called, there is many times need of feme Divine Afiiftance, which is juftly with-held from thofe, who negledt: thofe things that are plain. Now that thofe Places which they objedl, may be va- rioufly explained, they themfelves are not ignorant of: And if any one cares to compare the ancient Interpreters, {a) who were in the Bahylonijh Cap- tivity, or eifewhere, concerning the times of Je- fus; with thofe who wrote after the Name of the Chriflians began to he hated amongft the Jews; he will find that Partiality was the Caufe of new Explications; and that thofe v/hich were formerly received, agreed very well with the Senfe of the Chriftians. Tiiey are not ignorant them- felves, that many things in the Sacred Writings are not to be underftood according to the ftri6l Pro- priety of the Words, [h) but in a figurative Senfe •, {c) as when God is faid to have defcended •, when {d) Mouth, [e) Ears, (f) Eyes, and [g] Nof2 are are [a) Who njjere in the Baby- lonifh Captii'ity, &c.] Grotius feems to have reiped to the Chalche Interpreters of the 0:d Teflament, and to fpeak;ic- cording to the Opinion of the JenMSi who thought them older than they were. See Brian Walton sFroh'yomena to the Polyglot Bible, Ch. XII.
yb) But in ajiguratvve Senfe ^ Ice] Thus Maimonides in his III Book, would have that '?\7iZZ aUJaiah XI. 6. of the times of the Meffiah under- ftood Allegoric ally \ and thus Da'vid Kimthi fpeaks of the fame Place of Jfaiah, who alfo fays the fame of Jeremiah II.
{c) As fwhen Cod is faid to han:e defended^ (5jc.] As Gen. monides of thefe and the like Forms of Speech, in liis Guide to the Doubting, Part I. Ch. and alfo upon Dent, where he fpeaks of the King. In the Cabaliflical Book. Nezael If rael fays, that the things be- longing to the Meffiah would be heavenly.
{d) Mouth, &c.] As Jere- miah IX. 12.
ie) Ears, &c.] As Pfalm (f) Eyes, Sec.'] In the Place of the forecited Pfalm.
(g) Nofe, &c.] Pfalm XVIII. 9, Jerem. XXXII. 37.
Seft. 18, 19. the Chrijltan Religion, 2-47 are afcribed to him. And what hinders but that many things, fpoken of the times of the MefTiah, may be explained in this manner? As {a) that the Wolf and the Lamb, the Leopard and the Kid, the Lion and the Calf, fliould lie down together-, that a young Child fhould play with the Snakes •, {b) that the Mountain of God, Ihould rife higher than the reft of the Mountains -, that Strangers Ihould come thither to perform holy Rites. 1 here arefome Promifes which appear, from the foregoing and following Words, or from their own S^^^k^ to contain in them a tacit Condition. 1 hus God promifed many things to the Hebrews^ if they would receive and obey the MefTiah when he came •, which if they do not come to pafs, they muft im- pute it to themfelves. And if there be any, waiich are exprefsly and unconditionally promifed, and are not yet fulfilled, they may yet be expc6ted. For it is agreed even amongft the Jews^ [c) that the Time or Kingdom of tiie Meffiah was to con- tinue to the End of the "World.
Sect. XIX. And to that which is ohje^edy cf the low Condition and Leath cfjcfus.
Many are offended at the mean Condition of Jefus, but without any Reafon; for God fays every where in the Sacred Writings, {d) that he exalteth the Humble, and cafteth dov/n the Proud, [e) Ja- cob [a] That the Wclf and the [d^Thathe exaheth the Hum- ^amb, &c.] In the foremen- hie, &c.] i Kings II. 8. Pfalm tioned place of IfaiahXX. 6. XXXIV. 19. PronjerbsXl. 2.
and following Verfes Jfaiah LVII. 15. LXVI.
{b) That the Mountain of God, 2.
&c.] Ifaiah II. Micah IV. i. [e] Jacob nvent over Jordan, and following. &c.] Gen, XXX 11. and foi- [c) That the Time or King- lowing. dom of the Meffiah ^ &c.] Perek 248 Of the Truth of Book W coh went over Jordan^ carrying nothing with him but his Staff, and returned thither again enriched with great Plenty of Cattle. Mofes was banifhed, and poor, and a Feeder of Cattle, [a) when God appeared to him in the Bufh, and made him Leader of his People; {h) David alfo, when he was feeding his Flock, was called to be King; and the Sacred Pliftory is full of other fuch like Examples. And of the Meffiah, we read that he was to be {c) a joyful Meffenger to the Poor, {d) that he fhould not lift uu his Voice in the Street, nor make ufe of Contention, but fhould aft mildly, lb, as to fpare a fhaking Reed, and to cherifli the Heat which remained m the fmoking Flax. Nei- ther ought his other Hardfhips, and Death itfelf, to render him more odious to any one. For God often permits pious Men, not only to be vexed by the Wicked, {e) z%' Lot was by the Men of Sodom; but alfo to be killed; as is manifeft (/) in the Example of Jl^ely flain by his Brother; (^) of Ifaiab, who was cut in pieces ^ (b) of the Macea- ^ff J Brethren, tormented to Death with their Mo- ther. The Jezvs themfelves fing the LXXIXth Pfalm y Pfalm y [a] When God appeared to \g) Of Ifaiah, -ivho i.vas cut ^itntnthe BuJJjMz.'] Exod.lll. in Pieces, &c.] So fays the ■ {b)T>?y\d alfo <^vhen he 'tvas Tradition of the Jenjjs^ to feeding his Flock, &c.] 1 Sam. which the Author to the He- XVI. 7, II. bre-ws has refpeft, XII. 37.
[c] A joyful Meffenger to the and Jofephus X. 4. Chalcidiiis Poor, &c.] Ifaiah LXI. i. on Timreus. As the Prophets Matt, XI. 5. and 7.ach. JX. 9. bv njcicked Men, one cut in {d) T^hat he fhculd not lift up pieces, another cverii'htlmed 20. thren, &C.] 2 Maccab. VJI.
[e) As Lot nvas by the Men Jofephus in his Book, Of the c/"Sodom, &c.] Gf//. XIX. Government of Reafon, (f) In the Example ofAht\, &c.] Gen. IV.
Seft. 19. the Qmjltan Religion. 492 Pfalm; in which are thefe Words: They have ^iv en the dead Bodies of thy Servants to the Fowls of the Aii\ and the Remairts of them whom thou lovejl^ to ' the Beafis: They have poured out their Blood within the tValls of JcvuMcm^ and there was none to bury them^ and lb on. And that the Meffiah himfclf was to arrive at his Kingdom, and to the Power of bellowing on his Difciples the greateft good Things, throughTroubles and Death, no Body can deny, who reads thofe Words o^ Ifaiah with an attentive Mind, {a) Ch. LIII. JVho hath believed our Report^ and who hath acknowledged the Power of God?And that for this- Reafon^ becauje he hath arifen in the Sight of God as a tender Plants as Grafs out of the Sandy Ground: there is no Beauty or Comelinefs in his Countenance^ neither if you look upon him^ is there any Thing de- lightful-^ he was expo fed to Contempt^ and was as the mofi defpifed afnongjl Men *, he endured many Sorrows^ many Griefs: All Men turned away themf elves from him; he was fo much defpifed as to be thought of no Value \ (b) but indeed he hath endured our Difeafes^ he hath borne our Calamities. JVe efieemed him as ftruck from Heaven^ as fmitten and affii^ed of God: But he was wounded for our Sins, he was bruifedfor cur Crimes; {c) the Punifhment which fhould procure Safety for us, was laid on him \ his Stripes were a Remedy for us \ for affuredly we have all zvandred to and fro like Sheep \ God hath inpEled on him the Punijhment [a] Chap. LIII. &c.] Which us, that by Difeafes, are to be place is interpreted of the underftood any Evils.
Meffiah, by the Chaldee Para- (c) The Punijhment ^^hkh phrall, 2X\At\\^BahyloniJhGe- Jhould procure Safety /orus,iLQ.^ mar a, entitled concerning the Rabbet h, and Solot^on Jarchi, Council. on the Gemara, entitled con- {b) But indeed he hath en- cerning the Council, explain dured our Difeajes^ &c.j A- thefe Words concerning the harbanel upon this Place, tells MeiTiah.
2 50 Of the Truth of. Book V^ nijhment due to our Crimes. And yet when he was ciffiified ayid grievoufy tormented^ he did not lift up his Voice ^ hut was filent as a Lamh going to he jlain^ and a Sheep to he jhorn. After Bonds ^ after Judg- ment^ he was taken fro^n amongfi Men j hut now who can zvorthily declare the Continuance of his Life? He was taken oi:i of this Place wherein we live \ hut this Evil hefel him for the Sins of ray People. He was delivered into the Hands of powerful and wicked Men^ even unto Death and Burial^ when he had done no In- jury to any one^ nor was Deceit eve^^ found in his Speech: But although God per mitten him to he thus far hruifed and aff Acted with Pains^ {a) yet heeaufe he has made himfelf a Sacrifice for Sin, (h) he fh all fee his Pofierity, he fhall live a long Life -, and thofe Things which are acceptahle to God, fhall happily fuc- ceed through him; Seeing himf elf freed from Evil, fays God, {c) he fhall he Jatisfied with P lea fur e, and that principally for this Reafon, heeaufe hy his Doc- trine my righteous Servant fhall acquit many, hearing himfelf their Sins. I will give him a large Portion (dj when the Spoil pall he divided among ft the War- riors j heeaufe he fuhmitted himfelf to Death, and was was {a) Tet heeaufe he has made himfetfa Sacrifice, &C.] Alfeck fays, that Evils borne with a willing Mind, are here fpoken of.
[h) He Jh all fee his Pofierity, &c.] Jlfeck here fays, that by the Word Seed in the Hebrenv, is meant Difciples. Thus the Seed of the Serpent is by the Hebrenxs Interpreted the Cana- aniies; and To fome underftand it to mean their Children^ Ifa. VIII. 18, as the Jerufalm Talmud obferves, under the Ti- tle concerning the Council.
[c) He fhall be faiisfied njoith Pleafure.ScQ.'] Jbarbanehthv^ thefe Words to a future Age.
(d) When the Spoil fhall he di'vided^ &c.] The Babylonifh Gemara entitled HDID, tells us that thefe Words are to be underllood in a fpiritual Senfe. Alfeck upon this Place fays, that by Spoils are to be underllood the Honours and Rewards of wife Men.
SciSl. 19. the Chrijlian Religion. 251 was reckoned amongft the Wicked; and ivhen he bore the Punijhment of other Me^ns Crhnes^ he made him f elf a Petitioner for the Guilty. Which of the Kings or Prophets can be named, to whonix thefe Things will agree? Certainly none of them And as to what the modern Jews conceit, that the Hebrew People themfelves are here fpoken of, who being difperfed into all Nations, Ihould by their Example and Difcourfe make Profelytes -, this Senfe, in the (irft Place, is inconfiftent with many Teftimonies of the facrcd Writings, which declare, {a) that no Misfortunes fhould befai the Jews^ which, and much greater than which, they have; not deferved by their Adions. Further, the Order itfelf of the Prophetick Difcourfe, will not bear fuch an Interpretation. For the Prophet, or, which feems more agreeable to that Place, God fays, 'This Ei'il hath happened to him for the Sins of my People. Now Ifaial/s People, or God's People, are the Ilehrezv People •, wherefore he who is iaid by Ifaiah^ to have endured fuch grievous Things, cannot be the fame People. The ancient Hebrew Teachers more rightly confeiTcd, that thcfe Things were fpoken of the Mefiiah; which v/hcn fome of the latter fliw, (b) they imagined twoMefllahs; one of which they call the Son of Jofeph^ who endured many Evils, and a cruel Death; the other the Son of David, to whom all things fucceeded profpe- roufly j (c) tho' it is much eafier, and more agree- able hefal the Jews, t^lc] This fial^s, &c.] See the lalmud, appears from thofc Places of entitled Succha, R. Solo:non, the Prophets cited above, and and R. David Kimchi, from Daniel W. and Nehemiah (c) Though it is viuch eafter IX. To which we may add, &c.] Which ^<^«;-^«;7^/fol lows, that hepf whom Ifaiah fpcaks, not in one Place onl/, on this was to pray to God for the Chap, of J/aiah. Heathens, which the Jewj do jiot '^O.
2 2 Of the Truth cf Book V.
able to the Writings of the Prophets, to acknow- ledge one, who arrived at his Kingdom through Adverfity and Death, which we beheve concerning Jefus^ and which the Thing itfelf fhews us to be true.
Sect. XX. And as though they were good Men who delivered him to Death.
Many are with-held from embracing the Doc- trine of Jefus^ out of a prejudiced Notion they have entertained, of the Virtue and Goodnefs of their Forefathers, and efpecialiy of the Chief Priefls ♦, who condemned J ejus ^ and reje^iied his Doctrine, without any juft Reafon. But what fort of Perfons their Forefathers often were \ that they may not think I falfely flander them, let them hear in the very Words of their Law, and of the Prophets, by vvhom they are often called (^) Uncircumcifed in Ears and Heart \ {h) a People who honoured God with their Lips, and v/ith coftly Rites, but their Mind was far removed from him. It was their Forefathers {c) who were very near killing their Brother Jofeph^ and who a6i:ually fold him into Bondage; it was their Forefathers alfo, {d) who made Mofes^ their Captain and Deliverer, whom the Earth, Sea and Airobeyed, weary of his Life,by their continual Rebellions -, {e) who defpifed the Bread fent from Heaven j (/) who com.plained as if they were in [a)UnctrcumcifedinEarsa7id [d) Who made Mofes, &c.]
Heart, fee] Jeye??t. IV. 4. The Places are obferved before r VI. 20. in the lid Book.
[b) A People nvho honoured {e) Who defpifed the Bread, God nvith their Lips, &c.] &c ] Numb. XL 6.
Deut. XXXII. 5.6, 15, 28. (f) Who complained as if Ifdiah XXIX. 13. Amos V. /^fy <xt:ere in extreme Want, 21. EzeliielXVL 3. &c.] In the forecited Xlth (c) Who ivere very near kil- Chap, towards the End. ling their Br other, &C.] Genef XXXVIII.
Sed. 20. the ChriJIian Rdiglon, 253 in extreme Want, when they could fcarce contain within them the Birds they had eaten. It was their Forefathers {a) who forfook the great and good King Davids to follow his rebellious Son: It was their Forefathers (h) who flew Zacharias^ the Son dijehoida^ in the moft Holy Place, making the very Prieft himfelf a Sacrifice of their Cruelty* {c) And as to the High Priefts, they were fuch as treacheroufly defigned the Death of Jeremiah^ and had effed:ed it, if they had not been hindered by the Authority of fome of the Rulers \ however, they extorted thus much, (d) that he fhould be held a Captive till the very Moment the City was taken. If any one think that they who lived in the Times of Jefus were better, Jofepbus can free them from this Miftake, who defcribes their moft horrid Crimes, and their Punifhments, which were hea- vier than any that were ever heard of; and yet, as he himfelf thinks, {e) beneath what they deferved. Neither are we to think better of the Council, efpe- cially when at that Time the Members of it were not admitted according to the ancient Cuftom by the Impofition of Hands, but were wont to be chofen (f) at the Will of great Men; as the Chief Priefts alfo were, whofe Dignity was not now per- petual, (g) but yearly, and oftentimes purchafed.
So So [a) Who forfook the great and mities, nor was there ever any good King Ddi^'id, &c.] 2 Sam. Age fo fruitful of all Kinds of XV. Wickednefs. The Jezvs {b) Who flen.v'L2.z\\.2x\z.%, &c.] brought greater Mifchiefs upon 2 C^row. XXIV. 21. themfelves, than the Romans {c) Andas to theHighPrirfs, did, who came to expiate &C.] Jer. XXVI. their Crimes.
[d) That he Jhould be held a (f) At the Will of great Men, Captive, &c.] Jer XXXVIII. &c.] Jofephus XIV. 9.
{^) Beneath nxihat they de- {g) But yearly ^ and oftentimes fervedy &c.] He fays, no other purchafed, &c.]7"^f//^«jXVlII.
City ever endured fuch Cala- 3, and 6.
2 54 0/ the Truth of Book V.
So that we ought not to wonder that Men fvvclled with Pride, whole Avarice and Ambition was in- faciable, fhould be enraged at the Sight of a Man, who urged the mod Holy Precepts, and reproved their Lives by their Ditlercnce from his. Nor was he accufed of any Thing, but what the bed Men of old w^erc; (a) Thus Micaiah^ who lived in the Time of Jehofaphal\ was delivered to Prifon, for refoiutely afferting the Truth againft four hundred falfe Prophets, [b) Ah ah charged Elijah^ juft as the Chief Priefts did Je[us^ with being a Diflur- berofthe Peace oi Ifrael. (c) And Jeremiah was accufed, as Jefiis was, of prophefying againft the Temple. To v/hich may be added, what the an- tient Hebrew Teachers {d) have left us in Writing, that in the Times of the MelTlah, Men would have the Impudence of Dogs, the Stubbornnefs of an Afs, and the Cruelty of a wild Beaft. And God himfelf, who faw long before, what fort of Men many of the Jeivs would be, in the Times of tha MefTiah j [a) Vms Micaiah, &c.] 2 Kings XXII (b) Ahah chargedW\y?itVy &C.] to Elijah^ Art not thou he that troubles Ifrael? And thus the High Priefts faid of Jefus. Luke XXII I. 2. We found this Man a Trcubler 0/ Ifrael.
[d] Have left us in Writings &c.] See the Talmud, concern • ing the Council; Kelmboth and Sota. R. Solomon on the fore- mentioned Title, concerning the Council, c. Helech; and the Talmudy entitled concerning Veights. And alfo tlie Tradition of Rabbi Judahy in the Gemara^ on the fame Title, concerning the Council, c. He- lech. ** At that time when the *' Son of Danjid fhall come, *' the Houfe that was appoint- ** ed of God, (hall be made a *• Brothel-Houfe." See >r^- was a great Miftake, for the Maforeth was put inftead of the Getnara; for thefe Words are to be found in the Gemara^ ch. XL entitled concerning the Council. At that Time, ijohen the Son ofTi2M\(\f:>all come, the Houfe of AJfembling together^ 1);"DnnO, /W/l^ made A Brothcl-Houfe, £d. Cocceius^ Sea. 27. UCkrc.)
Seft. 20, 21. the Chrlftian Religion, 255 ' Mefiiah; foretold that they {a) who were not his People, ihould be admitted to be his People (b) and that out of every City and Village of \\\tjew5^ not above one or two fhould go up to the Holy Mountain; but that what was wanting in their Number, fliould be filled up by Strangers. And alfo {c) that the Mefliah fhould be the Deftrudion of the Hebrews \ but that this Stone which was re- je6led by the Mafter-Builders, fhould be put in the Chief Place, to hold the whole Fabrick together.
Sect. XXI. An Anp-juer to the Objeciion of the Chrijiians worjhipping many Gods, I T remains that we anfwer two Accufations, -which the Jews afiault the Dodrine and Worfhip of the Chriftians with. The firilis this; they affirm that we worlhip many Gods: But this is no more than an odious Explicatioa of a Do(5lrine which ap- pears flrange to them. For there is no more Reafon why this fliould be objedled againft the Chriftians, (d) than againftPM<? the Jew^ who often affirms, that there (a) Who ivere not his Pio- (b) And that out of every City, &c.] Jerem. III. 14, 17. And 1/aiahLUL (c) That theMeffiahd^Quldbe the DeJl)u3ion,Sic,'] Ifcu VIII. 14. Pfalm CXVIII. 22.
(d) Than againjl Philo the Jew, &c.] Concerning the Sa- crifices of Abel and Catii, ** When God, attended with " his two principal Powers, " Government and Goodneis; ** Himfelf, who is one only, ** being between them, he ** framed three Conceptions in *' thecontemplativeSouheach •' of which can by no Means ** be comprehended, for his *' Powers are unlimited, they ** each contain the Whole.'* Afterwards he calh Govern- ment, Po-wer; and Goodnefs he calls Beneficence; and fays, that they are not pronounced by a pious Mind, but kept in filent Secrecy. And the fame we find, in his Book of Cherubim. In the Ild Book of the Hufbandry of 'Noah, he mentions£;f///f«tip, \\\zGovcrn- ing Poi.ver, the Merci/nlPo'zver. Maimonides, in the Beginning of his Book of Fundamentals, and after him Jcj'cph m:^?, di- Itinguifh 2 56 Of the Truth of Book V.
there are three Things in God; and he calls \^t Rea- fen (a) or Word of God, the Name cf Gody (<^)~the Ma- ker of the World -, (c) not unbegotten, as is God the Father of all; nor yet begotten in like Manner as Men are: The fame is likewife called (i) the An- gel, or the EmbafTador, who takes Care of the LFniverfe -, by Fbilo himfelf -, and by (e) Mofes the Son of fllnguifti in Co//y that %'jhich under jiandeth; that hy 'xvhich any thing is under fiood; and the XJnderJianding. We find fome- thing belonging to this Matter in Ahenejdrasy on Qcn. XVJIf. and Tvlaimonidcs''s Guide to the Doubting, Piiit I. ch. 68.
(a) Or Word of God, &c.] Jn his Allegories, and of the Confuilon of Tongues.
[b] The Maker of the World, &c.] In his Allegories: ' '■ His " V/ord, by making ufe of ** which, n.s of an Inilrument, ** he made the World." Con- cerning Cain. The Word of God ^j;as the Injirument, hy luhich it (the World) <was made. (The Word Ac^®^, might better be tranflated Reafony here mPhiloy as I have abundantly fhown in the Diflertation on the Begin- ning of St John. Le Clerc.)
(r) Not unhegotteuy as is Godt the Father of all, &c.] The Place is in the Book entitled, Whojha II inherit Divine Things. The fame Word is called by Phi/o, the Image of Cod, in his Book of Monarchy; and in that of Dreams fent by God; fometimes clintitivKjuc/y the Refemhlance, as in the Book, in- titled, The Wicked hy Snares for the Righteous. Sometimes y^c/.caf\i]?t the Fornix as in Book II. of Agriculture;, Com- pare John I. Ueb. I. 3.
[d, The Angel y or the Amhaf fador, &c.] He calls him 'Ayfih-^y Angely in his Alle- gories, and in his Book of Che- rubin ', ^ Apy^iiyfiA'^^, Archan- gel, in his Book entitled. Who f^nll inheritDi'vine goodThing^^ and in his Book of the Conffcrz of Tongues. And the fame is called Angely and T\'\T\^ Jeha- vahy by R. Samuel in Mechor Chaim.
{e) Mofes the Son of Nehe- mannus, &c.] The learned Mafius has tranflated his Words thus, on the Vth ch. of Jo^ pua, " That Angel, to fpeak ** the Truth, is the Angel, *' the Redeemer, of whom it •* is written; becaufemyName •* is in him. That Angel, I *' fay, who faid to Jacoby I ** am the God of Bethel; He ** of whom it is faid, And God ** called Molei out of the Bufb. ** And he is Called an Angel, " becaufe he governs the " World. For it is written, *' Jehovah, [that is the Lord ** God) brought us out of E- " gyp^ » ^"^ ^" other Places, ** he fent his Angel, and ** brought us out of F-.gypt z *♦ Befides Sedl. 2r. the Chnflian Religion, 257 o^Neh^manniis: (a) Or againfl the Cahalifts^ who di- ilinguilh God into three Lights, and fomeof them by the fame Names as the Chriftians do, of the Fa- ther, Son or Word, and Holy Ghoft. And to take that, which is chiefly allowed amongft all the Hebrews \ That Spirit by which the Prophets v/erc moved, is not any created Thing, and yet isdiftin- guilhed from him that fent it; as likewife that which is {bj commonly called the Schechinab, Now- many *' Befides it is written. And " the Angel of his Prefence " hath made chemlafe. Name- " \yy That Angel which is *• th? Prefence of Go J, con- *' cerning whom it is laid, my *' Prefence lliall go before, and *' I will caufe chce to reft. " Lalliy, this is that Angel of " whom the Prophet faid^ And " faddenly the Lord whom ye " fcek, fnall come into his *' l^emple, even the Angel of " the Covenant, whom ye de- " fire '* And again, other Words of the f-^me Pcrfon to this Purpofe: ** Confider di- *' ligenily what thofe Things ** jnean; for Mofes and the If- ** raeliies ahvays willied for the '* firft Angel; but they could *' not rightly underll:uid who *• he we\s. For they had it *' not from others, nor could '■' they arrive fully at it by *' propherick Knowledge Bat *' the Prefence of God, figni- *' fies God himfelf, as is con- *' fefled by all Interpreters; ** neither could any one un- *' derRand thofe Things by "Dreams, unlefs he were ** flcilled in.jthe Myfteries of '' My Prefence (hall go before, *• that is, the Angel of the ** Covenant whom ye defire, •• in whom my Prefence will *' be feen. Of whom it is ** faid, I will hear thee in aa ** acceptable Time; for my *' Name is in him, and I will ♦' make theeto reft j or I will ** caufe him to be kind and *' merciful to thee. Nor (hall *' he guide thee by a rigid '• Law, but kindly and g^nt- *' ly." Compare with this, what we find in ManaJ/es Con- citiator, in the XlXth ^fj}. on Geneju. (The Name of this Rabbr^ Father, may better be pronounced Nachman. for ic is written ^r^ni* Nuhhman.)
(a] Or againjl the Cabalifts, &c.] See the Appendix to Schindler^s Hebrc^v Lexicon ^ in the Charadlers mx. And the Book called Schep-tal {?.ys, jnT.LD Sipetoih, ISumher in God does not dcftroy his U- nity.
{h) Commouly:a!l£d theSche- cKlnah, &c. ] And they di- ftinguifli it tVom the Floly Ghoft. See the "Jerufahm Ge- mara, entitled concerning Inllradions, ch S And the Babjlanij'b 258 Of the T^ruth of Book V.
{a) many of the Hebrews have this TraditioH, that that Divine Power which they call JVifdoniy fhould dwell in the MelTiah; {h) whence the Chaldee Para- phraft calls the Mefllah, the IVord of God; as the Mefliah is alfo called by David ^ and others, (c) by the venerable Name of God, (d) and alfo of Lord.
Sect. XXII. Jnd that human Nature is ivorjhip- fed by them.
T o the other Objedlion they make againfl ns^ namely. That we give the Worfhip due to God, to a Being made by God; the Anfwer is ready: For we fay, that we pay no other Worfhip or Ho- nour Babylonijh Gemara, entitled Jomach i. R Jonathan in his Preface to Ecka Rahthi fays, that the Schechinah remained three Years and a halfupori Mount Olivet, expeding the Converfion of the yewas; which is very true, if we ap- prehend him right.
[a) Many of the Hebrews have this Tradition, &c ] Rab- bi Solomon, on Genefis XIX. 18. acknowledges, that God can take upon him human Na- ture, which he thinks was for- merly done for a Time; to which agrees the Talmud, en- titled Schebnoth and Sabba- thoth.
{b) Whence the Chaldee Pa- raphraji. Sec ] As Ho/ea XIL (But they are miftaken who think that theCA^j/^/i-^Paraphraft means any Thing elfe by the Nameo/God, but God himfelf; as a very learned Man hath ftiewn, in the Balance 0/ Truth, publiflied in the Year 1700, a long Time after the Author *s Death. Le Clerc.)
[c) By the 'venerable Name of God, &c.] Namely, mn^ fehovnh, Jonathan and Da- 'vid Kimchi on Jeremiah XXIII. 6. with which agrees Abba in Ecka Rabbathi, mxni^ mn^ Jeho^ah Saha- oth,ZachariahXlY. 16. The Talmud in Taanith (rom Jfaiah XXV. 9 faith, in that Time God, mn* Jehovah, ftiall be fhown, as ic were with the Finger.
{d) And alfo of Lord, &c.] CnbN Elohim, Pfal. XLV. 7. which Pfalwy the Chaldee Paraphraft there owns, treats of the Mefliah, as he did before in that PhiCe of Ifaiak now cited. Alfo'3n« JdQ?iai in Pfalm ex. which treats of the Mefliah, as 'will piefently ap- pear.
Sed:. 22. the Chj'ijiiaii Religion, 259 nour to the Mefliah, {a) but what we are command" "id in Pfalm II. and CX. the former of which, wa^ fulfilled in David only in an incomplete Manner, and beiong'd more eminently to the MefTiah, {h) as David Kimchi., a great Enemy to the Chriftians, acknowledges; and the latter, cannot be explained of any other but the Meffiah. For the Fidtions of the latter Je''Ji'S •, fome oi Abraham^ fome o^ Bavidy and others of Hezekiah -, are very trifling. The He- brew Infcription fliows us, that it was a Pfalm of David's own. Therefore what David fays was f aid to his Lord^ cannot agree to David himfelf, nor to Hezekiah, who was of the Pofterity of David^ and no Way more excellent than David. And Ahra* ham had not a more excellent Priefthood; nay, Melchifedec gave him his BleiTing, {c) as inferior to himifeif But both this, and that which is added, concerning (J) a Scepter's coming out of Sion^ and extending to the moft: diftant Places, plainly agrees to the McfTiah; (e) as is clear from thofe Places which, without doubt, fpeak of the MefTiah; nei- ther did the ancient Hebrews and Paraphrails under- ftand them otherwife. Now that Jefus of Naza- rethy was truly the Perfon, in whom thefe Things were fulfilled; I could believe upon the AfRrmatioa