demons to man. Remove this chain from me, replied Asmodeus, and give me thy ring, and I will show thee wherein our superiority consists. Solomon did so, when he was swallowed by Asmodeus, who, planting one wing in the sky, and the other on earth, cast him out to a distance of four-hundred miles. It was with reference to that time, that Solomon said (Ec. i. 3): "What profit hath a man of all his labour, which he taketh under the sun? and this was my portion of my labour." (Ec. ii. 10.) Wandering from door to door, he cried (Ec. i. 12): "I, Coheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem." The Sanhedrin on hearing of it, said, A fool would surely not cling to the same thing; what can it be? They asked Benaiah, whether he had lately been sent for by the king. He replied in the negative. Inquiries were also made at Solomon's harem, and the inmates were told to examine his feet, whether they were not like those of fowls. The answer was, that he invariably wore stockings; but that he disregarded the period of separation, and made no distinction between Bath-sheba, his own mother, and the other women. The Sanhedrin then introduced Solomon, having provided him with a ring and chain, on which the name of God was engraven. On seeing him, Asmodeus fled. Guittin, fol. 68, col. 1, 2.

The Greek government had published a decree forbidding the mention of the name of God. But when the Hasmonean power prevailed, it was ordained that the name of God should be mentioned even in contracts. They used to write them thus: In the year so and so of Yochanan, high priest to the most High, etc. The wise men, however, considering that contracts, when cancelled, are thrown on the dunghill, ordered the discontinuance of the practice. Rosh-hashanah, fol. 18, col. 2.

21. Whoever associates anything with God, as an object of praise, is rooted out of the world; for it is said (Ex. xxii. 20): "He that sacrifices unto any god, save unto the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed." Sucah, fol. 45, col. 2.

22. Whoever marries a woman in the name of God only (not for worldly purposes), him Scripture considers as if he has begotten her. Soteh, fol. 12, col. 1.

23. Commenting upon the preceding Mishnah, which includes among those who have no share in the world to come anyone, who repeats a Scripture text, by way of incantation for the cure of a boil, Rabbi Yochanan says: Provided he spits out afterward (an indication of disgust); for the name of God may not be mentioned in connection with spitting. Sanhedrin, fol. 101, col. 1; Maimonides Hilchoth Accum, Sec. 11, Halachah 12.

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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found on him." (2 Ch. xxxvi. 8.) What was found on him? Rabbi Yochanan says: He had punctured the name of his deity upon ns. Rabbi Eliezer said, etc. Sanhedrin, fol. 103, col. 2. 25. A blind man, or anyone who cannot distinguish the different quarters of the earth, shall direct his heart during prayer towards his Father, which is in heaven; for it is said (1 Ki. viii. 44): "And they shall pray unto the Lord." Berachoth, fol. 30, col. 1.

T. N. Rav Shaisheth, however, who was totally blind, ordered his servant, whenever he wished to perform his religious devotions, to place him in any other but the eastward position, because the Minim, the disciples of Jesus, adds Rashi, teach to do so. Bava-bathra, fol. 25, col. 1. Amsterdam edition.

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26. Rabbi Elazer (second century) said: Since the Temple was destroyed, an iron wall has been interposed between Israel and their Father which is in heaven; for it is said (Eze. iv. 3): 'Moreover, take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city." Berachoth, fol. 32, col. 2.

27. He that sees a palm-branch in a dream, has his whole heart directed towards his Father which is in heaven. Lolav (palm-branch) means, a heart to him. Berachoth, fol. 57, col. 1.

28. Be bold as a leopard, swift as an eagle, darting as a stag, and courageous as a lion, to do the will of thy Father which is in heaven. Psachim, fol. 112, col. 1.

30. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Laive (towards the close of the third century) said with reference to partitions between the people and the priests, when in the act of blessing them: Not even an iron wall can interpose between Israel and their Father which is in heaven. Soteh, fol. 38, col. 2.

31. Rabbi Pinchas ben Yaîr (second century) said: Since the Temple was destroyed, men of learning and of family distinction are slighted, and hide their faces; men of good works are disregarded; men of the fist and of the tongue abound; none cares for the public good, or seeks for a remedy, or troubles himself at all about it. On whom can we rely but upon our Father which is in heaven? Rabbi Eliezer the Great (he survived the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus) said: Since the Temple has been destroyed, the wise men have become like schoolmasters, the schoolmasters like public menials, public menials are like the amhaaretz ( Dy, the vulgar herd), and the vulgar herd become daily more and more debased. None cares, or seeks for a remedy. On whom can we rely but upon our Father which is in heaven? Soteh, fol. 49, col. 1, 2.

32. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have related: When Rabbi Eliezer (brother-in-law of Gamliel II.) was seized on the charge of being a Christian, non, the judge (hegmon, nyepov) said to him: Thou, an aged man, busy thyself with such idle matters! He replied: I admit the faithful reproof of the judge. (A simple denial, that he was a Christian, might have probably been tested by the command to throw incense on the altar.) This he said with reference to his Father which was in heaven; but the judge, applying it to himself, said: As thou hast acknowledged my faithful dealing with thee, by Demus (themis)! thou art discharged. He went home deeply distressed, and would receive no consolation from his disciples. Rabbi! cried Rabbi Akiva (who was then studying the Law under him), allow me to say something, which I have learned from thee. Say it, was the reply. Mayest thou not at one time have derived pleasure from Christianity (for which this is a punishment)? Akiva! said he, thou just remindest me of a certain incident. Walking one day in the upper market of Sepphoris, I was accosted by one of the disciples of Jesus the Nazarene,

73) 10 bn, Yacob by name, of the village Sechanyah. It is written in your Law (the same phrase is used by our Lord in John x. 34), said he, "Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God." (De. xxiii. 18.) Would it be right to apply it for the purpose of building a closet for the highpriest? I was silent. I have been thus taught, continued he, by Jesus the Nazarene. "For it is gathered from the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot" (Mi. i. 7), i.e., let it be applied in a way similar to that, in which it had been obtained. I was pleased, concluded Rabbi Eliezer, with this legal exposition, and have thus acted in violation of the injunction (Pr. v. 8.): “Remove thy way far from her," ie., Christianity, D, "and come not nigh the door of her house," i.e., officialism; and as a punishment for it, I have now been arrested on a charge of being a Christian. Avodah-zarah, fol. 16, col. 2.

T. N. a. Here again we are taken back to the first century of the Christian era. Rabbi Eliezer, who was charged with professing Christianity, died in the early part of the second century. (See page 151, Note 15.) Rabbi Akiva was executed A.D. 135, i.e., forty years after he had set up as an independent teacher. At the lowest calculation, therefore, this incident must have taken place about A.D. 95, though the encounter with Yacob of Sechanyah must have occurred at a much earlier date, when Rabbi Eliezer himself was still a disciple.

b. Tosephoth adds: This Yakob of Sechanyah should not be confounded with Yakob the Min, who attempted to poison (sic) Rabbi Abuhu (third century); for that wicked man could not have lived so long. It appears rather, adds that commentary, that it was the same Yakob, who offered to cure Ben Damah. (See page 31, Note 18.)

c. Dr. Grätz, in his Gnosticism and Judaism, page 25, Note 22, identifies him with the Apostle James. (See page 101, Note 35, which is a continuation of the above extract.)

33. The Holy One, blessed be He! said: Let Hezekiah, who has eight names, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, Father, Eternity, Prince, Peace (Is. ix. 6), be avenged of Sennacherib, who goes by eight names, Tiglath-pileser, etc. Sanhedrin, fol. 94, col. 1.

34. Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav (middle of third century): From Tyre to Cartagena they acknowledge Israel and their Father which is in heaven; but from Tyre westward (?) and from Cartagena eastward (?) they acknowledge neither Israel nor their Father which is in heaven. Minachoth, fol. 110, col. 1.

T. N. When Rav emigrated in the third century from Palestine to Babylon, he must have been struck by the universal ignorance, which prevailed to the east of Babylon, with reference to his nation and their heavenly Father. The estimation, in which the evangelised inhabitants of the west held the Jews and the God of the Scriptures, must have rendered the Oriental ignorance more striking. The geographical error has probably a later origin. The Babylonian Rabbis were too far away from Tyre, and the late Mr. Deutsch notwithstanding, troubled themselves very little with secular matters, to have known the relative positions of that city and Cartagena; or it may be an error of the copyist.

CHAPTER V.

VERSE 3.

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.

Rav Yirmiyah ben Elazer said: All those years, which Adam spent in alienation from God, he begat evil spirits, demons and fairies; for it is said: "And Adam was an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; consequently before that time, he begat after another image. Eiruvin, fol. 18, col. 2.

VERSE 29.

And he called his name Noah, saying: The same shall comfort

us.

With the wicked, anger comes into the world; for it is said (Pr. xviii. 3): "When the wicked cometh, cometh also contempt." When the wicked perish, a blessing comes upon the world; for it is said (Pr. xi. 10): "When the wicked perish, there is shouting." With the decease of the righteous, evil comes upon the world; for it is said (Is. lvii. 1): "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away, none considering, that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." With the appearance of the righteous, a blessing comes upon the world; for it is said: "The same shall comfort us." Sanhedrin, fol. 113, col. 2.

VERSE 32.

And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

SON, OR DAUGHTER, OF NOAH.

1. Whence is it proved that a man (Israelite) may not offer a bowl of wine to a Nazarite, or flesh cut away from a living animal for food, to sons of Noah? (Non-Israelites.) Learn to reply: "Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind." (Le. xix. 14.) Psachim, fol. 22, col. 2.

3. The sons of Noah, like Israel, are commanded to appoint

tribunals in every district and in every city. Sanhedrin, fol. 56, col. 2.

3. A son of Noah, who has blasphemed the name of God, and afterwards become a prosleyte, is exempt from punishment; because, with the change in his judiciary code, his extreme penalty is altered. Rashi explains (on Talmudic authority): As a non-Israelite, he is condemned on the testimony of a single witness, and by a single judge, and without the necessity of warning preceding the commission of the crime; whereas as a convert to Judaism, previous warning is indispensable, as well as condemnation by a Sanhedrin consisting of twenty-three members, and on the testimony of more than one witness. Again, as a son of Noah, he would have been slain with a sword, whereas now he can only be executed by stoning.

A son of Noah, who has killed a son of Noah, or committed adultery with the wife of a son of Noah, and then become a prosleyte, is exempt from punishment. But if he has committed such crimes against Israelites, and then become a proselyte, he is executed. Sanhedrin, fol. 71, col. 2. Maimonides, Hilchoth Melachim, Sec. 10, Halachah, 4.

CHAPTER VI.

VERSE 1.

And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth.

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It is delivered to us from the men of the Great Synagogue: Wherever the phrase occurs, "And it came to pass," it is indicative of trouble. "And it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus," and then follows Haman. It came to pass in the days of the judges," that there was famine. "And it came to pass when men began to multiply," "and God saw that the wickedness of man was great." (Ge. vi. 5.) " And it came to pass when they journeyed from the east;" "and they said, Go to, let us build a city." (Ge. xi. 2, 4.) "And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel," "that these made war" (Ge. xiv. 1, 2) etc. Meguillah, fol. 10, col. 2.

VERSE 3.

My spirit shall not always strive with man.

The generation of the deluge has no portion in the world to come; for it is said: "My spirit shall not judge in man for ever;" there is neither judgment for them, nor spirit (immortality; see page 27, T. N. d) in them. Sanhedrin, fol. 107, col. 1.