Chapter X: Front Matter (10)

In the Eastern part pitched these three Tribes, _Judah_, _Issachar_, and _Zebulon_. On the South-side, _Reuben_, _Simeon_, and _Gad_. On the West, _Ephraim_, _Manasses_, and _Benjamin_. On the North, _Dan_, _Asher_, and _Napthali_: and these made up the _outward Camp_, termed the _Camp of Israel_. Between each Tribe, in every one of those four quarters, there were distant spaces like Streets, where there was buying and selling as in a market, and tradesmen in their shops in manner of a City leading to and fro.[749] This _Camp_ is thought[750] to be round a _mile distant_ from the _Tabernacle_, that is _a Sabbath daies journey_; and this is gathered from _Josh. 3. 4._ where the distance between the _People_ and the _Ark_ is commanded to be _two thousand cubits_.

[749] _Οὐδενί τε ἄλλῳ ἢ πόλει μετανισταμένῃ καὶ καθιδρυμένῃ
ἐῴκει. Joseph. l. 3. Antiq. c. 11. p. 97._

[750] _Tradunt Hebræi, filios Israelita castrametatos fuisse
in circuitu tabernaculi ut unum milliare interfuerit (~i.~)
spacium mille passuum, & hoc erat iter Sabbati. P. Fag. Num. 2.
3._

After this, pitched the _Camp of Levi_: in the Eastern part _Moses_, _Aaron_, and the _Priests_; in the South the _Cohathites_; in the West the _Gershonites_; in the North the _Merarites_.

In the _middle_ was the _Camp of the Divine Majesty_. Unto this _David_ alludeth: God is in the middest of her, she shall not be moved, _Psal. 46. 5._

After the same manner the parts of the City _Jerusalem_ were distinguished, when the Commonwealth was setled.[751] From the _gate of Jerusalem, to the mountain of the Temple_, was the _Camp of Israel_; from the _gate of the mountain of the Temple, to the gate of the Court_ (which was otherwise called _Nicanors gate_) was the _Camp of Levi_: from the _gate of the Court_, and forward, was the _Camp of the Divine Majesty_.

[751] _Maimon. in Bethhabchirab. c. 7. sect. 11._

Furthermore we are to know, that the _twelve Tribes_ had between them four principal _Banners_, or _Standards_; _three Tribes to one Standard_: for which reason, the _Church_ is said to be terrible as an Army with _banners_, _Can. 6. 4._ The _Hebrew_ word _Banner_, _Numb. 2. 2._ the _Greek_[752] translateth _Order_ and so the _Caldee_ calleth it _Tekes_[753] (a word borrowed of the _Greek_ τάξις) _order_: Whence the _Apostle_ taketh his phrase, Every man in his own _order_, _1 Cor. 15. 23._

[752] _Ἄνθρωπος ἐχόμενος κατὰ τάγμα αὐτοῦ._

[753] _גבר על טקסיה Quisque juxta ordinatam suam aciem._

Every _banner_ was thought to be of _3 colours_,[754] according to the colours of the precious stones in the brest-plate, bearing the names of their _Patriarchs_. But this proportion will not hold in all, seeing _Levi_ (who is not here among the other _Tribes_) was in the breast-plate one of the _twelve_: and _Joseph_ there graved on the _Beril_ hath here _two Tribes, Ephraim and Manasses_, unto whom _two colours_ cannot be allowed from the breast plate.

[754] _Jonathan Uzel. Num. 2. 3._

Each _Banner_ had its several _motto_, or inscription. In the _first Standard_ was written, from _Num. 10. 25._ _Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee_. It is moreover taught by the _Hebrews_,[755] that each _Standard_ had a distinct _sign_ engraven in it. _Reubens Standard_ had the _Image of a Man_: _Judahs_ the _Image of a Lion_: _Ephraims_ the _Image of an Ox_: and _Dans_ the _Image of an Eagle_.

[755] _Dicunt in vexillo Reuben fuisse imaginem hominis: in
vexillo Jehudah imaginem leonis: in vexillo Ephraim imaginem
bovis: in vexillo Dan, imaginem aquilæ P. Fag. Numb. 2. Aben
Esra, ibidem._

These same _four creatures_ are used by _Ezekiel_, _Ez. 1. 10._ to describe the nature of _Angels_. Every _Cherubim_ is said to have _four faces_: _the face of a man_; to shew his understanding; _of a Lion_, to shew his power; _of an Ox_, to shew his ministratory office; _of an Eagle_ to shew his swiftness in the execution of _Gods_ will.[756] The same description of _Angels_ you may find, _Rev. 4. 6._

[756] _Angeli ex hoc versu definiri possunt; sunt enim spiritus
intelligentes, ut homo, potentes ut Leo, ministratorij ut Bos,
& celeres ut aquila. Tremel. in Ezek. 1._

By the same _four_, in the opinion of many of the _Fathers_,[757] are shadowed forth the _four Evangelists_. The _man_ shadowed S. _Matthew_, because he begins his _Gospel_ with the Generation of _Christ_, according to his humanity: The _Lyon_ S. _Mark_, because he beginneth his _Gospel_, from that voice of the _Lion_ roaring in the Wilderness, _Vox clamantis in deserto_: The _Ox_ S. _Luke_, because he beginneth with _Zacharias the Priest_: and the _Eagle_ S. _John_, who soaring aloft beginneth with the _Divinity of Christ_.

[757] _Hieronym. ad initium sui commentarii in Mat. It. Gregor.
homil. 4. in Ezek. ab Hieronim. dissentit. D. Augustinus in
Matthæo & Marco, nam in Leone Mattheum, Marcum, in homine putat
adumbratum. August. de consensu Evangelist. l. 1. c. 6._

Thus have we seen how they pitch’d their _camps_, their _marching_ followeth: and here we are to consider, first, their _marching in their journeys_ thorow the Wilderness. Secondly, their _marching in their battels_.

Concerning their _marching in their journeys_, they either _moved forward_, or _abode still_, according to the moving or standing of the Cloud, which conducted them: the manner thereof is described, _Numb. 10._ and summarily we may view it thus: when _God_ took up the Cloud, _Moses_ prayed, and the _Priests_ with Trumpets blew an alarm, then _Judah_ the first Standard rose up, with _Issachar_ and _Zebulon_, and they _marched foremost_: then followed the _Gershonites_ and _Merarites_, bearing the boards and coverings of the _Tabernacle_ in wagons; the Trumpets sounded the second alarm, then _Reuben_, _Simeon_, and _Gad_ rose up and _followed the Tabernacle_, and after them went the _Kohathites_, in the midst of the _twelve Tribes_, bearing on their shoulders the _Ark, Candlestick, Table, Altar_, and other holy things. At the third alarm rose up the _Standard of Ephraim_, _Manasses_, and _Benjamin_, and these followed the _Sanctuary_: unto this _David_ hath reference, when he prayeth, _Psa. 80. 2._ _Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses_, stir up thy strength, and come and save us. At the fourth alarm, arose the _Standard of Dan_, _Asher_, and _Napthali_: and to these was committed the care of gathering together the lame, feeble, and sick, and to look that nothing was left behind: whence they are called the _gathering Host_, _Josh. 6. 9._ unto this _David_ alludeth: when my Father and my Mother forsake me, the _Lord_ will _gather_ me, _Psal. 27. 10._

Concerning their _marching in War_: _First_, the _Priests_ sounded the alarm with Trumpets, _Num. 10. 9._ this they termed: _Therugnah_.[758] _Secondly_, one _Priest_ was selected out of the rest, to stir up the hearts of the people, and by a kind of hortatory Oration, to encourage them to the war, _Deut. 20. 2._ him they called _Unctum belli_, _the anointed of the battel_. _Thirdly_, they marched on by five and five in battel-array, _Exo. 13. 18._ so the Original signifieth in that place.[759]

[758] _תרועה Clangor, Vociferatio. Hebræi duplicem clangorem
esse statuunt alterumque vocari תקיעה alterum תרועת quorum
ille æquabilis est vox, hic citus concisusque fragor, ille ad
convocandos cætus, hic ad accendendos millitum animos facit._

[759] _חמושים_

In the last place, we are to consider how they were to deal in besieging a Town; for the conceiving whereof, note these two propositions.

1. _They were to offer peace unto all Forreigners, and Canaanites_, _Deut. 20. 10._ And this is clearly signified _Josh. 11. 19._ There was not a City that made peace with the Children of _Israel_, save the _Hivites_, the inhabitants of _Gibeon_, all other they took in battel. For it was of the _Lord_ to harden their hearts. Yet here _Moab_ and _Ammon_ are excepted; _Israel must not seek their peace_, _Deut. 23. 6._

2. _They were to make covenant with none of the seven Nations_, _Deut. 7. 2._ _Exod. 23. 32. & 34. 14._ With _Forreigners they might_, _Josh. 9. 17._ peradventure you _dwell among us_, and how shall we _make a covenant_ with you? Not, how shall we _make peace with you_?

Some may question, what the difference was between _making peace_, and _making a covenant_? I answer, _two fold_. 1. The _making of peace_ was a naked stipulation, or promise, mutually made for the laying aside of all hostile affections towards each other; whereby life on both sides might be secured. _Making a covenant_, was a solemn binding of each other, to performance of this mutual promise by outward ceremonies,[760] of cutting a beast in twain, and passing between the parts thereof, _Jer. 34. 18._ as if they would say; _Thus let it be done to him, and thus let his body be cut in two, who shall break this covenant_? Secondly, peace was not concluded by the _Israelites_, but only upon these terms, _That the People should become tributary unto them_, _Deut. 20. 11._ The _making of a covenant_ was upon equal terms, without any condition either of tribute or service, as is gatherable from the _Covenant_ made by _Joshua_ with the _Gibeonites_, where there is no mention of any condition at all, _Josh. 9._

[760] _Hæc est causa cur Hebræi Fœdus facere dicant כרות הברית
(~i.~) Dividere, aut dissecare fœdus, quemadmodum apud Latinos,
dicitur percutere fœdus, quæ locutio fluxit ab antiquo fœderis
faciendi more: Sacerdos enim feriebat porcum silice, dicens,
Sic à Jove feriatur is, qui sanctum hoc fregerit fœdus, ut ego
hunc porcum ferio. Livius. Decad. 1. l. 1. p. 17._

This difference seemeth to me warrantable, and serveth to reconcile many places of Scripture, as where _God_ saith, _Offer peace to all_, and _make a covenant with none_. _Secondly_, It sheweth the fraud of the _Gibeonites_ to be greater than is commonly conceived, for they sought not _peace simply_, but _a covenant_. _Make a league with us_, _Josh. 9. 6._ _Thirdly_, It salveth that common Objection made in defence of _unadvised Oaths_, to prove them _obligatory_, though _unlawful_. The Argument is framed thus; _The covenant which ~Joshua~ made with the Gibeonites unadvisedly, was unlawful: but that was observed by him, and the breach thereof, when ~Saul~ slew the Gibeonites, punished by God_, _2 Sam. 21. 1._ _Therefore, &c._ I say it salveth that Objection: because if we diligently observe _Joshua_’s practise, we shall find _unadvised Oaths_ to be so far, and _only so far binding_, as they agree with _God_’s _words_. _God_’s _word_ required the _Gibeonites_ should have their lives secured, because they accepted _peace_; Thus far therefore the _covenant was still of force_. _God_’s _word_ required, that the _Canaanites_, after the acceptation of peace, should become _tributary_; here the _covenant was not of force_, and therefore _Joshuah_ made them _hewers of wood, and drawers of water_, which is a kind of tribute in the language of the Scripture, a tribute of the _body_, though not of the _purse_: in which sense the _Ægyptian Task-Masters_ are in the Original called _Tribute-masters_, _Exod. 1. 11._

CHAP. IX.

_Their Measures._

_Measures_ in use among the _Hebrews_, and so among all other _Nations_, are of _two sorts_: some _Mensuræ applicationis_, _measures of application_, as, a span, a cubit, a yard, and the like. Secondly, _Mensuræ capacitatis_, _measures of capacity_, as pints, quarts, pecks, bushels, _&c._ _Measures of application_, mentioned in Scripture, are these that follow (in which there might be no deceit; the ground of these measures was the breadth of so many, or so many barley corns middle sized, laid by one another) אצבע _Etsbang_, _Digitus_, _a finger, an inch_.[761] It containeth the breadth of six barley corns joyned together where they are thickest: though in round-reckoning it goeth for an inch, yet in accurate speaking _four fingers make three inches_.[762] Of this there is mention, _Jer. 52. 21._

[761] _Arias Mont. Thubal Cain._

[762] _Quatuor digiti constituunt tres pollices. Fran. Iunius
in Ezek. 40. 5._

_Palmus_, This was two fold; _Palmus minor_, and _Palmus major_. The lesser containeth the breadth of _four fingers_, (i.) _three inches_, the _Hebrews_ term it, טפח _Tophach_, the _Greeks_ παλαιστίδα: the greater is termed זרת _Zereth_, by the _Greeks_ σπιθαμὴ; in Latine _Spithama, & Dodrans_. It containeth the measure that is between the thumb and the little finger stretcht out, a _span_.

פעם, _Pagnam_, _Pes_, _a foot_. It containeth _twelve inches_.[763]

[763] _Quatuor Palmos; scil. minores. Pet. Martyr. 1. Reg. c. 6._

אמה _Amma_, _Cubitus_, _a Cubit_. We shall find in Authors mention of _four kinds of Cubits_. 1. _Cubitus communi_, this was the measure from the elbow to the fingers end. It contained a foot and half, or _half a a yard_, it is called the _common Cubit_. 2. _Cubitus sacer_, _An holy Cubit_, this was a full _yard_, containing _two of the common Cubits_, as appeareth by comparing _1 Kin. 7. 15._ with _2 Chron. 3. 15._ In the first place, the pillars are reckoned each of them _eighteen cubits_ high: in the second place they are reckoned _five and thirty cubits_ high; which, together with the basis, being one ordinary cubit high, _doubleth the number_: so that the first Text is to be understood of _holy cubites_; the second of _common cubits_. 3. _Cubitus regis_, the _Kings cubit_; this was _three fingers longer than the common cubit_:[764] Whereas the common cubit is termed _cubitus viri_, the _cubit of a man_, _Deut. 3. 11._ _Onkelos_ doth improperly term it, _cubitum regis_, the _Kings cubit_. _Lastly_, there was _cubitus geometricus_, _A geometrical cubit_, it contained _six common cubits_,[765] and according to _these cubits_, it is thought that _Noah’s Ark was built_.

[764] _Herodot. lib. 2. in descrip. Bab._

[765] _Orig. hom. 2. in Genes. It. Aug. de Civitat. Dei, lib.
15. cap. 27._

Some make the difference between the _cubit of the sanctuary_, and _the common cubit_, to be thus; _The common cubit_, they say, contained _fifteen inches_,[766] the _holy cubit_ _eighteen inches_.[767] But that the _holy cubit_ contained _two common cubits_, hath been evidently proved; and it is probable, that those who make the difference to be only three _inches_, have mistaken the _Kings cubit_, for the _holy cubit_.

[766] _Quinos palmos._

[767] _Sex palmos._

חבל _Chebel_, _Funiculus_, _a line or rope_. The just length thereof is unknown: the use thereof was to measure grounds; whence it is sometimes taken for the inheritance it self. _The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places_, _Psal. 16. 6._ That is, mine _inheritance_.

קנה _Kaneh_, _Arundo_, the _Reed_. The use of this was to measure buildings; the length thereof was _six cubits and an hand-breadth_, _Ezek. 40. 5._ The cubits in this place are interpreted[768] _Kings cubits_: it was less liable to deceipt than the _Rope_, because it could not be _shortened_ or _lengthened_, by _shrinking_ or _stretching_: hence the _Canon_ or _rule_ of the _holy Scripture_ is mystically typed out by this _Reed_, _Ezek. 40._ and _Revel. 21. 15._

[768] _Tremelius in hunc locum._

To these may be added other _measures_, wherewith they measured their _wayes_ and _walks_. The least of these was צגד _Tsagad_, _passus_, _a pace_.

Στάδιον, _Stadium_, _a furlong_. It is often mentioned in the _New Testament_, not at all in the _Old_. It contained _one hundred twenty five paces_,[769] which is the eighth part of our mile. Some think it to be called so, ἀπὸ τῆς στάσεως, from _standing_, because _Hercules ran so much ground before he stood still_.

[769] _Isidor._

_Milliarium_, _a mile_; It containeth with us a _thousand paces_, but much more among the _Hebrews_. Their word ברה _Barah_, translated often _Milliarium_, properly signifying a _dinner_ or _meal_, and being applyed unto _journeys_, _walks_ or _ways_, it signified so much ground as usually is gone, or conveniently may be travelled in half a day, between _meal_ and _meal_, or _bait_ and _bait_. The word is read, _Gen. 35. 16._ When there was (כברת הארץ _Cibrath haarets_) _about half a daies journey of ground_. The _Greek_ in that place hath an uncouth word χαβραθὰ; doubtless it was made from the _Hebrew_’s _Cibrath_, and signifieth _half a daies journey_.

Their _measures of capacity_, termed _Mensuræ capacitatis_, were of _two sorts_; some for _dry things_ as Corn, Seed, _&c._ Some for _liquid things_, as Wine, Oyl, _&c._ In both, that there might be a just proportion observed, all their measures were designed by a set number of _Hens eggs-shells of a middle size_.

In my parallelling of them with our measures, where I speak of _Bushels, half Bushels, Pecks_, &c. I am to be understood according to _Winchester measure_, as we phrase it: such a bushel contained _eight gallons_. Where I speak of _gallons, pottles, quarts_, &c. I am to be understood according to our Ale-measure, thereby I avoid fractions of number.

קב, _Kab_, _Kabus_, _a Kab_.[770] This contained _twenty four eggs_, it held proportion with our _Quart_. The least measure mentioned in Scripture, is the _fourth part of a Kab_, _2 Kings 6. 25._ The famine in _Samaria_ was so great, that a _fourth part of a Kab of Doves dung_ was sold for five pieces of silver. The _Rabbines_ have a Proverb, that _ten Kabs of speech descended into the world, and the women took away nine of them_.[771]

[770] _Arias Mont. Thubal Cain._

[771] _עשרה קבין שיחה ירדו לעולם תשעה נטלו נשים Vid. Buxtorf.
Lexic. in חיה_

עמר _Omer._ It contained[772] _one Kab and an half, and a fifth part of a Kab_, that is, _three pints and a half pint_, and a fifth part of an half pint. It was the tenth part of an _Ephah_, _Exod. 16. 36._

[772] _Alsted. præcog. theol. l. 2. p. 588._

סאה _Seah_, σάτον, _a Satum_; The _Latine_ Interpreters commonly render it by _Modius_. It contained[773] _six Kabs_, that is a _Gallon and half_. We translate the word in general, _a measure_: To morrow this time, a _measure_ (that is, a _Satum_) of fine flower shall be sold for a Shekel, _2 Kings 7. 1._

[773] _Vide Buxtorf. Lexic. in קבב ex opere R. Alphes.
tractat. de Pasch. chap. 5. fol. 176._

אפה _Ephah._ It contained[774] _three Sata_, that is, _half a bushel, and a pottle_.

[774] _Arias Mont. Thubal Cain._

לתך _Lethec._ It contained[775] _fifteen Modios (i.) Sata_; that is, _two bushels, six gallons, and a pottle_. Mention of this is made, _Hos. 3. 2._ It is there rendred in _English_, _half an Homer_.

[775] _Epiph. de mensur. & Ponderib._

חמר _Homer._ It is so called from חמור _Chamor_, _Asinus_, _an Ass_, because this measure contained so much grain or corn as an Ass could well bear. It contained _ten Ephahs_, _Ezek. 45. 11._ that is, _forty five gallons_ or _five bushels, and five gallons_.

כור _Cor_, _Corus_. The _Cor_, and the _Homer_, were of the same quantity, _Ezek. 45. 14._ It was not only of liquid things, _Luke 16. 7._

These measures of which we have spoken hitherto, the _Hebrews_ used in measuring _dry things_: Three other measures there were, which they used for liquid or _moist things_.

לוג _Log_. It contained[776] _six egg-shells_. It was of the same quantity as the _fourth part of a Kab, half a pint_.

[776] _Buxtorf. in loco superius citato._

הין _Hin_. It contained[777] the quantity of _seventy two egg-shells_, so that it was of our measure _three quarts_.

[777] _Buxtorf. ib._

בת _Bath_; βάτος, _Bathus_, the _Bath_. It was of the same capacity with the _Ephah_, the tenth part of an _Homer_, _Ezek. 45. 14._ The _Latine_ Interpreters commonly render it _Cadus_. _Hieron_[778] writing upon _Ezekiel_, renders it _Vadus_. _Decima pars Cori, inquit, in speciebus liquidis vocatur Bathus, sive Vadus._ I sometimes thought there had been some error in the print, namely, _Vadus_, put for _Cadus_: But now I find the _Greeks_ to use both βάτος, and βάδος, for this measure, and from the last of these _Greek_ words, that ancient _Father_ reads it, _Vadus_. Sometimes our _English_ renders it, in general, _a measure_, _Luk. 16. 6._ It contained _four gallons and a half_.

[778] _Hieron. Ezek. 45._

All these measures were proper to the _Hebrews_: I find three others mentioned in the _N. T._ taken from other Nations.

Σεστός; _Sextarius_. We _English_ it, in general, _a Pot_, _Mar. 7. 4._ It was of the same quantity with the _Log_,[779] if we understand it of the _Roman Sextarius_. It was somewhat more, if we understand it of the _Attick Sextarius_: _undecim Attici sextarii æquabant Romanos duodecim_. In probability we are to understand the _Roman_ measure, so that it contained _six eggs_, that is, _half a pint_.

[779] _Alsted. præcog. Theol. p. 561._

Χοῖνιξ, _Chenix_, _a measure_, _Rev. 6. 6._ It signifieth properly that measure of corn, which was allowed servants for their maintenance every day. Whence was occasioned that speech of _Pythagoras_: _Super Chænice non sedendum_. That is, _we must not rest upon the provision which sufficeth for a day, but we must take care for the morrow_. It contained[780] _four Sextarii_, that is, _a Quart_.

[780] _Budæus de asse. lib. 5._

Μετρητὴς, _Metretes_, _Joh. 2. 6._ It is translated a _Firkin_. It was a measure in use among the _Athenians_. It was of the same quantity with _Cadus_,[781] and _Cadus_ (as before was noted) was equal to the _Hebrew_ _Bath_, so that it contained _four Gallons and an half_.

[781] _Budæus de asse. lib. 5._

CHAP. X.

_Their Coyns. First of brazen Coyns._

That they might have just _Coyns_ and _Weights_ they weighed both them and their weights by _Barley-corns_.

Λεπτὸν, _Minutum_, _a Mite_, _Luk. 21. 2._ _Mar. 12. 42._ The latter _Hebrews_ call it פרוטה, the _Syriack_ שמונא (i. _Octava_, _the eighth part of Assarium_,) It weighed _half a barly-corn_.[782] It valued of our mony, _three parts of one ~c~_.

[782] _פרוטה משקל חצי שעורה Moses Kotsens. f. 124. col. 4._

Κοδράντης _Quadrans_, _a Farthing_. It was a _Roman coyn_, weighing _a grain of barly_; it consisted of _two mites_. The poor Widow threw in _two mites which makes a farthing_, _Mark. 12. 42._ By consequence it valued of ours c. ½.

Ἀσσάριον, _Assarius, vel assarium_. It was a _Roman coyn_, weighing _four grains_. The _Rabbins_ call it איסור _Isor_, and say, that it containeth[783] _eight mites_. Of this we read, _Mat. 10. 29._ Are not two Sparrows sold for (an _Assarium_?) our _English_ readeth it, for a _farthing_? It valueth of ours, in precise speaking, q^{a.}--q.

[783] _Drusius in præter. Luc. 12. 59._

_Their silver Coyns._

גרה _Gerah_. It was the twentieth part of the shekel of the Sanctuary; _A shekel is twenty Gerahs_, _Exod. 30. 13._ It was the least silver coyn among the _Hebrews_; it valued of ours 1 _d. ob._

אגורת _Agorath_: We English it in general, _a piece of silver_, _1 Sa. 2. 36._ But it _appeareth_ by the _Chaldee paraphrase_, that it is of the _same_ value with _Gerah_; that _paraphrase_ renders both מעא _Megna_; by the _Greek_ they are both rendred ὄβολος the value therof therfore is 1 _d. ob._

קשיטה _Keshitah_. The word signifieth a _lamb_, and is used for a certain _coyn_ among the _Hebrews_, on the one side whereof the Image of a _lamb_ was stamped; our _English_ reads it in general, _a piece of mony_. _Jacob_ bought a parcel of a field for an hundred _pieces of mony_, _Gen. 33. 19._ In the original it is, for an hundred _lambs_. But it is apparent, that _Jacob_ paid _mony_; for S. _Stephen_ saith, he bought it for _mony_, _Act. 7. 16._ In the judgment of the _Rabbines_,[784] it was the same that _Obolus_, _twenty of them went to a shekel_;[785] so that the value thereof was 1 _d. ob._

[784] _R. Solom. Gen. 33. 19. It. R. David. in lib. radic. It.
Levi ben Gers. Gen. 33. 19._

[785] _Drus. ad diffic. loca, Gen. p. 119._

כסף _Ceseph_, ἀργύριον _Argenteus_, _a piece of silver_: as the _Romans_ numbred their sums by _Sesterces_, insomuch that _Nummus_ is oftentimes put absolutly to signifie the same as _Sestertius_: So the _Hebrews_ counted their sums by _shekels_, and the _Grecians_ by _Drachmæ_: Hence _Argenteus_, _a piece of silver_, being put absolutely in the _Bible_, if mention in that place be of the _Hebrew_ coyns, it standeth for a _shekel_, and valueth 2 _s._ 6 _d._ if it stand for the _shekel of the sanctuary_: if it stand for a _common shekel_, then it valueth 1 _s._ 3 _d._ But if mention be of the _Greek coyns_, as _Acts 19. 19._ then it signifieth the _Attick Drachma_, which valueth of our money 1 _d. ob._

Δραχμὴ, _Luk. 15. 8._ It was a _quarter of a shekel_,[786] and thus by consequence it valued of ours 7 _d. ob._

[786] _Breerwood de nummis._

Δίδραχμον, _Didrachmon_; _Mat. 17. 24._ We _English_ it _tribute money_: The _Syriack_ readeth _Duo Zuzim_;[787] now that coyn which was termed _Zuz_ by the _Hebrews_, was answerable to the _Roman Denair_; whence it appeareth, that it valued of ours 1 _s._ 3 _d._

[787] _תרין זוזין_

Στατὴρ, _Stater_. We English it a _piece of money_ at large, but it contained precisely _two didrachmas_. For the _tribute money_ to be paid for each person, was _Didrachmum_, as is evident, _Mat. 17. 24._ and this _Stater_ was paid for _two_, namely, for _Christ_ and _Peter_, the value of it therefore was, 2 _s._ 6 _d._

Δενάριον, _Denarius_, _a peny_. This was their _tribute money_, _Mat. 22. 19._ There were _two sorts of pence_[788] in use among them: the _common peny_, which valued of ours 7 _d. ob._ And the _peny of the Sanctuary_, which valued 1 _s._ 3 _d._ For it was answerable to their _Didrachmum_; and of this last we must understand S. _Matthew_ in this place, for their _tribute mony_ was _Didrachmum_, as before hath been noted out of _Mat. 17. 24._ This _Didrachmum_ or _half shekel_ was formerly paid by the _Isrælites_ every year after they were 20 years old;[789] towards their _Temple_, _Exod. 30. 13._ _Cæsar_ by taking away this _money_ from the _Temple_, and changing it into a _tribute_ for his _own Coffers_, did in truth take away from _God_ that which was _God_’s. Hence in that question proposed unto _Christ_, _Is it lawful to give tribute unto ~Cæsar~, or not?_ _Christ_ answereth, _Render unto ~Cæsar~ the things that are ~Cæsar’s~, and unto God the things that are God’s_. This very _tribute_ afterward was paid by the _Jews_[790] toward the _Roman capital_, by vertue of a Decree made by _Vespasian_.

[788] _Tremel. Mat. 22. 19._

[789] _Aben Esr. Nehem. 10. 32._

[790] _Joseph. de bello, lib. 7. cap. 26._

זוז _Zuz_, It was the _fourth part of a shekel of silver_:[791] it valued therefore of ours, 7 _d. ob._

[791] _זוז רבע שקל כסף Elias Thisbit._

שקל _Shekel_, _Siclus_, _a shekel_: it was twofold; _Siclus regius_, _the Kings shekel_, of common use in buying and selling, it valued 1 _s._ 3 _d._ And _Siclus Sanctuarii_; _the shekel of the Sanctuary_, it valued 2 _s._ 6 _d._

The _shekels of the Sanctuary_ were of _two stamps_. The one was always in use among the _Jews_: the _thirty pieces of silver which ~Judas~ received, are thought to be 30 shekels of the Sanctuary_. It had stampt on the one side, the _pot of Manna_, or as others think, _Aarons censer_ or _Incense-cup_: the inscription on this side was שקל ישראל _Shekel Israel_, _The shekel of Israel_: on the reverse side was stampt _Aarons Rod budding_, with this inscription about the Coyn ירושלים הקדושה _Jeruschalaiim hakeduscha_. After the coming of our _Saviour_, the _Jews_ which were converted to the _Christian Faith_, changed their _shekel_,[792] and on the first side stampt the _Image of Christ_, with יש at the mouth of the Image, and ו in the pole, which three letters made his name _Jesu_. On the reverse side there was no picture, but the whole rundle was filled with this inscription, משיח מלך בא בשלום ואור מאדם עשוי חי (i.) _Messias rex venit cum pace, & lux de homine facta est vita_. In some Coyns, for the latter clause of that inscription is read אדם עשוי אלהים (i.) _Deus homo est factus_.

[792] _Alsted præcog. Theol. p. 550._

The _King’s shekel_, in _David_ and _Solomon_’s time, had stampt on the one side, a kind of a Tower standing between ירו and שלם, and underneath was עיר הקדש. The whole inscription was, _Jerusalem urbs sanctitatis_: On the reverse side, the rundle was filled with this _Hebrew_, דוד המלך ובנו שלמה המלך (i.) _David rex, & filius ejus Solomon rex_.

The _shekel_ again was divided into lesser Coyns, which had their denomination from the parts thereof. Thus we read of the half _shekels_, _Exod. 30. 13._ The _third part of a shekel_, _Nehem. 10. 32._ The _quarter of a shekel_, _1 Sam. 9. 8._

_Their Gold Coyns._

זהב _Zahab_. The _English_ reads it, _a piece of gold_, _2 Kin. 5. 5._ By it is meant, that which elsewhere is called _Siclus auri_, _a shekel of gold_, _1 Chron. 21. 25._ Hence the one thousand seven hundred _pieces of gold_ mentioned, _Judg. 8. 26._ the _Greek_ renders 1700, _shekels of gold_.[793] The weight of this Coyn was two _attick drams_,[794] the value 15 _s._

[793] _Σίκλοι χίλιοι, &c._

[794] _Breerwood de nummis._

אדרכון _Adarcon_, of this we read, _Esra 8. 27._ It was also called דרכמון _Drachmon_, of which we read _Esra 2. 69._ Both these names seem to denote the same coyn; if not, yet both were of the same weight. The _Greek_ interprets them both by δραχμὴ, and our _English_ accordingly renders both, a _dram_, which must be understood of the _drams_ in use among the _Hebrews_, weighing two _Attick drams_. From the _Greek_ δραχμὴ, _Drachmon_ seemeth to have had its name. He conjectureth not amiss, who thinketh[795] that _Adarcon_ was so called, _quasi Daricon_, which was a certain coyn of gold in use among the _Persians_ and from King _Darius_ (whose Image one side thereof bore) was named _Daricon_, and א amongst the _Chaldæans_, is often prefixed before a word, as ה is amongst the _Hebrews_. The value of this Coyn was of ours 15 _s._

[795] _Breerwood de nummis._

_Their sums._

Their sums were _two_ מנה _Maneh_, μνᾶ _Mina_, a _Pound_. In _gold_ it weighed _one hundred shekels_. This appeareth by comparing these Texts, _1 Kin. 10. 17._ _Tres_ מנים _Manim_ _three pound_ of gold went to one shield. Now we read, _2 Chron. 9. 16._ _Three hundred shekels_ of gold went to one shield. The name _shekels_ is not expressed in the Original, but necessarily understood, as appeareth in that which was spoken of _Zahab_. For it is a received rule, that in Scripture, _Aurum_ being put with a _numeral_ signifieth so many _shekels of gold_; and so _Argentum_ in like manner. The weight thereof then being _100 shekels_, it followeth, that the value was 75 _l._ In _silver_, their _Maneh_ weighed _60 shekels_, _Ezek. 45. 12._ so that it valued 7 _l._ 10 _s._ Note, that _Sheindler_[796] was deceived, in saying, that the price or value of the _Maneh_ was changed in _Ezekiels_ time, because it then valued 60 _shekels_: for the difference is not between the sacred & profane _Maneh_, as _Sheindler_ conceives, but _between_ the _Maneh_ of gold, which was valued at _100 shekels_ always, and the _Maneh_ of silver, which weighed _60 shekels_, according to the forequoted place in _Ezekiel_.

[796] _Sheindler in מנה_

The second sum was ככר _Cicar_, _Talentum_, _A Talent_. This, if it were of _silver_, it contained in weight _3000 shekels_. For, those two verses being compared together, _Exod. 38. 25, 26._ sheweth, that _six hundred thousand_ men paying every man _half a shekel_, the whole sum amounted to an _hundred talents_; whence it followeth, that a _talent of silver_ amongst the _Hebrews_ was 375 _l._ But a _talent of gold_ (the proportion of gold to silver being observed) was twelve times as much, so that it valued of ours 4500 _l._

In this tract of their Coyns we are to know _three things_. First, that as the _Romans_, in the former ages, used _Æs grave_, _Bullion money_, unstampt, which in the _Mass_ or _Billot_ they weighed out in their payments, and afterward _Æs signatum_, _coyned metals_: so the _Hebrews_ though at last they used, _coyned money_, yet at first they _weighed their mony uncoyned_; _Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver_, _Gen. 23. 6._ Hence the _shekel_ had its _name from_ שקל _Shakal_, _ponderare, librare_, _to weigh_, or _put in the ballance_. _Secondly_, as the coyned _shekel was twofold, one_ for the use of the _Sanctuary_; the other for the use of the _Commonwealth_; and that of the _Sanctuary_ was double the price of the _other_; so the _weight of the shekel_ to be distinguisht after the same manner; the _shekel of the Sanctuary weighed half an ounce Troy weight; the common shekel_ weighed _a quarter of an ounce_. For example, _Goliahs spears head weighed 600 shekels of the Sanctuary_ _1 Sam. 17. 7._ that is, _twenty five pound weight_: _~Absalom’s~ hair weighed two hundred shekels after the Kings weight_, _2 Sam. 14. 26._ that is, _four pound weight and two ounces_. Yea, the sums which I have reckoned only _according to the Sanctuary_, in common use, _according to the King’s weight_, they abate half their value.

3. The lesser coyns were in general termed κέρματα or in the singular number κέρμα, _Joh. 2. 15._ The word signifieth properly a small quantity or little piece of metal, such as may be clipt off from coyns. _Upon the first of the mon. ~Adar~, Procla. was made throughout Israel, that the people shold provide their half shekels, w^{ch} were yearly paid toward the service of the Temple_, according to the commandment of _God_, _Ex. 30. 13._[797] On the 25. of _Adar_,[798] then they _brought tables_ into the _Temple_ (that is, into the _outward Court_ where the _people stood_) on these _tables_ lay these κέρματα, or _lesser coyns_, to furnish those _who_ wanted _half shekels_ for their offrings, or that wanted _lesser pieces of mony_ in their payment for _oxen, sheep, or doves_, which likewise stood there in a readiness in the same _court_ to be sold for _sacrifices_: but this _supply of lesser coynes_ was not without an _exchange_ for other _mony or other things_ in lieu _of mony_, and that upon advantage. Hence those that sat at these _tables_, as chief _bankers_ or _masters of the exchange_, they were termed Κερματισταὶ, in respect of the _lesser coyns_ which they exchanged: in respect of the _exchange it self_, they were termed Κολλυβισταὶ, for Κόλλυβος signifieth the same in _Greek_ as _Cambium_ in _Latine_,[799] whence those _Letters of exchange_, which the _Latines_ call _Literas Cambii_, the _Greek_ call σύμβολα κολλυβιστικὰ, _Tickets of exchange_: in respect of the _Tables_ at which they sate, they are termed by the _Talmudists_ שולחנים, _Schulcanim_ from שולחן _Schulchan_ _Mensa_; for the same reason they are sometimes termed by the _Greeks_ τραπεζίται, and by the _Latines Mensarii_. These are those _changers of money_ which our _Saviour_ drove out of the _Temple_.

[797] _Moses Kotsens. de Siclis. fol. 122. col. 2._

[798] _Moses Kotsens. ibid._

[799] _Κόλλυβος, inquit Pollux, est ἀργυρίου ἀλλαγὴ vid. Dru.
Annot. in N. T. part. alter._

_FINIS._

.תהלה לאל חי

The Names of Authors cited in this BOOK.

A

_Aben Esra._

_Aboth._ _vid._ _Pirke Aboth._

_Æschines._

_Alexander Neopol._

_Alstedius._

_Ambrosius._

_Aquinas._

_Aristoteles._

_Arias Montanus._

_Aristophanes_, _Aureliæ Allobrogum_, 1607

_Artemidorus._

_Athenæus._

_Augustinus_, _Coloniæ Agrippinæ_, 1616

B

_Baalturim._

_Beda._

_Bellarminus._

_Bertramus._

_Beza._

_Bodinus._

_Breerwood._

_Buxtorfius._

_Budæus._