Isaiah, who lived almost eight hundred

the incarnation."*

years before

It is a mistake to suppose that the Jews are an intolerant people. They hold all men obliged to observe what are called the Noachides, or seven precepts of the sons of Noah; which are, 1. Not to commit idolatry: 2. Not to blaspheme: 3. To appoint and constitute just and upright judges, that justice may be maintained, and impartially administered to all: 4. Not to commit incest, nor adultery: 5. Not to kill, nor hurt our neighbours: 6.

* Letters to Dr. Priestley, p. 89. and Dissertations on the Prophecies, Vol. I. p. 184. By the resurrection, however, they believe that two great ends are to be effected, the one particular, and the other general. "That which is particular, is for the Jews; and the other, which is general, is for them, and all the other nations. The first great end, which I call a particular one, as it is for the Jewish nation only, is to effect-that those who have been persecuted and slain, during this long and dreadful captivity, for adhering to the true faith, may enjoy the salvation of the Lord, according to what the prophet says (Isaiah, xxvi. 19; and chap. lxvi. 10. &c.) The second great end, which I call a general one, because it affects all mankind, whether Jews, Gentiles, or Christians, is to bring all nations to the knowledge of the true God, and to effect that the firm belief.of his unity may be so unalterably fixed in their hearts, as that they may attain the end for which they were created, to honour and glorify God, as the prophet observes," (Isaiah, xliii. 7.) Levi's Dissertations, Vol. I. p. 193, &c. Mr. Levi seems to be of the same opinion with Abarbanel, that "the future reward, or punishment, is for the soul only, not for the body."

Not to rob, steal, nor deceive: 7. Not to eat a member of any living creature. But it is the unanimous opinion of their Rabbins, that the Sinaitic covenant, or law of Moses, is obligatory on those of their nation only. They say it was a covenant between God and the Jews; that the Jews therefore are bound to the performance of it, but that it is not binding on the rest of mankind; for, if they do but keep the law of nature, i. e. "the seven precepts of the sons of Noah, we maintain, that they thereby perform all that God requires of them, and will certainly by this service, render themselves acceptable to him, and be partakers of eternal life.”*

The conquered nations, such as the Gibeonites, Cuthites, &c. who accepted Judaism by compulsion, and not only held the seven precepts of Noah, but also submitted to circumcision, were received and called Proselytes from fear, but intermarriage with them was not allowed; whereas those who took upon them the whole of the Mosaic dispensation, were called Proselytes of justice, or righteousness, and being initiated by ablution and circumcision, were thenceforth ad

* Levi's Letters to Dr. Priestley, p. 16. 17. and Maimonides on Repentance, chap. 3.

† Or more correctly from lions ; for this term arose from a horde of wanderers who begged to be received into an established city, with a view to escape some lions of the desert. Strangers of the Gate were not proselytes, as has been supposed, nor was sacrifice a part of the ceremony of proselytism, but a subsequent acknowledgment.

mitted to all the rites, ceremonies, and privileges, that were enjoyed by the natural Jews, except that some nations were excluded from intermarriages for ever, and others till after the third generation, &c. *

Intermarriages with other nations are still strictly prohibited, but every Jew is obliged to marry, and the proper time assigned by the Rabbins for entering into the marriage state, is the age of eighteen. "A man that lives single till twenty, is looked upon as a profligate, and an uncle may marry his niece, but an aunt may not marry her nephew." Girls are often married, or betrothed, under ten years of age, and when twelve years and a day old, women are declared of age. †

* Deut. chap. xxiii. v. 4, 5, 9, and 10. No Gentiles were permitted to dwell within their gates, unless they renounced idolatry, and observed the seven precepts of Noah; and although they did not hold it to be necessary for such as were not of their nation to become Proselytes of righteousness, or even to submit to circumcision, yet they never refused any that freely offered, but received all that were willing to profess their religion. For a particuJar account of both sorts of Proselytes, see Maimonides in Yod Hacha soka.

† Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 131, 148. In p. 146. Mr. Levi gives the form of a bill of divorcement.

Early marriages are encouraged chiefly in Poland; but there seems to be no foundation for the assertion, that their grand motive in condemning celibacy, and encour aging early marriages, is the hope that the Messiah may descend from them. They are obliged to have, at least, ten men present at the celebration of every marriage, "otherwise it is null and void."

For fear of commixture, they were likewise forbidden to eat with other nations, and consequently they could not keep company with them; and this law has been observed by them, as strictly as circumstances would admit, to the present day; for, in general, their cattle are killed, and their meat prepared and dressed by their own people; and cheese, in particular, must always be made under the superintendance of a Jew.* They eat no swine's flesh, nor of any beast that does not chew the cud, and part the hoof. They still keep holy the seventh day of the week, or our Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath.

The laws of the Jews, religious and moral, civil, political, and ritual; i. e. a complete system of pure Judaism, is contained in the books of the Old Testament, and chiefly in the five books of Moses, their great law-giver, who was raised up to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, and to conduct them to the possession of Canaan, the promised land. Moses is universally allowed to be the most ancient historian now extant; he is the only authentic writer of what happened before, and for several ages after the flood; and, it is a remarkable fact, that almost two-thirds of the inhabitants of the world, at this day, revere his writings, and look upon him as divinely inspired.

*Their meat, butter, cheese, &c. when sent to market, are marked with a certain impression, by which the Jewish purchaser understands that they are pure, and prepared or made by Jews.

But for the system of the Rabbinists, who have long been the most numerous party among the Jews, and who, in regard to doctrine, seem to be of "the sect of the Pharisees," recourse must be had also to their Mishna, Gemaras, Talmuds, and Targums.

They believe that God delivered to Moses, while he abode on the mount, not only the whole written law, as we find it in the Pentateuch, but likewise an explanation or interpretation of it, which they call the Oral law, which was not written, but verbally communicated by Moses to Aaron, Eleazer, and his servant Joshua. By these it was transmitted, by tradition, to the seventy elders; by them to Ezra and the prophets, who communicated it to the men of the great synagogue, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem and Babylon received it. In this manner, we are told, were these interpretations of the law handed down, by oral tradition, till the end of the second, or beginning of the third century, when, in consequence of the dispersion and depressed state of their nation, it was thought necessary to commit them to writing, and the work was undertaken by Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh, i. e. the Holy, then rector of the school, and president of the Sanhedrim at Tiberias, who compiled and arranged them in six books; each consisting of several tracts, and altogether making up the number of sixty-three. * This their Oral law, the

At the end of Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, may be seen a brief account of all the parts of the Mishna, as also