Chapter VIII: Front Matter (8)

They have a rule,[568] that wheresoever the Scripture saith of an offender, _Morte plectetur_, _he shall be punish’d with death_, not expressing the kind of death, there it ought to be interpreted of _Strangling_. For example, the Law saith of the Adulterer, _Lev. 20. 19._ _Morte plectatur_, _let him be punished with death_: because the kind of death is not here mentioned, they interpret it _strangling_. The reason of this rule is, because strangling was the easiest death of the four; and where the Law determineth not the punishment, there they say, _Ampliandi favores_, The favourablest exposition is to be given.

[568] _כל מיתה האמורה בתורה סתם חנק היא Omnis mors quæ
absolutè in lege usurpatur, strangulatio est. R. Solom. Exod.
21. 16._

The rule is not generally true; for in former times _Adultery was punish’d with stoning_. I will judge thee after the manner of them that are _Harlots_, saith the _Lord_, _Ezek. 16. 38._ And in the fortieth verse the judgment is named, _They shall stone thee with stones_: likewise the _Scribes_ and _Pharisees_ said unto Christ, _Moses_ in the Law commanded us, that such should be stoned, _John 8._

Before we treat in particular of these four punishments it may be questioned, _Whether the Jews had any power to judge of life and death, at that time when they crucified our blessed Saviour?_ The _Jews said to ~Pilate~, Is it not lawful for us to put any man to death_; _Joh. 18. 31._ Latter _Jews_ say[569] that _all power of capital punishments was taken from them forty years before the destruction of the second Temple_, and of this opinion are many _Divines_.

[569] _Moses Kotsen. in Sanhedrim._

_Answer._ First, the _Jews_ speech unto _Pilate_, that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death, cannot be understood, as if they should have said, we have no power to put any man to death; for admit, that power in criminals were, in the _general_, taken from them, yet in this _particular_ power was permitted them at that time from _Pilate_, _Take ye him, and judge him according to your Law_, _Joh. 18. 31._ Neither can it be said, that their Law could not condemn him, if he had been a transgressor thereof; or that they had not out of their law to object against him: for they say, _They had a law, and by their law he ought to die_, _John 19. 7._ It was not then want of _Power_, but the _holiness of that time_, made them say _it was unlawful_. For they held it _unlawful_ upon their _days of preparation_ to sit on life and death, as hath been shewn in the _Chapter of translating Feasts_. And _Friday_, on which our _Saviour_ was condemned, was the _preparation of their Sabbath_.

_Secondly_, in the questions, whether power of judging capital crimes were taken from them by the _Romans_? We are to distinguish between _crimes_. _Some crimes were transgressions of the Romans law_, as theft, murder, robberies, _&c._ power of judging in these was taken from them: _other crimes were transgressions only against the law of Moses_, as blasphemy, and the like: in these, power of judging seemeth to have remained with them. When _Paul_ was brought by the _Jews_ before _Gallio_, _Gallio_ said unto them, if it were a matter of _wrong_ or _wicked lewdness_, O ye _Jews_, reason would, that I should bear with you: but if it be a _question of words_, and _names of your law_, look ye to it, _Acts 18. 14._

In handling these four punishments: First observe the _offenders_, whom the _Jews_ make liable to each punishment, and then the _manner of the punishment_.

The _persons_ to be _stoned_ were _eighteen_.[570] 1. _He that lieth with his own mother_, 2. _Or with his fathers wife_, 3. _Or with his daughter-in-law_, 4. _Or with a betrothed maid_, 4. _Or with the male_, 6. _Or with the beast_. 7. _The woman that lieth down to a beast._ 8. _The blasphemer._ 9. _He that worshippeth an Idol._ 10. _He that offereth of his seed to Moloch._ 11. _He that hath a familiar spirit._ 12. _The Wizard._ 13. _The private enticer to Idolatry._ 14. _The publique withdrawer to Idolatry._ 15. _The Witch._ 16. _The prophaner of the Sabbath._ 17. _He that curseth his Father or his Mother._ 18. _The Rebellious Son._ The _manner of stoning_ was thus: The offender was led to a place without the gates, two cubits high, his hands being bound: from hence one of the Witnesses tumbled him by a stroke upon the loins; if that killed him not, the Witnesses lifted up a stone, being the weight of two men, which chiefly the other Witnesse cast upon him; if that killed him not, _all Israel threw stones upon him_. _The hands of the Witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people_, _Deut. 17. 7._

[570] _Moses Kotsen. fol. 188. col. 4._

Hence the opinion of _R. Akiba_[571] is commonly received, that such an Idolater (it holdeth in all others condemned to this death) was reserved until one of the common feasts, at which _all the multitude of Israel came to Jerusalem_. The party thus executed being quite dead, was afterward for greater ignominy hanged on a tree, till towards the _Sun-set_, at which time he and the tree were both buried.

[571] _Paul. Fagius. Deut. 17. 7._

Malefactors adjudged to _burning_ were _ten_:[572] 1. _The Priests daughter which committed whoredome._ 2. _He which lieth with his own daughter._ 3. _Or with his daughters daughter._ 4. _Or with his sons daughter._ 5. _Or with his wives daughter._ 6. _Or with her sons daughter._ 7. _Or with her daughters daughter._ 8. _Or with his Mother-in-law._ 9. _Or with the Mother of his Mother-in-law._ 10. _Or with the Mother of his Father-in-law._

[572] _Moses Kotsen. loco superius citato._

The _manner of burning_ was _two fold_. Some they burnt with wood and faggots; this was termed[573] by them _Combustio corporis_, _the burning of the body_: Others they burnt by pouring in scalding hot lead in at their mouths, which descending into their bowels killed them, the bulk of their body remaining whole, and this was termed therefore _Combustio animæ_, _the burning of their soul_. This last was most in use, and alone described by most of their Writers.

[573] _Rab. Levi. Levit. 20._

Malefactors condemned to _beheading_, were _of two sorts_,[574] 1. _The Murderer_, 2. _Those of any City, who were drawn to Idolatry_. The manner thereof is at this day in use.

[574] _Moses Kotsen. in Sanhedrim._

Malefactors _strangled_, were six,[575] 1. _He that smiteth his father or his mother_, 2. _He that stealeth a soul of Israel_, 3. _An Elder which contradicteth the Consistory_, 4. _A false Prophet, and he that prophesieth in the name of an Idol_, 5. _He that lieth with another mans wife_, 6. _He that abuseth the body of the Priests daughter_.

[575] _Moses Kotsen. ibid._

The manner of _strangling_ was thus. The malefactor was put in dung up to the loins, a towel being cast about his neck; which two Executioners, one on each side, plucked to and fro until he was dead.

CHAP. VIII.

_Punishments not capital._

The _lesser punishments, not capital_, in use among the _Hebrews_, are chiefly four. 1. _Imprisonment_, 2. _Restitution_, 3. _Talio_, 4. _Scourging_.

_Imprisonment._ Under this are comprehended the _Prison, Stocks, Pillory, Chains, Fetters, and the like_: all which sorts of punishment, seeing they differ very little or nothing at all from those which are now in common use with us, they need no explication.

The _keepers of the Prison_, if they let any committed unto them escape, were liable to the same punishment which should have been inflicted on the party escaped. This is gatherable from that, _1 Kings 20. 39._ _Keep this man, if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life_.

Concerning that _Liberia Custodia_, which _Drusius_[576] proveth to have been in use among the _Romans_, I much doubt whether any such custome were in use among the _Hebrews_. That some kind of prisoners at _Rome_ did go abroad with a lesser kind of fetters in the day time to their work, and so return at night to their prison, hath elsewhere been observed by me. And[577] _Eadem catena & custodiam & militem copulabat_, _The same chain tyed both the prisoner and the keeper_. Observe the unusual significations of these two words, _Custodia_ a prisoner, and _Miles_ a keeper. So that _Drusius_ delivered _Seneca_ his meaning, but not his words, when he repeats them thus: _Eadem catena tam reum quam militem tenet_. Observe further, that the prisoner was tyed by his _right arm_, and the _keeper_ by the _left_, because the right arm is the stronger, and therefore justly remaineth free rather to the _keeper_, than to the _prisoners_. Hence is that,[578] _Tu forte leviorem in sinistra putas catenam_; because the _keeper_ tyed himself unto the same chain, not in way of punishment, but voluntarily for the safer keeping of the _prisoner_.

[576] _Drus. præter. 2 Tim. 1. 18._

[577] _Senec. Epist. 5. Non in lib. de tranquil. c. 10.
quemadmodum citato à Drusio._

[578] _Sen. de tranquil. cap. 10._

_Restitution._ This was commanded when goods were _unjustly gotten_, or _wrongfully detained_, _Exod. 22._ it was threefold.[579]

[579] _Tho. Aquin. secunda secundæ q. 62._

Restitution is threefold.

_Secundum idem_, _in identitie_, when the _very same thing_ is
restored which is wrongfully gotten.

_Secundum æquale_, when there is _so much for so much_ in
quantity restored, the goods unjustly gotten being sold or lost.

_Secundum possibile_, when restitution is made according to
that which a man hath, not being able to satisfie the whole.

_Restitution in identitie_, was, and is principally required. Whence it is, that if the theft, whether Ox or Sheep, were found alive upon a man, he restored but _double_, _Exod. 22. 4._ but if they were killed or sold, then _five Oxen_ were restored for an _Ox_, and _four sheep_ for a sheep, _Exod. 21. 1._ The _Jews_ were so precise in this kind, that if they had built an house with a beam or piece of Timber unjustly gotten, they would pull down the house, and restore the _same beam or piece to the owner_.[580] From this the Prophet _Habakkuk_ doth not much dissent: _The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it_, _Habak. 2. 11._

[580] _David Kimchi._

Among the _Jews_ he ought to be sold that was not of sufficient worth to make restitution, _Exod. 22. 3._ And _Augustine_[581] saith of Christians, _That he which doth not make restitution according to his ability, never repented_. And, _Non remittetur peccatum, nisi restituatur ablatum_.

[581] _Aug. Epist. 54._

_Talio._ This was a punishment in the _same kind_, _an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot_, Deut. 19. 21.

_Talio_ is twofold.

_Talio identitatis_, or _Pythagorica_, which was according to
the letter of the Law, when the offender was punisht with the
_loss of an eye_, for putting out another eye, _&c._

_Talio similitudinis_, or _analogica_, which was when the
_price of an eye_, or some proportionable mulct is paid for an
eye put out, or any other member spoiled.

The _Hebrews_ understand[582] _Talio similitudinis_, that the _price of a maim_ should be paid; not _Talio identitatis_, not that the offender should be punisht with the like _maim_; because to punish like for like _in identitie_, is in some cases impossible, as if a blind man put out anothers eye, or one toothless strike out anothers tooth.

[582] _Oculum pro oculo, id est, pretium oculi. Targum Jonath.
Deut. 19. 21. It. R. Solomon. ibid._

In case of bodily maims therefore, the _Hebrew Doctors_ say,[583] that the party offending was bound to a _five fold satisfaction_: first, for the hurt in the loss of the member. Secondly, for the _damage_, in loss of his labour. Thirdly, for his pain or grief arising from the wound. Fourthly, for the _charge_ in curing it. Fifthly, for the _blemish_ or deformity thereby occasioned. _Munster_ rendreth those five thus: _Damnum, læsio, dolor, medicina, confusio_. The _Romans_[584] likewise had a _Talio_ in their Law, but they also gave liberty to the offender to make choice, whether he would by way of _commutation_ pay a proportionable mulct, or _in identitie_ suffer the like maim in his body?

[583] _Vid. Munster. Exod. 21._

[584] _A. Gellius lib. 11. cap. 1._

_Scourging._ This was _two fold_; either _Virgis_, with rods; or _flagellis_, with scourging. This latter was more grievous than the former, as appeareth by that _Ironical_ speech;[585] _Porcia lex virgas ab omnium civium corpore amovit, hic misericors flagella retulit_. Both were in use among the _Romans_, but only the latter among the _Hebrews_. This beating or _scourging_ was commanded, _Deut. 25. 2, 3._ where the number of stripes was limited, which the _Judge_ might not exceed. _Forty stripes_ shall he cause him to have, and _not past_. The _Jews_ in many things laboured to seem _holy above the Law_. For example, where the Lord commanded a _Sabbath_ to be sanctified, they added their _Sabbatulum_, that is, they began their _Sabbath_ about an hour sooner, and ended about an hour later than the law required: where the Lord forbade them to _eat or drink things sacrificed to Idols_, they prohibited _all drinking with Heathens_,[586] because it is doubtful whether it were offered to Idols or no. The Lord commanded them in the time of the _Passover_ to _put away leaven out of their Houses_, they would not take the _name into their mouths_[587] all the time of that Feast. The Lord commanded them to abstain from _eating Swines flesh_; they would not so much as name it, but in their common talk[588] would call a _Sow_ דבר אחר _Dabar Acher_, _Another thing_. In like manner the Lord commanded chief Malefactors which deserved beating, to be punisht with _forty stripes_; they in their greatest corrections would give but _thirty nine_. _Of the_ Jews _five times received I forty stripes save one_, _2 Cor. 11. 24._ For this purpose the _scourge_ consisted of _three thongs_, so that at each blow he received _three stripes_; and in their greatest corrections were given _thirteen blows_, that is, _forty stripes save one_. Whether these thongs were made[589] the one of a Bulls hide, the other of an Asses hide, or all three of a Calves,[590] the matter is not material, both opinions have their Authors.

[585] _Cic. pro Rabirio._

[586] _Thisbites in נסך_

[587] _Thisbites in דבר_

[588] _Elias Thisbit. ibid._

[589] _Talmud. lib. Maccoth. cap. 3. in Mischna._

[590] _Baalturim. vid. Drus. 2 Cor. 10. 24._

The manner of correcting such, was thus. The malefactor had both his hands tyed to _a post_, one cubit and half high, so that his body _bowed upon it_. The _Judge_ shall cause him to _bow down_, _Deut. 25. 2._ This _post_ or _stake_ on which the Malefactor leaned in time of whipping, was termed עמוד _Gnammud_, _Columna_, _a Pillar_. His cloaths were plucked off from him downward unto the thighs, and this was done[591] either by _renting_ or _tearing_ of them. The _Governours rent_ Paul _and_ Silas _their cloaths, and commanded them to be beaten with rods_, _Acts 16. 22._

[591] _Talmud, ibid._

That the _Beadle_ should inflict a number of stripes proportionable unto the transgression, this correction was performed in the _sight of the Judge_. The _Judge_ shall cause him to be beaten _before his face_, _Deut. 25. 2._ The _chief Judge of the three_, during the time of the correction, did either read or recite _Deut. 28. 58, 59._[592] _If thou wilt not keep, and do all the words of this law_, &c. _Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful_, &c. The _second Judge_ he numbred the stripes, and the _third_ he bade the _Beadle smite_. The _chief Judge_ concluded all, saying, _Yet he being merciful forgave their iniquity_, &c. _Psal. 78. 38._

[592] _Talmud. ibid._

Sometimes in notorious offences, to augment the pains, they tyed certain huccle-bones or plummets of lead, or sharp thorns to the end of the thongs, and such scourges the Greeks termed[593] ἀστραγαλωτὰς μάστιγας _Flagra taxillata_ in the Scripture they are termed[594] _Scorpions_. My father hath chastised you with _rods_, but I will correct you with _Scorpions_, _1 King. 12. 12._

[593] _Eustathius. Item. Athenæus lib. 4._

[594] _Tholosan. synt. jur. univers. l. 31._

CHAP. IX.

_Punishments borrowed from other Nations._

The punishments borrowed from other Nations are principally six: 1. _Crux_, _The death on the Cross_. 2. _Serrâ dissectio_, _the cutting one asunder with a saw_. 3. _Damnatio ad bestias_, _The committing one to fight for his life with wild beasts_. 4. τροχὸς, _the wheel_. 5. καταποντισμὸς, _Drowning one in the sea_. 6. τυμπανισμὸς, _Beating one to death with cudgels_. The first and the third were meerly _Roman punishments_; the second was likewise used by the _Romans_, but whether originally taken from them is doubtful: the fourth and the last were meerly _Greek punishments_; the fifth was for the substance in use among _Hebrews_, _Greeks_ and _Romans_, but in the manner of drowning them, they differed. It will be needful to speak somewhat of all these.

1. _Crux._ This word is sometimes applied to _any tree or stake on which a man is tortured to death_, but most properly it is applied to a _frame of wood consisting of two pieces of timber compacted cross-wise_. The first is termed _Crux simplex_, the last _Crux compacta_. This latter is threefold. 1. _Decussata._ 2. _Commissa._ 3. _Immissa._

_Crux decussata._ This was made of two equal pieces of timber obliquely crossing one the other in the middle, after the manner of the _Roman_ X, and thence it is called _decussata_.[595] _Decussare, est per medium secare. Veluti si duæ regulæ concurrant ad speciem literæ_ X, _quæ figura est crucis._ This kind of cross is by the common people termed _Crux Andræana_, Saint _Andrews-cross_, because on such an one he is reported to have been crucified.

[595] _Hieron. in Jerem. c. 31._

_Crux commissa._ This was, when a piece of timber erected, was joyned in the middle to a traverse, of over-thwart top; somewhat shorter than the piece erect, in manner of a _Roman_ T. This is called _Crux Antoniana_, S. _Anthony his Cross_, because he is often painted with such a _Cross_.

_Crux immissa._ This was when a short traverse somewhat obliquely crossed the stake erect, not quite in the middle, as _Crux decussata_, nor quite on the top as _Crux commissa_, but near the top, in this manner †. This is thought[596] to have been _Crux Christi_, _the Cross on which our Saviour Christ suffered_.

[596] _Lipsius de cruce lib. 10. cap. 10._

The _Ceremonies_ used by the _Romans_ towards those whom they crucified were these: First, they _scourged_ them, and sometimes tyed them to a _Piller_ in time of scourging. _Artemidorus_[597] is clear in this, Προσδεθεὶς κίονι, πολλὰς ἔλαβε πληγὰς, that is, being tyed to the _Piller_, he received many stripes. _Plautus[598] is thought to have alluded_ to the same.

_------Abducite hunc_
_Intro, atque adstringite ad columnam fortiter._

[597] _Joseph. excid. lib. 5. cap. 32. Philo contra Flaccum.
It. Liv. lib. 1._

[598] _Plaut. Bacch._

The ancient _Fathers_[599] report that our _Saviour_ was whipt thus _ad columnam_: but the Scripture is silent, both touching the place and manner of this whipping, only that he was whipt is testified. _He scourged Jesus_, and delivered him to be crucified, _Mat. 27. 26._

[599] _Prudentius; Hieron. Beda vid. Lip. de cruce, lib. 2. cap. 4._

_Secondly_, They caused them to _bear their own Cross_,[600] _Malefici cùm ad supplicium educuntur, quisq; suum effert crucem_. Thus _Christ bore his own Cross_, _John 19. 17._ To this there is allusion, _He that taketh not his Cross, and followeth after me, he is not worthy of me_, _Mat. 10. 38._

[600] _Plutarch. de sera num. vind._

_Thirdly_,[601] That the equity of the proceeding might clearly appear, the cause of the punishment was written in a table, and so carried before the condemned person; or else it was proclamed by a publick Cryer. This cause was termed by the _Romans_ commonly _Titulus_, by some[602] it is called _Elegium_. Thus Pilate _wrote in Hebrew, Greek, and Latine, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews_.

[601] _Euseb. Eccl. hist. lib. 5. cap. 1. It. Suet. Domit. cap. 10._

[602] _Tertul. Apol. cap. 2. Sueton. in Calig._

_Fourthly_,[603] They _pluckt off their cloaths_ from such as were to be crucified. Thus _Christ suffered naked_.

[603] _Artemidor. l. 2. c. 58._

_Serra dissectio_, _A sawing one in sunder_. They sawed them from the head downward. The _Romans_[604] they used this kind of punishment, so likewise did the _Hebrews_. Thus _Manasses_ is thought to have punisht the _Prophet Isaiah_, and the Apostle to have alluded unto it, _They were sawn a-sunder_, _Heb. 11. 37._

[604] _Sueton. in Calig. cap. 27._

_Damnatio ad bestias._ Those who were condemned to wild beasts, are properly termed _Bestiarii_. Whether S. _Paul_ did, according to the letter, fight with beasts at _Ephesus_, _1 Cor. 15. 32._ is much controversed. Some[605] understand by _Beasts_, _Demetrius_, and others that opposed him at _Ephesus_, others[606] more probably understand the word _literally_. And this kind of punishment was commonly exercised against _Christians_ in the _Primitive Church_, insomuch that the _Heathens_ imputing the cause of all publick calamities unto the _Christians_, would call out,[607] _Christianos ad Leones!_ _Let the Christians be haled to Lyons_: yea, the litteral interpretation of the words, is a stronger argument that Saint _Paul_ believed the Resurrection (which is the scope of the text) than to understand the words of a metaphorical fight, against the enemies of his doctrine.

[605] _Theophylact. Anselm._

[606] _Chrysostom. Ambros. & alii._

[607] _Tertullian. Apol. cap. 40._

Τροχὸς, _The Wheel_: A wise _King_ bringeth the _wheel_ over the wicked, _Prov. 20. 26._ I take the words to imply no more but this, that _as the wheel turneth round, so by the wisdom of a King the mischief intended by wicked men, is brought upon their own head_. That hereby should be understood, the grinding of wicked men under a cart-wheel, as the husband brake some sort of grain under the wheel, is the meer conceipt of Expositors on this place; for no Records make mention of any such punishment in use among the _Jews_. Among the _Greeks_ there was a punishment went under this name:[608] it was called τροχὸς, A _Wheel_, not because a wheel was _brought over the wicked_, but because they bound fast the offender to the _spokes of a wheel_, and there scourged him, to inforce a confession.

[608] _Ἐπὶ τοῦ τροχοῦ γ’ ἕλκοιτο μαστιγούμενος, Aristoph. in
Iren. De eadem pœna loquuntur Demosth. 3. in Aphob. & Suidas._

Καταποντισμὸς, _Drowning in the Sea_. This was in use among many Nations, but the manner differed. The _Romans_[609] they sewed up a Parricide into a leather budget, sewing up together with him into the same budget, _a Serpent_, _a Cock_, and _an Ape_, and so cast them all into the Sea. The _Grecians_[610] when they judged any to this kind of punishment, they wrapt him up in lead. The _Hebrews_ tyed a milstone about his neck. Thus, in respect of the manner those are to be understood, who say,[611] this kind of punishment was peculiar to the _Jews_.

[609] _Senec. lib. 5. controv. 4. Juvenal Satyr 8. Modestus,
Digest. l. 48. ad legem Pomp. de parric. vid. Cæl. Rhod. l. 11.
c. 21._

[610] _Athenæus l. 14._

[611] _Hier. Mat. 18. 6._

Τυμπανισμὸς. It is rendred by the general name of _torturing_, _Heb. 11. 35._ _2 Mac. 6. 19._ But the word signifieth a special kind of torturing, by beating one with cudgels unto death. It hath its denomination from τύμπανον, which signifieth a _Drum_ usually: and hence some[612] have parallel’d this torture with that among the _Romans_ termed _Equuleus_; as if the person thus tortured, were rackt, and stretched out in manner of a _drum head_: but it signifieth also a _drum stick_, and thence[613] cometh the punishment to be termed _Tympanismus_, that is, a _Tabring, or beating one to death with cudgels_, as if it were with _drum-sticks_. This is evident by _Eleazar_; he came willingly, ἐπὶ τὸ τύμπανον, _to this kind of torment_, _2 Macab. 6. 19._ and in the thirtieth verse, where he gave up the Ghost, there is mention of his strokes, not of his _racking or stretching_.

[612] _Magius in lib. de Equuleo, vid. Drus. præter. l. 8._

[613] _Scholiastes Aristophanis τύμπανα scribit esse ξύλα οἷς
τύπτονται ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις οἱ τιμωρούμενοι in Pluto p. 50._

_Junius_[614] reckoneth another kind of punishment termed by the _Hebrews_, צינק _Tsinok_, which he would have to be a compound word: doubtless his meaning is that it would be compounded of צי _Tsi_, _Navis_, _a ship, or boat_, and ינק _Janack_, _Sugere_, _to suck_: for he saith that thereby is meant a certain punishment, termed _Navicula sugentis_ which _Plutarch_[615] describeth in this manner; _That the offender should be inclosed between two boates, as in a prison, or, as his phrase is_ (_quasi in vagina_) _as in a sheath; and, to preserve life in him, milk and honey tempered together was forcibly put into his mouth, whether he would or no_. And hence, from this _sucking in of milk and honey_, this punishment hath been termed _Navicula sugentis_. But the _Hebrews_[616] say, that _Tsinock_ was nothing else but _manacles_, or _cords_, wherewith prisoners hands were tyed. I leave it indifferent to the Reader to follow which interpretation he please.

[614] _Junius. Jer. 29. 26._

[615] _Plutarch. in Artaxerxe._

[616] _כלי מסגר לידים Instrumentum constringens manus. D.
Kimch. Jer. 29. 26._

THE SIXTH BOOK

OF _MISCELLANEOUS RITES_.

CHAP. I.

_Of Circumcision._

Their _Sacraments_ were two. First, the _Passover_ of which there hath been a set Chapter. Secondly, _Circumcision_, of which now.

_Circumcision_, was a cutting off the foreskin, as a sign and seal of _Gods_ Covenant made with the People of the _Jews_. It is called a _sign_ by _God_ in its first institution, _Gen. 17._ and a _seal_ by the _Apostle_, _Rom. 4. 11._ Yea, it is called a _sign_ and a seal, by a _Doctor_ of the _Jews_,[617] more ancient than their _Talmud_.

[617] _Zohar. Gen. 17._

It was used (though not as a _Sacrament_) by many other Nations:[618] by the inhabitants of _Colchis_, the _Æthiopians_, the _Trogloditæ_, and the _Egyptians_.

[618] _Alex. ab Alex. lib. 2. cap. 25. Herodo. l. 2. Diodor.
Sicul. l. 2. c. 1. It. l. 4. c. 3._

In a figurative sense, alluding unto this _Sacramental Rite_, we read of three other sorts of _Circumcision_ in the _Scripture_; so that in all there are four mentioned. 1. _This of the flesh._ 2. _Another of the heart._ 3. _A third of the lips._ 4. And a _fourth of the ears_. We are to consider it in its proper acception, and here to observe: First, the _time when_ it was administred. Secondly, the _manner how_. Thirdly, the _penalty in case it was omitted_.

The _time_ was the _eighth day_; yea, the _eighth day_ was so precisely observed, that if it fell on the _Sabbath_, yet they _circumcised the ~Child~_; whence rose that saying among them, _Circumcisio pellit Sabbatum_ _Circumcision driveth away the Sabbath_; or, the _Sabbath_ giveth place to _Circumcision_. And with this accordeth that of our Saviour, _Ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man_, _John 7. 22._ The _Jews_ superstitiously conceiting that each creatures perfection depended upon the sanctification of one _Sabbath_ day at least, say that _God_ did therefore enjoyn the _eighth day_, that one _Sabbath_ might first pass over each male, before he should be partaker of this Sacrament. But more probably we may say, that the reasons why God would not suffer them to anticipate the _eighth day_, were first to shew, that _God_ in the matter of Salvation, neither was, nor is _simply tyed to Sacraments_; for then there had been no less cruelty in _forbidding Circumcision until the eighth day_, than there was love in _permitting it upon the eighth_. Secondly, because in this time of the _Mosaical Pedagogie_, there was a kind of _legal uncleanness_, in which the creatures were thought to be, as remaining in their blood, for the first _seven daies_ after their birth, _Levit. 22. 27._ _It. 12. 2, 3._ Notwithstanding, _God_ thought it not convenient to defer it longer than eight daies, for the comfort of the Parents, which they received by a mature and seasonable initiation of their children.

The manner how Circumcision was administred, I find thus recorded: Some of those that were present held a vessel full of dust,[619] into which they did cast the foreskin being cut off. Again, they prepared in the room, a certain _void chair for Elias_;[620] which was done, partly in honour of him, for which respect also, as often as they fell on any difficult place in Scripture they would say[621] _Veniet Elias, & omnia enodabit_; _We know that Elias will come, and he will tell us all things_: But chiefly it was done, because they thought _Elias_ to be present there in spirit, whose bodily coming they did, and do daily expect. These ceremonies are meerly _Jewish_, practised by the latter _Jews_, but utterly unknown in our _Saviour Christ_ his time, and, as it appeareth by the _Samaritan woman_ her speech, that proverbial saying applyed now to _Elias_, was of old applyed to _Christ_, _John 4. 25._ _Thirdly_, he which supplyed the place of the _Witness_, or as we phrase it, of the _Godfather_,[622] held the Child in his arms whiles it was _Circumcised_: this _Godfather_ they called _Baal Berith_, and _Sandack_; that is, the _Master of the Covenant_. Uriah _the Priest_, and _Zachariah_ the son of _Jeberechia_, are thought[623] to have been _Godfathers_ at the Circumcision of _Maher-shalal-hash-baz_, _Esay. 8. 2._ and from them the custome of having _Godfathers_ in _Baptisme_, to have taken its original. _Fourthly_, the Parents named the Child, and in _Zacharies_ time, it seemeth that in the naming of the Infant, they had respect to some name of his Ancestors. _They said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is named with this name_, _Luk. 1. 61._ Other Nations had their set daies also after the birth, for the naming of their Children. The _Romans_[624] gave names to their male-children on the ninth day, to the female on the eighth. The _Athenians_[625] gave names on the tenth. Others[626] on the seventh. These daies _Tertullian_[627] called _Nominalia_. The _Grecians_ besides the tenth day on which they named the Child, they observed also the _fifth_,[628] on which day the Midwives took the Child, and ran about a fire made for that purpose, using that Ceremony as a purification of themselves and the Child: on this day the Neighbours also sent in _gifts_, or _small tokens_, _Munera natalitia_;[629] from which custom that amongst _Christians_, of the _Godfathers_ sending gifts to the baptized Infant, is thought to have flown. But to return again to the Rites of the _Jews_. After the Child had been _circumcised_, the Father said:[630] _Blessed be our Lord God, who hath sanctified us with his precepts, and hath commanded us, that we should cause this child to enter into the Covenant of Abraham_. After this, the whole Church or company present replyed in this manner,[631] _As thou hast made him to enter into the Covenant, so make him also to enter into the Law, into Matrimony, and into good works_.

[619] _Paul. Fag. Deut. 10._

[620] _Christoph. Cast. in Malac. c. 3._

[621] _Mercerus in abreviaturis. היקו_

[622] _נוהגין לקרא למי שמחזיק בן חברו למולו סנדק והלועזים
קורין לו בעל ברית Elias Thisb. in סנדק_

[623] _Jun. & Trem. Es. 8. 2._

[624] _Plutarch. prob. 102. Macrob. Sat. l. 1. c. 16._

[625] _Cœl. Rhodig. l. 22. cap. 12._

[626] _Arist. hist. anim. lib. 7. c. 12._

[627] _Tertul. de Idol. cap. 16._

[628] _Scholiast. Aristoph. in Lusistrat. p. 886. It. Suidas in
ἀμφιδρόμα._

[629] _Stukius de conviv. l. 1. c. 16._

[630] _ברוך אתה יהוה אלהינו מלך אשר העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו
וצונו לכניסו בבריתו של אברהם אבינו Moses Kotsen. in tractat.
circumcis. fol. 115._

[631] _כשם שהכנסתו לברית כן תכניסהו לתורה ולחופה ולמעשים טובים
Moses Kotsen. ibid._

The _penalty_ for the omission of _Circumcision_ running in this form; _That soul shall be cut off from his people_, _Gen. 17. 14._ I understand the _penalty_ to be pronounced against such an omission; which proceeded either from _contempt_ or _wilful neglect_. In this case the question is, what is meant by this phrase, _His soul shall be cut off from the people_. Secondly, _who ought thus to be punisht?_ whether the child, or the _parents_, and such who _supply the place of parents_? For the first, besides _Gods_ secret action in punishing such Delinquents, methinks there is a rule of direction for the Church, how to proceed against such in her Discipline: If any understand here, by _cutting off such a mans soul from his people_, the sentence of _excommunication_, or _casting him out of the Synagogue_, I shall not oppose it; though I rather incline to those, who understand hereby a _bodily death_ inflicted upon such an offender, in which sense the phrase is taken, _Exod. 31. 14._ _Whosoever doth any work on the Sabbath, that soul shall be cut off from among his people_. And it is very remarkable, that when _Moses_ his child was _uncircumcised, the Lord sought to kill Moses_: which as it intimated the punishment of this fault to be a _bodily death_ so it clearly evinceth, that not the _child_ till he cometh to years of discretion, but the _parents_ were liable to punishment. The opinion of the _Rabbines_ concerning this latter point is thus delivered:[632] _If the Father circumcise him not, then the Judges are commanded to circumcise him: and if it be unknown to the Judges, and they circumcise him not, when he is waxen great, he is bound to circumcise himself, and every day that passeth over him, after he is waxen great, and, he circumciseth not himself, lo he breaketh the Commandment._

[632] _Moses Kots. tract. circumcis. fol. 114. col. 4._

Here it may be demanded, how it is possible for a man, after once he hath been marked with the sign of _Circumcision_, to blot out that character and become _uncircumcised_? for thus some _Jews_, for fear of _Antiochus_, made themselves uncircumcised, _1 Mac. 1. 16._ Others for shame, after they were gained to the knowledge of Christ, and to entertainment of the _Christian faith, uncircumcised themselves_, _1 Cor. 7. 18._ The answer is,[633] that this was done by _drawing up the foreskin_ with a Chirurgion his instrument; and unto this the _Apostle_ in the fore quoted place alludeth, μὴ ἐπισπάσθω, _Ne attrahat præputium_. This wicked invention is ascribed unto _Esau_, as the first _Author_ and practiser thereof.

[633] _Epiphan. lib. de mens. & pond. p. 415. It. Celsus l. 7.
c. 25._

CHAP. II.

_Of their first fruits and their firstlings, or first-born._

The use and end of their _first-fruits_, was that the _after-fruits_ might be _consecrated in them_. To this purpose they were enjoyned to offer the _first fruits of their trees_, which served for food, _Levit. 19. 23, 24._ In which this order was observed; the _three first years_ after the tree had been planted, the fruits were counted _uncircumcised_ and _unclean_: it was unlawful to _eat them, sell them, or make any benefit of them_: on the _fourth year_, they were accounted _holy_, that is, either they were given to the _Priests_,[634] _Num. 18. 12, 13._ or the owners did eat them before the _Lord at Jerusalem_, as they did their _second tithe_: and this _latter_ is the common opinion of the _Hebrews_.[635] After the _fourth year_, they returned to the use of the owner: we may call these πρωτογεννήματα, _simply the first-fruits_.

[634] _והכהן יאכול Sacerdos ea comedebat. Aben Ezra in hunc
locum._

[635] _Talmud. Bab. in Magnasher sheni cap. 1._

_Secondly_, they were enjoyned to pay yearly the _first-fruits of every years increase_, and these we may call, ἀπαρχὰς, and of them there were many sorts. _First, first-fruits in the sheaf_, _Lev. 23. 10._ _Secondly, first-fruits in two wave-loaves_, _Levit. 23. 17._ These two bounded their harvest, _that in the sheaf_ was offered in the _beginning of harvest_, upon the fifteenth of _Nisan_, _the other of the loavs at the end_, upon their _Penticost_: and _Levit. 23._ they are both called תנופות _Thenuphoth_, that is, _shake-offerings_. _Thirdly_, there was a _first of the dough_. _Num. 15. 20._ namely,[636] a _four and twentieth part thereof_, given unto the _Priests_: which kind of offering was observed, even when they were returned out of _Babylon_, _Nehem. 10. 37._ Unto this St. _Paul_ hath reference, _Rom. 11. 16._ _If the first fruits be holy, the lump is holy_. _Fourthly_, they were to pay unto the _Priests_ the _first-fruits of the threshing floor_, _Numb. 15. 20._ These two last are called תרומות _Therumoth_, that is, _heave offerings_: this the _heave-offering of the threshing floor_; the other the _heave-offering of the dough_, _Numb. 15. 20._ Under the name of _first-fruits_, commonly Authors treat of no others but this last, and wholly omit all the former sorts. Before we proceed to the explaining of the last, note with me the difference of these two words, _Thenuphoth_, and _Therumoth_: both signifie _shake-offerings_, _heave-offerings_, or _wave offerings_, but with this difference;[637] the _Therumoth_ was by a _waving of elevation_, lifting the oblation upward and downward, to signifie, that _God_ was _Lord_ both of Heaven and Earth. The _Thenuphoth_ was by a waving of _agitation_, waving it to and fro, from the right hand to the left, from the _East_ to the _West_, from the _North_ to the _South_: by which kind of _agitation_, they acknowledged _God_ to be _Lord_ of the whole world. Now, that we may know what these _first-fruits of the threshing floor were_, the _Rabbies_, and the others following them, distinguish them into _two sorts_: the first of these, was _first-fruits_ of seven things only: 1 _Wheat._ 2 _Barley._ 3 _Grapes._ 4 _Figs._ 5 _Pomgranates._ 6 _Olives._ 7 _Dates._ For all which the Promised Land is commended, _Deut. 8. 8._ These the _Talmudists_[638] term בכורים _Biccurim_; and when they treat of _first-fruites_ they treat of them under this name, and understand by the name of _Biccurim_ no other. These, they say, are the _first fruits_, which the people are so often in the Law commanded to bring up unto the _Sanctuary_, at the _Feast of Pentecost_, which was the end and closure of their harvest, as was signified both by this oblation, and likewise by that of the two _wave-loaves_, _Lev. 23. 17._

[636] _עשרין וארבעה תרומו Uziel Numb. 15. 20._

[637] _P. Fagius in Pentat._

[638] _R. Solom. Deut. 26. 2. It. Moses Kotsens. fol. 201. Col. 4._

The second was paid of _Corn, Wine, Oyl, and the Fleece_, _Deut. 18. 4._ _Numb. 18. 12._ yea, of all things else that the earth brought forth of mans food. Thus their _Doctors_ are to be understood, where they say,[639] _Quicquid eduliorum ex terra incrementum capit, obnoxium est primitiis, Therumæ, & decimis_. This they call, תרומה _Theruma_, an _heave-offering_: the _Greek_ renders it, ἀφωρίσμος, _A separation_, because this was a _consecration, or setting apart of the Lords portion_. In allusion unto this, I take S. _Paul_ to have termed himself ἀφωρισμένον ἐς ἐυαγγέλιον, _separated unto the Gospel_, _Rom. 1. 1._ ἀφοριεῖ Ἀαρὼν, _Aaron shall separate the Levites_, so the _Greek_ renders it; but the Original is, _Aaron shall wave the Levites_, _Numb. 8. 11._ Again, ἀφορίσατε _Separate me Barnabas and Saul_, _Acts 13. 2._ _Drusius_ delivereth another reason, as hath been said in the _Chapter_ of the _Pharisees_. But to proceed: the _Hebrews_ called this second payment, not only _Theruma_, _simple_, but sometimes _Theruma gedola_,[640] the _great heave offering_, in comparison of that _Tithe_ which the _Levites_ payed unto the _Priests_: for that was termed _Theruma magnasher_, the _heave offering of the Tithe_, _Numb. 18. 26._ which though it were _one of ten_, in respect of that portion which the _Levites_ received; yet it was but _one of an hundered_, in respect of the Husbandmans stock, who payed the _Levites_: and thus it was a great deal less than the _great heave offering_, as will presently appear. This (the _Hebrews_ say) the owners were not bound to bring up to _Jerusalem_.

[639] _Moses Egypt. in. Jud. part. 3. tract. de Therumoth. cap. 2._

[640] _תרומה גדולה_

The _law_ prescribed no set quantity to be paid, either in the _Biccurim_ or in the _Theruma_; but, by _tradition_, they were taught to pay at least the _sixtieth_ part in both, even in those _seven things_, also paid under the name of _Biccurim_, or _first fruits_, as well as in their _heave-offering_ termed _Theruma_, or _Theruma gedola_.

Thus the _Talmudists_ do distinguish the _Biccurim_ from the _Theruma gedola_: but in my opinion the _Biccurim_ may be contained under _Theruma gedola_; and in truth, both of them are nothing else but the _heave-offering of the floor_, formerly mentioned out of _Num. 15. 20._ My reasons are these: 1. _Scripture_ giveth no such leave to keep any part of their _first-fruits_ at home; if that could be proved, the distinction were warrantable. 2. _Scripture_ doth not limit _first fruits_ unto those _seven kinds_, which alone go under the name of _Biccurim_. 3. Themselves confound both members; for their _Biccurim_, they say, they paid, 1. _Wheat._ 2. _Barley._ In their _Theruma_, they say, they paid _Corn_; as if under _Corn_; _Wheat_ and _Barley_ were not contained. Some may say, they paid their _Biccurim in the Ear_, while the harvest was yet standing and their _Theruma in Wheat and Barley ready threshed and winnowed_. My reasons why it cannot be so, are these: 1. Because then they should pay _twice a sixtieth part_ in their corn. 2. Because the corn offered in the sheaf was but a little quantity, and it was offered not at their _Pentecost_ when their harvest ended, but at their _Passover_ when their harvest began, _Levit. 23. 10._ Whereas their _Biccurim_, or _first fruits_, were alwayes offered at their _Pentecost_.

But omitting further proofs, I proceed to shew the ground, why in this _heave-offering of the floor_, at least a _sixtieth part_ was prescribed: it is grounded upon that of the Prophet _Ezek._ This is the oblation that ye shall offer, _the sixth part of an Ephah out of an Homer_, _Ezek. 45. 13._ that is, _the sixtieth part of the whole_, because an _Homer_ containeth ten _Ephahs_. Hence they took that distinction of these offerings. Some[641] they say, gave the _fortieth part of their encrease_: this, because it was the greatest quantity given in this kind of oblations, they termed _Theruma oculi boni_,[642] _The oblation of a fair eye_: others (though they were not so liberal as the former, yet they might not be reputed niggardly) gave a _fiftieth part_, and this they termed _Theruma mediana_,[643] _The oblation of a middle eye_: others, whom they reputed sordid, gave just a _sixtieth part_, less then which they could not give, this they termed _Theruma oculi mali_,[644] _The oblation of an evill eye_; so that the payment of these was bounded by the tradition of the _Elders_, between the _sixtieth_ and the _fortieth part_: But the _Pharisees_[645] that they might be _holy above others_, made their bounds the _fiftieth_ and the _thirtieth part_; so that he was reputed _sordid_ with them that paid the _fiftieth part_; and none liberal except he paid the _thirtieth_. The manner how these first-fruites termed _Biccurim_ were paid, is at large set down, _Deut. 26._ But in time of the _Prophets_ other _Ceremonies_ seem to have been received, of which the _Hebrew Docters_ say thus:[646] _When they carried up their first-fruits, all the Cities that were in a county gathered together to the chief City of the county to the end that they might not go up alone: for it is said, In the multitude of people is the Kings honour_, _Prov. 14. 28._ _And they came and lodged all night in the streets of the City, and went not into houses, for fear of pollution: and in the morning the Governor said, Arise, and let us go up to Sion, the City of the Lord our God. And before them went a Bull which had his horns covered with Gold, and an Olive Garland on his head, to signifie the first fruits of the seven kinds of fruits. There was likewise a pipe struck up before them, untill they came near to Jerusalem and all the way as they went, they sung, I rejoyced in them that said unto me, we will go into the house of the Lord_, &c. _Psal. 122._ Unto this, and other like manner of solemn Assemblies the _Prophet_ hath reference, saying, _Ye shall have a song as in a night when a holy solemnity is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of the Lord_, _Esay. 30. 29._

[641] _Solom. Jarchi. Deut. 18. 4. Item Hieron. in Ezek. 45. fol. 260._

[642] _תרומה עין יפה Theruma gnaiin jopha._

[643] _תרומה בינונית Theruma benonith._

[644] _תרומה עין רעה Theruma gnajin ragna._

[645] _Epiphan. contr. Pharis. pag. 11._

[646] _Maimon. in Biccurim. cap. 4. sect. 16._

The _firstlings_, or _first-born_ of man and beast, the _Lord_ challenged as his own, _Exod. 13._ The ground of this Law was, because _God smote all the first-born in Egypt from man to beast, but spared the Israelites_; for a perpetual memory of which benefit, he commanded them to sanctifie all their _first-born males_ unto him. Now the _first born men, and unclean beasts_, were redeemed for five silver shekels of the _sanctuary_, paid unto the _Priests_ for each of them, _Numb. 18. 15, 16._ Unto this S. _Peter_ alludeth saying, _We are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold_, _1 Pet. 1. 18._ The _firstlings of a clean beasts_ ought to be sacrificed, their blood to be sprinkled on the Altar, their fat to be burnt for a burnt-offering, and their flesh to return to the _Priests_.

Observe how _God_ would be honoured by the _firstlings of men and cattel_; by the _first-fruits of trees, and of the earth, in the sheaf, in the threshing-floor, in the dough, in the loavs_: All which teach us _to consecrate the first and prime of our years unto the Lord_.

CHAP. III.

_Of Tithes._

We are here to enquire: First, _what things_ in general were titheable: _Secondly_ how many _kind of Tithes_ there were: Thirdly, the _time_ when each sort of _tithes_ began to be _titheable_.

First, their yearly encrease was either _Cattel_, _fruits of the trees_, or _fruits of the land_; of _all these_[647] they payed _tithes_, even to mint, anise, and cumine, _These things they ought not to leave undone_, _Mat. 23. 23._

[647] _Vid. Sixtin. Amama de decimis._

Secondly, the _sorts of tithes_ payed out of the fruits, both of the trees and the land, by the Husbandman, were two, payd in this manner: When the Harvest had been ended, and all gathered, then the Husbandman laid aside his _great Theruma_, otherwise called the _first-fruits of his threshing floor_, of which it hath been spoken in the _Chapter of the first fruits_. This being done, then out of the remainder he paid a _tenth part_ unto the _Levites_, and this they termed _Magnasher rischon_,[648] _the first tithe_, _Tob. 1. 7._ This was always paid in kind, and as it seemeth to me, it was not brought up to _Jerusalem_ by the husbandman, (others[649] think otherwise) but payed unto the _Levites_ in the several Cities of tillage, _Neh. 10. 37._ out of this _first tithe_ the _Levites paid a tenth portion_ unto the _Priests_; this they termed _Magnasher min hammagnasher_,[650] _the tithe of the Tithes_, _Neh. 10. 38._ and _Decima sanctitatum_, the _tithe of holy things_, _2 Chron. 31. 6._ this the _Levites_ brought up to the house of _God_, _Neh. 10. 38._ When the _Levites_ had paid this tenth portion unto the _Priests_, then the _Levites_ and their Families might eat the remainder of the first tithe in any place, even out of _Jerusalem_, _Num. 18. 31._

[648] _מעשר ראשון_

[649] _Decimæ primæ necessario aut à colono ipso aut ejus
vicario Hierosolymas deportandæ erant. Sixtin. Amama de
decimis._

[650] _מעשר מין המעשר_

This first tithe being paid, the Husbandman paid out of that which remained a second tithe; this the Husbandman might pay in kind if he pleased, or if he would, he might by way of commutation pay the worth thereof in money; but when he payed in money, he added a fifth part; so that what in kind was _ten in the hundred_, that changed into money, was _twelve in the hundred_. This the Husbandman brought up unto _Jerusalem_, and made a kind of Love-feast therewith, unto which he invited the _Priests_ and _Levites_, only every _third year_ he carried it not to _Jerusalem_, _but spent it at home within his own gates_, upon the _Levites, the fatherless, the widows, & the poor_, _Deut. 14. 28._ They reckoned[651] their third year from the _Sabbatical year_, on which the land rested: so that the first and second _Tithe_ was payed by the Husbandman; the _first, second, fourth and fifth years after the Sabbatical year_: but upon the third and sixth years only, the first _Tithe_ was paid to the _Levites_, and the second was spent at home. Hence in respect of the _kinds_, this is called _Magnasher scheni_,[652] the second _tithe_, _Tobit. 1. 7._ in respect it was paid to the poor every third year: it is called _Magnasher gnani_[653], πτωχοδεκάδαι, _the poor mans tithe_, and _Magnasher schelischi_[654], _the third tithe_, _Tob. 1. 1._ On those years on which it was carried up to _Jerusalem_, it ought of necessity to be eaten within the _Court of the Temple_, _Deut. 14. 26._ and by the _third tithe_ we are to understand the _poor mans tithe on the third year_, which year is termed _a year of tithes_, _Deut. 26. 12._

[651] _Moses Kotsen. tract. de decima secundo. fol. 199._

[652] _מעשר שני_

[653] _מעשר עני_

[654] _מעשר שלישי_

They likewise tithed their cattel. _Of their bullocks, & their sheep, and all that passed under the rod, the tenth was holy to the Lord_, _Lev. 27. 32._ Some Expositors understand by this phrase of _passing under the rod_, that all cattel are _titheable_ which live under the _custody of a keeper_, as if there were allusion to the _shephards staff_, or _keepers rod_, which they use in keeping their cattel. The _Hebrews_ more probably understand hereby, the _manner of their decimation_ or _tithing_ their cattel, which was as followeth.[655] _He that hath Lambs (or Bullocks) thus separateth his tenth, he gathereth all his lambs and all his bullocks into a fold to which he maketh a little door, that two cannot go forth together; their dams are placed without the door, to the end, that the lambs hearing them bleating, might go forth one after another in order. Then one beginneth to number with his rod, one, two, three, ~&c.~ and the tenth which cometh forth, whether it be male or female, perfect, or blemished, he marketh it with a red mark, saying this is for tithe._ At this day the _Jews_, though they are not in their own Country, neither have any _Levitical Priesthood_, yet those who will be reputed religious among them, do distribute in lieu of tithes, the tenth of their encrease unto the poor, being perswaded that _God_ doth bless their estates the more: for their usual Proverb is,[656] _Thegnasher, bischebil sche thegnasher_; that is, _Pay tithes, that thou mayst be rich_.

[655] _Solomon Jarchi, Lev. 27. 32. & Maimon. de primogen. c.
7. Sect. 1. 5._

[656] _תעשר בישביל שתעשר_

The _time_ of the year from which they reckoned _tithes_, was different. For _beasts_[657] they counted the year from _Elul_ to _Elul_, that is, from _August_ to _August_, for _grain_, _pulse_, and _herbs_,[658] from _Tisri_ to _Tisri_, that is, from _September_ to _September_: for the _fruit of trees_, from _Schebat_ to _Schebat_, that is, from _January_ to _January_.

[657] _Talmud tract. de novo anno ad initium, Buxt. Synag. Jud. c. 12._

[658] _Moses Kotsen. in præcept. affirm. 136._

In this _Synopsis_ following (which _Sixtinus Amama_ hath taken out of _Scaliger_) the manner of _Israels_ tithings is set down.