Chapter XXI: Concerning the Bride of Microprosopus (2)

30 Mentioned Deut. viii. 8. The Jews make a distinction between
Biccurim, the fruits of the soil in their natural state, and
Therumoth, the fruits in a prepared state, such as oil, flour, and
wine. The first fruits were always brought to Jerusalem with great
pomp and display. The Talmud says that all the cities which were of
the same course of priests gathered together into one of the cities
which was a priestly station, and they lodged in the streets. In the
morning he who was chief among them said, “Arise, let us go up to
Zion to the House of the Lord our God.” An ox went before them with
gilded horns, and an olive crown was on his head. This ox was
intended for a peace offering to be eaten by the priests in the
court of the sanctuary. The pipe played before the procession until
it approached Jerusalem. When they drew near to the holy city, the
first fruits were “crowned” and exposed to view with great
ostentation. Then the chief men and the high officers and the
treasurers of the temple came out to meet them and receive them with
honor. And all the workmen in Jerusalem rose up in their shops, and
thus they saluted them: “O our brethren, inhabitants of such a city,
ye are welcome.” The pipe played before them till they came to the
Temple Mount. Everyone, even King Agrippa himself, took his basket
upon his shoulder, and went forward till he came to the court. Then
the Levites sang, “I will exalt thee, O Lord, because thou hast
lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.” (Ps.
xxx. 1). While the basket is still on his shoulder, he says, “I
profess this day to the Lord my God.” And when he repeats the
passage, “A Syrian ready to perish was my father” (Deut. xxvi. 3-5),
he casts the basket down from his shoulder, and keeps silent while
the priest waves it hither and thither at the southwest corner of
the altar. The whole passage of Scripture being then recited as far
as the tenth verse, he places the basket before the altar—he
worships—and goes out. The baskets of the rich were of gold or
silver. The baskets of the poor were of peeled willow. These latter,
together with their contents, were presented to the priests in
service. The more valuable baskets were returned to their owners.
They used to hang turtle doves and young pigeons round their
baskets, which were adorned with flowers. These were sacrificed for
burnt offerings. The parties who brought the first fruits were
obliged to lodge in Jerusalem all the night after they brought them,
and the next morning they were allowed to return home. The first
fruits were forbidden to be offered before the feast of Pentecost,
and after the feast of Dedication.

31 Ps. lxviii. 26.

32 Lest it be a blessing used on Mount Gerizim.

33 Deut. vi. 5.

34 Ruth ii. 4.

35 Judges vi. 12.

36 Prov. xxiii. 22.

37 Psalm cxix. 126.

38 It has been a subject of dispute when the Sabbatical year
began—whether in Nisan or Tishri. The weight of evidence is,
however, in favor of the civil New Year’s Day, which fell in Tishri
(September).

39 An Italian mina perhaps; a denarius. If so, the heap would be worth
about £1 17s. 6d.

40 Exod. xxxiv. 21.

41 Lev. xxiii. 10. The omer or “wave sheaf” at the Passover, and the
two wave loaves, at Pentecost, were to be made from grain grown in
the field during the Sabbatical year. It was also allowed to till
sufficient land to pay taxes.

42 Lev. xix. 23-25.

43 Grain or corn field.

44 With a pointed instrument covered with oil.

45 Linseed.

46 Rain-field means a field irrigated with rain water.

47 Some suppose the meaning to be, the permission to sprinkle with
water a “white” or corn field in which the gourds are growing.

48 The word translated “fertility” means literally “sweetness.” Some
apply these words to the dung out of which the moisture has “dried
out,” and it is then only reckoned as earth. Others apply them to
the ground which has lost its fertility (sweetness) for want of rain
(Job xxi. 33). The meaning is that no advantage must be gained from
it in the approaching Sabbatical year.

49 About thirty-six and one-half gallons.

_ 50 I.e._, Stones lying on the top of other stones.

51 The removal of stones “touching” the earth might loosen it, and
become a kind of cultivation.

_ 52 I.e._, From the outside of the boundary wall, as in like manner his
ears of corn might be plucked. An answer to envious remarks that he
was preparing for cultivation (Jer. Tal.).

53 Twice ploughed implies the payment of tribute when the land was
under foreign rule. Its cultivation was allowed for this purpose
during the Sabbatical year. So long as a foe could be resisted, it
was not cultivated (1 Mac. vi. 49).

54 Jer. xxix. 7.

55 A log held the contents of six eggshells.

56 A seah held about the third of a bushel.

57 Literally, “daughters of the pit.” “Adam’s apples,” (Jer. Tal.).
Supposed to be the fruit which tempted Eve. The decision in the text
assumes that the trees began to bud in the Sabbatical year, and that
the fruit would not be ripe for three years.

58 Twelve cabs.

59 To prevent their growth.

60 “Puah, for dyeing red”(?).

61 This permission has reference to certain laws with regard to legal
cleanness.

62 Achzib; Ecdippa, near Acca.

63 Some consider this to be the Abana: others read Amnum, and try to
identify it with Mount Hor.

64 Rabbi Judah the Holy, called only Rabbi by way of eminence.

_ 65 I.e._, Defiled oil of the heave-offering, etc.

_ 66 I.e._, They become common property, and are to be depastured by
cattle (Lev. xxv. 7).

67 Perhaps “the star of Bethlehem.”

68 A spiral grass growing on the palm tree(?).

69 Arabic, Fûstûk. Pistachio nuts.

70 See Chap. ix. 6.

71 This refers to the examples already given of a rose in oil, or
locust fruit in wine.

72 Aisar, a coin worth 3-1/10 farthings.

73 Pundion, a coin worth 1-1/2d.

74 Of the fruits of the Sabbatical year.

75 Of the fruits of the Sabbatical year.

76 Of the fruits of the Sabbatical year.

77 Of the fruits of the Sabbatical year.

78 There are various Rabbis of this name, spelled in different ways,
mentioned in the Talmud.

79 The king’s mountain is perhaps Mount Ephraim, or the mountain range
over the plain of Sharon. It is also suggested that it might have
been the mountains round Kirjathjearim (Abu Goosh?). It contained
Cephar Bish, Cephar Sheclaim, Cephar Dikraia, etc.

80 Others read “and the decision is as his word.”

81 The second or the “latter” rain (Joel ii. 23), called Malkosh, falls
in spring chiefly during the months of March and April.

82 Lev. xxiii. 22; Deut. xxiv. 19.

83 Deut. xv. 1.

84 This decision supposes the case of the month Elul having thirty
days, and the last day to be in the Sabbatical year; consequently it
would not be one of the two feast days of the new year, which it
should have been if the month had been the usual lunar month.

85 “The defence,” called Pruzbul, was a legal document constituted to
encourage loans to the poor, and to protect the interests of the
lender.

86 Deut. xv. 9.

87 Deut. xv. 2.

88 Deut. xix. 4.

_ 89 I.e._, They are well pleased with him.

90 Money owing to Jewish proselytes was generally repaid, but it was
not obligatory to pay it to their heirs, as the persons from whom
the proselytes came were no longer in a religious sense their next
of kin.

91 From private to public property.

92 Of death.

93 On Friday evening.

94 Deut. vi. 4.

95 On Friday evening.

96 Though by their weight they continue to press out oil or wine on the
Sabbath.

97 When the eve of the passover and the eve of the Sabbath coincided.

98 In the temple. See tract on Measurements, c. 1.

99 Num. xix. 18.

100 Num. xv. 20.

_ 101 I.e._, Have you so joined houses that are apart that they may be
counted as one on the Sabbath for carrying articles, etc. It is done
by persons blessing a piece of dough which is common property.

102 When three stars are seen, it is dark.

103 As that would involve “labor.”

104 The point to be decided is the difference between what is necessary
and what is a burden.

105 Others think “Lybian” asses.

106 Through fear of linen and woollen being mixed. Deut. xxii. 11.

107 Ladder-shaped piece of wood to prevent it rubbing its throat if it
have a sore.

108 Wood discovered by one John, which when put into sheep’s nostrils,
caused them to sneeze and the maggots to fall off.

109 To prevent her being sucked by reptiles.

110 The Gemara says, the cow was his neighbor’s, but as he did not
object, the blame was laid on him.

111 Once a number of Jews took refuge in a cave, and hearing some
persons pass, whom they supposed to be enemies, they fell on each
other with their hobnailed sandals, and beat each other to death.

112 Isaiah xi. 4; Micah iv. 3.

113 These anklets were a kind of chain used to prevent members of
certain families in Jerusalem taking too wide strides in walking.

114 To cure toothache.

115 Others translate “masks.”

116 To cure ear-ache.

117 To cure one who did not sleep enough they used a tooth of a dead
fox. For one who slept too much, they used a tooth of a living fox.

118 To cure ague.

119 Lev. xviii. 3.

120 Works are divided into principal and secondary, or in Rabbinic
language fathers and children. And if a man does one principal work
and twenty secondary works, they regarded them as one sin, and
consequently deserving one punishment.

_ 121 I.e._, one part wine and three parts water.

_ 122 E.g._, foul water.

123 Henna dust for women’s eyes.

124 Isaiah xxx. 14.

125 Isaiah xxx. 14.

126 Nisan nearly corresponds with the month of March.

_ 127 I.e._, 11 o’clock A.M. To obtain our computation of time, six must
be added to the hours mentioned in the Mishna.

128 When uncleanness is mentioned, it is to be understood of legal
uncleanness.

129 Exod. xiii. 7.

_ 130 I.e._, he is to be put to death forthwith.

131 Fruit-sauce; a mixture of dates, raisins, and other fruits, to
recall the memory of the mortar from which the bricks in Egypt were
made.

132 Fragments of chickens and dough left to ferment.

133 A compound of barley, wild saffron, and salt, one-third of each.

134 A dough or unripe grain lid put over the liquid to absorb the dregs
from the foam of fermentation.

135 Literally, “deaf”; that is, dough which does not rise, or that
sounds dull when it is struck.

136 Exod. xi. 19.

137 An eminence from which there was a clear view of the temple.

138 The burden means that the man is forbidden to work.

139 See treatise on the Sabbatical year, ix. 5, etc.

140 Lest the Gentiles should set them to work on the Sabbath.

141 Part of July and August. The ninth of Ab is the anniversary of the
threefold destruction of the Temple.

142 Deut. vi. 4.

143 Lev. xxiii. 15.

144 Lev. xix. 9, 10.

145 Because the poor might eat them untithed, thinking they were Peah.

146 To show his abhorrence of his father’s idolatry.

147 2 Kings xviii. 4.

148 Lest the people should substitute medicine for God.

149 2 Kings xviii. 16.

150 2 Chron. xxxii. 4.

_ 151 I.e._, 2.30 P.M.

152 Exod. xii. 6.

153 To prevent its coagulating.

154 Exod. xxiii. 18.

155 Josephus mentions the number of lambs slain at a particular passover
to have been numbered by the high priest, and they were found to
have been 256,500. Allowing not less than ten persons to the eating
of each lamb, he computes those present at the feast to have been
2,700,200 persons.—Josephus’ “Wars,” vi. 9, 3.

156 Exod. xii. 6.

157 Psalms cxiii.-cxviii.

158 They washed the court indirectly by stopping a canal of water which
overflowed the court; they afterward opened it, when all flowed off
again.

159 Taken from the intermingled blood of the many offerings.

160 See “Measurements,” ii. 3.

161 The following subtle discussion arises out of the distinction
between “work” forbidden by the law of God and “resting from work”
enjoined by tradition.

162 The sprinkling of a person unclean from touching a dead body when
the passover fell on a Sabbath.

163 This refers to the second chagigah—the feast-offering of individuals
on the 15th of Nisan. It is called by the general name passover,
John xviii. 28. Want of acquaintance with this subject has led some
commentators to suppose that there is a discrepancy between the
account of the last passover of our Lord as related in the
Synoptical Gospels, and as recorded by St. John.

164 Jer. Tal. reads “sell.”

165 Lev. xxiii. 11.

166 Lev. xxiii. 17.

167 Exod. xxv. 30.

168 Lev. xxiii. 19.

169 Num. xxviii. 15.

170 Exod. xxviii. 36-38.

171 1 Chron. xxix. 19.

172 It remained uneaten overnight, and therefore must be burned, in
accordance with Exod. xii. 10.

173 From the need of a boiler it appears that the wine used at the
passover was mixed with hot water. The wine itself was always red.

174 If one observed the issue three times on the same day, he could not
be considered clean before he brought a sacrifice.

175 In which there is a dead body.

176 The mourner might be too sorrowful to eat, the sick too ill to eat,
and the prisoner might be detained in prison, etc.

177 Numbers ix. 10.

178 About fifteen miles from Jerusalem. Modiim or Modin was the city of
the Maccabees.

179 Psalms cxiii.-cxviii.

180 Exod. xii. 3.

181 The substitute refers to one animal changed for another, which had
been intended for the passover-offering.

182 The following rules are founded on two principles; firstly, that
every lamb must have its own numbered company of eaters; and
secondly, that no person could be numbered with two companies.

183 It was after the first cup of wine was drunk that our Lord washed
the disciples’ feet (John xiii. 5; Luke xxii. 17).

184 Deut. xxvi. 5-11.

185 Exod. xiii. 8.

186 Psalm cxiii. 9.

187 Psalm cxiv. 8.

188 The third cup was called the “cup of blessing” (1 Cor. x. 16). It
was the one used by our Lord for the institution of the holy
sacrament.

189 Psalm cxxxvi.

190 They may have been overcome with wine (1 Cor. xi. 21).

191 This is explained in the treatise “Hands.”

192 Where the counsellors sat.

193 Called Sagan (suffragan) (2 Kings xxv. 18; Jer. lii. 24).

194 Lev. xvi. 6.

195 As might occur from the frequent changes during the second Temple.

196 That he would incense “within” the vail (Lev. xvi. 12, 13), in
opposition to the Sadducees, who maintained that the incense should
be burned “without.”

197 That such an oath was necessary.

198 Or the “index” finger; other trans. the “middle” finger.

199 Or change thyself.

200 Singing to him “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor but in
vain that build it,” etc. (Psalm cxxvii.).

201 The Jews think that the day of atonement was the day on which Adam
sinned, on which Abraham was circumcised, and on which Moses offered
atonement for the sin of the golden calf.

_ 202 I.e._, cast lots, which was done by placing the priests in a row,
and bidding them to hold up their fingers. After fixing on a certain
number, the cap of one of them was taken off. With this priest the
reckoning began, and proceeded till the prearranged number fell on
some one of them; and his was the lot. Particular care was taken to
count the fingers which were held up, and not to number their
persons, as this was considered unlawful. (1 Chron. xxi. 1.)

203 The third lot for burning incense was the most important. It was
always done by a fresh man, so that a priest might burn incense only
once during his lifetime. (Luke i. 9; Rev. viii. 3, 4.)

204 Or, as you wish.

205 The Gemara says it was so called because Parva, a magician, built
this room and digged through from it to see the service of the High
Priest on the day of atonement; or else because it was used for
storing “bullock-hides.”

206 Literally, between the evenings.

207 The mina of the sanctuary was worth about £5 14s., consequently the
morning dress cost about £68 8s.

208 The zuz was worth about 6-1/2d., consequently the evening dress cost
about £21 13s. 4d.

209 Literally, “cover over”; _i.e._, “atone for.”

210 King of Adiabene, a proselyte to Judaism about A.D. 45.

211 The accused woman.

212 See Treatise on “Measurements,” ii. 3, note.

213 A. V. “Scapegoat,” or for the “devil.” Others translate “wholly put
away” in reference to the sins of the people, or for “the hard
mountain,” and others the “demon of dry places.” Some, however,
think Azazel to be the fallen angel mentioned in the Book of Enoch,
and identical with Sammael, the angel of death. Symmachus translates
“the goat that departs.” Theodotion translates “the goat sent away.”
Aquila, “the goat set free.” The LXX. and Josephus understand by the
term “the averter of ills,” and the Vulgate “caper emissarius.”

214 A tongue-shaped piece of scarlet wool.

215 A cab contained 2.8333 pints.

216 A seah contained one peck and one pint.

217 On the altar.

218 The size of the priest’s hands was proportionate to his stature.

219 That he had been struck dead.

220 Supposed by some to be the SUKHRAH in the present Mosque of OMAR.
From its position, however, it seems more probably to have been the
foundation of the altar of burnt-offerings. This sacred rock is
sixty feet across and five feet high. It is pierced quite through,
to allow, as some think, the blood of the sacrifices to flow off
into the “Noble Cave” and the canals beneath it.

221 A priest continued to stir the blood to prevent its coagulation.

222 Or, “as a thrasher.”

223 Or, “as a thrasher.”

224 Or, “the clean place.”

_ 225 I.e._, the gardeners became liable for a trespass-offering.

226 R. Judah addresses in imagination the goat.

227 It seems, according to the Talmud, that there was no “laying on of
hands” on either the morning or evening sacrifice; or on any other
public sacrifice, excepting the scapegoat and the bullock, when the
congregation had sinned through ignorance.

228 Lev. xvi. 30.

229 Or viaduct, or causeway.

230 Supposed to be Alexandrine Jews, so called from hatred to the
Babylonians.

231 Zuk is supposed by Lieutenant Conder of the Palestine Exploration
Fund to be the modern el Mûntâr, about six and a half miles east of
Jerusalem in the direction of the Dead Sea, and on the way to the
ruins of Mird (Mons Mardes). A well near the place is still called
Bir es Sûk.

_ 232 I.e._, broken to pieces.

233 Maimonides says that those connected with the red heifer and
scapegoat were rendered unclean because these animals were
“sin-bearing” animals. All that Israelites now have to offer on the
day of atonement is for males a white cock (because gever in Hebrew
signifies a man and a cock), and for females a hen. And they pray,
“Let this be my substitute—this my atonement. This cock goeth to
death, but may I be gathered and enter into a long and happy life,
and into peace.”

234 “Place of the hollow.”

235 Bereitha, or External Traditions.

236 Isaiah i. 18.

237 Lev. xvi.

238 Lev. xxiii. 27.

239 Num. xxix. 7.

240 Num. xxix. 7.

241 Urim and Thummin (lights and perfections), the Jews think, gave
answer by the divine illumination of the suitable letters composing
the names of the tribes which were graven on the breastplate of the
High Priest.

242 Sandals were, however, allowed where there was fear of serpents and
scorpions. Woollen socks might be used.

_ 243 I.e._, God omnipresent. The Jews in a spirit of reverence use the
words “Place” and the “Name” to denote God. In reading they do not
now pronounce the word Jehovah, but substitute Adonai for it; and
when Jehovah is followed by the word Adonai they then use the word
Elohim. The true pronunciation of the Name has been a subject of
much contention. It has been variously given, as Yeheveh, Yehveh,
Yahveh, Yahavah, Yahaveh, and Yehovah. When it was uttered on the
Day of Atonement the worshippers “fell on their faces” in reverence
for it (vi. 2). It was spoken for the last time in the Temple by the
mouth of Simon the Just. Henceforward, the Gemara says whoever
attempts to pronounce it shall have no part in the world to come.

244 According to Maimonides, we have in this treatise proof that it is
coeval with the laws of Moses on the same subject.

245 The cloth would change it into a tent.

246 But he may go up on the middle days of the feast.

247 Lest he should render the food legally unclean with his unwashed
hands. Mark vii. 2, 5.

248 Eccles. i. 15.

249 He lived about eighty years before the destruction of the Temple.

250 Deut. xiii. 13.

251 Supposed to be the mountain east of the Dead Sea, above Callirrhoe.

252 Lev. xix. 23.

253 Num. xviii. 11, 12.

254 Ps. cxviii. 1.

255 Ps. cxviii. 25.

256 Ps. cxviii. 25.

257 Ps. cxiii. to cxviii. inclusive.

258 These not being legally bound to this duty cannot act as deputies
for another.

259 His ignorance of reading.

260 “I will praise thee,” etc.—Ps. cxviii. 21 to end.

261 Lev. xxiii. 10, 11.

262 Permission arising out of his intention to fulfil the law.

263 Means a place exempt from taxation called Colonin, perhaps the
modern Colonia. Some, however, say it was a place in the Kedron
Valley.

264 Deut. xxxii. 39.

265 The seventh day on which they used the willows.

266 A log is about half a pint.

267 He is said to have been a Sadducee who rejected tradition. Alexander
Jannæus, to show his contempt for the Pharisees, poured the water on
the ground. The people became excited, and pelted him with their
ethrogs or citrons till his body-guard interfered, and, as fighting
took place, some six thousand Jews were killed in the Temple.
Josephus, “Antiq.,” book xiii. chap. xiii. 5.

268 Isa. xii. 3; John vii. 37, 38.

269 Galleries were erected for the women, and the men stood below them.

270 Ps. cxx. to cxxxiv. inclusive.

271 The signal for drawing water.

272 The orthodox worshippers in the Temple looked toward the west, or
Holy of Holies. The Baal or Sun worshippers turned toward the east,
and used the eastward position. Under the Christian dispensation
believers are directed to look to Jesus, who promises to be in their
midst (Matt. xviii. 20).

273 Ezek. viii. 16.

274 This is one of the very few specimens of Hebrew poetry, apart from
Scripture (dating prior to the destruction of the temple), which
have come down to us.

275 The priesthood was divided into twenty-four courses (1 Chron. xxiv.
7-19). During the feast all the courses ministered, and, as each day
the number of bullocks was decreased by one, the lambs were
redistributed so as to supply an offering for every course.

276 In the feast of weeks there were two leavened wave loaves (Lev.
xxiii. 17).

277 Those priests who were slow in attendance, as they were obliged to
share their perquisites with the whole priesthood.

278 The course Bilgah was fifteenth (1 Chron. xxiv. 14). Each course had
a ring to which the heads of the victims were tied, and also a
closet for stores. These were taken from the course Bilgah as a mark
of disgrace. During the persecution of Antiochus, Miriam, a daughter
of Bilgah, married a Syro-Grecian husband. When the Greeks took the
Temple, she struck the altar with her shoe, exclaiming, “O wolf,
wolf, how long art thou to consume the wealth of Israel, and canst
not preserve them in their hour of need!” It was supposed that she
must have learned something evil in her father’s house, and the
whole course was therefore degraded. The Rabbis say that the courses
of the priests were first ordained by Moses, and that he established
eight of them. Four courses he assigned to the line of Eleazar, and
four he assigned to the line of Ithamar. Samuel is said to have
added eight courses more, and the remaining eight were added by
David. The Scriptures, however, assert that David arranged the whole
twenty-four courses. This arrangement continued till the captivity.
After the captivity only four courses returned—namely Jedaiah,
Harim, Pashur, and Immer. The Babylon Talmud mentions Jojarib
instead of Harim. To restore again the number of courses,
twenty-four lots were cast into a box, and each head of the four
courses, which returned, drew six lots—one for himself, and five for
the courses which they wished to revive. The restored order of
courses continued as of old, except in the case of Jojarib, who
yielded the first rank to Jedaiah, as Jedaiah was of the family of
the High-priest Joshua, the son of Jozedek. They soon increased in
numbers, and we read that each course kept a station of 2,400
priests at Jerusalem, and half a station at Jericho. The lesser
number was stationed at Jericho to give honor to Jerusalem.

279 Nisan answered to part of March and April. The reign of kings was
counted from this month, so that if a king began to reign in Adar
(February and March), in the following Nisan he would be reckoned to
have reigned two years.

280 The passover was the first of the three feasts, beyond which one
could not neglect a vow.

281 Part of August and September.

282 Part of September and October.

283 Lev. xix. 23-25.

284 Ps. xxxiii. 15.

285 Part of July and August.

286 Part of November and December.

287 Part of February and March.

288 Part of April and May.

289 That is, for the new moon observances.

290 The Talmud states that when the sun and moon were first created they
were of equal size. The moon became jealous of the sun, and she was
reduced in bulk. The moon then appealed to God, and she was consoled
by the promise that Jacob, Samuel, and David were to be likewise
small. As, however, some injustice seemed to have been committed,
God ordained “a sin-offering” on every new moon, because the moon
had become less than the sun!

291 The Sanhedrin treated gamblers and usurers as thieves.

292 Those who bred pigeons, to bet on their quickness of flight, or to
entice their neighbors’ pigeons to their dovecotes.

293 Lev. xxiii. 4.

294 Literally, Bithosin, the followers of Biothos, who, with Zadok, the
founder of the Sadducees, was a scholar of Antigonus of Socho.

295 Babylon.

296 So called in the Mishna. It means “the place fenced in.” The Gemara
reads, Beth Yazak, “the place of chains.”

_ 297 I.e._, the Sabbath, when they could only go four cubits.

298 To carry money on the day of atonement was unlawful, but according
to R. Joshua’s reckoning it would have been a day too late.

299 Lev. xxiii. 4.

300 Exod. xxiv. 9.

301 Not to remind God of the sin of the golden calf.

302 Deut. xxxiii. 17.

303 Josh. vi. 5.

304 Num. x.

305 From the obligation of hearing or sounding.

306 Exod. xvii. 11.

307 Num. xxi. 8.

308 There is a supposed hiatus in the Mishna text to the following
effect: “In Jerusalem they sounded through the whole city during the
session of the Sanhedrin (_i.e._, till noon); but in Jamnia they did
not sound in the city, but only before the tribunal of justice. And
again,” etc.

_ 309 I.e._, of the sheaf of the first-fruits. Lev. xxiii. 10.

310 The titles or the headings of the blessings which were used in the
services of the Temple and of the synagogues out of Jerusalem.

311 Three were read from the Law, three from the Psalms, and three from
the Prophets—such passages as Exod. xv. 18, Ps. xxiv., Ezek. xx. 33,
Zech. xiv. 9, etc.

_ 312 I.e._, they would not read such passages as Ps. lxxviii. 39.

_ 313 I.e._, to improve its tone.

314 To clear its tone.

_ 315 I.e._, the Chazan that prays Musaph.

316 Nisan corresponded partly to March and April.

317 Joel ii. 23.

318 Marchesvan corresponded partly to October and November.

319 Part of November and part of December.

320 The fast-days of strict Pharisees were Mondays and Thursdays,
because on a Thursday Moses went up to Mount Sinai, and returned on
a Monday with the second Tables of the Law.

321 1 Sam. xii. 17.

322 Jonah iii. 10.

323 Joel ii. 13.

324 Prayers for the New Year.

325 Prayers for the New Year.

326 Ps. cxx. 1.

327 Ps. cxxi. 1.

328 Ps. cxxx.

329 Ps. cii.

330 1 Kings viii. 37.

331 Jer. xiv. 1.

332 Some understand the priests ministering in their course, others
explain this expression by Deut. xviii. 8. The priests were divided
into twenty-four Watches. Each Watch ministered for a week in the
Temple. These Watches were again subdivided into seven “Father’s
Houses,” and each “Father’s House” officiated for a day in the
Temple. A dispensation from fasting was granted to the priests on
duty, that they might not be weak in the service of the Sanctuary.

333 This means the officiating priests.

334 The delegates were the representatives of the congregation, who
attended at the public sacrifices, and prayed on their behalf.

335 This was a book written in Chaldee, as is proved by the quotations
from it.

336 Amos iv. 7.

337 A stone on which lost property was deposited, and publication of it
was made, so that its owner might reclaim it.

338 Prov. xxiii. 25.

339 Ps. cxxxvi.

340 Num. xxviii. 2.

341 Gen. i. 6, etc.

342 Deut. vi. 4, etc.

343 Part of March and April.

344 Part of June and July.

345 Part of July and August.

_ 346 I.e._, “thieves of the pestle and dried figs”; because when
forbidden by Jeroboam to go up to the Temple with the first-fruits
and wood, they deceived the watchers by saying they were only going
to press figs.—Jer. Tal.

347 Part of August and September.

348 Part of December and January.

349 Antiochus Epiphanes.

350 Prov. xxxi. 30, 31.

351 Sol. Song, iii. 11.

352 The feast-offering (“chagiga”) was the offering of individual
worshippers, and was quite distinct from the sacrifices of the whole
congregation. See “Treatise on the Passover,” vi. 4, note.

353 Exod. xxiii. 14.

354 Worth perhaps 3d.

355 Jer. Tal. says “Tabernacles.”

356 Deut. xvi. 17.

357 Eccl. i. 15.

358 From motives of delicacy.

359 This must be done only by one (Deut. iv. 32).

360 Ezek. x.; Isa. vi.

361 This decision is for private sacrifices, but for public sacrifices
there seems (according to the Talmud) to have been no “laying on of
hands,” except in the case of the scapegoat and the bullock, when
the congregation had sinned through ignorance.

_ 362 I.e._, the Sadducees (Lev. xxiii. 15).

363 There are reckoned six degrees of uncleanness: The father of
fathers, the fathers, the first, second, third, and fourth children
of defilement. There are altogether twenty-nine fathers of
uncleanness, of which eleven arise from contact with a dead body.

364 A city about fifteen miles from Jerusalem.

365 Toward Jerusalem.

366 This decision refers to the case of a dealer whose wine or flour
might become legally defiled by contact with the common people.

367 The Tosephta relates, that when the Pharisees were baptizing the
candlestick, the Sadducees used to mock them by saying, they were
baptizing the sun.

368 The Jewish year is composed of twelve lunar months. It is adapted to
the solar year by the use of an intercalary month called Veaddar—the
additional Addar. Every nineteen years there are seven occasions on
which this embolismic month must be introduced to prevent the
various feasts revolving over the four seasons of the year, like the
Moslem fast of Ramadhan. Formerly the Sanhedrin arranged this
intercalary month to suit the harvest, so that if it were late, the
wave sheaf and other observances should still be kept according to
their proper dates. When, however, the Sanhedrin was suppressed by
the Emperor Constantine, Hillel II of Tiberias ruled that an
intercalary month of twenty-nine days should be added in the 3d,
6th, 8th, 11th, 13th, 17th, and 19th years of the Metonic Cycle.
This decision has since remained the Jewish standard for reckoning
time.

369 Deut. xxi. 4.

370 Deut. xx. 5, 9.

371 Lev. xix. 24.

372 Deut. xiv. 22-25.

373 Exod. xxi. 29.

374 Num. xi. 17.

375 Num. xxxv. 24, 25. A congregation, or “minyan,” must not be less
than ten men. If there be 10,000 women they cannot form a minyan.
The Lord Jesus more mercifully promises His presence to “two or
three gathered together.” Matt. xviii. 20.

376 Num. xiv. 27.

377 Exod. xxiii. 2.

378 Exod. xxiii. 2.

379 The Great Sanhedrin could whip a high-priest for certain offences,
and afterward restore him to his office.

380 Deut. xxv. 9.

381 Lev. xxi. 12.

382 2 Sam. iii. 35.

383 2 Sam. xii. 8.

384 2 Sam. iii. 31.

385 Deut. xvii. 19.

386 Deut. xvii. 15.

387 Lev. xix. 16.

388 Prov. xi. 13.

389 Lev. xxiv. 22.

390 This rule was violated in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ. Matt.
xxvi. xxvii.; Mark xiv.; Luke xxii. xxiii.; John xix.

391 Gen. iv. 10.

392 Lev. v. 1.

393 Prov. xi. 10.

394 Before executing a criminal, a quantity of frankincense in a cup of
wine was given to him to stupefy him and render him insensible to
pain. The compassionate ladies of Jerusalem generally provided this
draught at their own cost. This custom was in obedience to Prov.
xxxi. 6, “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and
wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.”

395 Lev. xxiv. 14.

396 Josh. vii. 19, 20, 25

397 Deut. xvii. 7.

398 Deut. xxi. 23.

399 This supposes a man sorrowful, because he is obliged to punish his
own son.

_ 400 I.e._, the Divine Presence. The luminous cloud of glory in the Holy
of Holies.

401 The words in the original, “Baal Aob,” are supposed by some to
denote a ventriloquist from “Aob,” meaning a “bottle” or “stomach.”
“Aob” seems, however, much more likely to be allied to the Coptic
word for “a serpent” or “Python.” Acts xvi. 16.

402 Matt. xxvi. 65.

403 The image of Molech was made of brass. It was hollow within and
heated with fire outside. It stood in the valley of Hinnom without
the walls of Jerusalem. Kimchi says the image of Molech contained
seven chapels. These chapels are supposed by some to represent the
seven planets. In the first chapel flowers were offered; in the
second, turtle doves or young pigeons; in the third, lambs; in the
fourth, rams; in the fifth, calves; in the sixth, oxen; “but
whosoever offered his son, they opened to him the seventh chapel.”
The face of Molech was like the face of a calf, and the image
stretched forth its hands “as a man who opens his hands to receive
something of his neighbor.” “They kindled the image with fire, and
the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and
the babe gave up the ghost.” They called it Tophet; because they
made a noise with drums (“tophim”), that the father might not hear
the screams of his child and have pity upon him. And they called it
Hinnom, because the child roared (“menahem”) in his anguish. Others
say it was called Hinnom, because the priests used to say, “May it
profit thee—may it be sweet to thee.”

404 Cutting off is generally supposed to have extended to the family as
well as the guilty person. It seems to have included the future as
well as the present life.

405 Deut. xxi. 18.

406 Deut. xxi. 20.

407 Prov. xxiii. 20.

408 Deut. xxi. 19, 20.

_ 409 I.e._, they are saved from crime by immediately depriving them of
life. This summary mode of procedure was called “the rebel’s
beating.” It was a kind of lynch law inflicted by the people at
once. John viii. 59.

410 As the former class of intending criminals could at once be killed,
so this latter class must be guilty of the act, and they are then
judged for it.

411 Isa. xxx. 20.

412 Isa. lx. 21.

413 Literally, outside.

414 Exod. xv. 26.

_ 415 I.e._, to meditate with the intention to mutter JEHOVAH over a
wound.

416 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13.

417 Gen. vi. 3.

418 Gen. xi. 8.

419 Gen. xiii. 13.

420 Ps. i. 5.

421 Num. xiv. 37.

422 Num. xiv. 35.

423 Ps. l. 5.

424 Num. xvi. 33.

425 1 Sam. ii. 6.

426 Deut. xxix. 28.

427 Deut. xiii. 13.

428 Deut. xiii. 15.

429 Deut. xiii. 16.

430 Deut. xiii. 17.

431 Deut. xxiv. 7.

432 Deut. xvii. 8.

433 Deut. xvii. 10.

434 Deut. xvii. 12.

435 Now called Yebna.

436 Deut. xvii. 13.

437 Deut. xviii. 19.

438 Literally, strange worship. It chiefly means the worship of the
stars and other heavenly bodies.

439 Jer. xxxiv. 5.

440 Or sugar-cane.

441 For executions.

442 For races.

443 Where harangues were delivered involving life and death.

444 Nor graves.

445 Deut. vii. 26.

446 Hadrian’s mixture was balls of clay saturated with wine and taken on
military expeditions. When the soldiers wished to drink, they soaked
them in water so that it had a taste of wine, and the mud settled at
the bottom of the vessel.

447 The heart torn out of the animal when alive to be offered in
idolatrous worship.

448 A village where calves were offered in idolatry. Consequently the
rennet was forbidden, and the cheese made from their rennet was also
forbidden.

449 Sol. Song, i. 2. The question is, whether the friendship sprang from
the wine or not, and his conclusion is that as the savor is
connected with the oil, so is the friendship with the wine, and so
is the cheese connected with idolatry.

_ 450 I.e._, for legal defilement.

451 The locusts might be mixed in the basket with wine or liquor, which
would cause legal defilement.

452 The Salt Sea generally means in the Talmud the Dead Sea. It is now
called by the Arabs “Bahr-Lût,” _i.e._, the Sea of Lot.

453 Deut. xiii. 17.

454 The modern Akka (Acre).

455 Deut. vii. 25.

456 Deut. vii. 26.

457 Lest the lettuce might derive profit from the shade of the
idolatrous grove.

458 These stones must be arranged as two on the ground, and one over
them, and not more than four ells distant from the image, to fulfil
the conditions of being an idolatrous offering. If the stones did
not fulfil these conditions, an Israelite might use them for
building purposes.

459 If the idol be disregarded in time of peace, the heathen have ceased
to esteem it as a god, and Israelites might use it for some purpose.
But if the heathen neglected it during the confusion of war, there
was no proof that they would not worship it at another time.

_ 460 I.e._, triumphal arches with statues upon them.

461 Because the idolater might have made an idolatrous libation from
both flasks.

462 Exod. xxi. 29.

463 Deut. xxi. 4.

464 Num. vi. 18.

465 This refers to the killing or slaughtering of cattle and fowls for
profane or domestic purposes. They were called profane to
distinguish them from the holy sacrifices.

466 Num. xxxi. 23.

467 The men of the great synagogue were the “Scribes” who flourished
from the return out of Babylon till the Græco-Syrian persecution,
220 B.C. Their object was to preserve the sacred text with
scrupulous minuteness, and make a “fence” for the law. They added
numberless directions for the better observance of the old precepts.
The Scribes were succeeded by the “learners,” the “repeaters,” and
the “master builders,” who continued from 220 B.C. till 220 A.D. In
their time fall the Maccabæan revolution, the birth of Christ, the
overthrow of the Temple by Titus, the rebellion of Barchochba, the
complete destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews.

468 Supposed by some to be the Sameas and Pollio of Josephus. Though
others try to identify Sameas with Simon, son of Shetach.—“Antiq.”
xiv. ix. 4, etc.

469 Ps. xxxvii. 21.

470 Deut. vi. 4, etc.

471 Joel ii. 13.

472 Ps. i. 1.

473 Mal. iii. 16.

474 Lam. iii. 28.

475 Isa. xxviii. 8.

476 Ezek. xli. 22.

477 Ps. lxxxii. 1.

478 Amos ix. 6.

479 Ps. lxxxii. 1.

480 Mal. iii. 16.

481 Exod. xx. 24.

482 1 Chron. xxix. 14.

483 Deut. iv. 9.

484 Deut. iv. 9.

485 Gen. ix. 6.

486 Deut. xiv. 1.

487 Prov. iv. 2.

488 Jer. xvii. 6.

489 Jer. xvii. 8.

490 Ps. cxix. 99.

491 Prov. xvi. 32.

492 Ps. cxxviii. 2.

493 1 Sam. ii. 30.

494 The Rabbis reckon that the expression “God said” is used nine times
in the first chapter of Genesis, and that the tenth expression is to
be found in the first verse, “In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.”

495 Num. xiv. 22.

496 The shameer is the worm which knows how to hew stones, and helped
Solomon to build the Temple.

497 Num. xv. 20.

498 Deut. xxxiii. 21.

499 1 Kings xiv. 16.

500 Prov. viii. 21.

501 Ps. lv. 23.

502 Or, perhaps, “for meditation.”

503 Prov. viii. 14.

504 Prov. xi. 22.

505 Ex. xxxii. 16.

506 Num. xxi. 19.

507 Ps. lv. 13.

508 Prov. iii. 35.

509 Prov. iv. 2.

510 Esther ii. 22.

511 Prov. iv. 22.

512 Prov. iii. 8.

513 Prov. iii. 18.

514 Prov. i. 9.

515 Prov. iv. 9.

516 Prov. iii. 16.

517 Prov. iii. 2.

518 Prov. xvi. 31.

519 Prov. xvii. 6.

520 Isa. xxiv. 23.

521 Prov. vi. 22.

522 Ps. cxix. 72.

523 Hag. ii. 8.

524 Prov. viii. 22.

525 Isa. lxvi. 1.

526 Ps. civ. 24.

527 Gen. xiv. 19.

528 Exod. xv. 16.

529 Ps. xvi. 3.

530 Exod. xv. 17.

531 Ps. lxxviii. 54.

532 Isa. xliii. 7.

533 Isa. xlii. 21.

534 See the treatise on “Measurements,” chap. i.

535 Membranes over the fat.

536 In the form of an apple.

537 A cor was equal, according to the Rabbis, to 44.286 gallons, but
Josephus reckons it to have been 86.696 gallons.

538 A seah, according to the Rabbis, was 1.4762 gallon.

539 Or, of “the treasurers.”

540 In this chamber were kept the “seals” or “tokens” given to those
persons who bought their offerings from the Levites. These “seals”
were of four sorts, and were respectively inscribed with “calf” or
“kid,” according to the offerings to be presented; and with the word
“male” when the offering was to be a ram; and “sinner” when it was
to be a sin-offering.

541 Others read “a basket.”

542 Or jug.

543 Ezek. xliv. 2.

544 Jericho is about eighteen miles distant from Jerusalem.

545 Perhaps “a gong” or “a bell.” Some think it to have been a “musical
instrument,” and others consider it to have been “an organ.”

546 Some think “Machærus” on the east of the Dead Sea, about fifty miles
distant from Jerusalem.

547 In each act of sprinkling, the priest, standing before a corner,
sprinkled the blood on two sides of the altar. And thus, in two acts
of sprinkling, he put the blood on its four sides.

548 Called the Shema. It consisted of the following three passages of
Scripture, as given in the next footnotes.

549 Deut. vi. 4-9.

550 Deut. xi. 13-21.

551 Num. xv. 37-41.

552 The lot for the incense was always arranged for a new man who had
never burned it before. It might come to a priest once in his
lifetime, and never again afterward. Luke i. 9.

553 The chambers for vestments had separate rooms for each of the
twenty-four courses, and separate wardrobes for each of the four
kinds of vestments.

554 About 37-1/2 gallons.

555 See note 5, chap. iii. 8.

556 The Delegates were appointed to represent the whole congregation of
Israel in the temple services.

557 Jehovah.

558 That is by substituting for the Name (Jehovah) the word “Adonai,”
except where “Adonai” and “Jehovah” come together. In such cases
“Elohim” is substituted for “Jehovah.”

559 Lev. ix. 22.

560 Who had charge of the channels from the altar.

561 Ps. xxiv. 1.

562 Ps. xlviii. 1.

563 Ps. lxxxii. 1.

564 Ps. xciv.

565 Ps. lxxxi.

566 Ps. xciii.

567 A famous maker of incense.

568 Sparkling.

569 Burning. The watch at certain gates seems to have been hereditary in
certain families. Just as at the present time the custody of
Rachel’s tomb is the privilege of a certain family in Jerusalem.
Each guard consisted of ten men, so that there were 210 Levites in
the twenty-one stations. The three more important places contained
guards of both Levites and Priests, thirty of each. There were
therefore 240 Levites on guard each night.

570 He rolled up his overcoat and laid it down for a cushion.

571 Rev. xvi. 15.

572 Obscurity.

573 Platform or rampart.

574 1 Mac. ii. 25.

575 So called either because Nicanor, a Pharisee, had the gate made in
Alexandria, and though it was thrown overboard from a ship in a
storm, it yet came safe to land; or because Nicanor, a Greek prince,
was slain there in the time of the Asmoneans.

576 Ezek. xlvi. 2.

577 Ezek. xliii. 16.

578 As this corner would have been in the tribe of Judah, it was not
added, that the whole altar might remain in the tribe of Benjamin.
Gen. xlix. 27.

579 This sloping ascent to the altar was strewn with salt. This salt was
brought from the mountain of Sodom at the south of the Dead Sea. The
salt was intended to keep the priests from slipping and falling,
which might easily happen, as they were obliged to minister
barefooted. The coldness of the pavement in winter, and eating so
much flesh of the sacrifices, brought various diseases on the
priests.

580 House of the vineyard.

581 Deut. xxvii. 5.

582 Zech. vi. 14.

583 The Rabbis say that “the world is like an eye. The ocean is the
white of the eye. The pupil is Jerusalem. And the image in the pupil
is the Sanctuary.”

584 Ezek. xli. 23.

585 Ezek. xli. 24.

586 Ezek. xliv. 2.

587 1 Kings vi. 6.

588 Curiously graven and gilt.

589 Is. xxix. 1.

590 “The king only, and no man else (remarks Maimonides) might sit in
the court of the Temple in any place; and even this privilege was
confined to a king of the family of David.” Cunœus further observes,
that the king was esteemed nearer to God than the priests
themselves, and a greater president of religion.

591 The Temple services were arranged by the council of fourteen. This
council was composed of the High Priest, the Sagan (the deputy or
Suffragan of the High Priest), two Katholikin, who had charge of the
treasuries, three Gizbarim, who were assistants of the Katholikin,
and seven Ammarcalin, who had charge of the gates.

592 The Nethinim, or the “given ones,” were added, it is supposed, from
among the Gibeonites to fill up the deficiencies in the number of
Levites who returned from the captivity in Babylon. They were held
in low estimation, and were forbidden to intermarry with Israelites.

593 Exod. xxxviii. 27.

594 Exod. xxvi. 31-33.

595 Exod. xxvi. 19.

596 Exod. xxvi. 17.

597 Exod. xvi. 24

598 Exod. xxvi. 28.

599 Exod. xxvi. 29.

600 Exod. xxvi. 29.

601 Exod. xxvi. 1.

602 Exod. xxvi. 3.

603 Exod. xxvi. 4.

604 Exod. xxvi. 6.

605 Exod. xxvi. 2.

606 Exod. xxvi. 2.

607 Exod. xxvi. 7, 8.

608 Exod. xxvi. 9.

609 Exod. xxxvi. 17.

610 Exod. xxvi. 11.

611 Exod. xxvi. 8.

612 Exod. xxvi. 9.

613 Exod. xxvi. 12.

614 Some commentators explain these to be “skins of seals” or
“dolphins,” and others understand the meaning to be a “blue color.”
Exod. xxvi. 14.

615 Num. iv. 25.

616 Exod. xxvi. 33.

617 Exod. xxvi. 35.

618 Or, in the “House of dispensations.”

619 Exod. xxxix. 3.

620 Exod. xxvi. 31.

621 Exod. xxvi. 36.

622 Exod. xxx. 6.

623 Exod. xxvii. 9.

624 Exod. xxvii. 11.

625 Exod. xxvii. 12.

626 Exod. xxvii. 13.

627 Exod. xxxviii. 14, 15.

628 Exod. xxvii. 18.

629 Exod. xxvii. 18.

630 Exod. xxvii. 19.

631 Num. iv. 26.

632 Exod. xxvii. 18.

633 Some explain this to mean “multiply fifty with 100” (Aruch); others
think that the measurement is to be made with a rope of fifty cubits
(Eruvin).

634 Some read “in the name of,” etc.

635 Exod. xxv. 10.

636 Sol. Song, iii. 9, 10.

637 Deut. xxxi. 26.

638 1 Sam. vi. 8.

639 Num. x. 33.

640 Num. xiv. 44.

641 1 Sam. xiv. 18.

642 2 Sam. xi. 11.

643 1 Sam. iv. 4.

644 1 Kings viii. 9.

645 Exod. xxv. 11.

646 Exod. xxv. 21.

647 Exod. xxv. 15.

648 1 Kings viii. 3.

649 1 Kings viii. 8.

650 1 Kings viii. 8.

651 1 Kings viii. 7, 8.

652 1 Kings viii. 8.

653 2 Chron. xxxv. 3.

654 2 Kings xx. 17.

655 Ezek. xli. 23.

656 Some commentators interpret “Traksin” to mean “place of doubting,”
as zealots continually disputed the exact division between the Holy
Place and the Holy of Holies.

657 Exod. xxv. 23.

658 Lev. xxiv. 7.

659 Num. ii. 20. The Hebrew letters Ayin and Lamed therefore means “by”
or “next,” as well as “upon.”

660 2 Chron. iv. 8.

661 1 Kings vii. 48.

662 2 Chron. iv. 19.

663 Exod. xxv. 31.

664 Exod. xxv. 39.

665 Num. x. 2.

666 Exod. xxv. 32.

667 Exod. xxv. 34.

668 Gen. iv. 7.

669 Gen. xlix. 7.

670 Exod. xvii. 9.

671 Exod. xxv. 34.

672 Deut. xxxi. 16.

673 Exod. xxv. 33.

674 Or, “egg-shaped, oval.”

675 Exod. xxv. 40.

676 2 Chron. iv. 7.

677 2 Chron. xiii. 11.

678 2 Chron iv. 20, 21

679 Num. viii. 2.

680 Lev. xxiv. 4.

681 Exod. xxx. 1.

682 Exod. xxx. 3.

683 Exod. xxxviii. 1.

684 Num. iv. 26.

685 Lev. ix. 5.

686 Exod. xxx. 18.

687 2 Chron. iv. 6.

688 1 Kings vii. 23, 26.

689 2 Chron. iv. 5.

690 Ezek. xlv. 11, 14.

691 Lev. xv. 13.

692 2 Chron. iv. 2.

693 2 Chron. iv. 4.

694 2 Chron. iv. 3.

695 The Jerusalem Talmud states that the water poured through the feet
of the oxen, and that this was the well of Etham.

696 Num. iii. 29.

697 Num. iii. 31.

698 Num. iii. 23.

699 Num. iv. 25.

700 Num. iii. 35.

701 Num. iii. 36.

702 Num. iii. 38.

703 Num. ii. 17.

704 Num. x. 14.

705 Num. iv. 5.

706 Num. x. 21.

707 Num. iv. 15.

708 Num. x. 22.

709 Num. ii. 17.

710 Num. ix. 18.

711 Num. ix. 23.

712 Num. x. 2.

713 Exod. xl. 34.

714 Exod. xl. 38.

715 Isa. lx. 1, 19, 20.

716 Exod. xxx. 6.

717 Exod. xxx. 36.

718 Exod. xxix. 42.

719 The Jews say that Solomon, who understood all the commands of God,
could not comprehend the full meaning of the Red Heifer.

720 The meaning is that he who spends as much time in a leprous house as
is sufficient for eating a loaf of such a size, becomes defiled in
his garments. See “Leprosy,” xiii. 10.

721 Num. viii. 8.

722 The age of the lamb was reckoned from its birthday in Elul of last
year till the first day of Elul in the current year.