Chapter 91
Perea. Beyond Jordan.
"The length of Perea was from Macherus
to Pella: the breadth from Philadelphia to Jordan."
"The mountainous part of it was mount
Macvar, and Gedor," &c. "The plain of it was Heshbon, with all its
cities, which are in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-Meon,"
&c. "The valley of it is Beth-Haran, and Beth-Nimrah, and Succoth,"
&c.
The mention of the mountains of Macvar
occurs in that hyperbolical tradition of R. Eleazar Ben Diglai,
saying, "The goats in the mountains of Macvar sneezed at the
smell of the perfume of the incense in the Temple." The word Macherus
is derived from Macvar.
The whole country, indeed, which was
beyond Jordan, was called Perea: but it was so divided, that the
southern part of it was particularly called Perea; the other part was
called Batanea, Auranitis, Trachonitis. So it is called by Josephus,
because, by the donation of Augustus, "Perea and Galilee came into the
possession of Herod Antipas: and Batanea, and Trachon, and Auranitis,
into that of Philip."
Bashan passed into Batanea,
according to the Syriac idiom, that changeth Shin into Thau:
Batanin, in the Samaritan interpreter; Matanin, in the
Targumists, by the alternate use of Mem and Beth, which is not unusual
with them.
Golan was the chief city of this
country,
Joshua 20:8. Whence is Gaulonitis, and that "Upper and Nether
Gaulonitis."
In the Jews we read, "Trachon, which
is bounded at Bozra." Not Bozrah of Edom,
Isaiah 63:1; nor Bezer of the Reubenites,
Joshua 20:8; but another, to wit, Bosorra, or Bosor, in the land
of Gilead. Concerning which, see Josephus, and the First Book of
Maccabees, 5:26.
While we speak of the difference
between Bezer and Bozrah, we cannot pass by a simple example of this
thing, propounded by the Babylonian Talmudists. "The prince of Rome"
[viz. Samael, the angel of death, as the Gloss tells us] "did formerly
commit a threefold error; as it is written, 'Who comes from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah?' In this matter he errs, because there is
no refuge but in Bezer, and he betook himself to Bozrah," &c.
"Batanea is bounded by Trachonitis."
Auranitis.--Josephus sometimes calls
it 'Abranitis.'--"Caesar (saith he) gave to Herod [the Great] Trachon,
and Batanea, and Abranitis"; and that, that he should restrain and
subdue the robbers, who most miserably vexed those countries, &c.
Chapter 92
Adam and Zaretan,
Joshua 3.
I suspect a double error in some
maps, while they place these two towns in Perea; much more, while they
place them at so little a distance.
We do not deny, indeed, that the city
Adam was in Perea; but Zaretan was not so. Of Adam is mention,
Joshua 3:16; where discourse is had of the cutting-off, or cutting
in two, the waters of Jordan, that they might afford a passage to
Israel; The waters rose up upon a heap afar off in Adam. For
the textual reading "In Adam," the marginal hath "From
Adam." You may very fitly apply both readings.
Adam was the centre, where the waters
parted: here was the station of the ark of the covenant, now ready to
enter Jordan. Hence the Psalmist, The tabernacle which he had fixed
in Adam,
Psalm 78:60. Therefore, the textual reading "inAdam," holds
well; because there was the centre of the cutting in two of the
waters: but the marginal reading "from Adam," does moreover add
light, because the gathering those waters together on a heap was far
above it.
"R. Jochanan saith, Adam is a city,
and Zaretan is a city, and they are distant from one another twelve
miles." From Adam to Zaretan, were the waters dried up; from Zaretan
and upwards, they stood on a heap. Adam was in Perea, over-against
Jericho; Zaretan was in the land of Manasseh on this side Jordan. It
is called Zarthanah,
1 Kings 4:12, and is defined to be near Beth-shean, which was the
furthest bounds of the land of Manasseh northward. The brazen vessels
of the Temple are said to be cast in the plain of Jordan, in the clay
ground between Zaretan (on this side Jordan) and Succoth (beyond it),
1 Kings 7:46. Therefore, the words cited in Joshua, far off
from Adam, which is beside Zaretan, are so to be understood, as
not so much to denote the nearness of Adam and Zaretan, as to intimate
that the heaping up of the waters was by Zaretan. They are to be
rendered in this sense, "And the waters that came down from above
stood together; they rose up into one heap, in a very long distance
from the city Adam," namely, to that distance, which is by Zaretan.
Adam and Zaretan, on this and the
other side, were both something removed from Jordan: but they are
named in that story, because there the discourse is of the time, when
Jordan contained not itself within its own channel, but had overflown
its banks.
Chapter 93
Julias-Bethsaida
There were two Juliases, both in
Perea, one built by Herod, called before 'Betharamphtha': of which
Josephus; "At Betharamphtha, which before was the city's name, Herod
compassed Julias with a wall, calling it by the name of the empress."
The other built by Philip, heretofore called Bethsaida, of which the
same author writes thus: "Philip, having raised the town Bethsaida on
the lake of Gennesaret to the honour of a city, both in respect of the
number of the inhabitants, and other strength, gave it the same name
with Julia, the emperor's daughter."
The maps have one Julias only: not
amiss, because they substitute the name of Bethsaida for the
other:--but they do not well agree about the situation of both.
Julias-Betharamphtha was seated at the very influx of Jordan into the
lake of Gennesaret. For thus Josephus; "Jordan, having measured a
hundred furlongs more from the lake Samochonitis, after the city
Julias, cuts the lake of Gennesar in the middle." Do not these words
argue that Jordan, being now ready to enter into the lake, did first
glide by Julias? To which those things which are said elsewhere by the
same author do agree. "Sylla (saith he) encamped five furlongs from
Julias, and stopped up the ways;--namely, that which led to Cana, and
that which led to the castle Gamala. But I, when I understood this,
sent two thousand armed men, under Jermias their captain; and they
having encamped a furlong from Julias near the river Jordan," &c. Note
that, when they were distant from Julias a furlong only, they are but
a little way off of Jordan. The maps place it more remote from the
influx of Jordan into the lake of Gennesaret than these words will
bear.
Julias-Bethsaida was not seated in
Galilee, as it is in the maps, but beyond the sea of Galilee in Perea.
This we say upon the credit of Josephus: "Philip (saith he) built
Caesarea in Paneas [mark that]: and Julias [which before-time was
Bethsaida] in Nether Gaulonitis." But now, there is nobody but knows
that Gaulonitis was in Perea. This certainly is that Julias which
Pliny placeth eastward of the lake of Gennesaret (for the other Julias
was scarcely near the sea at all); and that Julias of which Josephus
speaks, when he saith, "that a certain mountainous country beyond
Jordan runs out from Julias to Somorrha."
Chapter 94
Gamala. Chorazin.
These things determine the situation
of Gamala:--1. It was "in lower Gaulon," in which, as we have seen,
Bethsaida was. 2. It was "upon the lake [of Gennesaret]." 3. It was
"over-against Tarichee." Compare the maps, whether in their placing of
it they agree with these passages. Here was Judas born, commonly
called 'Gaulanites,' and as commonly also, the 'Galilean.' So Peter
and Andrew and Philip were Gaulanites; of Bethsaida,
John 1:44; and yet they were called 'Galileans.'
While we are speaking of Bethsaida,
Chorazin comes into our mind, which is joined with it, in the words of
Christ,
Matthew 11:21, as partaking with it in his miracles, and being
guilty of equal ingratitude. If you seek for the situation of this
place, where will you find it? Some maps place it on this side Jordan,
and other beyond Jordan: but on what authority do both depend? It is
mere conjecture, unless I am deceived. Let me also conjecture.
The word Chorashin, denotes
woody places, both in the Holy Bible and in the Rabbinical
writings. Hence we suppose the Chorazin that is now before us is
called, namely, because it was seated in some woody place. For
such places the land of Nephthali was famous above the other tribes:
to which the words of Jacob have regard, "Nephthali is a hind let
loose,"
Genesis 49; that is, Nephthali shall abound with venison; as Asher
(of whom mention is made in the words going before) shall abound in
bread, and royal dishes. Those words also of the Talmudists refer to
this, "It is lawful for cattle to feed in common, in the woods,
yea, for the tribe of Judah [to feed] in the tribe of Nephthali."
Hence 'Harosheth of the Gentiles' hath its name,
Judges 4:2, which was in that tribe. Led by these reasons, I
suppose our Chorazin to have been in Galilee, rather than in Perea,
where most maps place it.
But when this place seems to have
been so famous for the frequent presence and miracles of Christ, it is
a wonder that it hath nowhere else so much as a mention in the
gospel-story, but in the bare remembrance of it in those words of
Christ, "Woe to thee, Chorazin," &c.; whereas Bethsaida and Capernaum,
places that he mentioneth with it, are spoken of elsewhere. What if,
under this name, Cana be concluded, and some small country adjacent,
which, from its situation in a wood, might be named 'Chorazin,' that
is, 'the woody country'? Cana is famous for the frequent presence and
miracles of Christ. But away with conjecture, when it grows too bold.
Chapter 95
Some towns upon the very limits of the land.
Out of the Jerusalem Talmud,
Demai, fol. 22. 4.
In the place cited, discourse is had
about the tithing of some herbs and seeds, namely, of rice, nuts,
onions, Egyptian beans, &c.; and inquiry is made, what is to be
resolved of tithing them, if they grow in places which seem to be
without the land; and these words are presently after brought in:--
"These cities are forbid in the
borders, Tsur, Sezeth, and Bezeth, Pi Mazobah, upper and lower
Canothah, Beth Badia, Rosh Maja, Amon, and Mazi (R. Mena saith, So it
was called anciently, but now Susitha): Ainosh, En Teraa, Ras, Berin,
Jion, Jadot, Caphar, Charob, Chaspia, and Caphar Tsemach. These cities
are permitted in the borders, Nebi, Tsur, Tsijar, Gasmi, Zivian,
Jagdi, Chatam, Debab, Charbatha, and Cheraccah" (or "Debab, and its
wilderness, and its fortification").
You see the name Tsur, here
once and again, of which we have spoken before: let us add these words
elsewhere: "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living: and
are there not other lands of the living besides Tsur and her
companions,--and Caesarea and her companions?"
Of Caphar Tsemach, there is
mention also in the place first cited, col. 3, in these words: "Rabbi
looseth Bethshan. Rabbi looseth Caesarea. R. looseth Beth-Gubrim.
Rabbi looseth Caphra Tsemach" (from the obligation, as it seemeth, of
the Demai). "Rabbi permitted to take herbs, in the end of the seventh
year: but all were against him. He said to them, Come, and let us
judge of the matter. 'It is written' (concerning Hezekiah) 'And he
beat in pieces the brazen serpent.' What! was not any one righteous
from Moses unto his times, who did this? But God reserved that crown
for him, that he might be crowned with it: and God hath reserved this
crown for us, that we may be crowned with it."
Chapter 96
The consistories of more note:
out of the Babylonian Talmud,
Sanhedr. fol. 32. 2.
"The Rabbins deliver, Follow after
righteousness, follow after righteousness. Go to (Beth-Din) the famous
consistory, to R. Eleazar to Lydda, to Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai. A
tradition; The sound of mills in Burni. The sons' week, the
sons' week. A candle in Beror Chel. A feast is there, a feast
is there."
These things are something obscure,
and do require light.
Beror Chel, seems to design a
place: but what place? Indeed, the Sanhedrim of R. Jochanan was in
Jabneh; but his consistory, his seat of judgment, seems to be
distinguished from the Sanhedrim. So Paul was brought up at the feet
of Rabban Gamaliel; not in his Sanhedrim, but in his consistory
or school. So you may conjecture, that Rabban Jochanan, besides
that he sat president of the chief Sanhedrim, had his peculiar
consistory in Jabneh itself, or in some neighbour place.
That which follows, "A tradition, the
sound of mills," &c. is cleared by the Glossers: "The sound of mills
in Burni was a sign that there was a circumcision there; as if it had
been publicly proclaimed, The infant's week expires in this place. And
the sound of a mill was a sign that spices were ground to be applied
to the wound of the circumcision. It was a time of persecution,
wherein it was forbidden to circumcise: they feared, therefore, by any
public notice to make known that there was to be a circumcision; but
they appointed this sign."
'A candle in Beror Chel.'--The Gloss
writes, "The light of one candle in the day-time, but many candles
burning in the night, gave a sign, as if one had given notice by a
public proclamation that a feast of circumcision was there," &c.
Another Gloss is thus: "They were
wont to light candles at a circumcision. It was also a custom to
spread a tablecloth at the door: hence is that, A custom prevailed at
Jerusalem, that as long as the tablecloth was spread at the door,
travellers went in."
The Aruch writes thus; "In the time
of persecution they could not celebrate public matrimony, nor public
circumcision; therefore, they did them secretly: wheresoever,
therefore, were lighted candles on the lintel of the door, they knew
that there was a wedding-feast there; and wheresoever was the sound of
mills, there was a circumcision."
The Jerusalem Talmudists add,
"Although the persecution ceased, yet that custom ceased not."
The Babylonian Talmudists go on. "Go
to R. Josua to Pekiin." In the Jerusalem Talmudists it is
Bekiin, in this story that follows:
"R. Jochanan Ben Bruchah, and R.
Eliezer the blind, travelled from Jabneh to Lydda, and received R.
Josua in Bekiin."
"Go to Rabban Gamaliel to Jabneh. Go
to Rabbi Akiba to Bene Barak. Go to R. Mathia to Roma. Go to R.
Chananiah Ben Teradion to Sicni. To R. Jose to Zippor. To R. Judah Ben
Betirah to Nisibin. To R. Josua to the captivity (viz. to Pombeditha).
To Rabbi to Beth-Shaaraim. To the Wise men in the chamber Gazith."
Chapter 97
The cities of the Levites.
Concerning them, see Numbers, chapter
35, and Joshua chapter 21.
"The suburbs of the cities of the
Levites were three thousand cubits on every side; viz. from the walls
of the city, and outwards; as it is said, 'From the walls of the city
and outwards a thousand cubits: and thou shalt measure from without
the city two thousand cubits' (Num
35:4,5). The former thousand were the suburbs, and the latter two
thousand were for fields and vineyards. They appointed the place of
burial to every one of those cities to be without these bounds; for
within them it was not lawful to bury a dead corpse." Do you ask the
reason? It was not so much for the avoiding pollution, which might be
contracted from a sepulchre, as by reason of the scribes' curious
interpretation of the law, that saith, The suburban lands of these
cities were given to the Levites for their cattle and oxen, "and for
all their living" (creatures),
Numbers 35:3:--therefore, say they, not for the dead or for
burial.
All the cities of the Levites were
cities of refuge; but with this distinction from those six which were
properly so called; that those six afforded refuge to every one that
dwelt in them, whether he betook himself thither for that end or no:
but the other Levitical cities were not so. And also, that the
unwitting manslayer, flying to those six cities, dwelt there at free
cost, without paying any rent for his house; but in the other
Levitical cities he lived not at free cost.
Those forty-eight cities of the
Levites were so many universities, where the ministerial tribe,
distributed in companies, studied the law, became learned; and thence
scattered through the whole nation, dispersed learning and the
knowledge of the law in all the synagogues.
Two things are, not without good
reason, to be observed here, which, perhaps, are not seriously enough
observed by all.
I. The settled ministry of the church
of Israel was not prophets, but priests and Levites,
Malachi 2:7. For it was not seldom when there were no prophets;
and the prophets send the people to the priests for instruction,
Haggai 2:11, and Malachi, in the place mentioned already.
II. That tithes were granted to the
priests and Levites, not only when they ministered at the altar or in
the Temple, but when they studied in the universities and preached in
the synagogues.
Behold the method of God's own
institution. God chooseth Israel to be a peculiar people to himself:
to this chosen people he gives a law and a clergy: on the clergy he
enjoins the study of the law: to their studies he suits academical
societies: on the universities he bestows lands and tithes: on the
synagogues he bestows tithes and university-men.
And the schools of the prophets were
little universities, and colleges of students. For their governor they
had some venerable prophet, inspired with the Holy Spirit, and that
partook of divine revelations. The scholars were not inspired indeed
with the same prophetical spirit, but received prophecies from the
mouth of their master. He revealed to them those things that were
revealed to him, of the will of God and the state of the people, of
the times and events of Israel, and above all, of the mysteries of the
gospel; of the Messias, of his coming, times, death, resurrection, and
those things that were to be done by him.
In these small universities, "the
prophets, who prophesied of the grace that should come (as the apostle
Peter speaks), inquired diligently of salvation; searching what, or
what manner of time that was, which was pointed out by the Spirit of
Christ that was in them, when he foretold the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow." These things, not to be fetched out
by the mere and bare study of the law, were here taught; and so the
studies of the law and gospel together rendered the minister of the
divine word complete.
Chapter 98
Some miscellaneous matters respecting the face of the land.
I. Let us begin with that canon
concerning reading the Book of Esther in the feast of Purim. "Towns
that were begirt with walls from the days of Joshua read it on the
fifteenth day" of the month Adar: "Villages and great cities read it
the fourteenth day": "Unless that the villages anticipate it, to the
day of the congregation."
You see a threefold distinction of
cities and towns:
1. Fortifications, or towns
girt with walls from the days of Joshua. But whence shall we know
them? They are those which are mentioned in the Book of Joshua;
"which, however in after-times they were not begirt with walls, are
nevertheless reckoned under the catalogue of them, as to the reading
of that book."
2. Great cities. That was
called a great city in which was a synagogue. So it is defined by the
Piske Tosaphoth, "That is a great city, in which are ten men at
leisure to pray and read the law." See what we say concerning these
things on
Matthew 4:23, when we speak of synagogues.
3. Villages. That is, such
where there was not a synagogue. Yea, saith the Piske Harosh, "a
fortified town, wherein are not ten men of leisure" (or such as
'ceased from the things of the world'; and these made up a synagogue),
"is reputed as a village," &c.
That which is added in the text of
the Misna, "Unless the villages do anticipate it to the day of the
congregation," is thus explained by the Glossers: "When towns, girt
with walls, read the Book of Esther on the fifteenth day, and those
that were not walled, on the fourteenth (see
Esther 9:21): and yet it is said before" (in the same text of the
Misna), "that that book is read the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
days; the wise men granted liberty to the villages to preoccupate the
reading, namely, on that day wherein they resorted to the synagogue:
that is, either the second day of the week, that went before the
fourteenth day of the month, or the fifth day of the week: which were
days of assembly, in which the villages resorted into the cities to
judgment. For the second and fifth days of the week, the judiciary
consistories sat in the cities by the appointment of Ezra. Now the
villagers were not skillful in reading; therefore it was needful that
they should have some reader in the city."
II. Let the canons and cautions of
the spaces and places next joining to the city or town be observed:
1. "A dovecote was not built within
fifty cubits from the city": and that, lest the pigeons might do
injury to the gardens that were sown.
2. "They permitted not a tree within
five-and-twenty cubits from the city." "And this (as the Gloss speaks)
for the grace of the city."
3. "They allowed not a barn-floor
within fifty cubits from the city": that, when they fanned their corn,
their chaff might not offend the citizens.
4. "They permitted not dead carcases,
or burying-places, nor a tanner's shop, to be within fifty cubits from
the city" (because of the stink). "Nor did they allow a tanner's
workshop at all, but on the east side of the city. R. Akiba saith, On
any side, except the west, but at the distance of fifty cubits."
III. From the cities let us walk
forth into their ploughed grounds and fields.
Here you might see, in some places,
certain tokens hung upon some fig-trees, to show of what year the
fruit that grew there was. See what we say on
Matthew 21:19. In other places, you might see barren trees
stigmatized with some mark of infamy. "A tree which shook off its
fruits before they were ripe, they mark with red, and load it
with stones."
You might see the ploughing and
mowing of their fields, the dressing of their vines, and their
vintage, to be done by the rules of the scribes, as well as by the art
of the husbandman, or the vine-dresser. For such was the care and
diligence of the Fathers of the Traditions, concerning tithing corn
and fruits, concerning leaving a corner for the poor, concerning the
avoiding of sowing different seeds, and of not transgressing the law
concerning the seventh year; that they might not plough, nor sow, nor
reap, but according to the traditional rule. Hence are those infinite
disputes in the books Peah, Demai, Kilaim, Sheviith, of the corner of
the field to be left, what and how much the portion of it was, and of
what things such corners ought to consist? Of those that divide the
field so that a double corner of it is due to the poor: Whether a
corner is due from beds of corn that grow among olive trees? Whether
from a field whose sowing and reaping is various? What are the trees
whose fruits are Demai? Of what things is the tithing of the Demai?
How long the same plot of ground may be sown with different seeds, so
as not to offend against the law? Of sowing different seeds:--How many
vines make a vineyard? Of their rows, of the beds of the vineyard, of
sowing within the press, &c. and innumerable decisions of that nature,
which did so keep the countryman within bounds, that he could not
plough nor mow his land according to his own will, but according to
the rule of tradition.
"The inhabitants of Beth-Namer
measured out a corner for the poor with a line, and they gave a corner
out of every row. Abba Saul saith, They make mention of them to their
praise, and to their dispraise: to their dispraise, because they gave
one part out of a hundred; to their praise, because, measuring with a
line, they collected and gave a corner out of every row": that is,
meeting with a measuring line, they yielded the hundredth part of the
field to the poor, and that out of every row of sheaves.
Chapter 99
Subterraneous places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the
superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You
may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal
mines, the caves, and the places of burial.
This land was eminently noted for
metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron,
and out of its hills was digged brass,"
Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the
Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned
hither by tyrants. So Eusebius of Edesius, "He was condemned to the
metal mines of Palestine." And again, concerning others, "Then passing
to the other confessors of Christ, he condemns them all to the brass
mines, which were in Pheno of Palestine."
On the north part of the land, in the
country of Asher, were mines of metal. Hence is that in
Deuteronomy 33:25, "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass." On the
south, in the desert of Sin, the utmost bounds of Judea, were mines
also: hence--and shall pass to Zin, as our translation reads,
Numbers 34:4,--in the Jerusalem Targumist, is over-against the
mountain of iron: and in Jonathan, unto the palm-trees of the
mountain of iron: and in the Talmudists, the palm-trees of the
mountain of iron are fit to make a small bundle to carry in the
hand in the feast of Tabernacles. On the east coast of Perea was also
"an iron mountain,"--witness Josephus. And without doubt there were
other such-like mines, scattered here and there in other parts of that
land, though of them we have no mention.
You will not at all wonder at these
underminings of the earth, seeing they brought so much profit and gain
with them, and were so necessary to the life of man. But what shall we
say of those dens and caves in rocks and mountains, whence no gain
seemed to be digged, but rather danger arose to the neighbouring
places oftentimes? For what were these, but lurking-places for wild
beasts and robbers? There is infinite mention of these caves both in
the Holy Scriptures and in other writings, especially in Josephus,
where subterraneous passages, and dens, are mentioned a
thousand times. And many of these were of a vast largeness, scarcely
to be credited; those especially in the Talmudists, which are called
"The dens of Zedekiah," not a few miles in distance.
But were those hollows the work of
nature, or of the hands and industry of man? By one example, taken out
of Josephus, the thing may be determined. Relating the story of a
castle built by Hyrcanus in Perea, among other things he speaks thus:
"Out of the rock against the mountain, having cut in two the prominent
parts of it, he made dens of many furlongs long." And a little after,
"He made the mouths that opened into these dens to be strait, that but
one might go in at a time, and no more": "and this he did on purpose
for security's sake, and for avoiding danger, in case he should be
besieged by his brethren."
These dens, therefore, were cut out
of mountains and rocks for the uses of war, that they might serve for
refuge and strength. And it is probable the Canaanites, a warlike and
gigantic nation, had digged very many of these caves before the
entrance of the Israelites into that land; and that the Israelites
also increased the number of them. See concerning these caves,
Joshua 10:16;
Judges 6:2;
1 Samuel 22:1, and 24:3;
1 Kings 18:13;
Isaiah 2:19, &c.
Chapter 100
Of the places of Burial.
There were more common and more noble
sepulchres. The common were in public burying-places, as it is with
us: but they were without the city. "And through that place was no
current of waters to be made; through it was to be no public way;
cattle were not to feed there, nor was wood to be gathered from
thence."
"Nor was it lawful to walk among the
sepulchres with phylacteries fastened to their heads, nor with the
book of the law hanging at their arm."
Some sepulchres were extraordinary;
that is, in reference to the place of their situation. As, 1. A
sepulchre found; that is, when a sepulchre is in somebody's field
without his knowledge; but at last the sepulchre is discovered. 2.
A sepulchre that is publicly noxious; that is, digged near some
place of common walk or travel: from the nearness of which the
passengers contract pollution.
The more noble sepulchres were hewn
out in some rock, in their own ground, with no little charge and art.
You have the form of them described in the place noted in the margin,
in these words:
"He that selleth his neighbour a
place of burial, and he that takes of his neighbour a place of burial,
let him make the inner parts of the cave four cubits, and six cubits;
and let him open within it eight sepulchres." They were not wont, say
the Glosses, to bury men of the same family here and there,
scatteringly, and by themselves, but altogether in one cave: whence,
if any one sells his neighbour a place of burial, he sells him room
for two caves, or hollows on both sides, and a floor in the middle.
Coffin is the very place where the dead corpse is laid.
The tradition goes on: "Three
sepulchres are on this side, and three on that, and two near them.
And those sepulchres are four cubits long, seven high, and six broad."
To those that entered into the
sepulchral cave, and carried the bier, there was first a floor, where
they stood, and set down the bier, in order to their letting it down
into the sepulchre: on this and the other side, there was a cave, or a
hollowed place, deeper than the floor by four cubits, into which they
let down the corpse, divers coffins being there prepared for divers
corpses. "R. Simeon saith, The hollow of the cave consists of six
cubits, and eight cubits, and it opens thirteen sepulchres within it,
four on this side and four on that, and three before them, and one on
the right hand of the door, and another on the left. And the floor
within the entrance into the cave consists of a square, according to
the dimensions of the bier, and of them that bear it: and from it, it
opens two caves, one on this side, and another on that. R. Simeon
saith, Four at the four sides of it. Rabban Simeon Ben Gamaliel saith,
The whole is made according to the condition of the ground."
These things are handled by the
Gemarists and Glossers very curiously and very largely, whom you may
consult. From these things now spoken, you may more plainly understand
many matters which are related of the sepulchre of our Saviour. Such
as these:
Mark 16:5: "The women, entering into the sepulchre, saw a young
man sitting on the right hand": in the very floor, immediately after
the entrance into the sepulchre.
Luke 24:3: "Going in they found not his body," &c. Verse 5: "While
they bowed down their faces to the earth, Peter ran to the sepulchre,
and, when he had stooped down, he saw the linen-clothes"; that is, the
women, and Peter after them, standing in the floor, bow down their
faces, and look downward into the place where the sepulchres
themselves were (the cave of the graves), which, as we said
before, was four cubits deeper than the floor.
John 20:5: "The disciple whom Jesus loved came first to the
sepulchre; and when he had stooped down" (standing in the floor, that
he might look into the burying-place), "saw the linen clothes lie; yet
went he not in. But Peter went in," &c.; that is, from the floor he
went down into the cave itself, where the rows of the graves
were (in which, nevertheless, no corpses had been as yet laid, besides
the body of Jesus): thither also after Peter, John goes down. And
verse 11: "But Mary, weeping, stood at the sepulchre without: and
while she wept, she stooped down to the sepulchre, and saw two angels
in white sitting, one at the head, and another at the feet, where the
body of Christ had lain."
"She stood at the sepulchre without";
that is, within the cave, on the floor, but without that deeper cave,
where the very graves were, or the places for the bodies:
bowing herself, to look down thither, she saw two angels at the head
and foot of that coffin wherein the body of Christ had been
laid.
