is  said.  Pro  v.  28.  13, 
Whoso  confesseth  and  forsaketh  them  shall  obtain  mercy;  and  again  it 
says,  Lam.  3.  41,  Let  us  lift  up  our  heart  with  our  hands. 

2  L6vi  in  R.  E.  J.,  47,  1903,  162. 


2l6  SOME    TYPES    OF 

superficial  members  of  the  congregation  might  be  contented 
with  the  outward  signs  of  mourning  and  fasting,  the  speaker 
did  not  fail  to  point  to  true  repentance,  and  to  the  essential 
preliminary  act  of  determination  to  cast  off  sin  and  to 
substitute  good  deeds  for  it. 

The  character  of  the  second  elder  who  was  appointed  to 
recite  the  prayer,  is  given  in  detail  by  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai 
and  an  anonymous  colleague  of  his;^  this,  however,  would 
reflect  only  the  conditions  prevailing  in  Galilee  about  150. 
But  his  master,  R.  Eliezer  b.  Hyrkanos,  on  two  occasions 
took  an  active  part  in  the  service  of  a  public  fast ;  he 
ordered  thirteen  fasts,  went  down  before  the  ark  and  recited 
the  twenty-four  blessings,  but  was  not  answered  by  God. 
Then  R.  Akiba  went  down  before  the  ark ;  and  when  he 
said,  Our  Father,  our  King,  we  have  no  king  but  Thee,  our 
Father,  our  King,  for  Thy  sake  have  mercy  on  us,  the  rain 
fell.^  It  was  on  the  last  fasts  that  R.  Eliezer  acted  as  the 
reader ;  and  before  the  last  of  the  thirteen  fasts  had  ter- 
minated and  the  congregation  w^as  dismissed,  R.  Akiba  made 
a  last  effort  on  behalf  of  the  suffering  people.  Though  his 
intercession  seems  very  similar  to  that  of  Honi,  it  is  in 
fact  of  the  same  character  as  R.  Eliezer's.  Not  only 
because  it  is  introduced  in  the  same  way  by  his  going 
down  before  the  ark ;  but  even  more  so,  because  the  com- 
parison, in  the  contemporary  account,  of  the  prayers  of  the 
two  teachers  and  of  the  different  characters  of  the  two 
intercessors  presupposes  that  both  acted  on  that  occasion 
in  the  same  capacity  and  had  the  same  standing  in 
the  service.  In  addition,  R.  Akiba  was  the  disciple  of 
R.  Eliezer,  and  in  spite  of  his  greatness  would  not,  in  the 
presence  of  his  master,  have  accepted  a  superior  ofllce 
corresponding  to  that  of  Honi.  It  seems,  moreover,  to 
have  been  the  custom  that  at  the  service  on  a  public  fast 
more   than   one  reader  recited   prayers.      For  a  younger 

1  Ta'an.  16  a  ;  jer.  II,  65  b.  74. 

2  Ta'an.  25  b:  -j^yoi?  ):Jpi2  ij^Ds  nns  «i>K  i^^D  ):b  [\S  ):2bj2  liUX 

"I3vy   Dm  }  see  Kabbinovicz. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  21 7 

contemporary  of  R.  Eliezer,  R.  Eleazar  of  Mode'im,  inter- 
preted Moses'  words  in  Exod.  17.  9,  '  To-morrow  I  will  stand 
on  the  top  of  the  hill ',  as  decreeing  in  the  straits  of  the 
Amalekite  war  a  public  fast  for  the  next  day  ;  and  as 
Moses,  when  going  up,  was  accompanied  by  Aaron  and  Hur, 
an  anonymous  teacher,  probably  R.  Eleazar  himself,  in- 
ferred that  not  less  than  three  men  should  go  before  the  ark 
on  the  public  fast.^  On  the  other  occasion,  as  the  Baraitha 
states,  R.  Eliezer  ordered  the  full  number  of  thirteen  fasts 
to  be  observed,  but  they  had  no  effect.  When,  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  service  of  the  last  of  them,  the  conoreo-ation 
began  to  leave,  R.  Eliezer  said  to  them.  Have  you  prepared 
graves  for  yourselves  ?  The  whole  congregation  burst  into 
tears,  and  immediately  the  rain  fell.  This  clearly  shows 
that  R.  Eliezer  in  that  instance  also  must  have  recited  the 
prayers  up  to  the  last  day  of  the  fast.  But  it  did  not  occur 
to  him  in  his  despair  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  a  specially 
pious  man  who,  in  the  opinion  of  the  people,  might,  by  his 
urgent  prayer,  have  moved  God  to  mercy.  Either  he  did 
not  countenance  the  type  of  piety,  or  there  was  no  repre- 
sentative of  it  available  in  Lydda  who  would  have  enjoyed 
his  and  the  people's  confidence.  Or  the  time  of  the  men  of 
prayer  had  passed  ;  and  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa  whose  inter- 
cession was  sought  by  R.  Eliezer's  master,  R.  Johanan  b. 
Zakkai,  and  by  R.  Eliezer's  brother-in-law  and  colleague, 
R.  Gamaliel  II.  in  the  illness  of  their  sons,  was  an  excep- 
tion, a  single  survivor  of  the  past.^ 

■  Mekhii.  Exod.  17.12, 54  bcfninj;  ms  ^^  rw^^b^'i:)  pnma  psi"ics  iNzo 

-inv   n^^yna   na^nn   ^:^b,  and  17.  9,  54  a.     in  jer.  Ta'an.  II,  65  a.   66 ; 

Threni  r.  3.  40,  R.  Abba  b.  Zabda,  R.  Tanhum  b.  Hanilai,  and  R.  Joshia 
went  to  a  public  fast,  and  all  of  them  addressed  the  congregation  to  move 
it  to  humility.  Was  it  at  the  end  of  the  third  century,  and  perhaps 
already  at  an  earlier  date  in  Jerusalem,  the  custom  to  have  at  public  fasts 
three  preachers,  as  they  had  three  readers? 

2  Similarly,  Samuel  the  Small  acted  as  the  reader,  when  once  he 
ordered  a  public  fast ;  when  the  rain  fell  before  the  sun  rose  and  the 
congregation  claimed  the  merit  for  themselves,  Samuel  retorted  by  this 
parable  :  When  the  slave  asked  his  master  for  food,  the  master  told  his 
household  to  give  it  to  him,  so  that  he  might  not  have  to  hear  the  slave's 


21 8  SOME    TYPES    OF 

When  R.  Akiba's  prayer  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  fall  of  rain,  the  scholars  who  attended  the  service, 
could  not  refrain  from  attributing  the  success  to  R.  Akiba's 
personality ;  for  it  was  so  different  from  that  of  R.  Eliezer 
whose  long  prayers  had  not  obtained  God's  acceptance. 
A  heavenly  voice,  explained  by  Bacher  ^  as  authoritative 
opinion,  declared  both  equally  great,  but  R.  Akiba  of  a 
yielding,  R.  Eliezer  of  an  unyielding  nature.  Accordingly, 
the  effect  of  the  reader's  prayer  at  the  service  of  the  public 
fast  depended  on  his  personality;  and  among  the  various 
good  qualities  found  in  scholars  meekness  and  humility 
were  essential  in  his  equipment,  just  as  important  as  the 
true  repentance  and  contrition  of  the  congregation.  As 
these  were  the  two  indispensable  factors  of  success,  it 
appears  natural  that  the  speedy  rain  was  claimed  by  the 
congregation  as  their  merit,  while  a  long  delay  or  the 
failure  of  the  rain  was  attributed  entirely  to  the  reader. 
An  incident,  though  of  the  middle  of  the  third  century  in 
Galilee,  vividly  illustrates  the  open  criticism  and  blame 
levelled  by  the  suffering  and  disappointed  community  of 
Sepphoris  against  a  teacher  whose  prayers  were  not  answered. 
When  once  a  drought  prevailed  in  that  town,  R.  Haninah 
decreed  a  fast,  but  the  rain  did  not  fail,  while  the  prayers 
of  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  in  the  Darom,  Lydda,  did  bring  the 
desired  rain.  On  this  the  inhabitants  of  Sepphoris  com- 
mented with  the  remark, '  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  brings  down  the 
rain  to  the  people  of  the  Darom,  whereas  R.  Haninah 
keeps  the  rain  away  from  the  inhabitants  of  Sepphoris '. 
When  another  occasion  for  public  prayers  for  rain  arose, 
the  people  of  Sepphoris  invited  R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  to  pray 
who,  in  his  turn,  asked   R.  Haninah  to  come  out  to  the 

voice  any  longer.  When,  on  another  occasion,  Samuel  decreed  a  fast  and 
the  rain  fell  after  the  sun  had  set,  the  congregation  claimed  the  merit  for 
themselves  ;  but  Samuel  said  that  it  was  not  their  merit,  and  gave  them 
this  parable  :  When  the  slave  asked  his  master  for  food,  the  master  told 
his  household  to  keep  him  waiting,  until  he  was  curbed  and  felt 
the  pain. 

^  Agada  der  Tannaiten,  I,  85,  note. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  219 

service.  When,  in  spite  of  the  united  prayers  of  the  two 
teachers,  the  rain  failed  to  fall,  R.  Joshua  addressed  these 
words  to  the  congregation, '  Neither  does  R.  Joshua  b,  Levi 
bring  down  the  rain  to  the  people  of  the  Darom,  nor  does 
R.  Haninah  keep  it  away  from  the  inhabitants  of  Sepphoris  ; 
but  the  hearts  of  those  of  the  Darom  are  tender  and,  on 
hearing  words  of  the  Torah,  they  humble  themselves, 
whereas  the  people  of  Sepphoris  are  hard  and,  on  hear- 
ing words  of  the  Torah,  they  do  not  humble  themselves '. 
When,  on  his  way  home,  R.  Haninah  saw  that  the  skies 
were  still  clear,  he  said.  After  all  that  (the  prayers)  it  is 
still  so  (and  no  rain) !  When  the  rain  immediately  fell,  he 
vowed  not  to  act  again  in  the  same  way  and  not  to  ask  God, 
the  creditor,  not  to  exact  His  debt,  punishment.^  As  here,  so 
already  about  the  year  100-120  the  congregation  of  Samuel 
the  Small  claimed  all  the  merit  for  themselves  in  favour- 
able cases.  But  while  that  rabbi,  by  his  illustrations,  only 
hinted  at  theunsatisfactory  conduct  of  the  assembly,  R.Joshua 
b.  Levi  expressly  told  the  people  of  Sepphoris  that  the  sole 
object  of  the  preacher's  address  was  to  stir  humility  before 
God  in  the  hearts  of  the  fasting  assembly,  and  that  it  had 
failed  in  their  instance.  Nor  had  R.  Eliezer's  prayer  any 
result,  because,  in  his  opinion,  neither  their  numerous  fasts 
nor  his  impressive  warnings  had  moved  the  congregation  to 
contrition.  And  his  assumption  was  proved  right  by  the 
effect  of  his  last  attempt :  to  rouse  such  feeling,  he,  in  his 
despair  at  the  impending  famine,  asked  the  audience 
whether  they  had  prepared  graves  for  themselves ;  and  by 
his  terrifying  words  he  succeeded  in  bringing  about  the 
attitude  of  the  mind  by  which  alone  God  is  moved  to  mercy. 
This  is  an  old  maxim  of  Judaism  which  already  the 
prophet,  Joel  expressed  clearly  in  his  impressive  warning  at 
the  public  fast  and  prayer,  when  Palestine  was  in  his  days 
visited  by  locusts.  (2.  12)  'Yet  even  now,  saith  the  Lord, 
turn  ye  unto  Me  with  all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and 

^  Jer.  Ta'an.  III.  66  c.  50-61. 


220  SOME    TYPES    OF 

with  weeping,  and  with  lamentation ;  (13)  and  rend  your 
heart,  and  not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  your 
God ;  for  He  is  gracious  and  compassionate,  long-suffering, 
and  abundant  in  mercy,  and  repenteth  Him  of  the  evil '. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  none  of  the  addresses  of  teachers 
of  Honi's  days  and  of  the  century  and  a  half  after  his  time 
has  been  preserved,  to  acquaint  us  with  the  ideas  by  which 
they  strove  to  stir  in  the  hearts  of  the  fasting  congrega- 
tions feelings  of  humiliation  before  God.  Fortunately, 
the  short  prayer  of  R.  Akiba  informs  us  at  least  of  the 
thoughts  which  filled  him,  when  he  tried  to  intercede  for 
his  people,  and  hoped  to  obtain  God's  grace  that  had  been 
refused  to  R.  Eliezer.  In  the  first  of  his  two  sentences  he 
called  upon  God  as  '  our  Father ' ;  not  in  his  own  name,  but 
on  behalf  of  the  whole  congregation  he  turned  to  the  Father 
of  Israel.^  As  was  shown  above,  the  conception  of  God 
as  our  Father  was  familiar  to  the  rabbis,  and  its  reli- 
gious force  was  especially  manifest  in  prayers.  Here  *  our 
Father  '  is  followed  by  the  invocation  '  our  King ' ;  already 
the  association  of  King  with  Father  suggests  that  they  were 
synonymous,  and  the  stress  laid  in  the  great  calamity  on 
God  as  our  only  King  makes  it  clear  that  King  means  here 
one  whose  help  alone  can  free  his  people  from  the  oppressive 
distress.^     To  Him  R.  Akiba  addresses  his  fervent,  insis- 

1  In  Midr.  Tann.  Deut.26.  3,  172  it  is  reported  :  When  once  R.  Gamaliel 
and  his  disciples  were  caught  in  a  terrible  sea-storm  and  they  asked  him 
to  pray  for  them,  he  said,  Our  God,  have  mercy  on  us  !  The  disciples 
said  to  him,  Thou  art  worthy  that  the  name  of  God  fall  upon  thee  (to  call 
on  God  in  thy  own  name).  He  then  prayed,  My  God,  have  mercy  on  us  ! 
It  was  considered  immodest  to  invoke  God's  help  for  others  in  one's  own 
name,  for  it  would  suggest  that  he  thought  himself  sufficiently  important 
to  have  a  claim  on  God.  It  is  more  appropriate  to  include  oneself 
in  the  congregation  or  among  those  for  whom  one  is  praying. 

2  Even  in  some  passages  of  the  Bible  this  special  meaning  of  king  as 
saviour  is  evident,  as  Isa,  44. 6,Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel,  and 
his  Redeemer.  Here  it  cannot  possibly  signify  the  ruler  and  master,  but, 
standing  next  to  Redeemer,  it  means  the  Defender,  as  next  to  DDIC  in 
Isa.  33.  22,  For  the  Lord  is  our  Judge,  the  Lord  is  our  Lawgiver,  the  Lord 
is  our  King  ;  He  will  save  us.  Here  the  verb  attached  to  it  defines  the 
King  as  Saviour.     The  same  in  Psalm  44.  5  ;    74.  12  where  He  brings 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  221 

tent  prayer,  for  He  alone  can  deliver  them ;  and  unless  He 
helps  them,  they  will  perish.  He  appeals  to  His  mercy; 
for  not  only  can  the  people  point  to  no  merit  to  support 
their  supplication,  but,  by  his  asking  for  mercy  for  His 
sake,  he  admits  their  sinfulness  and  their  unworthiness  of 
consideration  by  God.  So  his  words  expressed,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  recognition  that  God  alone  and  nobody  else  could 
save  them,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  deepest  humiliation 
and  contrition  in  R.  Akiba's  mind ;  and  it  is  certain  that,  if 
the  terse  declarations  were  understood  and  fully  realized 
by  the  already  crushed  congregation,  they  must  have  pene- 
trated with  their  full  force  to  every  heart. 

4.  When  Honi,  at  the  request  of  the  authorities,  praj^ed 
for  rain,  his  prayer  might  as  to  its  contents  have  been 
a  free  composition,  wholly  dictated  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  moment ;  and  as  to  its  form,  it  either  followed  the 
structure  and  expression  of  earlier  prayers  of  a  similar 
character  like  those  in  Jer.  14. 19-22  ;  Joel  2. 17  ;  1  Reg.  18. 
36,  37,  or  was  shaped  in  his  individual  style.  As  droughts 
and  other  serious  calamities  were  not  infrequent  in  Judaea, 
and,  as  the  prophetic  instances  show,  the  spokesman's 
prayer  was  an  old  institution,  it  might  have,  in  the  course 
of  time,  evolved,  at  least  in  its  main  lines,  a  definite  trend 
of  thought  and  of  form.  As  Honi's  second  prayer  was,  as 
will  be  shown,  in  its  daring  attitude  to  God  and  in  its  pre- 
sumptuousness  exceptional  and  even  unique,  the  early 
report  hastened  to  present  the  strange  details  of  the  un- 
paralleled scene,  and  had  no  word  left  for  his  first  prayer 
which  was  probably  built  on  familiar  lines.  Consequently, 
there  is  for  the  establishment  of  the  contents  of  Honis  first 
prayer  and  of  its  formulation  no  other  way  open  but  an 
examination  of  the  earliest  statements  available  about  other 
prayers  for  rain.     As  in  Lydda  R.  Eliezer  and  R.  Akiba, 

salvation  to  His  people  ;  therefore  the  psalmist  turns  to  God  as  King  in 
his  prayer  for  help  in  distress,  5.  3  ;  89.  19;  Isa.  43.  15.  In  Zeph.  3.  15 
God  has  removed  the  oppressor,  and  is  now  in  their  midst  as  their  mighty 
protector. 


222  SOME    TYPES    OF 

and  probably  in  Jamnia  Samuel  the  Small,  so  in  Galilee,  at 
the  same  time,  two  well-known  rabbis  are  mentioned  in 
connexion  with  the  prayer  on  public  fasts.  '  In  the  days  of 
R.  Halaftha  and  R.  Haninah  b.  Teradyon  a  man  went  before 
the  ark  and  recited  the  first  blessing  to  its  end,  and  the 
congregation  responded  (not)  by  Amen.  The  attendant  then 
called  on  the  priests  to  blow  the  trumpets ;  and  when  they 
had  blown  the  trumpets,  the  reader  proceeded  to  recite 
another  sentence  of  the  same  paragraph  of  the  prayer,  the 
attendant  called  on  the  priests  to  blow  an  alarm,  and  they 
blew  an  alarm  ;  and  then  the  reader  began  to  recite  the 
second  blessing.  When  the  rabbis  (of  the  central  school) 
learnt  of  the  way  (in  which  the  blessings  were  recited),  they 
remarked  that  such  had  been  the  custom  only  in  the  eastern 
gates  (on  the  Temple  Mount)  '.^  According  to  the  last  state- 
ment some  formulated  prayers  for  the  public  fast  were 
already  recited  in  Jerusalem  on  the  Temple  Mount  before 
the  year  70,  when  the  Temple  still  stood  ;  they  were  recited 
in  sections  which  were  followed  by  the  responses  of  the 
congregation.  Perhaps,  as  in  Galilee,  even  an  ark  contain- 
ing a  scroll  of  the  Torah  was  brought  out  in  front  of  the 
eastern  gates  for  the  service,  as  the  two  scholars  in  Sep- 
phoris  and  Sikhnin  seem  to  have  followed,  certainly  in  more 
than  one  detail,  the  practice  on  the  Temple  IVIount.  In  the 
above  account  only  two  paragraphs  of  the  prayer  are  men- 
tioned, and  even  the  wording  of  these  is  evidently  not 
quoted  in  its  original  entirety.  The  same  is  the  case  in  the 
several,  older,  parallel  Baraithas  which,  while  giving  addi- 
tional information  about  other  details,  also  quote  only  two 
paragraphs  of  the  prayer.  The  third  of  those  Baraithas 
states  the  constituent  parts  of  the  two  paragraphs  in  full. 
In  examining  the  second  part  of  the  Baraitha  ^  which  deals 

1  Ta'an.  II,  5,  16  b. 

ini^i'D  "inD  Dc^  inn  v"l^^<  piy  jni  bi^'i^^  bii):  inn  nb)vn  nyi 
n:w  '»  "i?oiNT  -inm  lypn  D^jnnn  lypn  irDiN  nD:nn  |rni  ny")  nbiy^ 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  223 

with  the  second  blessing,  we  find  that  the  reader  opened  it 
with  the  praise  of  God  to  which  the  congregation  responded 
with  an  appropriate  formula :  then  the  attendant  of  the 
synagogue  called  on  the  priests  to  blow  an  alarm,  and  they 
blew  an  alarm  :  the  reader  recited  a  sentence  begfinnincr  with 
'  He  who  answered  ',  after  which  the  priests  blew  three  blasts 
of  which  the  first  was  an  alarm,  the  second  a  plain  blast, 
and  the  third  again  an  alarm.  The  repeated  blowing  of  the 
trumpets  in  the  course  of  the  recital  of  one  paragraph  of  the 
prayer  is  not  mentioned  in  the  other  parallel  Baraithas, 
but  is  stated  also  in  the  Mishnah's  description  of  the 
services  held  in  Galilee.  As  to  the  first  benediction,  the 
first  part  of  the  Baraitha  states  the  same  arrangement 
of  the  corresponding  parts  in  it,  and  the  same  repetition  of 
blasts ;  only  the  order  of  the  blasts  in  the  second  group  is  a 
plain,  an  alarm,  a  plain  blast. ^  So  every  paragraph  of  the 
prayer  had  the  same  structure  :  it  opened  with  a  doxology 
which  closed  by  a  benediction  followed  by  the  response  of 
the  congregation ;  then  came  the  blasts  of  the  priests 
followed  by  the  reader's  good  wishes  addressed  to  the 
congregation,  and  again  the  blasts  of  the  priests.^  As  to 
the  order  of  the  various  blasts  in  the  two  groups,  the  call 

inn  inns  pjiy  ^■^1  nn:]c^:n  nnn  inn  D^iyn  nyi  ub)vn  ]d  i^xni*"' 
lynn  pn^x  ':i  lynn  nDix  no^nn  frm  lyi  ch)vb  in^i^D  nn^  du* 
b)p2  v^'C'^)  Dnns  n^r  Nin  ^)d  n^  bv  iJnuN  n«  myi"  ■'d  ncwi 
r\Di2)  nn-in  bn  pi  ^ryn?oi  pypini  ]']:'^J2  |ni  n^n  Di\-i  cnnpyv 
^ibin  mmnn  ns*  nir^a^c^  ny  lynn  -)?d\x  nnxni  lypn  "idin  nnxn 
121  iii'^D)  /:2^D2  limn  p  s^::n  ^nni  nis^vn  xna^n  ^an  jmjh  -jn 
,r\'2r]  nn3i  nnro  nyc^n  n^n  p  p:nij  vn  i6  n?0N  n^^^n  i?VvS* 

^  The  words  are  bracketed  by  R.  Samuel  Edels  as  incorrect,  but  are 
undoubtedly  correct,  as  manuscripts  and  Tos.  I,  14  also  have  them. 

2  Note  that  bi<'\^^  bi<):  ^nn  and  ninD:»':n  IDIT  inn  have  their  places 
in  the  first  halves  of  their  respective  paragraphs,  which  contradicts  the 
above  analysis  ;  they  were  shifted  to  the  end  at  a  later  stage  of  develop- 
ment, see  below. 


224  SOME    TYPES    OF 

of  the  attendant  to  blow  was  carried  out  by  a  plain  blast, 
an  alarm  and  again  a  plain  blast ;  while  his  call  to  blow 
an  alarm  was  followed  by  an  alarm,  a  plain  blast  and 
again  an  alarm,  as  several  manuscripts  and  texts  expressly 
have  it. 

The  words  with  which  the  first  paragraph  of  the  prayer 
opened  in  Temple  times,  read  in  all  the  three  Baraithas  : 
'  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  from  eternity 
to  eternity,  blessed  be  the  Redeemer  of  Israel '.  It  seems 
strange  that  a  prayer  in  distress  should  begin  with  '  blessed 
be ',  and  that  immediately  after  the  doxology  another 
shorter  sentence  beginning  with  the  same  word  should  form 
the  conclusion.  To  my  knowledge,  such  repetition  has  no 
parallel  in  early  sliort  prayers,  except  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  the  Eighteen  Benedictions  ^  And  our  bles- 
sing appears  all  the  more  difficult,  as  an  early  report  ^ 
states  that  in  all  the  closing  formulas  of  benedictions  in  the 
Temple  sbiyn  |D  was  originally  said,  but  when  the  heretics 
went  astray  and  taught  that  there  was  only  one  world,  the 
authorities  instituted  that  obiyn  "lyi  DPiyn  jd  should  be  said 
instead.  Though  ours  is  not  a  closing,  but  an  opening- 
formula,  the  assertion  in  the  statement  is  strange,  as 
already  the  closing  doxologies  of  several   Psalms  contain 

^  Only  1  Chron.  20.  10  is  a  similarly  characteristic  instance  of  God's 
praise,  and  exceptionally  begins  with  '  Blessed  art  Thou ',  but  has  no 
concluding  formula;  but,  as  the  king  continued  without  a  break  to  v.  19, 
it  became  necessary  to  repeat  in  v.  20  that  David  invited  the  assembly 
to  praise  God.  As  the  response  contains  a  description  of  God  as  the  God 
of  our  fathers,  different  from  the  king's  call,  it  would  seem  that  in  the 
days  of  the  author  there  existed  a  fixed  formula  like  :  Blessed  be  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  and  its  recital  was  followed  bj'  a  prostration. 
In  Neh.  8.  C  the  response  of  the  people  consisted  only  of  a  double  Amen, 
in  1  Chron.  16.  36  ;  Psalm  106.  48  of  Amen  Hallelujah.  In  Neh.  9.  5  the 
Levites,  after  the  prayer  of  the  public  fast,  call  on  the  congregation  to 
bless  the  Lord  their  God  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  but  the  response 
is  not  stated  ;  evidently  it  is  contained  in  the  next  sentence  where 
a  slight  change  has  to  be  introduced,  see  the  commentaries. 

2  Berakh.  IX,  5:     nb)Vr^  p  CinniN  Vn  ^lp1D2  VniT  niD"12  ^DHin  i?3 

p  DnroiN*  ^n^c'  ):^pr\n  ins  n^n*  ab'W  r^*  '•'^^^<^  WTJ^n  )bpbp^*D 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  225 

not  only  Amen  which  accordino-  to  the  Baraithas  in 
Ta'an.  16  b  was  not  used  in  the  Temple,  but  also  the  very 
formulas  which  are  stated  to  have  been  a  new  and  late 
institution  in  the  Temple.^  The  shortest  and  the  longest 
of  these  doxolomes  at  the  ends  of  the  books  of  the  Psalms 
have  in  common  the  formula :  '  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for 
evermore  ',  and  the  reponse  of  the  congregation :  Amen  and 
Amen,  or  Amen  Hallelujah  ;  only  Psalm  72  has  two  doxolo- 
gies,  the  second  being  :  '  And  blessed  be  His  glorious  name  '.^ 
With  the  formula  in  1  Chron.  16.  36  agrees  the  benediction 
in  the  first  paragraph  of  the  prayer  spoken  on  the  Temple 
Mount  on  the  public  fast.  And  just  as  the  response  of 
Amen,  so  that  of  '  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  glory  of  His 
kingdom ',  was  not  created  by  the  rabbis,  but  both  were  the 
responses  of  the  congregation  to  certain  Psalms  sung  by 
the  choir  of  the  Levites  in  the  sacrificial  service  of  the 
Temple,  and  used  also  in  the  service  of  the  public  fast. 
Consequently,  the  statement  in  the  Mishnah  and  the  Barai- 
tha  ^  that  in  the  Temple  Amen  was  not  usual  as  a  response, 
must  refer  to  some  services  held  independently  of  the  sacri- 
ficial service ;  namely  to  such  as  were  held  on  the  Temple 
Mount  in  front  of  the  eastern  gates,  just  as  was  that  on 
the  public  fast. 

To   the  doxology  of  our  prayer  which  concluded  with 
•  Blessed  be  the  Redeemer  of  Israel ',  the  congregation  re- 


^  So  Psalm  89  closes  :  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  evermore,  Amen,  and 
Amen  ;  41  with  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  from  everlasting 
and  to  everlasting,  Amen,  and  Amen  ;  106  with  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  Israel,  from  everlasting  even  to  everlasting,  and  let  all  the  people 
say,  Amen,  Hallelujah  ;  and  in  its  parallel  in  1  Chron.  16.  36  the  last  word 
appears  as  two :  praise  to  the  Lord.  72  ends  with  the  longest  formula: 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  Isi-ael,  who  only  doeth  wondrous 
things  ;  and  blessed  be  His  glorious  name  for  ever  ;  and  let  the  whole 
earth  be  filled  with  His  glory,  Amen,  and  Amen.  See  the  commentaries, 
and  Griitz  in  MGWJ.,  21,  1872,  482  ff.  ;  Lehmann  in  R. E.  J.,  31,  1895,  34  fif. 

2  Gratz  compares  it  with  Neh.  9.  5  :  Let  them  bless  Thy  glorious 
name  ;  see  farther. 

3  Ta'an.  16  b  ;  jer.  II,  65  d.  56  ;  b.  Berakh.  63  a  ;  Tos.  VII,  22 ;  jer.  IX, 
14  c.  12  ;  Blau  in  R.  E.  J.,  31,  1895,  188  ;  Gratz  in  MGWJ ,  21,  1872,  483. 

P 


226  SOME    TYPES    OF 

sponded  not  by  Amen  which  became  the  rule  in  the  service 
of  the  synagogue,  but  by  '  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  glory 
of  His  kingdom '.     About  this  and  various  other  responses 
a  report  of  the  second  century  supplies  some  information;^ 
but,  as  R.  Jose  b.  Halaftha  expressly  stated,  the  responses 
discussed  were  in  vogue  in  the  synagogue  in  his  own  days. 
To  the  call  of  the  reader  (at  the  beginning  of  the  daily  morn- 
ing and  evening  prayer)  to  praise  God,  the  fixed  response  was 
tyi  i:h)vh  *]nin?on  'n  "in^ ;  in  another,  unknown  case  ^  to  the 
call  '  Bless '  the  otherwise  rare   response  was  nUD  DC^  inn 
nvi  n^)]h  ini^^D.     When   the   reader  recites   a   benediction, 
as  e.g.  one  of  the  Eighteen  Benedictions,  the  response  is  the 
familiar  Amen ;  when  he  recites  a  certain  part  of  the  Kad- 
dish,  which   is  otherwise  known   onl}^  as  a  response,  the 
congregation  responds  by  '  For  Eternity  of  Eternity '.  an 
unfamiliar  response.     In  a  parallel  account''  Haninah,  the 
nephew  of  R.  Joshua  and  an  older  contemporary  of  R.  Jose, 
also  terms   the   reader   T\3cn,  as   one  who  recites  a  bles- 
sing and  praises  God,  and  refers  to  the  response  quoted  by 
R.  Jose  first ;  then  he  says,  When  he  calls  on  God's  name, 
the  response  is  IV)  ^b)]}^  ini^i?^  l^22  n^  inn.     Though  here 
also  the  occasion  of  the  call  is  not  stated,  it  seems  obvious 

1  Sifre  Deut.  32.  3.  306, 132b:  ^DV  m    im^sS?  ^13  l^n  SlpN  M  C^  ^3 

v-inN  D^jiytr  inujon  'n  ns*  i3-in  noiNi  no^nn  n^nn  Dnroiyb  pjD  "i?oin* 
biy  "inn  N"ipN  'n  d'lT  o  "i^it^  niro^n  nyi  nb)]h  i-nn?nn  'n  inn 
'n  D^  ^n  iD)b  TiD^n  i-inron  inx  [ps]  D':)v^  pjDi  .  .  ,  ^:^r\bith 
D'^  inn  innx  n'2)v  ont:^  imn  nroiNi?  pjDi  ,  i:\-ii5Ni'  bi:  nn  Nnpx 
Li':)V'c^  1"in?2  snn  n^c:r  xn^  idin^  p:m  ♦  .  .  nyi  nhyi?  inini?D  nun 
,  .  .  D^oi^iy  "'Dhyi'i  'r2b)vb  cnnns. 

2  In  pointing  to  Ta'an.  16  b,  Friedmann  (see  Rashi  on  Deut.  32.  3) 
suggests  as  the  occasion  a  prayer  in  the  Temple ;  but  there  is,  to  my 
knowledge,  no  such  or  similar  call  mentioned  in  connexion  with  any 
service  in  the  Temple,  nor  would  R.  Jose,  the  historian,  have  failed  to 
refer  to  the  Temple. 

3  Mekhil.  Exod.  13.  3,  19  b  :  M  D^:'  ""n  "1D1S  V^^^^^l^  ^ni  nS  p  X^JH  ^n-n 

mns  p:iy  p  n^i  innj{  n':)v^  )b^  i^M^xi'  bi^  inn  ^i"-in?:)n  nr  wsnps 
n^  inn  vinx  p:iy  n-  1DL^'n  snip  Nin^'m  Dhyi?  inuan  'n  inn 
nrr  loir  n^^nji  tix  'nb  )bi:  "iroix  Nin  pi  nyi  nhyb  inini'D  ninn. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  227 

to  think  of  the  Temple  service  on  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
when  the  high-priest  pronounced  the  name  of  God,  or  of 
the  priestly  blessing  at  the  conclusion  of  the  daily  morning 
and  afternoon  sacrifice.  But,  as  already  stated,  it  is  not  at  all 
likely  that  the  rabbi  of  the  beginning  of  the  second  century 
who,  in  the  other  parts  of  his  statement,  dealt  only  with  the 
service  of  the  synagogue,  should,  without  special  indication, 
have  referred  to  a  response  in  the  Temple.  On  the  other 
hand,  R.  Akiba's  example  of  a  response  in  the  Synagogue 
service  to  a  call  ending  with  the  name  of  God,^  as  in 
Pss.  103.  20,  22;  135.  19,  20,  is  not  iniDi'D  nu3  D'^nna. 
To  think  of  the  recital  of  the  first  verse  of  the  v^^  which, 
as  the  reliable  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai  reported,-  was  already  in 
Temple  times  followed  by  inoi'D  nUD  D'l:*  inn,  is  hardly 
admissible,  as  the  call  to  which  the  same  words  were  the 
response  in  the  synagogue,  was  according  to  the  express 
statement  of  R.  Jose  '  Bless  '. 

In  the  prayer  of  the  public  fast  the  doxology  and  the 
response  of  the  congregation  were  followed  by  three  blasts 
of  the  fricvsts ;  as  the  same  was  the  case  also  after  the 
second  sentence  of  the  prayer,  it  is  evident  that  the  blasts 
were  an  essential  part  of  each  section  of  it.  Was,  in  the 
first  half  of  the  paragraph,  the  praise  of  God  to  be  enhanced 
by  the  sounding  of  the  horn  (Ps.  98.  6),  or  was  it  the 
closing  '  Blessed  be  the  Redeemer  of  Israel ',  which,  though 
in  its  form  a  statement,  was  in  reality  an  urgent  appeal  to 
God  as  the  Redeemer  1  ^  According  to  Num.  10.  9  the  trum- 
pets were  to  be  blown  by  the  priests  as  a  pressing  cry  in 
distress,  to  remind  God  of  His  people's  suffering.  And  so 
in  1  Mace.  3.  46-50  it  is  reported  :  '  Wherefore  the  Israelites 
assembled  themselves  together,  and  came  to  Maspha,  over 
against  Jerusalem.     (47)  Then  they  fasted  that  day,  and 

1  Berakh,  VII,  3  :  IH^)  D^nilD  IHi^  DDJ^H  n''n2  IJ^i'D  Sn^V  '^1  "^^^^ 

2  Pesah.  IV,  8  ;  Tos.  II,  19;  jer.  IV,  31  b.  27  ;  Blau  in  R.E.J.,  31,  1895, 
186,  188.* 

2  See  Oppenheim  in  Beth  Tahmul,  III,  1883,  176  ff. 

P  2 


228  SOME    TYPES    OF 

put  on  sackcloth,  and  cast  ashes  upon  their  heads,  and  rent 
their  clothes  ...  (50)  Then  cried  they  with  a  loud  voice 
toward  heaven,  saying,  What  shall  we  do  with  these,  and 
whither  shall  we  carry  them  away  ?  .  .  .  (52)  And,  lo,  the 
heathen  are  assembled  together  against  us  to  destro}^  us  : 
what  things  they  imagine  against  us,  Thou  knowest. 
(53)  How  shall  we  be  able  to  stand  against  them  except  Thou, 
O  God,  be  our  help  ?  (54)  Then  sounded  they  with  trumpets, 
and  cried  with  a  loud  voice '.  And  in  1  Mace.  4.  37 : 
'Upon  this  all  the  host  assembled  themselves  together, and 
went  up  into  Mount  Sion.  (38)  And  when  they  saw  the 
sanctuary  desolate,  and  the  altar  profaned,  and  the  gates 
burned  up,  and  shrubs  growing  in  the  courts  as  in  a  forest, 
or  in  one  of  the  mountains,  yea,  and  the  priests'  chambers 
pulled  down  ;  (39)  they  rent  their  clothes,  and  made  great 
lamentation,  and  cast  ashes  upon  their  heads,  (40)  and  fell 
down  flat  to  the  ground  upon  their  faces,  and  blew  an  alarm 
with  the  trumpets,  and  cried  toward  heaven'  .^  So  were 
also  at  the  public  fast  in  Ta'an.  II  all  the  signs  of  mourn- 
ing applied,  prayers  of  distress  were  spoken,  and  after  the 
second  sentence  an  alarm  was  sounded.  And  though 
neither  the  Mishnah  nor  the  Baraithas  mention  the  pro- 
stration after  the  blasts  of  the  trumpets,  it  seems  to  be 
understood,  as  also  several  instances  of  a  similar  character 
in  the  sacrificial  service  suggest.  So  2  Chron.  29.  27  says, 
'  And  when  the  burnt-offering  began,  the  song  of  the  Lord 
began  also,  and  the  trumpets,  together  with  the  instruments 
of  David,  king  of  Israel.  (28)  And  all  the  congregation 
prostrated  themselves,  and  the  singers  sang,  and  the  trum- 
pets sounded ;  all  this  continued  until  the  burnt-offering 
was  finished ' ?  Even  more  definitely  in  Sirach  50.  15  : 
'  He  (the  high-priest)  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  cup,  and 


^  In  Juditli  4.  9-15  a  public  fast  with  all  its  rites  is  described  ia 
detail  ;  but,  as  in  2  Mace.  13.  12,  the  sounding  of  an  alarm  with  the 
trumpets  is  missing,  while  the  prostrations  are  mentioned.  See  also 
the  prayer  of  Izates  of  Adiabene  in  Josephus,  Antiquit.,  XX,  4.  2.  89. 

2  ZATW.,  19,  1899,  335  ff. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  229 

poured  out  the  blood  of  the  grape ;  he  poured  out  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar  a  sweet-smelling  savour  unto  the  most  high 
King  of  all.  (16)  Then  shouted  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and 
sounded  the  silver  trumpets,  they  made  a  great  noise  to  be 
heard,  for  a  remembrance  before  the  Most  High.  (17)  Then 
all  the  people  together  hasted,  and  fell  down  to  the  earth 
upon  their  faces  to  worship  their  Lord,  God  Almighty,  the 
most  High '.  And  in  its  description  of  the  daily  morning 
sacrifice  the  Mishnah^  says  of  the  song  of  the  Levites  at 
the  libation  :  At  every  break  a  blast,  and  on  every  blast 
a  prostration. 

As  on  none  of  those  occasions  did  the  priests  pronounce 
the  name  of  God,^  the  prostration  was  not,  as  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement  and  at  the  daily  priestly  blessing,^  due  to  the 
name  of  God.  It  seems  to  have  marked,  just  as  the  blow- 
ing of  the  trumpets,  the  importance  of  the  wine-ofFering 
and  the  adoration  of  God  who  was  thought  of  as  present 
in  the  Temple  at  the  moment  of  the  libation ;  as  in  Neh.  8. 6, 
'And  Ezra  blessed  the  Lord,  the  great  God;  and  all  the 
people  answered.  Amen,  Amen,  with  the  lifting  up  of 
their  hands :  and  they  bowed  their  heads,  and  fell  down 
before  the  Lord  with  their  faces  to  the  ground'.*  The 
closest  parallel  to  our  prayer  on  the  public  fast  is  the 
description  of  the  public  fast  in  Neh.  9.  1-3 :  '  And  they 
stood  up  in  their  place,  and  read  in  the  book  of  the  Law  of 
the  Lord  their  God  a  fourth  part  of  the  day ;  and  another 
fourth  part  they  confessed,  and  prostrated  themselves  before 
the  Lord  their  God.'  Rabh,  the  Babylonian  teacher  of  the 
first  half  of  the  third  century,  ordered  the  family  of  R.  Aha, 
and  R.  Ammi  directed  his  own  household,  when  they  went 
out  (to  the  market)  to  the  service  of  the  public  fast,  not  to 
lie  down  in  the  usual  way,  when  carrying  out  the  old 
custom  of  the  prostration. "^     R.  Samuel  in  Tiberias  reports 

1  Tamid  VII,  .3:  H^inDK^n  njj"'pn  b:i  byi  nv'pn  pna  b^  bv- 

2  See,  however,  Ginzberg  in  Oriental.  Stuclien  in  honour  of  Nbldeke,  62.5. 

3  Sirach,  50.  21,  and  R.  Tarfon  in  Kohel.  r.  3.  11  end;  Tosafoth  Sotah 

40  b,  s.v.  by\. 

4  ZATW.,  19,  1899,  3.38.  5  .Jer.  'Abod.  zar.,  IV,  43  d.  6-19. 


230  SOME    TYPES    OF 

that  he  saw  R.  Abahu  lie  down  in  the  usual  manner ; 
R.  Assi  questioned  R.  Abahu  about  it,  as  Lev.  26.  1  pro- 
hibited the  prostration  upon  a  stone  which  had  figures 
carved  on  it.  R.  Jonah  and  R.  Aha  lay  on  their  sides. 
R.  Johanan  remarked  to  his  disciple  R.  Hiyya  b.  Abba  who 
had  emigrated  from  Babylonia  to  Tiberias,  '  Babylonian, 
two  things  have  come  to  us  from  your  country :  the 
stretching  out  of  the  limbs  at  the  public  fast,  and  the 
taking  of  willows  on  the  seventh  day  of  Tabernacles  '.^ 
R.  Johanan  did  not  mean  that  the  whole  custom  of  the 
prostration  at  the  service  of  the  public  fast  had  recently 
been  introduced  from  Babylonia,  but  merely  the  stricter 
form  of  it,  the  stretching  out  of  the  arms  and  the  legs, 
while  lying  flat  on  the  ground,  as  is  evident  from  the 
word  ^<n^D"lC^^D ;  but  the  prostration  at  the  service  of  the 
fast  was  an  old  established  custom  in  Palestine.  The 
stricter  observance  of  the  Babylonian  Jews  is  proved  by 
another  incident.  When  Rabh  once  came  to  a  service  on 
a  fast-day  in  Babylonia,  he  rose  from  his  place,  recited  the 
prescribed  blessing  over  the  Torah  and  read  therefrom ;  and 
when,  on  finishing  his  reading,  he  did  not  recite  the  blessing 
after  it,  the  whole  congregation  immediately  prostrated 
themselves,  but  Rabh  did  not  follow  their  example.-  The 
Talmud  tried  to  account  for  his  attitude  in  various  ways. 
As  Rabh  had  spent  many  years  in  the  school  of  R.  Jehudah  I 
in  Galilee,  he  had  learnt  to  prostrate  himself  on  the  public 
fast  only  in  the  market  and  only  after  the  prescribed 
blessings  and  prayers  ;  whereas  the  service  which  he 
attended  in  Babylonia,  seems  to  have  been  held  in  the 
synagogue,  just  as  that  arranged  during  the  revolution  in 
67  in  the  synagogue  in  Tiberias  and  described  by  Josephus.*^ 
The  Jews  in  Babylonia  had  their  own  and  stricter  rules^ 
regarding  that  custom."^ 

2  Megil.  22  b.  3  Vita,  56.  290-93. 

*  If  Jerome  may  be  trusted,  he  once  or  several  times  saw  the  annual 
mourning  of  the  Jews  on  Abh  9th  before  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  Ad  Zephan. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  231 

5.  In  the  days  of  the  Mishnah,  whenever  the  rain  con- 
tinued to  fail  after  Kislev  1st,  thirteen  fasts  were  pre- 
scribed by  the  authorities  to  be  observed  by  the  community. 
Of  those  the  last  seven  were  stricter  than  the  first  six,  for 
on  them  an  alarm  was  blown  and  the  shops  were  closed.^ 
It  was  after  each  of  the  six  blessings  of  the  prayer  that 
three  blasts  were  blown,  altogether  eighteen,  on  every  one 
of  the  seven  fasts.  When  before  the  year  135  R.  Akiba  and 
his  colleagues  discussed  the  public  and  private  calamities 
which  aflfected  onl}^  one  town  and  for  which  an  alarm 
should  be  sounded,'"'  they  defined  the  various  kinds  of  visita- 
tions in  which  the  trumpets  should  be  blown ;  consequently, 
the  continuation  of  the  anonymous  IMishnah  III,  5  belongs 
to  R.  Akiba.  As  this  teacher  only  defined  the  details,^  the 
general  rules  themselves  and  the  custom  of  sounding  an 

1.  15  ff.  ;  Schlirer,  Geschichie,  I,  703  fif. :  Habent  enim  et  in  luctu  tubas,  et 
juxta  prophetiam  vox  sollennitatis  versa  est  in  planctum;  they  blew  the 
trumpets  at  those  prayers  of  mourning  in  the  same  way  as  in  1  Mace. 
4.  39  ff.  and  at  the  service  of  the  public  fast. 

1  Ta'an.  I,  6;  Baraitha,  14  a  bottom  :  pV^">nD  li'XTJ' ;  instead  of  the 
denominative  verb  Tos.  Megih  I,  8  has  the  noun  nyi"in,  b.  also  ms?"irin. 

2  Ta'an.  Ill,  3 :  n:5;nD  i^vn  nmx  .  .  .  D''?^*c^:i  n>by  m^  ^«i?C'*  n^y  pi 
niynriD  nrois*  NTpy  ^m  ^mynnD  i6)  n):vr\D  n^niT3D  b::)  nyinroi 
njyriD  "I'^yn  nnis*  nhsD  iwS  nm  ni  :^'^:^  n^y  pi  (4)  .niJyriD  i6) 
niynriD  "idin  xn^y  '^"i  .niynriD  i6)  ni^yno  nTinuD  b:i)  nymjoi 
m^yriD  i6),  jer.  iii,  66  e.  42:  pc^  mynno  N/1  nijynn  iTnu^ao  b2) 
mynni:  1D'l^<  nn^py  ""an  .pynno  si?  bii^  p^yno  omaan  nvi  ijx^d 
.  ♦  ♦  ni:iynD  iS  bii^. 

3  SifreNum.lO.9.76:  ])p•-\^^  ])Zil^  nDni?D.  .N^N*  'b  pS*  "IDIN*  i^2'pV  Ol 

-ii*n  bv  "1^1^  Di^bn  pjD  n^n  nanoDn  n:''2Di  ni^^i?  r\\:^pr2  .t^ni 
-iu^*n  bv  N3n  i6'c^  mvi  nnv  ^d  bv  o^nx  nnivn;  Ta'an.  22  a:  ijn 
nmt?  i^yi  pp"i\-i  i?yi  panrn  bv  Qipo  ba  pynnn  li'N*  bv  pnn 
^"in^  b:i2  pp-iM  ^yi  p^^*k^^■I  i'y  "ijoin  Nn^py  u-i  ,nyn  n>n  i?yi  ij^om 
.iH'i'y  py^inc  ins  ^^d  wxi^s*  ^n"ik^^  p"iNn  nsi:  id  i^'sn  ^^om  ^n-l^< 
p  pn  ^m  ,^inn  -idi^  inv  pxi  nnco  nmn  ^y  pynno  N^:n  (22  b) 
^y  pynno  ps  "idis*  i^2'pv  '^n  dvj'o  sn^y  ''^i  ^^^^  n^Diri  dvj^s 
"ip^y  b^  nnin. 


232  SOME    TYPES    OF 

alarm  at  public  fasts  must  have  been  established  before 
him.^  This,  in  fact,  is  evident  from  the  description  of  the 
service  held  in  two  Galilean  towns  before  135,  and  of  those 
held  on  the  Temple  Mount  before  70,-^  and,  what  is  of  special 
weight  for  oui*  investigation,  of  that  expressly  recorded 
in  the  Scroll  of  Fasts  on  Adar  8th,  as  here  we  read :  '  On 
Adar  8th  and  9th  w^as  a  day  of  blowing  the  alarm  for  rain."^ 
And  it  may  be  assumed  with  the  greatest  probability  that 
the  alarm  was  sounded  also  on  the  two  fasts  which  the 
Mishnah  and  Baraitha  report  of  Temple  times  as  illus- 
trations of  the  rules  quoted  above.'*  '  When  some  elders 
were  on  their  way  down  from  Jerusalem  to  their  towns 
and  noticed  some  blasting  of  corn  in  Ashkalon,  they  ordered 
a  fast';  and  another  fast  was  decreed  because  wolves  had 
eaten  two  children  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan ;  R.  Jose 
said, '  Because  wolves  had  merely  been  noticed  there  '. 

The  very  fact  that  priests  were  chosen  for  the  blowing, 
suggests  that,  as  in  Num.  10.  8  and  31.6,  the  silver  trumpets 
of  the  Temple,  which  only  priests  were  permitted  to  blow, 
were  used  for  the  purpose.  This  was  actually  the  case  in 
the  sacrificial  service  ;  ^  and,  as  also  on  other  occasions  con- 
nected directly  with  the  Temple,  priests  blew  the  same 
trumpets,^  it  seems  very  probable  that  also  at  the  service 
of  the  public  fast,  held  in  front  of  the  eastern  gates  of  the 
inner  forecourt  of  the  Temple,  the  trumpets  blown  by 
priests  were  the  same.  For  not  onl}^  at  the  actual  morning-, 
evening-,  and  the  additional  Sabbath-  and  festival  sacrifices 
which  were  offered  within  the  inner  forecourt,  did  the  actincr 
priests  do  so ;  but  at  the  solemn  procession  that  took  place 
on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  connexion  with  the  drawing 

^  See  also  jer.  Ill,  66  c.  15;  Tos.  II,  8.  2  Baraithas  Ta'an.  16  b. 

2  ^^-lDD  nvnn  ni^  nv^rnni  N^3r:nn,  C4ratz,  GescMcUe,  in,  note  1,  .576. 

iNn   30. 

*  Ta'an.  Ill,  6. 

5  2  Chron.  5,  12  ;  7.  6 ;  29.  26-28 ;  Ezra  3.  10;  Neh.  12.  3.5,  41  ;  Sirach, 
50.  15-18  ;  Josephus,  Aniiquit.,  Ill,  12.  6.  291-4  ;  Tamid,  VII,  3  ;  Pesah. 
V,  5  ;  jer.  V,  32  c.  40  ;  cf.  Tosafoth  Sukk.  54  a,  s.v.  l^^K'. 

3  Sukk.  V,  5. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  233 

of  water  from  the  well  of  Shiloah  for  the  water  libation,^ 
and,  as  will  presently  be  shown,  also  at  the  Sabbath 
signals.  These  occasions  on  which  the  priests  are  expressly 
stated  as  blowing  the  trumpets,  are  sufficient  for  the 
inference  that  also  on  the  other  occasions  included  in  the 
same  Mishnah,  at  the  opening  of  the  gates  of  the  Temple 
court  and  at  the  Sabbath  signals,  the  priests  sounded  the 
trumpets.^  The  same  applies  to  another  religious  act  that 
was  performed  on  the  Temple  Mount  outside  the  Temple 
where,  as  is  expressly  stated,  the  service  of  the  public 
fast  was  also  held.  When  R.  Akiba  once  asserted  that 
the  priests  who  blew  the  trumpets  had  to  be  without  a 
blemish,  R.  Tarfon,  a  priest  of  Temple  times,  in  contra- 
dicting him  said,  '  By  the  life  of  my  children,  I  maintain 
that  I  saw  Simeon,  my  mother's  brother,  who  w^as  lame  on 
one  leg,  standing  and  blowing  the  trumpet'.  R.  Akiba 
then  asked  him,  '  I  agree,  but  perhaps  you  saw  him  not  at 
the  sacrifices  of  which  I  am  speaking,  but  at  the  great 
gathering  of  the  people,  bnpnV  R.  Tarfon  admitted  the 
correctness  of  that  suggestion."  At  that  great  assembly, 
held  at  the  conclusion  of  the  year  of  rest  on  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles,  Deut.  31.  10-13,  Agrippa  II  once  read  from 

^  Sukk.  V,  4  ;  ZATW.,  20,  1900,  111  ff. 

2  According  to  Baraitha  Sukk.  53  b  ;  Tos.  IV,  10 ;  jer.  V,  55  c.  30  (of. 
E.  Eliezer  b.  Jacob  in  b.  54  a),  the  author  of  the  list  in  the  Mishnah 
which  is  not  uncontested,  was  R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai. 

3  Sifre  Num.  10.8.75  ;  jer.  Yoma,  I,  38  d.  37  ;  Tos.  Sot.  VII,  16  ;  inciden- 
tally we  learn  that  the  priests  who  blew  the  trumpets  in  the  sacrificial 
service,  had  to  be  without  a  blemish.    Sifre  has  instead  of  the  last  words 

^nim  D^"1D3n  DVni  nJtJTl  L"J^12  XrOC',  which,  asFrledmann  had  already 

remarked,    is   very   difficult    to   justify.      A  manuscript  rightly  reads  : 

^nVn  Dm2:)n  Ol^ni   bT^\>'n'2.  NDK',  perhaps  it  was  at  the  great  gatliering 

or  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  in  the  jubilee  year.  Lev.  25.  9.     Similarly, 

Yalkut  has  :  bnvni  aniEDn  DVa  bT\\>r]1  where  in  the  last  word  the  first 

letter  must  be  struck  out.     Though  Pesik.  r.  39.  165  b  :  N3^py  Ul   "IDK 

nynn  nsiir  maym  nroNJC^  ^3rni  r\^^r\  ti^xnn  yipn^  T^i'^  did  i^yn 

\ih  D"'n3Tn  bv  bl^  Dn:»"lN*  b'22  '1:1  also  had  before  it  in  R.  Akiba's 
question  toR.  Tarfon  the  reading  7\'^^'T\  t^NI,  it  is  undoubtedly  a  mistake, 
and  cannot  be  justified  in  the  presence  of  the  only  correct  reading :  S"tpn. 


234  SOME    TYPES    OF 

the  Torah  in  the  inner  forecourt  of  the  Temple,^  or  on  the 
Temple  Mount  where  R.  Tarfon's  uncle  blew  the  trumpet.''^ 
This  was  a  non-sacrificial  act,  and  the  priests  still  blew 
the  trumpets  which,  however^  did  not  belong  to  the  Temple. 
And  the  signals  which  informed  the  people  of  Jerusalem  of 
the  beginning  and  the  conclusion  of  the  Sabbath,  were  also 
given  by  a  priest  who  blew  the  trumpet  on  the  pinnacle  of 
the  Temple.^ 

^  Sot.  VII,  8 ;  Biichler,  Priester  unci  Culhis,  14  ;  see,  however,  R.  Eliezer 
b.  Jacob  in  Baraitha  Yoma,  69  b ;  Tos.  Sot.  VII,  13,  who  names  the  Temple 
Mount  instead.     Cf.  Halevy  D^'JI^^'SIH   niin,  le  4  b,  note. 

2  Tos.  Sot.  VII,  15  describes  the  same  very  vividly  :  On  that  day  priests 
stood  in  the  breaches  of  the  wall  and  in  the  closed  parts  of  it  (cf.  Midd. 
II,  3:  Within  the  wall  of  the  Temple  Mount  was  the  Soreg  ten  hand- 
breadths  high  into  which  Greek  kings,  jer.  Shekal.  VI,  50  a.  2,  broke 
thirteen  breaches ;  later  on  these  were  closed,  and  in  their  direction 
thirteen  prostrations  were  instituted,  Tos.  Shekal.  II,  17)  with  golden 
trumpets  in  their  hands  and  blew  a  plain  blast  and  an  alarm ;  he  who 
had  no  trumpet  was  criticized  as  appearing  not  to  be  a  priest.  The 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  earned  money  by  letting  their  trumpets.  On 
the  same  day  R.  Tarfon  saw  a  lame  priest  blow  the  trumpet  and  inferred 
from  it  that  a  lame  priest  was  permitted  to  blow  the  trumpet  in  the 
Sanctuary.  In  the  name  of  R,  Nathan  it  is  reported.  The  Jews  incurred 
destruction  by  flattering  Agrippa. 

^  Josephus,  Wm's,  IV,  9. 12.582  ;  it  is  true,  he  speaks  of  adXiriy^  and  not 
of  PvKavT],  so  that  the  nature  of  the  instrument  may  seem  doubtful.  But 
the  parallel  reference  in  Sukk.  V,  5  where,  as  we  have  seen,  the  blasts  of 
the  priests  were,  on  several  occasions,  sounded  with  trumpets,  makes  it 
almost  certain  that  the  signals  of  the  Sabbath  which  are  included  in  the 
same  list  of  the  Mishnah,  were  also  blown  with  the  same  trumpets.  This 
is  clearly  stated  in  Tos.  Sukk.  IV,  11,  12:  p  Dyn  HN*  i?^D3ni?  ^b^  1^3 

.  .  .  n^y  b^  nn2):b  :m  ^i^'^b  r]b)V'\  nn^^^vn  bi2):  noj^n  jrn  ,n3N^?:n 
.  .  .  mv^vn  bi2)2  riDJDn  pn  ,i?ini?  c^np  pn  i^nnnS?  ^b'^^  nv^D  (12) 
.  . » iDMi  >DV  '2^  ;\b  Nni  -inn  jjh  t^•x-la  nnvivn  noD^n  |Tn  n^jn 
nn^iivn  n^JD  ddjdh   |rn  o^'tr  ::n  t^'xin  r\'<n  DipD  ahii,  cf.  jer. 

Shabb.  XVII,  16  a.  53.  Here  the  attendant  of  the  Synagogue  announced 
by  a  trumpet  blast  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  ;  but  the  name  of  R.  Jose 
shows  that  the  passage  deals  with  conditions  that  prevailed  in  Galilee 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  In  the  parallel  Baraitha 
Shabb.  35  b  "IDItJ'  is  put  instead  of  the  trumpet,  while  another  Baraitha 

again :  n^*2  i<'2n  ,  »  .  pi^oi^Dno  d:\s  nn^iivm  i'^i'D^D  laitr  N''jnm 

nnVIVn  nX  P^D^DD  13  "lairn  nX  pi^D^DJ^C^,  mentions  the  horn  and 
the  trumpets  side  by  side  as  used  for  announcing  the  Sabbath.     It  seems 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  235 

But  there  is  some  additional  and,  as  it  appears,  early 
information  about  the  blasts  at  the  service  of  the  public  fast, 
which  mentions  the  horn  also  by  the  side  of  the  trumpets. 
'  The  horn  for  the  New  Year  is  extended  and  straio-ht, 
and  is  of  a  gazelle,  and  its  mouthpiece  is  overlaid  with 
gold ;  by  the  side  of  the  horn  are  two  trumpets,  the  horn 
blows  longer,  the  trumpets  blow  a  shorter  time,  for  on  the 
New  Year  the  horn  is  prescribed.  (4)  On  the  fast-days 
they  blow  [two]  bent  ram  horns  the  mouthpieces  of  which 
are  overlaid  with  silver ;  between  the  horns  are  two  trum- 
pets, the  horns  blow  a  shorter  time,  the  trumpets  longer, 
for  the  duty  of  the  day  are  trumpets  '.^  All  that  we  know 
otherwise  from  rabbinic  literature  about  the  use  of  the  ram's 
horn  on  the  New  Year  in  the  service  of  the  Synagogue, 
contradicts  the  rule  of  the  Mishnah  just  quoted.  When 
a  Babylonian  scholar,  R.  Papa  b.  Samuel  proposed  to  follow 
that  rule,  Rabha  remarked  to  him  that  that  Mishnah 
referred  to  the  Sanctuary  ;  and  also  a  Baraitha  says,  '  That 
rule  applied  only  to  the  Sanctviary,  whereas  outside  it 
either  trumpets  only  or  a  horn  only  are  to  be  used '.  So 
R.  Halaftha  introduced  it  in  Sepphoris  and  R.  Haninah  b. 
Teradyon  in  Sikhnin ;  but  w^hen  the  scholars  (of  the  central 

that  some  autliorities  objected  to  the  religious  use  of  the  trumpet  outside 
the  Temple  ;  but  in  the  Temple  and  on  the  Temple  Mount,  it  is  clear, 
the  signal  of  the  Sabbath  was  given  with  the  trumpet.  See  also  Revel  in 
•7.  Q.E.,  III,  1913,  386;  Ginzberg  in  R.  E.J.,  67,  1914,  150. 

1  Rosh  haShan.  Ill,  3  :  HDI^^D  V21   tOI^D  bv  b'^  HJC^H  ^H.-)   b^  IQIir 

Ti^i  c]D3  naivD  i.TDi  0^2123  cm^T  b^^  n>:ynn  (4)    ,iz^w2  Dvn 

cf.  Tos.  Rosh  haShan.  Ill,  3 :  myD?D3"i  ^b\:^^  c'^tT  yntT  pypiD  n^jynai 
anoiN*  n'^Dm  ni)^'  u-i  nm  bn)  b:i  b:i  bv  ^b^  ^b^  e^i5*;^6  ^b^' 
'21  ^n^o  n^'v^  nnvivna  pypin  in  nmi  ,nD?oi  hdd  b  bv  ^^^ 
)2r\:  p'h'ii  b^2  b2V2}  nn3T  b\y2  pypin  mc'n  trx-in  idis  ni)7\'' 
^iVD  iJ^XK^^  ^"i^'D  ij^Nc^  nN*T  ^ivdS?  ^ivr:n  ns*  Q^ro^n .  b.  26  b :  N>jn 
niijnvai  paia^  nn^r  i?co  pypin  vn  r>yc*r\  -^xna  n^ix  mi.T  ••an 
D^^jy^  b'C'2. 


236  SOME    TYPES    OF 

school)  lieard  of  it,  they  said  tliat  such  a  practice  had  been 
followed  only  at  the  eastern  gates  and  on  the  Temple  Mount.^ 
Accordingly^,  the  above  Mishnah  described  an  early  custom 
followed  before  the  year  70  on  the  Temple  Mount,  and 
transplanted  by  those  two  scholars  to  Galilee.-  But  in  what 
connexion  was  the  horn  blown  in  the  Sanctuary  along 
with  the  trumpets  on  the  New  Year?  With  our  present 
information  it  appears  nearly  impossible  to  detect  in  our 
sources  any  indication  that  in  the  Temple  service  a  horn 
was  at  any  time  or  ever  blown,  as  at  the  sacrifices  in  Num. 
10.  10  as  well  as  in  the  passages  discussed  only  trumpets 
are  mentioned.  It  is  true,  the  horn  is  included  among  the 
instruments  used  in  the  Temple  in  the  statement  of  the 
Mishnah  :  '  In  Jericho  they  heard  from  the  Temple  the 
sounds  of  the  flute,  the  cymbal  and  the  Shofar,  and,  accord- 
ing to  some,  also  the  voice  of  the  high-priest,  as  he  pro- 
nounced the  name  of  God  on  the  Day  of  Atonement '."  But 
the  occasion  on  which  the  horn  was  blown,  is  not  suggested. 
In  his  explanation  of  the  passage  Maimonides  refers  to 
Sukk.  V,  5  where  the  word  Shofar  does  not  occur  at  all ;  so 

1  K.  H.  27  a :  pi^un  b^ii  ^ipi22  Dni?Dx  onm  n?on  ^3n  ^DJ  N^3n 
:M:in  pi  nnvivn  ps*  nsii:'  \^'^*  Dipro  isic'  px  nn^'ivn  *k^^c^  dipd 
^v^<  -im  Nn*t:ai  /jD^on  pn-in  p  N-'ijn  u-n  nisvn  N*nabn  '21 
na^n  r\'2n  inm  nnrn  '>iv^2  i6i^  p  p:nij  vn  i6  n?o^5  D"'D3n. 

In  jer.  Rosli  linShan.  Ill,  58  d.  31  it  is  reported  :  '  In  the  j^resence  of 
R.  Joshua  b.  Levi  they  blew  on  the  public  fast  (the  horn).  R.  Jose  asked, 
Why  did  they  not  blow  the  trumpets  before  him  ?  Did  R.  Jose  not  know 
the  Baraitha,  Trumpets  in  the  Sanctuary,  but  not  outside  it'?  In  jer. 
Ta'an.  II,  65  a.  34;  b.  14  a  R.  Jacob  of  the  Darom  said,  Why  do  they 
blow  the  horns  on  the  fast  ?  All  this  shows  that  on  the  public  fast  the 
Shofar  and  not  the  trumpets  were  blown  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries  ;  see  also  Oppenheim  in  Beth  Talmud,  III,  1883,  175-8.  Jerome's 
report  about  the  mourning  of  the  Jews  before  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  on 
Abh  9th,  quoted  above,  230,  4,  speaks  of  tuhae,  trumpets,  not  horns. 

^  In  Gaonic  times  at  public  fasts  in  Babylonia  the  horn  was  blown,  see 

i:n  inND  r\ii\:in,  i,  i9ii,  153. 

s  Tamid  III,  8:  blp    ]^V^W  VH   "liTTD    b^bn.T   hp   pVDIi:'  IM   "inn^D 

jHD  h^  hp  5i^<  0^"'?^^^^  ^•'•"1  "isitj^n  hp  pyDit^^  vn  inn^D  .  .  .  b:>'^vn 
DniMH  nvn  n^T\  nx  ^^::rD  Nine*  nvz'2  b'n:.. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  237 

that  he  must  have  identified  it  with  the  trumpet  blown  by 
the  priests,  which  presupposes  a  loose  use  of  terms  in  an 
early  report  about  the  service  of  the  Temple.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  account  of 
the  miraculously  loud  sounds  heard  in  Jericho  does  not  fit 
in  with  the  sober  tone  of  the  whole  tractate  of  Tamid.  It 
evidently  belonged  to  another  source  which,  as  its  interest 
in  the  musical  instruments  of  the  Temple  suggests,  was 
concerned  with  a  subject  for  which  the  author  of  the 
tractate  had  little  attention  left.  Did  perhaps  theLevites 
and  not  the  priests,  blow  the  horn  *?  ^  Very  curious  is  the 
statement  quoted  by  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah  who  was  once 
a  levitical  singer  in  the  Temple :  '  A  live  ram  has  only  one 
voice,  but,  when  dead,  it  produces  seven  sounds :  its  two 
horns  are  made  into  two  Unvnipets,  its  two  legs  into  two 
flutes,  its  hide  is  made  into  a  drum,  its  entrails  are  used  for 
psalteries,  and  its  viscera  for  (strings  of)  harps '."^  As 
R.  Joshua  naturally  knew  that  mvvn  denoted  in  the  Bible 
and  in  the  Mishnahs  of  Sukkah  and  Tamid  a  metal  trumpet 
and  not  a  horn,  it  must  be  assumed  that  he  knew  from  his 
experience  in  the  Temple  that  "laViT  and  nnvvn  were  used 
promiscuously  for  the  animal  horn.  The  reverse  is,  how- 
ever, found  in  a  passage,"  evidently  a  Baraitha,  which  ex- 
plains the  trumpets  of  the  priests  in  Num.  31.  6  by  ■^DV^; 
while  another  reference,  representing  another  school,  em- 
phasizes the  distinction  between  the  two.'^ 

To  the  blowing  of  the  Shofar  in  the  service  of  the  Temple 
on  the  New  Year  no  other  reference  is  to  be  found  any- 

1  See  1  Chron.  25.  5.  ^  Kinnim,  III,  6. 

3  Sotah,  43  a  top. 

4  SifrezutaonNum.l0.8ff.,72:    nnEVJ'3   N*7   nn^*!;na   IVPH^   ver.  9: 

miDId  i<b  nil^*^*ni  Oniyim .  The  instruments  enumerated  by  R.  Joshua 
were  levitical,  or  at  least  non-priestly  ;  so  that  Tosafoth  in  Menah.  28  a 
see  in  the  trumpets  such  as  were  used  by  the  Levites,  as  in  1  Chron. 
16.  42  (cf.  1  Chron,  15.  19,  and  Sukk.  V,  4  ;  the  parallel  Tos.  Sukk.  IV,  7 
does  not  mention  the  trumpets).  Perhaps  the  Levites  were  at  some  time 
deprived  of  their  privilege  of  rsing  the  trumpets  in  the  Temple,  and  they 
transferred  the  name  Dli^^n  to  the  horn.  For  R.  Hisda's  opinion  in 
Shabb.  36a  the  Mishnah  of  R.  Joshua  offers  no  proof. 


238  SOME    TYPES    OF 

where,  nor  is  it  stated  that  at  the  special,  additional  offering 
of  that  festival  the  usual  trumpets  were  not  blown  ;  ^  while 
in  a  question  about  the  blowing  on  the  New  Year  only  the 
trumpets  are  presupposed  as  used  on  that  day.^  The 
designation  of  the  festival  as  the  day  of  nynn  in  Num. 
29.  1,  Lev.  23.  24  is  not  conclusive,  as  in  Num.  31.  6 ;  10.  9 
the  word  is  connected  with  the  priests'  trumpets,  and  in 
Lev.  25.  9  and  several  other  passages  with  the  Shofar."  If 
it  were  certain  that  Ps.  81.4,  'Blow  the  horn  at  the  new 
moon,  at  the  full  moon  for  our  feast-day ',  referred  to  the 
New  Year,  as  those  interpreted  it  who  instituted  the  psalm 
to  be  sung  by  the  Levites  on  that  festival  at  the  sacrifice, 
the  blowing  of  the  horn  should  have  been  the  custom  in 
the  Temple  on  the  New  Year.  Philo's  explanation  of  the 
character  of  that  festival  is  very  instructive.  '  Then  follows 
the  festival  of  the  sanctification  of  the  holy  month,  on  which 
at  the  offering  of  the  sacrifices  in  the  Temple  it  is  the 
custom  to  blow  the  trumpet ;  on  account  of  that  this  festival 
is  rightly  called  the  feast  of  the  trumpet  '.*  This  interest- 
ing description  seems  to  have  been  derived  neither  from 
Num.  10.  10,  where  the  blowing  of  the  trumpets  at  the 
sacrifices  is  prescribed  for  all  the  festivals,  nor  from  Lev. 
23.  24,  Num.  29.  1  where  only  the  word  nyiin  characterizes 
the  day,  but  from  Philo's  knowledge  of  the  actual  practice 
in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.^  Again,  trumpets  and  not 
horns  are  pointed  out  as  characteristic  of  the  day ;  and  it 
seems  impossible  to  reconcile  with  that  the  Mishnah  ^  the 

^  Sukk.  V,  5  ;  Sifre  Num.  10.  3  0.  77  ;  Sifre  zut.  Num.  10.  0,  72  ff. 

2  Sukk.  54  a ;  jer.  V,  55  c.  39  if. 

3  The  alarm  blast  with  the  Shofar  is  the  signal  of  war  and  battle  in 
Amos  2.  2  ;  Zeph.  1.16  ;  Jer.  4.  19.  The  word  nyilD,  which  means  shout, 
sometimes  refers  to  joy  and  accompanies  the  blast  of  the  horn,  1  Chron. 
15.  28  ;  cf.  Ezra  3.  13  and  1  Sam.  4.  5,  6  ;  2  Sam.  6. 15.  In  Ps.  47.  6  it  is 
the  greeting  of  the  king  by  the  people,  as  in  Num.  23,  21,  and  is  in 
Ps.  98.  6  followed  by  the  combined  blasts  of  the  horn  and  the  trumpets. 

*  Be  Sabb.  22  =  Be  spec,  leg.,  II,  188  =  M.,  II,  295. 

5  See,  however,  Treitel's  remark  in  MGWJ.,  47,  1903,  502  if.,  and 
Heinemann  in  Cohn's  German  translation  of  Pkilo,  II,  160,  2:  *  It  is 
derived  from  fxvrjfxoavvov  oaXnlyyojv  LXX.' 

6  Rosh  haShan.  Ill,  3. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  239 

correctness  of  which  is  borne  out  by  a  Baraitha  and  by  the 
practice  of  the  two  Galilean  scholars  about  the  year  100-135 
who  ordered  the  horn  and  the  trumpets  to  be  blown  at  the 
same  time  at  the  service  of  the  public  fast.     The  Mishnah 
either  represented  a  time  and  a  practice  different  from  those 
described  in  Sukkah,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  in  spite  of 
the  word  '  in  the  Sanctuary '  did  not  refer  to  the  sacrificial 
service  of  the  Temple.     As  the  parallel  Baraitha  expressly 
states  that  it  was  held  at  the  eastern  gates  and  on  the 
Temple  Mount,  it  would  first  follow  that  on  the  Xew  Year 
a  service  was  held  outside  the  Temple,  though  close  to  it,  at 
which  two  trumpets  and  one  horn  were  blown,  just  as  at  the 
service  of  the  public  fast,  held  in  the  same  place,  the  same 
two  instruments  were  sounded.    And  it  is  of  special  interest 
that  in  the  Baraitha  about  the  New  Year  wJ'IpD  desicrnates 
not  the  Temple  itself  and  its  sacrificial  service,  but  the  area 
in  front  of  the  eastern  gates  of  the  forecourt ;  and  the  same 
C'lpD  is  used  with  reference  to  the  service  of  the  fast,  and 
a2:ain  the  Mishnah  substitutes  for  it  the  eastern  crates  and 
the  Temple   Mount.^     And  its  bearing  on  the  service  on 
the  New  Year  is  corroborated  by  another  statement.    'On 
the  New  Year  that  fell  on  the  Sabbath,  they  blew  in  the 
Sanctuary,  but  not  outside  it ;  Jerusalem  had  this  additional 
privilege  over  Jamnia  that  even  a  town  in  its  close  neigh- 
bourhood  was   permitted    to   blow   on  the    Sabbath  '.^     A 
Baraitha  reports :  '  When  once  the  New  Year  fell  on  the 
Sabbath  and  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  places  had  gathered 
together,  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  said  to  the  sons  of  Bethera, 
Let   us   blow !     But   they  replied.   Let  us  first   argue   it, 

1  Baraitha  Ta'an.  16  b:  p  "IJ^X  ^']p^2  ^Zi^  ]^b)2:2  DniDN  Onm  nr22 
^1pD2    f?D^<    p:iy    pXU'    ^I^b,  Ta'an.   II,   5;   see  Zipser   in   Warnheim's 

D^n:]n  m*up,  1-5. 

2  Kosh  haShan.  IV,  2 :  n"'y  b2'c'  n:3^  bv  nTfi''  n^b^)-\'  iiDM  DNr  mvi 
pyp^n  vn  i6  n^nui  pypin  xa^  ni?iDn  nnnpi  nyDiivi  nxn  i^Ti^y 

nn'PD  pT  JT'D^  N<5t<.  This  statement  about  the  privileged  position  of 
Jerusalem  contradicts  the  previous  report  about  the  exclusive  right  of  the 
Sanctuary  ;  evidently  we  have  here  the  opinions  of  two  different  schools. 


240  SOME    TYPES    OF 

(whether  it  is  permitted) ;  R.  Johanan  answered,  Let  us 
first  blow,  and  argue  afterwards.  When  after  the  blowing 
they  said  to  him,  Let  us  argue  it,  he  said,  Since  the  horn 
has  already  been  heard  in  Jamnia,  you  cannot  refute  it 
after  the  fact'.-  As  the  arguments  of  the  opposing  parties 
indicate,  the  dispute  occurred  at  the  meeting  of  the  highest 
religious  authority  whom  the  Mishnah  describes  as  the 
pT  r\^2  ;  and  as  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  had  transferred  to  the 
beth-din  in  Jamnia  the  privileges  of  the  highest  beth-din, 
once  in  the  stone  chamber  of  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem,  he 
claimed  for  it  the  right  to  have  the  horn  blown  at  its 
meeting  on  the  New  Year  that  fell  on  the  Sabbath.^  On 
the  other  hand,  as,  in  addition  to  the  official  blowing  in  the 
beth-din,  the  trumpets  and  the  horn  were  blown  at  the 
eastern  gates  of  the  forecourt  of  the  Temple,  as  in  the  prayers 
of  the  public  fast  consisting  of  several  blessings,  there 
seems  to  have  been  held  on  the  New  Year  in  the  same 
place  a  similar  service  in  which  the  horn  and  the  trumpets 

'  Rosh  haShan.  29  b  bottom. 

2  Cf.  Rashi  R.  H.  30  a  :  When  the  New  Year  fell  on  the  Sabbath,  they 
blew  only  in  the  Great  Synhedrion  that  sanctified  the  new-moon-days. 
With  this  agrees  the  early  report  in  Tos.  R,  H.  IV,  3 :  Simeon,  the  son  of 
the  vice-high-priest  said,  If  the  witnesses  (who  reported  the  appearance 
of  the  new  moon  on  Elul  30th)  only  came  after  the  afternoon-sacrifice 
had  been  offered  up,  the  horn  was  blown,  but  the  additional  sacrifice  of 
the  festival  was  brought  only  after  the  sanctification  of  the  new  moon. 
As  those  witnesses  had  to  give  their  evidence  before  the  beth-din  in 
Jerusalem,  and  the  same  authority  sanctified  the  new  moon,  it  seems 
most  probable  that  also  the  blowing  of  the  horn,  characteristic  of 
Tishri  1st  and  closely  bound  up  with  that  evidence,  was  ordered  by  the 
same  beth-din,  just  as  this  regulated  the  sacrifices  to  be  brought  on 
the  New  Year.  A  Baraitha  in  R.  H.  30  a  expressly  states  the  fact  that 
the  horn  was  blown  in  the  beth-din  that  sanctified  the  new  moon.  But 
as  the  people  had  on  the  day  of  the  New  Year  gathered  in  Jamnia  and 
before  in  Jerusalem,  and  could  hardly  have  found  room  in  the  chamber 
of  the  meeting,  the  announcement  of  the  beth-din  must  have  been  made 
in  the  Temple  in  the  spacious  inner  forecourt,  and  the  horn  been  blown 
before  the  large  gathering  (cf.  Pesik.  r.  41.  172  b :  bn^  r]2^n  K^N"1  "JD^si? 

pn  n^n  vn^  n)pi22  norya  nJ'n  DipD  b:i2  o^ypin  ps*  r\2^2  nvni) 

n^C^nnni  n^:\:^n  nS  DnnyOI   n^l^'V  for  the  time  when  the  meeting  for 
fixing  the  calendar  was  held  in  'En-Tabh). 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  24 1 

occupied  a  place  of  considerable  importance.  And  as  already 
the  two  schools  of  the  Shammaites  and  Hillelites  differed 
only  on  the  detail  as  to  the  place  of  the  special  reference  to 
the  Sabbath  in  the  prayer  for  the  New  Year,  but  were 
agreed  without  any  doubt  about  the  number  of  the  bles- 
sings constituting  the  prayer  for  that  festival,^  it  is  certain 
that  the  additional  blessings  expressing  the  spirit  of  the 
New  Year  were  already  in  existence  in  Temple  times.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  discussion  between  R.  Akiba  and 
R.  Johanan  b.  Nuri  about  the  exact  place  in  the  prayer  of 
the  New  Year  where  the  horn  is  to  be  blown,  mJn^r  nV2bi2 
nnaitJ'"!  are  referred  to  as  fixed  parts  of  that  prayer,  and 
R.  Simeon  b.  Gamaliel  II  states  that  in  the  service  held  in 
Jamnia  (in  the  days  of  his  father  Gamaliel  II)  the  order 
suggested  by  R.  Akiba  was  followed.^  It  seems  most 
probable  that  the  three  additional  insertions  just  mentioned 
already  formed  a  part  of  the  prayer  for  the  New  Year  in 
Jerusalem,  and  that  the  blowing  of  the  horn  and  the  trum- 
pets on  the  Temple  Mount  followed  the  recital  of  every  one 
of  those  insertions,  as  in  the  prayer  of  the  public  fast  held 
in  front  of  the  eastern  gates  of  the  inner  forecourt  of  the 
Temple. 

6.  The  prayer  for  rain  itself  has,  strange  to  say,  not  been 
preserved  in  the  Baraithas  about  the  service  of  the  public 
fast.  All  that  is  quoted,  is  the  reader's  wishes  to  the  people 
which  were  similar  to  those  of  Eli  to  Hannah  in  1  Sam.  1.17, 
'  May  He  who  answered  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah,  answer 
you  and  listen  to  the  voice  of  your  cry  this  daj^'.^  But 
neither  the  praj^er  which  God  may  answer,  nor  the  cry 
sent  up  to  Him  is  reported.  As  all  the  three  Baraithas 
which  describe  the  service,  agree  in  all  the  details  in  the 

I  Tos.  E.  H.  IV,  11:  ^NDiT  r\'2  ni^yi  nvnb  bn^y  nrcM  c\sn  h'c^  zvj  or 
yL^'n  bh^n^  onovx  bbn  n^m  iK^y  bb^n^  oncis . 

2  R.  H.  IV,  5;  Baraitha  b.  32  a;  jer.  IV,  59  c.  11  ;  Sifra  Lev.   23.  24, 
101  d  ;  Tos.  R.  H.  IV,  5. 

Q 


242  SOME    TYPES    OF 

two  paragraphs,  it  seems  that  nothing  has  fallen  out ;  so 
that  the  first  blessing  with  its  concluding  benediction 
would  have  constituted  the  prayer  proper.  In  support  of 
the  unusual  form  of  the  prayer  as  a  blessing,  1  Mace.  4.  30 
could  be  adduced :  '  And  when  he  saw  that  mighty  army , 
he  prayed  and  said,  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Saviour  of  Israel, 
who  didst  quell  the  violence  of  the  mighty  man  by  the 
hand  of  Thy  servant  David,  .  .  .  (31)  Deliver  this  army  into 
the  hand  of  Thy  people  Israel '.  Here  also  the  prayer 
opens  with  the  praise  of  God  as  the  Redeemer  in  the  past ;  ^ 
but  the  part  corresponding  with  Judah's  prayer  to  which 
the  benediction  was  merely  the  introduction,  seems  to  be 
missing.  Again,  R.  Eleazarof  Mode'im  interprets  Exod.  17.  9 
as  referring  to  a  public  fast  at  which  (in  the  prayer)  the 
history  of  the  patriarchs  and  matriarchs,  as  that  of  Levi  and 
Judah,  is  mentioned.^  The  prayer  quoted  in  the  Mishnah 
and  the  Baraithas  refers  to  the  acceptance  of  the  supplica- 
tions of  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah,  of  the  Israelites  by 
the  Red  Sea,  of  Joshua  in  Gilgal,  of  Samuel  in  Mispah,  of 
Elijah  on  Mount  Karmel,  and  of  Jonah,David,  and  Solomon; 
but  there  is  no  reference  to  Levi  and  Judah,  nor  to  the 
matriarchs.  And  it  would  again  appear  that  the  prayer 
of  the  fast  has  in  that  part  not  been  preserved  in  the 
complete  form  as  R.  Eleazar  of  Mode'im  knew  it.  Again, 
in  his  description  of  a  public  fast  for  rain  Jer.  14.  12  says, 
'  When  they  fast,  I  will  not  hear  their  cry,  and  when  they 
offer  burnt-offering  and  meal-offering,  I  will  not  accept 
them ' ;  he  presupposes  that  the  people  fasted,  brought 
sacrifices,  and  called  to  God  in  n^^^  which  seems  to  denote 
the  cry  of  the  congregation  at  their  prostration  before  God."* 

1  Imitated  in  Tobit  8.5-8,  and  in  the  Iree  composition  in  'Azariah's 
prayer  in  LXX  on  Dan.  3.  (26). 

2  Mekhil.  Exod.  17.  9,  54  a  top  ;  Mekhil.  R.  Simeon,  17.  9,  82  ;  Mekhil. 
17.  12,  54  b. 

'  As  in  Isa.  58.  4,  'Ye  fast  not  this  day  so  as  to  make  your  voice  to  be 
heard  on  high  ', 

*  ZATW.  19,  1899,  100  ff.,  337  ff.,  and  nb^H)  HJI  in  1  Reg.  8.  28;  Jer. 
7.  16;  11.  14  ;  Ps.  17.  1  ;  61.  2  ;  88.  3  ;   119.  169  ;   142.  7  ;  and  the  cry  of 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  243 

With  this  could  be  identified  '  the  voice  of  your  cry '  in  our 
prayer,  by  which  alone  the  congregation  participated  in  the 
service,^  as  already  in  Joel  1.  14,  'Sanctify  ye  a  fast,  call 
a  solemn  assemljly.  gather  the  elders  and  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  cry 
unto  the  Lord '.-  Again,  the  Mishnah  quotes  as  the  parts 
of  the  reader's  prayer  six  appropriate  verses  from  various 
books  of  the  Bible,  Ps.  120. 1  ;  121. 1 ;  130. 1 ;  102.  1  which 
are  termed  nn-sv^l  mji")DT,^  known  also  from  the  prayer  of 
the  New  Year  discussed  above,  and  1  Reg.  8.  37 ;  Jer.  14.  1. 
And  if  Jerome  deserves  credit,  he  once  saw  how  hosts  of 

distress  in  Ps.  106.  44,  as  in  1  Mace.  3.  .54  :  Then  sounded  they  with 
trumpets,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice. 

1  Gf.  py:f  in  Ta'an.  Ill,  7 :  0^13  niD^pHK^  '\'v  bv  r\2\y2  pynjiD  )bii  bv 
npv'A  i6)   niTV^  ^i?3iN  ^Dv  ^an  ^n^n  ns^v^r^n  ny^Dn  bvi  "^n:  1^<. 

Eashi  explains  the  last  part  thus  :  We  may  call  in  people  to  come  to  help, 
but  we  must  not  pray  on  the  Sabbath,  as  we  are  not  certain  of  the  effect 
of  our  prayer,  to  be  permitted  to  cry  on  the  Sabbath  to  God  for  them. 
In  Baraitha  Ta'an.  14  a  bottom,  the  word  is  evidently  used  in  the  same 
sense  :  ppyiy  Ni?^^   pynriD  Vr\   N^  .  .  ,  nVJi;i12  ^T^  b2  '\i^^) ;   Berakh. 

IX,  3 :  SVC'  ni?Dn  ir  nn  iivi^b  pyii*n ;  ix,  4 :  D^n'j>  ^^snc  -j-id^  D:2:n 
n^n^^n  inD^JDn  o^nir  vais  idin*  \s*ry  p  ^inj^^^-^a  nnxi  ^no^jDa  nnj< 

N3^  n^nyi?  pyiVI  -MV^'b  nsmn  \n):)  inS^i*^a,  where  it  clearly  means 
a  prayer,  as  in  Exod.  14.  15,  'And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Wherefore 
criest  thou  unto  Me*,  which  is  rendered  by  E.  Eliezer  in  Mekhil.  29a  by 

n^zni  nmroi  noij?  nnxi.    in  Bab.  mes.  75b  bottom:  |ri<i  ppyii*  iTLri?-^ 

pjyj,  where,  as  in  our  prayer,  pj^j  indicates  that  it  means  a  prayer 
addressed  to  God.  Eashi  explains  this  as  a  complaint  before  a  human 
court,  as  pVif  actually  means  complaint  in  Exod.  22.  22  ;  2  Eeg.  6.  26  ; 
.Jer.  20.  8;   but  pjyj  hardly  suits  that  meaning. 

2  Cf.  2  Chron,  20,  9,  If  evil  come  upon  us,  the  sword,  judgement,  or 
pestilence,  or  famine,  we  will  stand  before  this  house,  and  before  Thee, 
for  Thy  name  is  in  this  house,  and  cry  unto  Thee  in  our  affliction,  then 
Thou  wilt  hear  and  save. 

3  Ta'an.  II,  3:  'H  bii    n)'\t^)\y)  miTIDT   JH   li?N1    X*^  1)V  JH^bv  ^'^0)12) 

'n  i^nsip  D^pDVDD  '1:1  nnnn  bi^  ':']:  nc^n  ^::r'i  'nsnp  ^b  nnnvn 
bi<  'n  nm  hm  -l:^•N  ]nsn  n-'n^  ^2  nyi  jn^nnn  t:in  nS^n  nnsiD'i 

^  2 


244  SOME    TYPES    OF 

locusts  covered  the  soil  of  Judaea ;  and  when  a  service  of 
suppHcation  had  been  held  by  the  Jews  at  which  Joel's 
prayer  in  2.  17  was  recited,  at  once  a  wind  arose  and 
carried  the  locusts  into  the  sea.^  Accordingly,  instead  of 
special  prayers  composed  for  such  an  occasion,  appropriate 
passages  from  the  Bible  would  have  been  recited.  So 
R.  Jehudah  b.  Ilai  suggested  1  Reg.  8.  37  instead  of  the 
opening  verses  of  four  Psalms ;  though  he  might  have  more 
appropriately  read  1  Reg.  8.  35 :  When  heaven  is  shut  up, 
and  there  is  no  rain,  because  they  have  sinned  against 
Thee ;  if  they  pray  toward  this  place,  and  confess  {!)  Thy 
name,  and  turn  from  their  sin,  when  Thou  dost  afflict  them  : 
(36)  then  hear  Thou  in  heaven. 

The  Baraithas  about  the  service  of  the  public  fast  quote 
only  the  wording  of  two  paragraphs  of  the  prayer.  But 
the  rule  at  the  end  of  their  statement  about  the  alternation 
of  the  two  groups  of  the  three  blasts  of  the  trumpets 
reads :  '  And  so  at  every  benediction,  after  one  he  (the 
attendant  of  the  synagogue)  says  to  the  priests,  Blow  a 
plain  blast,  and  after  the  other  he  says.  Blow  an  alarm, 
until  he  finishes  all  the  benedictions ' ;  ^  this  presupposes 
at  least  two  more  paragraphs.  According  to  the  Mishnah 
the  reader  added  six  benedictions  to  the  fixed  prayer  of 
the  Eighteen  Benedictions.^  Similarly  a  Baraitha  saj^s, 
'  He  recites  before  them  twenty-four  blessings,  the  eighteen 
of  the  daily  prayer  to  which  he  adds  another  six  '^  This 
combination  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
which  those  sources  reflect,  the  service  for  rain  was  no 
longer  read  as  a  prayer  by  itself,  but,  as  R.  Zerahyah  haLevi 
suggested  ^,  as  a  kind  of  Musaf -service  which  was  held  in 

1  Comment,  on  Joel  2  ;  MGWJ.,  41,  18U7,  633.  2. 

2  Ta'an.   16  b  :    HDIN*   nnSai   lypH   irDIN*    nnN*2    HDim    H^ia    ^22    pi 

f^i3  ni2-i3n  riN  -n^r*c'  iv  )V''\r[. 

3  Ta'an.  II,  2. 

4  Ta'an.  16  b :  ni'i^y  HDiroc'  ni^in  ynnsn  Dnc'y  ^n^jai?  -ir:'is  N*^:n 

5  In  his  Ma'or  on  Berakh.  I ;  Herzfelcl,  Geschichte,  III,  189. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  245 

the  days  of  R.  Johanan  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.^ 
R.  Eliezer  who  died  about  the  year  120,  already  recited 
the  twenty-four  benedictions  on  a  public  fast ;  so  that  the 
insertion  of  the  six  blessings  of  the  prayer  of  the  fast  into 
the  Eighteen  Benedictions  was  then  already  an  established 
custom.^  Whether  the  insertion  was  effected  before  70 
in  Jerusalem,  or  owed  its  origin  to  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai 
after  the  destruction,  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  establish, 
as  it  is  not  even  certain  whether  all  the  six  benedictions 
were  already  in  use  before  the  year  70.^ 

All  these  details  of  the  service  of  the  public  fast  for 
rain  prove  that  there  was  already  in  the  time  of  the  Temple 
such  a  service  held  on  the  Temple  Mount  in  front  of  the 
eastern  gates  of  the  Temple  court,  that  a  prayer  was  there 

^  Jer.  Berakh.  I.  3  c.  49  If.  As  already  I.  Levi  in  E.  E.  J.,  47,  1903,  165 
and  Elbogen  in  MGWJ.,  46,  1902,  346  If.  noted,  the  list  of  the  sentences 
beginning  with  H^VkJ^  ""D  in  Ta'an.  II,  4  contains  seven  items,  and  counts 
the  seventh  of  the  daily  Eighteen  Benedictions  to  which  the  additional 
prayer  is  joined,  as  the  first  in  the  list ;  so  also  the  Baraitha  Ta'an.  16  b  ; 

jer.  Berakh.  I,  3  c.  59:  ^nSD  ^Ni:^'  b^Vj.2.  This  represents  a  later 
development,  when  the  six  benedictions  of  the  prayer  for  rain,  constituting 
an  independent  prayer,  were  inserted  into  the  daily  Eighteen  Benedictions 
after  ^J^n'C''  PNIJ,  whereby  two  consecutive  benedictions  in  the  amalga- 
mated prayers  closed  with  the  "same  formula  :  bNIti^'  bxiJi  M  nnX  "jllD. 
To  avoid  this,  the  two  successive  benedictions  were  combined  into  one 
which  now  formed  the  first  of  the  special  benedictions  of  the  prayer  of 
the  fast.  But  some  scholars  regarded  it  even  in  its  new  and  longer  form 
as  the  seventh  of  the  Eighteen  Benedictions  ;  and  as  they  insisted  on  the 
addition  on  the  fast  day  of  six  complete  and  separate  benedictions,  they 
had  to  compose  a  new  sixth  paragraph :  njj?'^  ^D  ^D1^<  N"in  n^yU•L^^-|  hv 

DDnpvv  b'\\>2  yoc'^i  DDfiN  njy^  Nin  D^^krn"'n  i:n  r\^bz'  nxi  nn  ns 
pj^n  hv  nnnnn  'n  nns  T113  nrn  Drn,  cf.  Tos.  e.  h.  hi,  3:  n^jynaT 

W7^*\  ^/Z^  yn^  pVpin,  which  presupposes  seven  benedictions  in  the 
prayer  of  the  fast,  after  each  of  which  three  blasts  were  blown.  The 
concluding  formula  of  this  additional  benediction  differs  entirely  from 
those  of  the  first  six  benedictions;  and  this  alone  is  suflficient  to  indicate 
its  later  origin.  As  Symmachos,  a  disciple  of  K.  Meir,  in  Ta'an.  17  a;  jer. 
II,  65  d.  49 ;  Tos.  I,  10.  D^Din  i?^D^D  "jlia  IIDS  D13D1D  QID'D  NJD 
suggested  another  concluding  formula,  it  seems  that  the  seventh  additional 
paragraph  was  still  fluid  in  the  second  half  of  the  second  century. 
-  Baraitha  Ta'an.  25  b.  ^    Herzfeld,  Geschichte,  III,  135. 


246  SOME    TYPES    OF 

recited  which  consisted  of  four  or  six  paragraphs,  that  after 
each  of  these  priests  blew  trumpets  and  a  horn,  and  that 
the  assembled  congregation  responded  and  probably  pro- 
strated itself.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  sources  extant 
to  indicate  how  long  before  70  that  form  of  the  service 
had  been  in  practice  in  Jerusalem  :  and  there  is  no  possibility 
of  proving  that  already  in  70  b.c.e.,  when  praying  for  rain 
on  the  Temple  Mount,  Honi  recited  the  same  four  or  six 
blessings  of  the  prayer  preserved.  He  certainly  differed 
in  his  conduct  toward  God  from  all  those  who,  in  the  first  and 
second  centuries,  acted  on  similar  occasions  as  the  spokes- 
men of  the  suffering  community.  When  asked  to  pray,  his 
ready  acceptance,  without  any  hesitation,  of  the  office  of 
an  intercessor,  offered  to  him,  no  doubt,  by  some  responsible 
authority,  seems  to  evidence  too  great  a  measure  of  self- 
reliance.  And  even  more  so  his  order  which  he  gave  to 
the  people  before  his  prayer,  to  remove  from  the  open 
yards  the  earthen  ovens  set  up  for  the  roasting  of  the 
Passover  lambs  on  the  ensuing  eve  of  Nisan  15th,  shows  his 
confidence,  as  he  seems  to  have  entertained  no  doubt  about 
the  immediate  and  full  effect  of  his  impending  supplica- 
tion. God  reproved  him  for  his  immodest  demeanour  by 
not  complying  with  his  prayer  of  intercession  ;^  and  still  he 
did  not  appear  chastened,  as  God's  refusal  urged  him  on  to 
even  greater  insistence.  He  drew  a  circle  or  dug  a  pit  in 
the  ground,  and  stood  up  in  it ;  and,  as  though  he  intended 
or  were  able  to  force  Him  to  yield  and  to  send  rain,  he 
swore  by  His  great  name  that  he  would  not  move  thence 
until  God  had  shown  mercy  to  His  children.  Such  self- 
confinement  to  a  spot  or  a  circle  or  a  pit  in  connexion  with 
prayer  is  nowhere  reported  in  Jewish  literature  either  of 
the  Essenes  or  of  anybody  else;^  and  it  is  nothing  else  but 

1  Jer.  Ta'an.  Ill,  66  d.  53. 

2  Except  in  Targum  on  Hab.  2.  1  as  an  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
the  prophet,  'I  will  stand  iipon  my  watch,  and  set  mo  upon  the  tower'  ; 
probably  the  author  took  it  from  the  Baraitha  Ta'an.  23  a  about  Honi. 
Schorr  in  p7nn,  VII,  1865,  33  ff.  accepts  the  explanation  that  Honi  dug 
a  pit,  and  declares  his  procedure  as   Persian,   for  which  he  refers   to 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  247 

a  drastic  illustration  of  his  declaration,  I  shall  not  move 
from  the  spot  in  which  I  am  standing.  His  prayer  became 
now,  at  least  in  its  opening  words,  less  self-asserting :  he 
apologizes  to  God  for  his  acting  as  the  intercessor  by  stating 
that  it  was  the  opinion  of  him  held  by  the  people  that 
placed  him  in  his  present  position,  and  that  he  is  praying 
as  its  spokesman  and  on  behalf  of  God's  children.  Acting 
in  the  capacit}^  of  His  familiaris,  he  adjures  God  by  His 
great  name,  as  any  one  entreating  a  king  for  mercy  would 
urge  him  by  all  that  is  dear  to  him  and  may  weigh  with 
him,  not  to  persist  in  carrying  out  his  strict  and  crushing 
judgment. 

7.  Many  a  characteristic  detail  of  religious  thought  and 
belief  is  clearly  implied  by  Honi's  words.  He  prayed  for 
God's  mercy,  for  he  knew  that  the  prevailing  calamity  was 
fully  deserved  as  a  just  punishment  for  the  people's  sins  ; 
for  God  is  just.     Would  it  not  have  been  appropriate  for 

Kleucker,  III,  211  whose  evidence  -I  could  not  verify.  Dr.  Kohler  in 
J.Q.Ii.,  V.  1893,  415,  1  adduces  only  a  late  haggadic  parallel  which  was 
undoubtedly  based  on  Honi's  example,  and  stamps  it  a  part  of  the  mystic 
practice  of  the  Gnostics,  Dietrich,  Abraxas,  158,  where,  however,  no  circle 
or  pit  is  mentioned.  In  Neumark's  Journal  of  Jewish  Lore  and  Philosophy, 
I,  1919,  31,  Dr.  Kohler  says,  'The  best  illustration  of  such  an  Essene 
wonder-worker  is  furnished  in  Ta'an.  Ill,  8  in  Onias,  the  Rainmaker,  or, 
as  the  people  called  him,  p^yDH ,  the  one  who  used  to  draw  a  circle  around 
him  for  his  prayer.  ...  he  shut  himself  up  in  the  hole  he  had  digged. 
.  .  .  We  have  here  ...  a  striking  characteristic  of  the  typical  Essene,  who 
does  not  hesitate  to  force  his  will  upon  God  by  the  use  of  the  Great  Name 
in  his  prayer.'  Where  do  we  find  Essenes  as  wonder-workers?  How  do 
we  know  that  Honi  was  an  Essene?  Where  is  it  stated  that  the  people 
called  him  ^^yJOH  ?  Where  is  it  reported  that  he  used  to  draw  circles  ? 
How  do  we  know  that  that  was  typical  of  the  Essene  ?  Where  and  when 
did  any  Essene  force  his  will  upon  God?  A  comparison  of  Honi's 
method  with  the  various  magical  and  other  practices  all  over  the  world  for 
obtaining  rains,  in  Frazer,  Golden  Bough^,  I,  1,  247-311,  and  Hastings, 
Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  X,  1918,  562-5,  shows  that  Honi  applied 
none  of  them,  nor  any  magic  at  all  ;  for  even  the  circle  which  he  drew 
and  which  reminds  us  of  the  circle  drawn  by  Popilius  Laenas  round 
Antiochus  IV  Epiphanes  in  Egypt  (Livy,  XLV,  12;  Schiirer,  Geschichte, 
V,  197),  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  magical  circle  drawn  by  the 
conjurer  for  his  own  protection  from  the  ghost  (Hastings,  Encyclopaedia 
of  Religion,  \in,B2l&.). 


248  SOME    TYPES    OF 

him,  before  appealing  for  God's  mercy,  first  to  try  to  move 
the  congregation  to  repentance  ?  It  seems  that  in  his  first 
prayer  which  is  not  reported,  he  had  already  done  so,  and 
not  only  the  long  drought  with  its  perils,  but  Honi's  admo- 
nition had  stirred  contrition  in  the  hearts  of  the  assembly ; 
still  the  rain  had  not  fallen.  He  addressed  God  as  the 
Master  of  the  Universe,  the  Ruler  of  the  world  to  whose 
law  every  individual  is  subject,  who  watches  and  notes  the 
actions  of  every  person,  especially  in  Israel,  and  who  judges 
the  deeds  of  His  people  ;  and  as  His  omnipotence  and  provi- 
dence give  the  rain  or  withhold  it,  He  shows  His  anger  at 
their  sins  by  the  terrible  drought.  Honi  called  the  Jews 
the  children  of  God,  thereby  describing  the  intimate  rela- 
tion between  Israel  and  their  Father  in  heaven,  as  we  found 
it  among  the  early  pious  men  seventy  years  later.  His  appeal 
was  now  addressed  to  God  for  His  children ;  and  it  is  for 
them  that  he  most  solemnly  swore  that  he  would  not  move 
from  the  spot  until  God  had  mercy  on  His  children.  In 
His  justice  God  did  not  allow  even  His  children  to  go  on 
sinning  without  punishment ;  for  they  knew  His  will  better 
than  any  other  nation,  as  it  was  revealed  to  them  in  His 
Torah,  therefore  their  disobedience  was  punished  sooner 
and  more  severely.  By  his  oath  Honi  imposed  upon  him- 
self the  heavy  restraint  of  having  to  remain  within  the 
circle  for  an  indefinite  period ;  and  he  added  the  solemn 
oath  to  bind  himself  firmly  to  his  undertaking.  As  he  did 
this  for  his  people,  he  was  confident  and  even  convinced 
that  God  who  loved  His  children  and  also  him,  would  not 
allow  him  to  suflfer  long  for  their  sake  ;  only  in  this  his 
certainty  has  his  oath  any  sense.  Was  it  then  again  his 
great  self-consciousness  that  had  prompted  those  words, 
or  was  it  his  mission  as  Israel's  representative,  as  the 
spokesman  of  God's  children,  who  felt  sure  that  their 
Father  would  not  much  longer  withhold  His  mercy  ?  ^ 

'  Is  his  oath  Essenic?  According  to  Josephus  in  Wars,  II,  8.  6.  135; 
Antiquit,  XV,  10.  4.  371;  Hippolytus,  Refut,  IX,  18-28;  Philo,  II,  458; 
Kohler  in  Jeio.  Encyclop.,  V,  229  a,  the  Essenes  never  took  an  oath  ;  but 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  249 

God  accepted  the  more  humble  prayer,  and  it  began  to 
rain  gently.  But  the  scanty  drops  indicated  to  Honi  and 
his  disciples  that,  while  yielding  to  his  supplication,  God 
either  did  not  grant  to  Israel  more  than  a  very  partial 
measure  of  mercy,  or  still  disapproved  of  Honi's  attitude 
in  his  prayer.  In  the  account  of  the  Baraitha  which  so 
far  agrees  with  that  of  the  Mishnah,  a  remark  of  Honi's 
disciples  expressed  their  interpretation  of  God's  answer.^ 
The  disciples  who  were  standing  round  him,  said  to  him 
that  they  were  looking  to  him  for  their  rescue  from  death 
by  famine,  and  they  interpreted  the  poor  rain  as  sent  by 
God  only  to  annul  Honi's  oath.  They  meant  to  say  that 
God  did  not  like  His  beloved  son  to  suffer  in  the  circle 
drawn,  and  now  enabled  him  to  leave  it.  When,  on  his 
further  request,  the  rain  poured  down  in  wild  streams, 
the  disciples  interpreted  it  as  sent  by  God  to  destroy  the 
world.  But  who  had  just  then  sinned  so  gravely  as  to 
justify  such  an  assumption  ?    Not  their  master,  as  God  had 

when  a  new  member  was  admitted,  oaths  of  an  awful  chai'acter  were 
administered  to  him  and  he  had  to  swear  that  he  would  undertake  the 
duties  and  obey  the  rules  of  the  order.  It  is  true.  Honi's  oath  was  not  to 
confirm  and  to  support  a  statement,  but  to  strengthen  him  in  his  own 
undertaking ;  but  that  an  Essene  would  have  used  the  sacred  name  of 
God  even  in  sucli  an  oath  is  even  less  probable,  unless  Dr.  Kohler  adduces 
some  evidence  to  the  contrary. 

1  Ta'an.  23  a :  i6)  ii:\xi  ^21  vTi:hn  )b  iitDN*  ^p£D:o  D'^'C'^  'b^nnn 
"13  i6  "IDS  ^inync'  '\'nrh  n^n  innv  n^roL":  ]'^^'  i:s  \')2Mi2:i  mo: 
na^Di  HD^D  byc'  iv  ?iyTn  m^  ,nny?Di  ]^r\^^  nnu  ^?^:^•J  n^n  ^d^xk^ 
rr:nr:3  nio:  i6^  i):'ir\  ^ni  vn^^iri  )b  ii^n  ,  .  .  n^m  "d  si'DD 

p  's  bv  ^s  nniDH  nn  bv  ]'bb^r\J2  pxc^  ':b2)pD  id  nni'  ir^s  .Dni? 
v^iib  "i?:nt  vbv  VT  ^n*i^  i^d  nxnin  -12  )b  iN^nn  pi^Dn  12  ^b  i}<un 
3113  i6  "iiroyi?  ]'b'\2'  irs*  nn^;cD  nsvin*Lr  bi^'^'C"  *ioy  nb^v  b^  1:121 
nr[^bv  nvzi^^  ninyi?  ph^^  p'x  nn^bv  noys  ,ni:yiiD  ann  i6)  nniD 
nm  NH^i  n'i2Z':n  ipoa^c^  y^zkr^  pvi  m'  "iv^yi?  ]'b)y  p^s  naiD 
ncnn  nn"in  D'^nyn  rTsnJi  nnn  nn::':  T12  .D^iyn. 


250  SOME    TYPES    OF 

only  a  short  while  ago  shown  a  sign  of  mercy  to  him;  but  the 
people  that  had  in  the  drought  experienced  His  punishing 
anger,  and  now  continued  to  be  punished  by  the  threatening 
flood.  His  further  prayer  for  a  rain  of  favour  and  of  gift 
made  the  rain  more  normal;  but  as  it  fell  densely,  the 
people  had  to  seek  shelter  on  the  Temple  Mount.  There 
they  asked  Honi  to  pray  for  the  rain  to  stop  ;  ^  he  refused, 
as  God  w^hom  he  called  CDmn  i?yn,  the  Merciful,  would 
certainly  not  destroy  men,  though  they  fully  deserved  it. 
Though  God's  justice  would  demand  the  extreme  penalty 
to  be  inflicted,  it  would  certainly  not  happen,  as  in  His 
infinite  mercy  He  had  promised,  even  for  the  gravest  sin 
never  to  destroy  the  earth  by  a  flood  again.  The  rain  is 
a  blessing,  and  even  ^too  much  of  it  is  still  a  blessing :  and 
a  tradition  in  his  possession  taught  him  not  to  pray  for 
its  stopping. 

Still,  in  the  end,  he  consented  to  pray  ;  but  not,  as  till 
now,  by  words  of  supplication  only,  but  by  entreating  God 
over  a  sacrifice  for  which,  at  his  request,  they  brought  him 
a  bull.  He  laid  both  hands  upon  the  animal  and  prayed, 
*  Master  of  the  Universe,  Thy  people  Israel  whom  Thou 
broughtest  out  from  Egypt,  cannot  exist  either  in  the  over- 
great  measure  of  blessing  or  in  the  overgreat  measure  of 
visitation ;  when  Thou  wast  angry  with  them,  they  could 
not  subsist,  and  when  Thou  showerest  on  them  blessing, 
they  cannot  subsist.  May  it  be  Thy  will  that  the  rain 
stop,  and  ease  prevail  in  the  world  ! '  Immediately  a  wind 
blew,  the  clouds  dispersed,  the  sun  shone  and  the  people 

1  Here  would  follow  suitably,  as  jer.  Ta'an.  Ill,  66  d.  71  actually  has  it, 
the  statement  of  Tos.  and  partly  of  the  Mishnah,  that,  in  order  to 
reassure  the  anxious  people,  he  asked  them  to  look  whether  the  water  of 
the  Kidron  had  risen  to,  and  flooded,  the  rock  of  the  erring,  or,  as  the 
parallel,  without  containing  Honi's  name,  has  it,  whether  the  corner  of 
tlie  'Ophel  was  reached  by  the  floods ;  and  his  further  remark  in 
jer.  Ill,  66  d.  74,  similarly  understood  as  the  reason  for  his  refusal  to  pray 
again  :  Just  as  this  rock  cannot  be  dissolved  by  the  rain,  so  I  cannot 
pray  for  the  rain  to  stop.  He  refuses  to  pray,  unless  the  city  be  really 
threatened  with  destruction  by  the  floods ;  but  this  cannot  happen,  as 
God  assured  humanity  that  He  would  never  send  a  flood  again. 


JEWISH- PALESTINIAN    PIETY  25 1 

went  out  into  the  fields  to  gather  mushrooms  and  truffles. 
In  this  and  the  previous  prayers  no  reference  occurs  to 
himself  and  his  own  person,  but  the}^  all  urge  only  the 
claims  of  Israel:  it  is  God's  people,  as  in  Exod,  33.  13, 
Deut.  9.  29,  the  same  that  had  enjoyed  His  special  love, 
when  He  liberated  it  from  Egypt,  as  in  Exod.  32.  11; 
Deut.  9.  29.  In  his  circumlocution  in  which  he  acknow- 
ledged the  superabundance  of  the  rain  as  a  ver}^  great 
boon,  Honi  actually  avoided  praying  for  the  rain  to  stop,^ 
but  expressly  declared  that  it  made  it  impossible  for  the 
people  to  subsist,  and  he  asked  for  relief.  His  sacrifice  he 
called  riNTin  "id  ;  ^  the  difficult  term  is  explained  by  Rashi : 
to  confess  sins  over  it,"  but  the  prayer  contains  no  reference 
to  any  form  of  confession,  nor  was  there  just  at  that 
moment  any  occasion  for  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  word 
cannot  here  have  its  usual  meaning  of  thanksgiving,  as 
Honi  in  his  prayer  expressed  no  thanks  to  God,  but 
entreated  Him  for  help  in  the  trouble  of  the  people.  Now, 
in  connexion  with  a  prayer  in  a  drought,  in  I  Reg.  8.  35  we 
read,  '  When  heaven  is  shut  up,  and  there  is  no  rain,  because 
they  have  sinned  against  Thee  :  if  they  pray  toward  this 
place,  and  confess  Thy  name,  and  turn  from  their  sin,  when 
Thou  afflictest  them  ;  (36)  then  hear  Thou  in  heaven,  and 
forgive  the  sin  of  Thy  servants  and  of  Thy  people  Israel, 
when  Thou  teachest  them  the  good  way  wherein  they 
should  walk  ;  and  send  rain  upon  Thy  land.'  As  in  Honi's 
prayer,  so  here  the  drought  is  God's  punishment  for  the 
people's  sins ;  it  prays  to  Him  and  turns  away  from  its 
evil  ways,  and.  after  having  disregarded  Him,  again 
acknoiuledges  both  Him  as  the  Master  of  its  destinies  and 
the  justice  of  His  visitations."^     The  same  seems  to  have 

1  The  words  D^DC^JH  IpDD^C'  are  absent  in  jer. 

2  Jer.  nin^n  b^  ^2. 

3  Similarly  Samuel  Edels  :  In  any  ease,  he  was  ungrateful,  for  at  first 
he  prayed  for  rain  that  was  a  blessing  for  the  world,  but  now,  as  Rashi 
explains,  he  is  going  to  confess  that  he  will  act  wrongly  in  praying  for 
the  stopping  of  the  great  measure  of  good. 

*  So  in  Isa.  12.  1  :  I  acknowledge  Thee,  O  Lord,  as  the  just  Judge  in 
visiting  me  in  Thine  anger  with  severe  punishments. 


252  SOME    TYPES    OF 

been  Honi's  idea  in  his  declaration  that  both  the  oppressive 
drought  and  the  now  dangerous  blessing  of  the  rain  have 
been  sent  by  God,  and  were  punishments  which  meant 
destruction  to  the  people. 

The  report  of  the  Baraitha  continues,  '  Simeon  b.  Shetah 
sent  Honi  this  message,  "  If  thou  wert  not  Honi,  I  should 
have  decreed  the  ban  against  thee ;  for  if  the  years  (of  the 
present  drought)  were  like  the  years  (of  the  drought)  of 
Elijah,  when  the  keys  of  the  rain  were  in  Elijah's  hands, 
would  not  the  result  (of  thine  intercession)  be  a  profanation 
of  God's  name  ?  But  what  can  I  do  to  thee,  since,  though 
thou  provest  thyself  a  sinner  against  God,  He  still  granteth 
thy  request,  just  as  a  father  granteth  the  wishes  of  a  son 
who  proveth  himself  a  sinner  against  him.  .  .  To  thee 
applieth  Pro  v.  23.  25,  Let  thy  father  and  thy  mother  be 
glad,  and  let  her  that  bare  thee  rejoice " '}  The  leading 
Pharisee  teacher  knew  Honi  as  a  man  of  importance  who 
could  not,  without  due  consideration,  be  punished  by  the 
ban,  even  when  his  strange  conduct  seemed  to  merit  it ;  for 
his  past  and  his  character  made  it  clear  that  in  his  prayer 
neither  his  offensive  words  nor  his  blasphemous  procedure 
had  been  intended  to  offend  God  or  to  profane  His  holy 
name.  Assuming  that  an  Elijah  of  the  present  generation 
had  sworn,  as  the  prophet  in  1  Reg.  17, 1  had  done,  no  rain 
would  possibly  have  been  permitted,  in  response  to  Honi's 
prayers,  to  fall  this  year ;  and  so  his  oath  by  God's  great 
name  that  he  would  not  leave  the  circle  drawn  by  him 
until  the  rain  fell,  would  in  the  end  prove  as  uttered  in 
vain,   and  thereby  the  name  of   God  be  profaned.^     The 

1  Ta'an.  23  a  :  y^])    ^JinJ    nflN    ""Jin    i6l2bi^  ,^Dt^♦   p   PVDK^  1^    ni?K^ 

nipron  ^2^b  NDnnrD  nna-c  ib  nc'yx  no  ^ns  ,"]!'  bv  ^^nn^  n'12^  Dtr 
l^i'yi  ,  .  .  i:i:»n  1^  nc'iyi  vns  bv  NDnnr^u^  p3  li1^;n  i^b  ntj'^yi 
^nibv  ^:m  ^r^N'l  t^n*  not^'^  idin*  ninan. 

-  An  anonymous  statement  in  Gen.  r.  13.  7,  in  interpreting  Gen.  2.  5 
haggadically,  says :  nn  TlV^h    pN*    DHSI  /"irDnNH   DS  l'\2vb   PN  mNI 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  253 

parallel  account  bears  out  this  interpretation  of  Rashi,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  supplies  very  valuable  information  about 
the  ideas  of  the  two  scholars  concernino-  the  influence  of 
the  righteous  man  upon  God.^  Simeon  b.  Shetah  sent 
Honi  this  message,  'Thou  deservest  the  ban,  for  had  the 
same  been  decreed  (by  God)  as  in  the  days  of  Elijah,  thou 
wouldst  have  brought  the  people  to  a  profanation  of  God's 
name,  and  he  who  brings  others  to  a  profanation  of  God's 
name,  deserves  the  ban.'  To  this  Honi  replied,  '  Does  not 
God  annul  His  decree  in  favour  of  the  decree  of  a  risfhteous 
man  1 '  Simeon  answered,  '  Yes,  God  does  annul  His  decree 
in  favour  of  the  decree  of  a  righteous  man,  but  does  not 
annul  the  decree  of  one  righteous  man  in  favour  of  the 
decree  of  another  righteous  man.  But  what  can  I  do,  &c.  ? ' 
If  this  most  interesting  part  of  the  report  is  authentic 
in  all  its  details,  and,  considering  the  source  in  which  it 
has  been  preserved,  there  is  no  occasion  for  questioning  it, 
the  religious  belief  implied  here  deserves  special  attention. 
Honi  who  applied  to  himself  indirectly  the  epithet  of 
'  righteous ',  used  of  him  also  in  the  account  of  Josephus, 
believed  that  the  prayer  of  a  pious  man  could  persuade 
God  to  withdraw  the  visitation  decreed  by  Him ;  for  was 
not  Moses'  prayer  in  Exod.  32. 11-14;  Deut.  9.  18,  19,  26-29 
a  convincing  instance  of  such  power  ?  ^     Simeon,  naturally, 

biV^ri  ^Jm3"l  I.T^X^  NIH  -jnn  ^nipnb  mnnn,  there  was  none  to  bring 
men  to  the  service  of  God  like  Elijah  and  Honi  the  circle-drawer.  See 
Theodor's  note  on  p.  117. 

1  Jer.  Ta'an.  Ill,  67  a.  9  :   nn^   ^IV  )b   1?0S    HD'J'    \2    \)V^\y   )b    n^U' 

NUD  nnxvD:  sb  ^n^J^wS*  ^du  nnr::^'  wcd  nn-'r:  mn:  i^^nc^  nn:^ 
n^n  ^ii?^n  'Tb  n^a^n  ns  x^a?:n  bye*  orn  ^i:^*n  n^i?  D^mn  nx 
"•jsjo  innna  bi22D  Nin  ^nn  mpn  pNi  i^  icni  .  .  .  m^j  l^v 
"imn:  ^jaro  innn:  i'oa?^  Nin  -jinn  i^'^ipn  jn  i^  idn  ,pnv  b'c^  imn; 
b^  inm:  ^:dd  pnv  b^  inina  bi^ir:^  sin  inn  'C')ipn  psi  pnv  b\y 
xinc'  p3  Dip?2n  '2^b  Nonnn  nriNi  i?  nc^yx  nr2  bii^  ^n^an  pnv 
imn  1^  ii'tj'iy  Nini  V3n*  bv  SL^nn^o. 

2  Weiss,  Zur  GescMchte,  I,  145,  thinks  that  Simeon  objected  to  Honi's 
arrogant  words  against  God  and  to  his  believing  himself  and  his  making 


254  SOME    TYPES    OF 

shared  Honi's  view  about  the  acceptance  of  such  a  prayer 
by  God,  as  not  only  that  of  Moses,  but  those  spoken  in 
distress  by  various  prophets,  kings,  and  psalmists  supported 
it.  In  spite  of  Honi's  argument  and  defence,  Simeon 
adhered  to  his  opinion  of  the  sinfulness  of  Honi's  conduct 
as  deserving  the  severe  disciplinary  punishment  which,  at 
that  time,  as  it  appears,  was  only  imposed  on  a  public  man 
for  a  grave  and  public  sin.  On  the  other  hand,  Simeon 
considered  him  a  righteous  man,  and  admitted  that,  in  spite 
of  his  unreasonable,  nay  sinful  conduct,  God  had  accepted 
his  prayer  as  that  of  a  spoiled  child  ;  and  this  favour  of  God 
protected  him  from  the  imposition  of  the  ban  which  he 
fully  deserved.  But  whether,  by  this  his  admission  and  his 
illustration,  Simeon  credited  Honi  with  exceptional  piety 
by  which  he  was  brought  nearer  to  God  than  Simeon  him- 
self, is  not  at  all  evident.  And  even  if  we  granted  that, 
there  is  nothing  to  be  discovered  in  his  words  that  could 
be  identified  with  any  of  the  traits  enumerated  by  Philo, 
Josephus,  and  Hippolytus  as  characteristic  of  the  Essenes. 
The  apparent  presumption  of  Honi  that  was,  in  his  mind, 
fully  compatible  with  his  piety,  but  objectionable  to  the 
Pharisee  teacher,  is  certainly  contrary  to  all  that  can  be 
thought  of  the  Essenes ;  it  is  not  in  agreement  with  general 
Jewish  principles,  and  rather  reminds  one  of  the  methods 
of  a  magician  or  a  heathen  priest  in  praying  for  rain. 

In  another  Baraitha  a  message  of  the  members  of  the 
beth-din  that  met  in  the  chamber  of  hewn  stones  in  the 
Temple,  is  recorded.^    It  is  an  application  of  Job  22.  28-30 

the  congregation  believe  that  he  could  force  God  to  yield  by  his  prayer  ; 
and  that  the  reference  to  God's  decree  showed  that  Simeon  held  that 
against  that  the  prayer  of  the  pious  man  availed  nothing.  But  the  whole 
statement  clearly  shows  that  Simeon,  without  any  hesitation,  admitted 
Honi's  belief  and  only  qualified  it  in  one  instance;  on  the  main  question 
and  their  mode  of  thought  there  was  no  difference  between  the  two 
teachers. 

1  Ta'an.  23  a:  inni  .^jyjon  '•Jini?  nnjn  n^^b  ':2  ini?*^  no  pni  ijd 
ni2Db^  nnw  ^n^<  "idin  nnm  ^"^ix  n::  ^^D-n  i^yi  i?  op^i  idin* 
n'n^  -in  niN  nj:  T^^n  bv)  ,r\bv^bf2  "jidsd  d^^pd  ^<1^  ^nn  :^npni 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  255 

to  Honi's  prayer  and  its  success,  and  to  the  relief  which  he 
brought  to  his  contemporaries  who  had  been  oppressed  by 
their  sins  and  the  consequent  sufferings.  If  the  message 
did  not  consist  m.erely  of  the  three  verses,  so  appropriate 
to  the  occasion  by  themselves,  the  interpretation  attached 
intended  to  express  the  unqualified  recognition  of  Honi's 
pure  deeds  by  the  highest  authoritative  religious  body. 
They  referred,  by  the  biblical  quotation  and  evidently  also 
by  their  present  application,  to  his  honest,  blameless  deal- 
ings with  his  fellow-men.  His  uprightness  and  his  piety 
were  his  equipment  that  had  lent  force  to  his  prayer,  com- 
mended it  to  God  for  acceptance,  and  saved  his  suffering 
contemporaries.  Though  the  religious  ideas  embodied  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  verses  were,  to  a  great  extent, 
suggested  naturally  by  the  wording  of  the  passage  chosen, 
they  still  reflect  some  of  the  beliefs  of  that  time,  and  agree 
with  some  of  those  expressed  by  Honi  and  Simeon  b. 
Shetah.  The  prevailing  long  drought  was  decreed  and 
sent  by  God  as  a  punishment  for  the  grave  sins  of  that 
generation ;  but  the  will  and  the  prayer  of  the  pious  man 
who  was  distinguished  by  virtues,  induced  God  to  revoke  His 
decree  and  to  send  rain  before  it  was,  according  to  His  will, 
due.  Honi's  piety  which  is  emphasized  here,  consisted 
neither  in  an  ascetic  life  or  that  of  a  hermit,  nor  in  frequent 
fasting,  religious  contemplation  or  mystic  thought,  but  of 
pure  deeds  of  the  hands,  of  works  of  honesty,  charity  and 
loviner-kindness.  Thouo-h  the  stress  laid  on  Honi's  deeds 
in  the  message  of  the  learned  body  seems  to  suggest  some 
superiority  of  his  actions,  it  is  only  the  degree  and  not  the 
kind  of  work  that  distinguished  him  from  others.  The 
parallel  account  explains  the  purity  of  his  hands  more 
distinctly  as  his  fulfilment  of  the  positive  commandments 

innnsn  b^u  n^n^*  nil  mj  ncxm  i^^S'^n  '2  ;]rhzr\2  nnsn  >dn 


256  SOME    TYPES    OF 

and  the  practice  of  good  deeds  to  the  fellow-man  from  the 
beginning.^  The  last  word  points  to  the  fact  that  he  began 
to  realize  such  principles  not  in  his  later  years,  as  among 
the  pious  men  and  the  men  of  deed  the  repentant,  but  he 
followed  that  rule  from  his  youth ;  and  it  was  the  practice 
of  the  two  groups  of  positive  duties,  towards  God  and  men, 
that  made  him  a  righteous  man.^  That  those  virtues  were 
especially  Essenic,  cannot  be  proved  from  any  record ; 
whereas,  according  to  express  reports,  they  distinguished 
Hillel  and  his  disciples,  and  there  is  nothing  to  suggest 
that  they  had  learned  them  from  the  Essenes. 

8.  As  it  was  the  custom  of  all  scholars  of  his  time  to  be 
everywhere  accompanied  by  their  disciples,  Honi  was  at  his 
public  prayer  surrounded  by  his,  though  their  number  is 
not  evident.  Thus  there  were  not  a  few  disciples  with  Judas 
the  Essene,  when,  on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  the  Temple, 
he  referred  to  his  prophecy  of  the  impending  death  of 
Antigonos,  the  brother  of  Aristobul  I."  As  Hillel  was 
accompanied  by  his  students  outside  the  school,  so 
R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai,  the  Pharisee  teacher,  was  in  the 
company  of  his  disciples,  when  in  Ma'on  in  Judaea,'* 
and  again  when,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  he 
once  came  out  from  Jerusalem,'  and  when  a  heathen 
expressed  to  him  his  surprise  at  the  strange  procedure  in 
connexion    with   the   burning  of    the   red    heifer  and    the 

'  Jer.  Ta'an.  Ill,  67  a.  28:  n^n  T^^  nnnan  ^T^^  ml  tD^DJi  ino 
•jn^i^NiD  1T2  vn-c*  D^aiD  Q^-cT^i  mvc. 

2  The  continuation  of  the  report  quotes  the  interpretation  of  vv.  29 
and  30,  and  puts  these  into  the  mouth  of  God  as  addressed  to  Honi :  '  I  said 
that  I  would  bring  them  low,  thou  saidst  to  bring  them  high,  and  thy 
word  was  realized,  and  not  mine  ;  I  said  to  lower  their  eyes  by  evil,  and 
thou  saidst  to  save  them,  and  thy  word  was  established  and  not  mine  ; 
I  said,  the  pure  shall  be  saved,  thou  saidst,  even  the  non-pure  shall  be 
saved,  thy  word  was  established  and  not  mine '. 

3  In  the  year  103  b.  c.  e.,  Josephus,  Wars,  I,  3.  5.  78  ;  Antiquit.,  XIII,  11. 
2.  311. 

*  Mekhil.  Exod.  19.  1,  61  a,  b. 

2  Baraitha  Kethub.  66  b  ;  Sifre  Deut.  31. 14.  305, 130  a  ;  Bacher,  I,  42.  4. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  257 

purification  of  a  defiled  person  with  its  ashes,'  and  also 
when  a  hegemon  asked  him  about  some  difficulties  in  the 
Pentateuch/'  In  the  last  two  instances,  it  is  true,  it  would 
appear  obvious  that  the  conversations  took  place  in  his  school 
where  the  students  would  naturally  be  with  him.  But  the 
question  of  the  non- Jew  about  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer  was 
put  to  R  Johanan  before  the  year  70,  when  the  heathen  had 
not  only  read  the  law"  in  Num.  19,  but  observed  in  Jerusalem 
the  details,  not  stated  in  the  Bible,  of  the  pounding  of  the 
ashes  and  the  declaration  of  the  priest  to  the  purified  person 
that  after  the  sprinkling  he  was  now  clean."^  And  it  is  not 
only  not  stated  in  the  reports  that  the  non-Jew  visited  the 
school,  but  it  is  not  probable.  In  their  continued  personal 
intercourse  with  their  teacher,  Honi's  disciples  desired,  no 
doubt,  to  learn  from  him  the  order,  the  formulation  and  the 
wording  of  the  special,  and,  as  the  instance  of  his  grandson, 
Honi  the  Small  shows/  also  of  the  festival  prayers,  and 
probably  also  his  conduct  on  the  solemn  occasions.  Simi- 
larly the  disciples  of  the  Essene  Judas  received  practical 
training  in  the  art  of  prophesying,  even  when  he  spoke 
to  them  about  his  alleo-ed  error  in  his  forecast.  Had 
corresponding  information  been  preserved  about  Honi's 
contemporaries',  Simeon  b.  Shetah's  and  Jehudah  b.  Tabbai's 
relations  to  their  disciples,  we  should  have  learned  that 
these  also  watched  outside  the  school  the  religious  decisions, 
the  moral  and  social  sayings  and  directions,  and  the  conver- 
sations and  actions  of  their  masters,  as  we  find  it  reported 
of  teachers  and  students  in  the  second  half  of  the  first  and 
the  beo-innino;  of  the  second  centuries.  It  would  be  of 
great  interest  for  the  question  before  us  to  establish 
whether  the  three  different  kinds  of  teachers,  the  praying 
Honi,  the  prophesying  Essene  Judas,  and  the  Pharisee 
scholar   Simeon    b.   Shetah,  confined    themselves   to  their 

1  Pesik.  40  a  and  parallels  noted  by  Buber. 

2  Hull.  27  b  ;  jer.  Synh.  I,  19  b.  18  ;  Bacher,  I,  36  ff. 

^  E.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  was  present  at  the  burning  of  a  red   heifer, 
Tos.  Parali,  III,  8  ;  IV,  7,  cf.  X,  2. 

4  Tos.  Rosh  haShan.  IV,  11,  above,  p.  204. 

B 


258  SOME    TYPES    OF 

respective  peculiar  public  activities  reported,  or  whether 
each  one  of  them  practised  two  or  all  of  them. 

The  Essenes  wdio  exceptionally  prophesied  and  inter- 
preted dreams  \  shared  those  acts,  at  least  in  the  first 
century,  with  non-Essenes.  Josephus,  the  historian,  claimed 
to  possess  the  knowledge  of  prophecy,  and  asserted  that 
God  had  revealed  to  him  in  dreams  of  the  night  the  im- 
pending misfortune  of  the  Jews  and  the  future  fate  of  the 
Roman  generals  in  the  Jewish  revolution  ;  for  he  under- 
stood, when  interpreting  dreams,  how  to  explain  also  such 
hints  as  God  had  left  ambiguous,  as  he,  as  a  priest  and  the 
son  of  a  priest,  was  well  acquainted  with  the  prophecies  of 
the  holy  books.^  In  comparing  this  with  his  statement  that 
there  were  among  the  Essenes  some  who,  having  acquainted 
themselves  from  their  youth  with  the  holy  books  and  various 
sanctifications  and  the  utterances  of  the  prophets,  believed 
to  know  the  future,^  we  note  that  both  drew  on  the  same 
books.  Josephus  claimed  as  a  priest  and  not  as  a  disciple 
of  the  Essene  Banus,"^  to  derive  his  prophetic  information 
from  the  words  of  the  holy  books  just  as  did  the  Essenes, 
though  he  applied  it  to  the  interpretation  of  his  own  pro- 
phetic dreams.  And  again  he  stated  that  a  passage  in  the 
holy  books  about  the  quadrilateral  form  of  the  Temple,  as 
well  as  an  ambiguous  prophecy  in  the  holy  books  about  the 
Messiah  had  been  misinterpreted  in  the  years  66-70  by  the 
wise  men  of  the  Jews,  and  that  various  miraculous  signs  of 
warning  had  been  interpreted  by  their  lepoypa/xfiareh  and 
XoyioL  ;■'  and  here  again  not  Essenes,  but  scholars  are  meant. 
Just  as  Josephus  claimed  to  have  foretold  his  future  great- 
ness to  Vespasian,^  so  R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  was  credited  with 
the  same  prophecy"  wliich  he  derived  from  an  interpreta- 
tion of  Isa.  10.  34  b;  as  on  the  occasion,  when  the  gate  of 

1  Joseplms,  Wars,  III,  8.  3.  351  ;  AntiquiL,  XVII,  13.  3.  346. 
-  Wars,  III,  8.  3.  352.  3  Ibid.,  II,  8    12.  159. 

'   Montgomery  in  J.  Q.  R.,  XI,  1921,  281,  291. 

5  Wars,  VI,  5.  4,  3. 

6  Ibid.,  Ill,  8.  9.401  ;  Schiirer,  Gtschklde,  I^,  75  fi". 
^  Threni  r.  1.  5.  31  ;  ARN.  4,  12  a. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  259 

the  Temple  opened  of  its  own  accord,  he  interpreted  the 
portentous  incident,  according  to  Zech.  11.  1,  to  indicate 
the  coming  destruction  of  the  Temple.^  In  the  days  of 
Herod  some  Pharisees  prophesied  to  the  eunuch  Bagoas 
that  he  would  have  children,^  probably  from  Isa.  56.  4,  5. 
So  a  few  Essenes  and  some  distinguished  Pharisee  scholars 
ecjually  continued  one  of  the  activities  of  the  ancient 
prophets.  Again,  not  only  Josephus  reports  that  God  con- 
versed intimately  with  the  high-priest  and  ruler  Hyrkanos  I, 
and  that  nothing  about  the  future  was  hidden  from  him  ; 
for  he  knew  beforehand  that  his  two  eldest  sons  would  not 
reign  long.^  Also  a  rabbinic  source  states  that  a  heavenly 
voice  from  the  Holy  of  Holies  informed  him  that  his  sons 
were  victorious  in  Antioch.'*  And  the  high-priest  Simeon 
the  Just  heard  a  heavenly  voice  from  the  Holy  of  Holies 
telling  him  of  Caligula's  death  ;^  as  also  the  scholars 
assembled  in  Jericho,  one  of  whom  w^as  Hillel,  heard  a 
heavenly  voice  saying  that  one  of  them  was  worthy  of 
the  holy  spirit.  Accordingly,  a  few  pious  high-priests 
w^ere,  though  only  once,  distinguished  by  God  by  a  much 
higher  and  more  direct  form  of  revelation  than  the  Essenes 
who,  however,  possessed  the  gift  once  acquired  for  many 
years.  As  the  information  at  our  disposal  has  only  acci- 
dentally preserved  just  those  references  to  a  few  instances 
of  occasional  prophecy,  the  fact  could  be  established  that 
the  interpretation  of  dreams  and  the  foretelling  of  future 
events  were  practised  not  only  by  Essenes,  but  by  some 
learned  Pharisees,  pious  high-priests,  and  even  by  the 
priest  Josephus.  Unfortunately,  on  the  important  point  of 
Honi's  speciality  of  intercession  no  similar  parallels  of  an 
early  date  have  been  recorded. 

In  conjunction  with  the  revelation  of  God  to  some  high- 

'  Baraitha  Yoma,  39  b,  and  parallel  in  Baclier,  I,  23.  2. 

2  AntiguiL,  XVII,  2.  4.  41-5.       '  Wars,  I,  2.  8  ;  AntiquiL,  XIII,  10. 7. 300. 

*  Baraitha  jer.  Sotah,  IX,  24  b.  26  ;  b.  38  a  ;  Tos.  XIII,  5. 

5  Jer.  Sotaii,  IX,  24  b.  25  ;  b.  33  a  ;  Tos.  XIII,  6.  To  Yaddua  the 
high-priest  God  suggested  in  his  sleep  how  he  should  receive  Alexander 
the  Great  outside  Jerusalem.  Antiquit.,  XI,  8.  4.  327. 


26o  SOME    TYPES    OF 

priests,  it  should  be  noted  that  before  the  destruction  of  the 
first  Temple  a  prophet,  Jeremiah,  prayed   once  for  rain ; 
while  in  Joel's  days  this   prophet   had   no   share   in   the 
prayer  for  the  removal  of  the  plague  of  locusts,  but  only 
the  priests  in  the  Temple  interceded  for  the  people  in  one 
single  sentence,  2.  17.    On  the  Day  of  Atonement  the  high- 
priest  read  a  section  from  the  Torah,  recited  all  tlie  prayers 
for  forgiveness  and  mercy,  and  spoke  a  short  prayer,  while 
in  the  Holy  of  Holies  ;  one  of  the  high-priests  who  is  not 
named,  added  once  a  special  prayer  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Temple  and  the  people.^     Josephus  reports  that,  when 
the  high-priest  Yaddua  learned  of  the  hostile  approach  of 
Alexander   the    Great,  he   was   terrified,    ordered   general 
prayers,  oftered  sacrifices  with  the  people,  and  prayed  to 
God  for  help.^     So  to  Josephus  the  high-priest  seems  to 
have    been   the   intercessor   before    God   not  only  in  the 
sacrificial   worship,  but    in   the   special   prayers."      When 
there  was  no  high-priest  available,  as  in   1  Mace.  7.  36, 
when   Nikanor  threatened   the    Temple  with   destruction, 
the  priests  on  duty  went  in,  stood  up  before  the  altar  and 
the  Temple,  and  wept  and  prayed.*      All  this,  however, 
was  done  within  the  Temple ;  but  whether  also  outside  it, 
when,  on  the  Temple  Mount,  in  front  of  the  eastern  gates 
of  the  forecourt,  a  prayer  was  recited  for  rain,  the  high- 
priest  or  a  priest   was   the    reader,    as   priests   blew   the 
trumpets,  or  a  learned  Pharisee,  or  a  Hasid,  or  an  Essene 
read,  is  nowhere  stated,  except  in  the  case  of  Honi. 

The  Apocalypse  of  Baruch  which  reflects  the  religious  condi- 
tions prevailing  immediately  before  and  after  the  destruction 
of  the  second  Temple,  several  times  refers  to  prayers  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  when  in  distress,  and  may  be  used, 
at  least  for  the  first  century,  as  a  source  of  information  on 
the  point  in  question.  God  told  Baruch  to  ask  Jeremiah 
and  all  those  who  were  like  them,  to  leave  Jerusalem  (2. 2), 

1  Baraitha  Yoma,  53  b  ;  Tos.  Ill,  5. 

^  Antiquit,  XI,  8.  4.  326 ;  cf.  Judith  4.  9-15  ;  3  Mace.  2.  1-20. 

3  See  Philo,  De  sacerd.  6.  97,  M.  II,  227.  ^  Cf.  2  Mace.  1,  23-9. 


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN    PIETY  26 1 

'  because  your  works  are  to  this  city  as  a  firm  pillar,  and 
your  pra}' ers  as  a  strong  wall '.     Several  passages  in  the 
book  make  it  clear  that  the  author  was  referring  to  those 
whom  he  called  righteous,  as  in  the  interesting  statement 
in   Baruch's   letter  to   the  ten  tribes  (85.  1),  'Know   ye, 
moreover,  that  in  former  times  and  in  the  generations  of 
old  those  our  fathers  had  helpers,  righteous  men  and  holy 
prophets.     (2)  Nay  more,  we  were  in  our  own  land,  and 
they  helped  us  when  we  sinned,  and  they  prayed  for  us 
to  Him  who  made  us,  because  they  trusted  in  their  works,^ 
and  the  Mighty  One  heard  their  prayer  and  was  gracious 
unto  us.     (3)  But  now  the  righteous  have  been  gathered 
and  the  prophets  have  fallen  asleep,  and  we  also  have  gone 
forth  from  the  land,  and  Zion  has  been  taken  from  us,  and 
we  have  nothing  now  save  the  Mighty  One  and  His  law  '. 
The  righteous  who  trusted  in  their  works  -  and  who  prayed 
for  the  people  when  in  sins  and  distress,  were  men  who 
not  only  refrained  carefully  from  transgressing  any  of  the 
prohibitions  of  the  Torah,  but  carried  out  conscientiously 
the  positive  commandments  of  it,  such  actions  constituting 
their  works  and  deeds.    In  a  further  characteristic  descrip- 
tion of  the  same  men,  he  says  (51.  7),  '  But  those  who  have 
been  saved  by  their  works,  and  to  whom  the  law  has  been 
now  a  hope,  and  understanding  an  expectation,  and  wisdom 
a  confidence,  to  them  wonders  will  appear  in  their  time'. 
It  is  evident  that  he  referred  to  scholars  who,  on  the  one 
hand,   were  filled  with   the   desire   and   determination   to 
carry  out  the  commandments  of  the  Torah,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  devoted  their  thought  and  their  lives  to  the 
study  of  it."    And  it  is  most  instructive  that  for  '  the  vapour 
of  the  smoke  of  the  incense  of  righteousness  which  is  by 
the  law '  (67.  6),  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  when 
incense  was  no  longer  burnt  on  the  altar,  the  observance  of 
the  law  and  its  study  were  declared  an  equivalent  and  the 

^  The  same  is  said  of  King  Hezekiah  in  63.  3. 

2  See  the  note  of  Charles  on  14.  7. 

3  See  15.  5  and  Charles's  note. 


262  SOME  TYPES  OF 

full  substitute  for  it.     R.  Johanan  b.  Zakkai  declared  to  his 
disciple  R.  Joshua  b.  Hananiah  who  lamented  over  the  loss 
of  the  altar  as  the  means  of  the  atonement  for  Israel's  sins, 
that  loving-kindness  was  an  equivalent  atonement.^     And 
he  interpreted  the  white  garments  and  the  oil  in  Eccles.  9.  8 
as  meaning  the  observance   of   the  commandments,  good 
deeds  and  the  study  of  the  Torah ;  ^  and  he  advised  some 
priests   in   Jerusalem    whose    sons,   on    account   of    their 
descent  from  Eli,  were  dying  young,  to  study  the  Torah, 
for  it  atoned  for  the  gravest  sin,  when  sacrifice  was  useless.^ 
R.   Johanan  b.  Zakkai  and  his   fellow-teachers  were  a 
strong  protection  for  Jerusalem  and  its  inhabitants,  and  by 
their  instruction  and  their  prayers  obtained  forgiveness  for 
their  sins.     And  their  lay  supporters,  the  councillors  Kalba 
Sabu'a,  ben-Sisith  riD^n,  and  Nakdimon  b.  Goryon  whose 
prayer  was  analysed  above,*  contributed  by  their  religious 
deeds,  their  charity  and  loving-kindness  an  important  share 
to  the  temporary  preservation  of  the  city.     In  any  case,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse  of  Baruch,  the 
prayers,  private  and  public,  of  the  learned  Pharisees  were 
eminently  effective  before  70 ;    and  though  he  may  have 
referred  only  to  the  section  of  the  population  with  which 
he  sympathized  and  agreed,  it  may  safely  be  inferred  from 
his   words    that   R.   Johanan   b.  Zakkai    and   his  fellow- 
scholars,  and  before  them  their  teachers  Hillel  and  Shammai 
and  their  colleagues,   were  called   upon  in  Jerusalem   to 
recite   the    prayers   at   the   service  of   public  fasts.     The 
difierence  between  the  religious  attitude  of  those  scholars 
and  that  of  Honi  was  so  slight  that  the  people  and  the 
authorities   considered   all    these    teachers    their    equally 
worthy  spokesmen  before  God. 

For  Hillel,  as  the  first  chapter  endeavoured  to  demon- 
strate, was  in  Jerusalem  not  only  a  great  scholar  who 
expounded  and  applied  all  parts  of  the  Torah,  and  a  patient 

'  ARN.  4,  11a.  -  Kohel.  r.  !>.  8.  1. 

^  Rosh  haSlian.  18  a  ;  see  Rosenthal,  Vier  apokr.  Bucher,  57  ff. 
^  p.  200. 


JE^YISH-PALESTINIAN  PIETY  263 

and  impressive  teacher  of  his  disciples  and  of  every  man 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.     He  developed  and  prac- 
tised the  moral  laws  with  special  intensity,  and  strongly 
urged  their  vital  importance.     The  goal  of  his  instruction 
was  gradually  to  turn  by  the  Torah,  indispensable  for  life 
and  all  piety,  the  uncultured  into  a  sin- fearing,  unselfisli, 
kind,  loving  man ;  and  some  of  his  disciples  were  considered 
wortli}^  of  the  holy  spirit  and  of  miracles.     For  his  unusual 
degree  of  meekness  and  humility,  his  love  of  peace  and  of 
men,  his  unique  altruism  and  loving-kindness,  and  his  faith, 
his  fellow-scholars  described  him  as  Hasid  and  worthy  of  the 
holy  spirit.     All  his  actions  were  in  God's  honour.    Among 
his  contemporaries,  as  the  second  chapter  tried  to  prove, 
there  were  pious  men  of  various  forms  of  piety.     In  com- 
mon with  others,  some  consistently  strove  to  avoid  every 
kind  of  sin ;  but,  in  unparalleled  fear  of  errors  committed,  they 
sought  in  the  repeated  vow  of  the  Nazirite  occasions  for 
brinpfinof  sin-ofFerinofs  for  atonement,  while  others  brouoht 
a  guilt-offering  daily.     Other  pious  men  appear  by  the  side 
of  the  men  of  deeds  of  lovingr-kindness,  who  successfullv 
fought  against  sin,  and  practised  works  of  sympathy  and 
love.     One  of  the  men  of  deed  who  survived  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem,  R.  Haninah  b.  Dosa,  was  poor,  very   humble, 
scrupulously  honest,  devout  in  prayer,  and  of  great  faith  ; 
he  helped  his  fellow-men  by  deeds  of  sympathy,  charity  and 
loving-kindness,  and  his  prayer  of  intercession  as  of  a  son  of 
God  for  the  sick,  was  sought  by  the  great  scholars  of  his 
time ;  but  he  never  prayed  for  rain.     Before  Hillel's  time 
there  lived  in  Jerusalem  the  pious  men  of  the  Psalms  of 
Solomon,  whose  piety  was  analyzed  in  the  third  chapter. 
They  were  humble,  feared  God  truly,  obeyed  his  command- 
ments, and  practised  righteousness  toward  their  fellow-men ; 
as  they  expected  no  reward  for  their  piety,  they  thanked 
God  for  every  kindness.   They  acknowledged  His  justice  in 
the  terrible  slaughter  wrought  by  Pompey,  and  their  own 
sufferings  as  fully  deserved  for  their  unknown  sins  or  as 
God's  trials  of  love :  in  unfaltering  faith  and  humility  they 


264         SOME  TYPES  OF  JEWISH-PALESTINIAN  PIETY 

submitted  to  His  visitations,  and,  in  tlieir  love  of  God,  were 
ready  for  more.  They  continually  searched  their  hearts 
and  their  homes  for  errors,  and  humbly  confessed  tlieir  sins, 
repented  in  fasting,  and,  without  atoning-  sacrifices,  prayed 
for  the  grace  of  forgiveness.  One  of  those  pious  men  was 
Honi,  the  only  Hasid  who  was  invited  to  pray  for  rain  and 
against  the  enemy,  for  he  was  righteous  and  beloved  of 
God.  As  the  fourth  chapter  showed,  he  represented  a 
peculiar  type  of  the  Hasid  ;  but  neither  he  nor  the  other 
pious  men  were  Essenes,  but  strict  Pharisees  attached  to 
God  with  all  their  heart,  and  serving  their  fellow-men 
with  all  tlieir  soul. 


PRINTED  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS   OXFORD 

BY   FREDERICK   HALT. 

PRINTER   TO  THE  UNIVERSITY 


N 


f^/^Y   ,   u  ■ftftte  Due 

^      V      L.U\J.J 

1 

1 

Library  Bureau  Cat.no.  1137                                     > 

CLAPP 


^  ^,  3  5002  00005  0307 

Buchler,  Adolf  ^^^ 

Types  of  Jewish-Palestinian  piety  from  7 


BM  723  . BS  1922 


B  uchler,  Adolf,  1867-1939. 

Types  of  Jewieh-Paieetinian 
piety  from  70  B. C. E.  to  70