Rabbin's, says, the former is a proselyte-inhabitant, or a proselyte of the gate, who takes upon him the seven precepts of the sons of Noah; the latter is a servant whose body is not possessed, that is, is not in the possession of his master, not being bought with his money, is only an hired servant, and so not circumcised. But perhaps Jarchi's note will reconcile this to what Barzelonita says; "Toshab, a foreigner, this is a proselyte-inhabitant; and Shacir, or hired servant, this is a Gentile; but what is the meaning? are they not uncircumcised? (that is, both of them) and it is said, No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. but they are as a circumcised Arabian, and a circumcised Gabnunite, or Gabonite though circumcised, yet not by Israelites, but by Gentiles, which gave no right to the pass-over. Hottinger thinks these mercenary-proselytes, and with him Leusden scems to agree, were mechanic strangers, who left their own country, and came among the Jews for the sake of learning some mechanic art; and who, conforming to certain laws and conditions, prescribed by the Jews, were permitted to sojourn with them until they had learnt the art. There are but few writers who speak of this sort of proselytes. However, it seems agreed on all hands, that whether circumcised or not, they were not baptized, or dipped. Third, There was another sort of proselyte, called pa proselyte of righteousness; see Deut. xvi. 20. a stranger circumcised, and who is so called when he is circumcised; and sometimes 127 a proselyte, the son of the covenant the same as an Israelite; see Acts iii. 25. This sort of proselytes were the highest, and had in greatest esteem; who not only submitted to circumcision, but embraced all the laws, religion, and worship of the Jews; and were in all respects as they, and enjoyed equally all privileges and immunities, civil and religious, as they did; except being made a king, though one might if his mother was of Israel; and being members of the great Sanhedrim, yet might be of the lesser, provided they were born of an Israelitish woman; nay, even such have been in the great Sanhedrim, as Shemaiah and Abtalion, who were of the posterity of Sennacherib; but their mothers being Israclites, it was lawtul for them to judge, that is, in the great Sanhedrim, for one was the prince, and the other the Father of that courts. So the Jews say ", the posterity of Jethro sat in Lishcat Gazith, that is, in the great Sanhedrim, which sat in that room; and for which they quote 1 Chron. ii. 55. yet it has been a question, whether a proselyte should be made a public minister, or president of the congregation, called my now; but the common opinion was, that he might be one of this y Vid T. Bab, Avodah Zarah, c. 2. fol. 27. 1. & Edzard. not. in ib. p. 292. Philolog. I. 1. p. 18. Philolog. Heb. Mixt. Dissert. 21. vid. Carpzov. not. Zohar in Exod. fol. 36. 1. & in num. fol. 69. 4. ard. Jus Regium, p. 323. * Thesaur ad Schicks < R. Levi Ibid. San hedrin. c. 2. 3. 1.9. fT. Bab. Sanedrin, fol. 96. 2. * Juchasin fol. 17. 2. &. 18. 1, T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 104. 1.&, 106. 1. & Sotah, fol. 11. 1. - vet. par. a. 1. 3. c. 6. p. 943. ¡Vid Vitringam de Synagogı sort of proselytes, of whom they boast, some were persons of note for learning, or wealth, or worldly grandeur; but without sufficient ground. Sone, they own, were not sincere who became proselvtes, either through fear, or to gratify some sensual lust, or for some sinister end or another. Some were called proselytes of lions', who became so through fear; as the Samaritans, because of the lions sent among them, and that they might be freed from them, embraced the worship of God, though they retained also the worship of their idols. Others were called proselytes of dreams; who were directed and encouraged to become proselytes by such who pretended to skill in dreams, as being omens of good. things to them. Though some, in the place referred to, instead of dreams, read man windows, and render the words proselytes of windows, so AltingTM, meaning the windows of their eyes, who, to gratify the lust of the eyes, became proselytes; as Shechem, being taken with the sight of Dinah, submitted to circumcision for the sake of her; and others were called, proselvtes of Mordecai and Esther, who were like those who became Jews in their times; Esther viii. 17. through fear of the Jews, as there expressed. Others were true and sincere proselytes, who cordially embraced the Jewish religion, and from the heart submitted to the laws and rules of it; these were called drawn proselytes", who were moved of themselves, and of their own good will, without any sinister bias, and out of real love and affection to the Jewish religion, embraced it. Compare the phrase with John vi. 44. And such, they say, all proselytes will be in the time to come, or in the days of the Messiah; and yet sometimes they say, that then none will be received?: and when persons propose to be proselytes, the Jews are very careful to ask many questions, in order to try whether they are sincere or no; and such as they take to be sincere they speak very highly of; "Greater, say they, are the proselytes at this timej than the Israelites when they stood on mount Sinai; because they saw the lightening, heard the thunder, and the sound of the trumpet; but these saw and heard none of these things, and yet have taken upon them the yoke of the king dom, and are come under the wings of the Shechinah." though elsewhere, and in common, they speak but slightly of them; and say; "They are as grievous to Israel as a scab in the skin, or as a razor to it, because they often turn back again, and seduce the Israelites, and carry them off with them; yea, they say * As Aristotle, Meor Enayim, c. 22. fol. 91. 8. Izates and Monbaz, the sons of Queen Hele na, both kings, ibid. c. 51. fol. 161. 2. & c. 52. fol. 164. 2. 166, 167. Tzemach David, par 1. fol. 26. 1. & par. 2 fol. i5. 2. Nebuzaradan, the general of Nebuchadnezzar, T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 96. 2. Antoninus Pius, the Roman emperor, T. Hieros. Megillah, fol. 72. 1. & 74. 1. Ketiah, a prince in Cæsar's court, Avodah Zarah, fol. 10. 2. Juchasin, fol. 65. 2. a general of Cæsar's army, from whom sprung R. Meir, T. Bab, Gittin, fol. 56. 1. Nero, Jucna. sin, fol. 41. 1. & 63. 2. Tzemach David, par. 2. fol 16. 1, 2. Of the circumcision of these the R. Nehemiah in T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 24. 2. Jews speak, but say nothing of their baptism. Heptas Dissertat. para. Diss. 7. de Proselytis, s. 20. Ibid. fol. 34. 1. P Zohar in Gen. ful. 33. 1. & 40. 9. Talmud. Col. 411. "T. Bap. Avodah Zaralı, fol g. t. Medrash apud Baxtorf. Lexic. T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 47. 2. & 109. 2. Kiddushin, fol. 70. 24 they stop the coming of the Messiah." However, they have a saying' which shews some regard to them; "A proselyte, even to the tenth generation, do not despise a Syrian, or an heathen before him, he being present, or to his face; because till that time their minds are supposed to incline towards their own people;" and so it is said ", the daughter of a proselyte may not be married to a priest, unless her inother is an Israclitess, even unto the tenth generation. And there is another saying" of theirs, Do not trust a proselyte until the twenty fourth generation, that is, never; not only priests, Levites, and Israelites, but even bastards, and the Nethinim, or Gibeonites, were preferred to proselytes'. Some of these sayings do not seem so well to agree with the words of Christ, Matt. xxiii. 15. to reconcile which, it is thought, that while the temple was standing, the desire of making proselytes was stronger than after it was destroyed by the Romans; resenting that, they became indifferent about making proselytes, and were unconcerned about the salvation of the Gentiles, and contented themselves with receiving such only who freely came over to them. It never was deemed so honourable to be the descendents of proselytes, as of original Hebrews. Hence the apostle Paul gloried that he was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, both his parents being Hebrews. A Rabbi of note among the Jews, whose parents were both proselytes, or Gentiles, is called not by his proper name, Jochanan, but Ben Bag-Bag; that is, the son of a Gentile man, and the son of a Gentile woman; and for the same reason he is cailed in a following paragraph, Ben He-He, numerically He being the same with Bag; though it is said, these abreviations were used from reverence to him, and a regard for him; and, indeed, the Jews were not to reproach and upbraid proselytes with what they and their ancestors had been, or had done; they were not to say to a proselyte, Remember thy former works; nor were they to say to the sons of proselytes, Remember the works of your fathers; for this is the affliction and oppression of them, as they understand it, they are cautioned against, Exod. xxii. 21. Lev. xix 33. nay, they were to love them as themselves, because the Lord God loved the the stranger, Lev. xix. 34. Deut. x. 18. for of proselytes of righteousness they interpret these passages. Now it is of this sort of proselytes, proselytes of righteousness, that it is said, they were admitted into covenant, and into the Jewish church, as the Israelites were; the males by circumcision, by no baptism, or dipping, and by sacrifice; and the females by baptism, or dipping, and by sacrifice; and it is the baptism or dipping of these proselytes, that will be inquired into, and be the subject of the following Dissertation. • Mis. ■ Niddah, fol. 13. 2. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1. Jarchi in Exod. xviii. 9. nah Biccurim, c. I. s. 5. Yalkut in Ruth, fol. 163. 4. * T. Hieros. Horaiot, fol. 48. s Vid. Wagenseil. not. in Sotah, p. 754. 2 Pirke Abot, c. 5. s. 22, 23. Vid. Fagium & Leusden. in ibid. Vid. R. David Kimchi, Sepher Shorash, rad. My R. Levi Ben Gersom, in Lev. xiv. 33. 34. fol. 163. 3. Ez Hechayim M. S. apud Wagenseil, not. in Sotal P. 805 THE OCCASION OF THIS DISSERTATION. SEVERAL learned men, and some of our own nation, whom I shall chiefly e •Works, p. 201, 203. VOL. 111. 1 temple stood) by sacrifice, but also with the ceremony or solemnity of washing, that is, ablution of the whole body, done solemnly in a river, or other such great place or receptacle of water." So he says, Jethro, Moses's father in law, was made a proselyte in this way; and that this ceremony of initiation belonging not only to those, which being of years, came over from heathenism to the Jews religion, but also to their children-infants, if their parents, or the consessus (the sanhedrim) under which they were, did in the behalf of thei, children desire it; and on condition, that the children, when they came to age, should not renounce the Jewish religion; nay, he says, the native Jews themselves were thus baptized; for all which he refers to the Talmud, Tr. Repud. by which I suppose he means the tract Gittin, concerning divorces. But I have not met with any thing relating thereunto in that treatise. For the same purposes it is quoted by Dr. Wall, who, I suppose, goes upon the authority of Dr. Hammond, since he acknowledges he was not so well acquainted with the books to be searched for such quotations. Now Dr. Hammond observes, that "having said thus much of the custom among the Jews, it is now most easy to apply it to the practice of John, and after of Christ, who certainly took this ceremony from them;" and further observes, that by this it appears, how little needful it will be to defend the baptism of christian infants from the law of circumcising the infants among the Jews; the foundation being far more fitly laid in that other of Jewish baptism." Yea, in another of his works he suggests that this custom is the true basis of infant-baytism. The very learned Mr Selden is more large in his quotations in divers parts of his works, from both Talmuds and other Jewish writers, concerning this rite and custom; which authorities produced by him, and others, will be given and considered hereafter. At the close of which he makes these remarks; that the Jewish baptism was as it were a transition into christianity, or however, a shadow of a transition, not to be passed over in silence; and that it should be adverted to, that the rite or sacrament of baptis.n, used at the beginning of christianity, and of the gospel by John, and by the apostles, was not introduced as a new action, and as not before heard of, even as a religious action, but as well known to the Hebrews, as a rite of initiation, from the use and discipline of their ancestors, and as joined with circumcision. Dr Lightfoot, who must be allowed to be well versed in Jewish literature, has produced the same authorities Selden has, if not more, in support of the said rite or custom, as in early use with the Jews, and exults and triumphs abundantly over the Antipa dobaptists in favour of infant-baptism, on account thereof: he asserts, that " baptism had been in long and common use among them (the Jews) many generations before John the Baptist came; they using this for admission of proselytes into the church, and baptizing men, women, and children for that end:-hence a ready reason may be given why there is so little mention (no mention at all) of baptizing f Six Queries, p. 191, 195. De Success. ad Leg. Ebr. c. 26. de Jure Natur. & Gent. 1. b De Synedriis, 1. 1. c. 2. p. 27. 31. . 2. C. 2. |