* Or ‘Adriatic’. Gem, 32a explains that they were so called after the Emperor Hadrian. Wine was put in vessels of unbaked earthenware which thus became heavily impregnated with the wine; the vessels were then broken and the sherds were used to flavour drinking- water.
10 Cf. Ned. a1. The heart was removed from a living beast and offered to idols.
of the dead.1 So R. Akiba. It is forbidden to have business with them that are going on an idolatrous pilgrimage,2 but with them that are returning it is permitted.
4. The skin-bottles of gentiles or their jars that are filled with the wine of an Israelite are forbidden, and it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from them. So R. Meir. But the Sages say: It is not forbidden to have any benefit at all from them.3 The grape-stones and grape-skins of the gentiles are forbidden and it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from them. So R. Meir. But the Sages say: When moist they are forbidden, but when dried they are permitted. The fish-brine4 and Bithynian cheese of the gentiles are forbidden, and it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from them. So R. Meir. But the Sages say: It is not forbidden to have any benefit at all from them.
5. R. Judah said: While they were on a journey R. Ishmael asked R. Joshua and said to him, ‘Why have they forbidden the cheese of the gen¬ tiles?’ He answered, ‘Because they curdle it with rennet from a carcase’.5 He said to him, ‘But is not the rennet from a Whole-offering forbidden more stringently than rennet from a carcase, and yet they have said, “If a priest is not squeamish6 he may suck it out raw”? (and7 they did not agree with him but said: They may get no benefit therefrom, yet [if they did] the law of Sacrilege8 would not apply). [R. Joshua] said to him, ‘Because they curdle it with rennet from calves sacrificed to idols’. He said to him, ‘If so, why have they not also forbidden any benefit at all from it?’ He led him to another matter; 9 he said to him: Ishmael, my brother, how readest thou? — For thy (masc.) love is better than wine, or Thy (fern.) love...?10 He answered, Thy (fern.) love...He said to him: It is not so, for lo, its fellow [-verse] teaches us concerning it: Thine (masc.) ointments have a goodly fragrance.
6. These things of the gentiles are forbidden, but it is not forbidden to have any benefit at all from them: milk which a gentile milked when no Israelite watched him; their bread and their oil (Rabbi and his court per¬ mitted the oil), stewed or pickled vegetables into which it is their custom to put wine or vinegar; minced fish, or brine containing no fish (with11 no kilbith- fish12 floating in it); hilek- fish;13 * drops of asafoetida or sal-condi- tum. Lo, these are forbidden, but it is not forbidden to have any benefit at all from them.
7. These are [even] permitted as food: milk which a gentile milked when an Israelite watched him; honey or honeycombs (even though they drip 2 So Tif. Yis. The Hebrew term used conveys the sense ‘obscenity’.
3 Only if the jars were impregnated with previous wine belonging to gentiles. It is only forbidden to drink the wine.
♦ A sauce made by pickling fish; wine was usually mixed with it.
s A beast not properly slaughtered. Cf. Hull. z2fl. 6 Cf. Men. 117.
1 The bracketed sentence is an editorial aside. For similar comments see Sanh. 81; 9 He was unwilling to give the answer because twelve months had not yet passed since the court’s decree concerning the cheese of gentiles, and it was forbidden to divulge the reason for decrees before twelve months for fear of provoking public controversy.
10 Song of Songs, 1 2. The unvowelled Hebrew is ambiguous: dodeka (m.) or dodaik (f.)?
11 Many texts omit the bracketed clause, which is a gloss from the Gemara (39b).
12 ‘A small insect like an unclean fish which breeds in brine made from clean fish but not in that made from unclean fish’ (Bert, and Tif. Yis.).
13 A species of clean fish which has no fins in its early stage, and there is danger of its being confused with unclean species.
440 FOURTH DIVISION: NEZIKIN with moisture they do not come within the law of food rendered susceptible to uncleanness by a liquid);1 * pickled vegetables into which it is not their custom to put wine or vinegar; unminced fish, or brine containing fish; a [whole] leaf of asafoetida or pickled olive-cakes. R. Jose says: If the olives are sodden- they are forbidden. Locusts that come out of the [shopkeeper’s] basket are forbidden;3 but those from the shop-store are permitted. And the same applies to Heave-offering.4 3. i. All images are forbidden3 because they are worshipped once a year.6 So R. Meir. But the Sages say: Only that is forbidden which bears in its hand a staff or a bird or a sphere.7 Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: That which bears aught in its hand.
2. If a man found fragments of images, these are permitted. If he found [a fragment in] the shape of a hand or the shape of a foot, these are for¬ bidden, since an object the like of these is worshipped.
3. If a man found objects on which is a figure of the sun, a figure of the moon, or a figure of a dragon, he must throw them into the Dead Sea.8 * Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: If [the figures are found) on objects of value these are forbidden, but if on worthless objects they are permitted. R. J ose says: One should break them into pieces and scatter them to the winds, or throw them into the sea. They said to him: Even so they would become manure, and it is written, And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thine hand* 4. Proklos the son of Philosophos10 asked Rabban Gamaliel in Acre while he was bathing in the Bath of Aphrodite, and said to him, ‘It is written in your Law, And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thine hand. Why [then] dost thou bathe in the Bath of Aphrodite?’ He answered, ‘One may not make answer in the bath’.11 And when he came out he said, ‘I came not within her limits: she came within mine! They do not say, “Let us make a bath for Aphrodite”, but “Let us make an Aphrodite as an adorn¬ ment for the bath”. Moreover if they would give thee much money thou wouldest not enter in before thy goddess naked or after suffering pollution, nor wouldest thou make water before her! Yet this goddess stands at the mouth of the gutter and all the people make water before her. It is written. Their gods,12- only; thus what is treated as a god is forbidden, but what is not treated as a god is permitted.’
5. If the gentiles worship mountains or hills, these themselves are permitted but what is on them is forbidden; for it is written, Thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold that is upon them nor take it unto thee,13 R. Jose the Galilean says: [It is written,] Their gods upon the high mountains,14 not ‘The mountains [are] their gods’; and Their gods...upon the hills, and not ‘The 1 Lev. ii*4' See tractate Makshirin.
I So disintegrated that their stones fall out; there is ground for suspicion that they had been soaked in wine. 3 He is suspected of sprinkling them with wine.
* If a priest was suspected of sprinkling his wares with Heave-offering wine. It is as¬ sumed that he would only do so with what was exposed for immediate sale.
s For any benefit at all to be derived from them.
6 Even those serving only as ornament.
7 Symbols of lordship: a staff, in that it is master of all; a bird, in that it holds all mankind like a bird in its hand; and a sphere, in that it holds the whole world in its hand (Gem. aia, which adds also the symbols sword, crown, and ring). * Lit. ‘Sea of Salt*.
* Deut. I3l:. 10 Perhaps the text was originally ‘Proklos the philosopher’.
II It is forbidden to speak words of the Law while naked.
hills [are] their gods’. And why is an Asherah 1 forbidden? Because the hands of man have been concerned therewith, and whatsoever the hands of man have been concerned with is forbidden. R. Akiba said: I will explain and expound the matter before thee: Wheresoever thou findest a high mountain or a lofty hill and a green tree, know' that an idol is there!
6. If a man’s house adjoined an idol’s shrine, and it fell down, it is forbidden to build it again. What shall he do? He must withdraw four cubits2 within his own domain and then build again. If there was a wall common to him and the idol’s shrine, it is deemed to belong half to each; its stones, wood, and earth3 convey uncleanness as though they were a creeping thing; for it is written, Thou shalt utterly detest it.* R. Akiba says: Like a menstruant, for it is written, Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous thing: thou shalt say unto it. Get thee hence? as a menstruant conveys uncleanness by carrying, so does an idol convey uncleanness by carrying.
7. Three kinds of houses are to be distinguished [in what concerns idolatry]: if a house was built from the first for idolatry it is forbidden; if it was plastered and bedecked for idolatry, or if aught was done to it anew, one only need remove what was done to it anew; but if a gentile did but bring in an idol and take it out again, such a house is permitted. Three kinds of stones are to be distinguished: if a stone was hewn out from the first for a pedestal, it is forbidden; if it was plastered and bedecked for an idol, or if aught was done to it anew, one only need remove what was done to it anew; but if a gentile did but set up an idol on it and take it away again, the stone is permitted. Three kinds of Asherah are to be distinguished: if a tree was planted from the first for idolatry, it is forbidden; if it was chopped and trimmed for idolatry and it sprouted afresh, one only need take away what has sprouted afresh; but if a gentile did but set up an idol beneath it and then desecrate it, the tree is permitted. What is an Asherah? Any tree under which is an idol. R. Simeon says: Any tree which is worshipped. It once happened in Sidon that they worshipped a tree under which was a heap of stones. R. Simeon said to them, Examine this heap. They exam¬ ined it and found an image in it. He said to them, Since it is the image that they worshipped, we permit to you the tree.
8. None may sit in its shadow, but if he has sat there6 he remains clean; and none may pass under it, and if he has done so he becomes unclean. If it encroached on the public way and one passed under it, he remains clean. They may sow vegetables under it in the rainy season but not in the hot season,7 but [they may sow] lettuces8 neither in the rainy season nor in the hot season. R. Jose says: [They may] not even [sow] vegetables [under it] in the rainy season, since the tree’s foliage drops down upon them and serves them for manure.
9. If a man took wood from an Asherah it is forbidden to have any bene¬ fit at all from it. If he heated an oven with it and the oven was new ’ it must be broken up, and if old it must be suffered to cool again. If he baked bread in it it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from it, and if the bread was * App. I. 4. * Many texts omit.
1 The mud and mortar filling in the masonry of the walls.
* Deut. 7**. The passage quoted conveys the sense: ‘Thou shalt wholly deem it an abominable thing’, with the special sense of Lev. ti11 and it**.
$ Is. 30**. Cf. Shab. 91. * But not directly beneath its boughs.
7 Since they have the benefit of its shade. * Which need shade in winter as well.
* And not thoroughly hardened; it would thus derive permanent benefit.
442 FOURTH DIVISION: NEZIKIN mixed up with other bread, it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from any of it. R. Eliezer says: A man should throw the benefit he has had from it into the Dead Sea.1 They said to him: There can be no redemption price2 in a matter of idolatry. If he took from it [wood for] a shuttle, it is for¬ bidden to have any benefit at all from it. If he wove a garment with it it is forbidden to have any benefit at ail from it; and if it was mixed up with other garments, and these again with others, it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from any of them. R. Eliezer says: A man may throw any benefit he has had from them into the Dead Sea. They said to him: There can be no redemption price in a matter of idolatry.
io. How is an Asherah desecrated? If it is trimmed or pruned, or if a branch or a twig or even a leaf is taken from it, then it is desecrated; if it was trimmed for the good of the tree it remains forbidden, but if not for the good of the tree, it is permitted.
4. i. R. Ishmael says: Three stones beside a Merkolis,3 one beside the other [and one above them],4 are forbidden, but two only are permitted. But the Sages say: Those that manifestly belong to it are forbidden, and those that do not manifestly belong to it are permitted.
2. If coins, clothing, or [other] objects were found on its head, these are permitted; but bunches of grapes, garlands of corn, flasks of wine or oil or fine flour, or the like of whatsoever is offered on the Altar are forbidden.
3. If a garden or a bath-house belonged to an idol, they may be used if there is no need to offer thanks, but not if there is need to offer thanks.5 If they belonged both to the idol and to others, they may be used whether there is need to offer thanks or no need.
4. The idol of a gentile is straightway forbidden, but that of an Israelite is not forbidden unless it has been worshipped. A gentile can desecrate his own or his fellow’s idol,6 but an Israelite cannot desecrate a gentile’s idol. If a man desecrated an idol he has thereby desecrated the things that pertain to it; if he desecrated [only] the things that pertain to it these are permitted, but the idol itself is forbidden.
5. How is an idol desecrated? If a gentile cut off the tip of its ear or the end of its nose or the tip of its finger, or battered it even though naught was broken off, he has desecrated it. If he spat in its face, or made water before it, or dragged it about, or threw filth at it, he has not desecrated it. If he sold it or gave it in pledge, Rabbi says: He has desecrated it. But the Sages say: He has not desecrated it.
6. An idol whose worshippers have abandoned it in time of peace is permitted, but if in time of war it is forbidden. The idol-pedestals set up in honour of kings are permitted since they set up the images on them [only] when the kings pass by.
7. They asked the elders in Rome,7 ‘If God has no pleasure in an idol why does he not make an end of it?’ They answered, ‘If men worshipped a thing of which the world had no need he would make an end of it; but lo, they worship the sun and moon and the stars and the planets: shall God 1 And so need not waste the bread.
2 As for Second Tithe, or as for Sacrilege (Lev. s'5f.) 3 See p. 392, n. 12.
4 The dolmen which ‘is the essential element of the Merkolis’ (Bert.).
5 In neither case may payment be made.
6 Variant: Or that of an Israelite, According to the Gemara (52b) this is what Rabbi destroy his world because of fools?’ They said to them, ‘If so, let him destroy that which the world does not need and leave that which the world needs’. They answered, ‘We should but confirm them that worship them, for they would say, Know ye that these are [true] gods, for they have not been brought to an end’.
8. One may buy [the contents of] a trodden winepress from a gentile even though [the gentile] took the grapes in his hand and put them on the heap, for the wine cannot become libation-wine1 until it flows down into the vat. If some had flowed down into the vat, what is in the vat is for¬ bidden, but the rest is permitted.
9. An Israelite may help a gentile to tread a winepress but he may not gather grapes with him. If an Israelite was preparing [his wine] in [con¬ ditions of] uncleanness, none may help him to tread the winepress or to gather grapes, but one may help him to take jars to the winepress or bring them away from the winepress. If a baker was preparing [his bread] in [conditions of] uncleanness, none may help him to knead the dough or roll it, but one may help him to take bread to the dealer.
10. If a gentile was found standing by the side of a wine- vat and he had a lien upon the wine, it is forbidden; but if he had not, it is permitted. If a gentile fell into it and came up again, or if he measured it with a reed, or flicked out a hornet with a reed, or if he patted the mouth of a frothing jar — these cases all happened and the Sages said: It must be sold. But R. Simeon permits it. If he took a jar and in his anger2 threw it into the vat — this once happened and they declared the wine fit [for drinking], ix. If an Israelite prepared the wine of a gentile in [conditions of] cleanness3 and left it in the gentile’s keeping in a house open to the public domain, if there were both gentiles and Israelites in the city the wine is permitted;4 but if there were only gentiless it is forbidden, unless he left there a guardian; the guardian need not sit still and keep watch, even if he goes in and out the wine is permitted. R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: It is all one, whatsoever kind was the gentile’s domain.6 12. If an Israelite prepared the wine of a gentile in [conditions of] cleanness and left it in the gentile’s keeping, and the gentile wrote for him [a quittance, saying,] ‘I have received from thee its price’, then it is per¬ mitted. But if the Israelite had wished to remove the wine and the other would not suffer him to do so until he paid its price — this once happened at Beth Shean, and the Sages declared the wine forbidden.
5. 1. If a gentile hired a labourer [that was an Israelite] to help him with libation-wine, his wage is forbidden; but if he had hired him to help him with some other work, even if he said to him, ‘Remove me this jar of libation-wine from this place to another’, his hire is permitted. If a gentile hired the ass [of an Israelite] to bring thereon libation-wine, its hire is forbidden; but if he had hired it to ride upon, even if the gentile rested his flagon [of libation-wine] upon it, the hire is permitted.
> Primarily wine which a gentile has dedicated to his god to be poured out as a libation. It has generally the wider meaning of any wine prepared by or belonging to a gentile.
2 Some texts omit ‘in his anger’.
1 So that the gentile might be enabled to sell such wine to Israelites.
4 Since the gentile owner is always exposed to the observation of Israelites.
* Or if the house was not exposed to observation from the public domain.
6 For the wine to be permissible a guardian is needful whether the gentile’s shop was open to the public domain or not, and whether the city was half Israelitish or not.
FOURTH DIVISION: NEZIKIN 2. If libation-wine fell upon grapes, one may rinse them and then they are permitted; but if they were burst they are forbidden. If1 it fell on figs or dates, and it was enough to leave a flavour, they are forbidden. It once happened that Boethus b. Zunin2 brought dried figs in a ship and a jar of libation-wine was broken and fell upon them; and he asked the Sages and they declared the figs permitted. This is the general rule: whatsoever derives benefit [from the libation-wine] through its leaving a flavour is forbidden; whatsoever does not derive benefit [from the libation-wine] through its leaving a flavour is permitted — as when vinegar [from libation- wine] falls upon crushed beans.
3. If a gentile helped an Israelite to take jars of wine from one place to another, and the presumption is that the wine was watched, it is per¬ mitted; but if the Israelite had told the other that he would be gone, [the wine is forbidden] if [he was gone] time enough for the other to bore a hole and stop it up, and for the clay to dry. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: Time enough for the other to open the jar and close it up, and for the clay to dry.3 4. If he left his wine in a wagon or in a boat and went by a short bypath and entered the town and bathed, the wine is permitted. But if he had told the other that he would be gone, [the wine is forbidden] if [he was gone] time enough for the other to bore a hole and stop it up, and for the clay to dry. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: Time enough for the other to open the jar and close it up, and for the clay to dry. If a man left a gentile in his shop, although he went in and out, the wine is permitted; but if he had told him that he would be gone, [it is forbidden] if [he was gone] time enough for the other to bore a hole and stop it up, and for the clay to dry. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: Time enough for the other to open the jar and close it up, and for the clay to dry.
5. If an Israelite was eating with a gentile at a table, and he put flagons [of wine] on the table and flagons [of wine] on the side-table,4 and left the other there and went out, what is on the table is forbidden and what is on the side-table is permitted; and if he had said to him: ‘Mix thy cup and drink’, that which is on the side-table is forbidden also. Opened jars5 are forbidden, and sealed jars [are forbidden if the Israelite was gone] time enough for [the gentile] to open [a jar] and close it up, and for the clay to dry.
6. If a foraging band of gentiles6 entered a city, and it was a time of peace, opened jars are forbidden but sealed jars permitted; if it was a time of war both alike are permitted since there was no leisure for them to make the wine libation-wine.
7. Israelitish craftsmen to whom a gentile sent a jar of libation-wine as their hire7 are permitted to say to him, ‘Give us its value in money’; but after it has come into their possession it is forbidden [to ask for its value].8 If a man sold his wine to a gentile and fixed its price before he measured it0 [into the gentile’s vessel], its price is permitted; but if he measured it out 1 Some texts omit this sentence. * B.M. 5*.
5 The jar mouth was blocked up with a cone-shaped earthenware plug, and this was sealed up with clay.
5 Where the gentile has been left alone and invited to drink.
6 Some texts omit ‘of gentiles'. 7 Some texts omit ‘as their hire'.
1 That would be tantamount to telling libation-wine. 9 Cf. B.B. j’.
before he fixed its price,1 its price is forbidden. If he took the funnel and measured out wine into a gentile’s flask and again measured out wine into an Israelite’s flask, and there remained [in the funnel] a drop of wine [from what had been poured into the gentile’s flask, the wine in the Israelite’s flask] is forbidden.2 If he poured out [wine] from one vessel3 into another,4 [the wine remaining in] that from which he pours is permitted,5 and that into which he empties is forbidden.
8. Libation-wine in any quantity soever is forbidden and renders [other wine] forbidden. If [libation-]wine was mixed with [other] wine, or [libation-]water with [other] water in any quantity soever, it renders [the other] forbidden. But if [libation-]wine was mixed with water, or [libation-] water with wine, it renders the other forbidden only if it is sufficient to leave a flavour. This is the general rule: if mixed with like kind in any quantity soever, it makes the other forbidden; but if with another kind, it renders the other forbidden only if it is sufficient to leave a flavour.
9. These are forbidden and in any quantity soever they make other things6 forbidden: [ajar of] libation-wine,7 an idol,8 hides pierced at the heart,9 the ox that is condemned to be stoned,10 the heifer whose neck is to be broken,11 the Bird-offerings of a leper,12 the Hair-offering of a Nazirite,13 the firstborn of an ass,14 flesh cooked in milk,15 the scapegoat,16 unconse¬ crated beasts that are slaughtered in the Temple Court;17 they are forbidden and in any quantity soever they make other things forbidden.
10. If libation-wine fell into the vat, it is forbidden to have any benefit at all from any of it. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: It may all be sold to gentiles excepting the value of the libation-wine that is in it.
rx. If a gentile coated a stone winepress with pitch it may be scoured and is then clean; if it was of wood Rabbi says: It may be scoured. But the Sages say: The pitch must be scaled off. If it was of earthenware, even though the pitch is scaled off it is forbidden.
12. If a man bought utensils from a gentile, those18 which it is the cus¬ tom19 to immerse20 he must immerse, those which it is the custom to scald21 he must scald; those which it is the custom to make white-hot in the fire he must make white-hot in the fire. A spit or gridiron must be made white- hot in the fire; but a knife needs but to be polished and it is then clean.
1 It was then in the gentile’s possession and to be considered as libation-wine; the Israelite would therefore be receiving payment for libation-wine.
2 Since a drop of it had touched the gentile’s wine and was therefore contaminated by libation- wine, or by the gentile’s vessel which had not been properly cleaned after contain¬ ing libation-wine. 3 Belonging to himself.
+ Belonging to a gentile, or containing libation-W'ine.
s Provided that the liquid stream had not been continuous; otherwise this stream would have formed a ‘connective’ between the vessels.
6 i.e. of like kind with which they are confused.
7 Confused with other jars of wine.
8 ‘An idolatrous coin mixed with other coins’ (Maim.).
18 Of metal or glass; and other vessels used for uncooked food.
19 In order to free them from uncleanness.
20 Before use.
FOURTH DIVISION: NEZIKIN 1. i. Moses received the Law2 from Sinai and committed it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders,3 and the elders to the Prophets;4 and the Prophets committed it to the men of the Great Synagogue.5 They said three things: Be deliberate in judgement, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Law.
2. Simeon the Just6 was of the remnants of the Great Synagogue. He used to say: By three things is the world sustained: by the Law, by the [Temple-Jservice, and by deeds of loving-kindness.
3. Antigonus of Soko received [the Law] from Simeon the Just. He used to say: Be not like slaves that minister to the master for the sake of receiving a bounty, but be like slaves that minister to the master not for the sake of receiving a bounty; and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.
4. Jose b. Joezer7 of Zeredah and Jose b. Johanan of Jerusalem received [the Law] from them. Jose b. Joezer of Zeredah said: Let thy house be a meeting-house for the Sages and sit amid the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst.
5. Jose b. Johanan of Jerusalem said: Let thy house be opened wide and let the needy be members of thy household; and talk not much with woman¬ kind. They said this of a man’s own wife: how much more of his fellow’s wife! Hence the Sages have said: He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna.
6. Joshua b. Perahyah and Nittai the Arbelite8 received [the Law] from them. Joshua b. Perahyah said: Provide thyself with a teacher and get thee a fellowf-disciple];g and when thou judgest any man incline the balance in his favour.10 7. Nittai the Arbelite said: Keep thee far from an evil neighbour and consort not with the wicked and lose not belief in retribution.
* The bulk of this tractate ‘The Fathers’ (sometimes called Pirke Aboth, ‘Chapters of the Fathers’) is a selection of maxims on conduct and sayings in praise of the Law handed down in the names of 60 teachers of the Law who lived between 300 b.c. and a.d. 200 from the time of Simeon the Just to Rabbi Judah the Patriarch, the editor of the Mishnah. The fifth chapter differs in form. Excepting the last four paragraphs the sayings are anony¬ mous and classified in groups in which various numbers, such as ten, seven, or four, are used as a linking device. The sixth chapter is no part of the Mishnah. It is, however, included in all modern editions of the Mishnah and in the Jewish Prayer Book.
2 The ‘Oral Law*. The Law (Torah) throughout post-biblical Jewish religious literature has the threefold connotation of (a) the Pentateuch, the ‘Written Law’; ( b ) the ‘traditions of the elders’ — rules of Jewish life and religion which in the course of centuries had come to Eossess a validity and sanctity equal to that of the Written Law and which, as the ‘Oral ■aw’, were deemed, equally with the Written Law, to be of divine origin and therefore consonant with and, for the most part, deducible from the Written Law; and (c) the study of the Law in its twofold aspect, a study which sought to sanction by deeper understanding the seeming variations between the Oral and Written Law, to apply the Law to present-day life, and by successive interpretations to solve new problems by the authority of the Law, written and oral. J Josh. 24*1. 4 Jer. 7**.
5 ‘A body of 120 elders, including many prophets, who came up from exile with Ezra; they saw that prophecy had come to an end and that restraint was lacking; therefore they made many new rules and restrictions for the better observance of the Law’ (Tif. Yis.).
6 Simeon, son of Onias, High Priest c. 280 b.c. (see Ant. xn. ii. 5.) or Simeon II, High Priest c. 200 B.C. (cf. Ecclesiasticus, ch. 50).