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possessed, they were so exasperated at the victory he had gained over them, that they went and suborned persons to swear, that they had heard him speak blasphemy against Moses and against God. These inflaming the populace, the magistrates and the Jewish clergy, he was seized, dragged away, and brought before the Sanhedrin. Here the false witnesses, whom they had procured, stood up and said, "This person, before you, is continually uttering the most reproachful expressions against this SACRED PLACE (Acts vi. 13), meaning the Temple. This was blasphemy not to be pardoned. A judicature composed of high priests and scribes would never forgive such impiety. * We witness the same thing in the case of Paul, when they imagined that he had taken Trophimus, an Ephesian, with him into the Temple, and for which insult they had determined to imbrue their hands in his blood, Acts xxi. 28, &c.

We have only to add, that from several passages of Scripture it appears that the Jews had a body of soldiers who guarded the temple, to prevent any disturbance during the ministration of such an immense number of priests and Levites. To this body of men, whose office it was to guard the temple, Pilate probably referred, when he said to the chief priests and 1 Pharisees who waited on him to desire he would make the

sepulchre secure, "You have a watch: go your way and make it as secure as you can, Matt. xxvii. 65. Over these guards one person had the supreme command, who in several places is called the captain of the temple, or, officer of the temple guards, Acts iv. 1; v. 25, 26; xviii. 12. Josephus mentions such an officer, Antiq. b. xx. § 2; Wars, c. 17, § 2.† V. A few remarks on the daily service of the temple may not improperly close this section.

1. The first thing we notice is the morning service. After having enjoyed their repose, the priests bathed themselves in the rooms provided for that purpose, and waited the arrival of the president of the lots. This officer having arrived, they divided themselves into two companies, each of which was provided with lamps or torches, and made a circuit of the temple, going in different directions, and meeting at the pastryman's chamber, on the south side of the gate Nicanor. Having summoned him to prepare the cakes for the high priest's meat-offering, they retired with the president to the south-east corner of the court, and cast lots for the duties connected with the altar. The priest being chosen to remove the ashes from the altar, he again washed his feet at the laver, + Ibid, pp. 169, 170.

*Harwood's Introduction, vol. ii. pp. 163-178.

and then with the silver shovel proceeded to his work. As soon as he had removed one shovel-full of the ashes, the other priests retired to wash their hands and feet, and then joined him in cleaning the altar and renewing the fires. The next duty was to cast lots for the thirteen particular duties connected with offering the sacrifice, which being settled, the president ordered one of them to fetch the lamb for the morning sacrifice. While the priests on this duty were engaged in fetching and examining the victim, those who carried the keys were opening the seven gates of the court of Israel, and the two doors that separated between the porch and the holy place. When the last of the seven gates was opened, the silver trumpets gave a flourish, to call the Levites to their desks for the music, and the stationary men to their places, as the representatives of the people.* The opening of the folding doors of the temple was the established signal for killing the sacrifice, which was cut in pieces and carried to the top of the altar, where it was salted, and left while the priests once more retired to the room Gazith to join in prayer. While the sacrifice was being slain in the court of the priests, the two priests appointed to trim the lamps and cleanse the altar of incense were attending to their duties in the holy place. After the conclusion of their prayer, and a rehearsal of the ten commandments and their plylacteries, the priests again cast lots, to choose two to offer incense on the golden altar, and another to lay the pieces of the sacrifice on the fire of the brazen altar. The lot being determined, the two who were to offer the incense proceeded to discharge their duty, the time for which was, between the sprinkling of the blood and the laying the pieces upon the altar, in the morning; and in the evening, between the laying of the pieces upon the altar and the drink-offering. As they proceeded to the temple they rang the megemphita, or great bell, to warn the absent priests to come to worship; the absent Levites to come to sing; and the stationary men to bring to the gate Nicanor those whose purification was not perfected. The priest who carried the censer of coals, which had been taken from one of the three fires on the great altar, after kindling the fire on the incense altar, worshipped and came out into the porch, leaving the priest who had the incense alone in the holy place. soon as the signal was given by the president, the incense was kindled, the holy place was filled with perfume, and the congregation without joined in the prayers. These being ended, the priest, whose lot it was to lay the pieces of the *The whole congregation was divided into twenty-four classes, each of which sent a representative. + See Luke 1. 9, &c.

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sacrifice upon the altar, threw them into the fire, and then, taking the tongs, disposed them in somewhat of their natural order. The four priests who had been in the holy place now appeared upon the steps that led to the porch, and extending their arms, so as to raise their hands higher than their heads, one of them pronounced the solemn blessing, Numb. vi. 24-26. After this benediction, the daily meat-offering was offered; then the meat-offering of the high priest; and last of all the drink-offering; at the conclusion of which the Levites began the song of praise; and, at every pause in the music, the trumpets sounded and the people worshipped. This was the termination of the morning service. It should be stated that the morning service of the priests began with the dawn of day, except in the great festivals, when it began much earlier: the sacrifice was offered immediately after sunrise.

2. During the middle of the day the priests held themselves in readiness to offer the sacrifices which might be presented by any of the Israelites, either of a voluntary or an expiatory nature. Their duties would therefore vary according to the number and nature of the offerings they might have to present.

3. The evening service varied in a very trifling measure from that of the morning, and the same priests ministered, except when there was one in the house of their Father who had never burned incense, in which case that office was assigned to him; or if there were more than one, they cast lots who should be employed.†

VI. The holiness of the place, and the injunction of Lev. xix. 3, "Ye shall reverence my sanctuary," laid the people under an obligation to maintain a solemn and holy behaviour when they came to worship in the temple. We have already seen that such as were ceremonially unclean were forbidden to enter the sacred court on pain of death; but in the course of time there were several prohibitions enforced by the Sanhedrin which the law had not named. The following have been collected by Lightfoot out of the rabbinical writings:-(1.) “No man might enter the mountain of the house with his staff.”—(2.) "None might enter in thither with his shoes on his feet,' though he might with his sandals.-(3.) " Nor might any man enter the mountain of the house with his scrip on.". (4.)" Nor might he come in with the dust on his feet," but he must wash or wipe them," and look to his feet when he entered into the house of God;" to remind him, perhaps, that he should then shake off all worldly thoughts and affections.

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(5.)" Nor with money in his purse." He might bring it in his hand, however; and in this way it was brought in for various purposes. If this had not been the case, it would seem strange that the cripple should have been placed at the gate of the temple, to ask alms of those who entered therein. See Acts iii. 2.-(6.) "None might spit in the temple: if he were necessitated to spit, it must be done in some corner of his garment."-(7.) "He might not use any irreverent gesture, especially before the gate of Nicanor," that being exactly in front of the temple.-(8.) "He might not make the mountain of the house a thoroughfare," for the purpose of reaching a place by a nearer way: for it was devoted to the purposes of religion.-(9.) "He that went into the court must go leisurely and gravely into his place; and there he must demean himself as in the presence of the Lord God, in all reverence and fear."(10.)" He must worship standing, with his feet close to each other, his eyes directed to the ground, his hands upon his breast, with the right one above the left." Luke xviii. 13.-(11.) "No one, however weary, might sit down in the court." The only exception was in favour of the kings of the house of David.-(12.) "None might pray with his head uncovered. And the wise men and their scholars never prayed without a veil." This custom is alluded to in 1 Cor. xi. 4, where the apostle directs the men to reverse the practice adopted in the Jewish temple. (13.) Their bodily gesture in bowing before the Lord, was either " bending of the knees," "bowing the head," or " falling prostrate on the ground."—(14.) Having performed the service, and being about to retire," they might not turn their backs upon the altar." They therefore went backward till they were out of the court.*

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SECTION III.

THE SYNAGOGUES,

1. Their origin and form-2. Office-bearers of the Synagogue3. The service of the Synagogue-Used as courts of judicature.

1. The term synagogue primarily signifies an assembly; but, like the word church, it came at length to be applied to places in which any assemblies, especially those for the wor

*Lightfoot, Temple Service, ch. x,

ship of God, met, or were convened. From the silence of the Old Testament with reference to these places of worship, most commentators and writers on biblical antiquities are of opinion that they were not in use till after the Babylonish captivity. Prior to that time the Jews seem to have held their social meetings for religious worship either in the open air, or in the houses of the prophets. See 2 Kings iv. 23. Synagogues could only be erected in those places where ten men of age, learning, piety, and easy circumstances could be found to attend to the service which was enjoined in them. Large towns had several synagogues, and soon after the captivity, their utility became so obvious, that they were scattered over the land, and became the parish churches of the Jewish nation. Their number appears to have been very considerable, and when the erection of a synagogue was considered as a mark of piety (Lu. vii. 5), or passport to Heaven, we need not be surprised to hear that they were multiplied beyond all necessity, so that in Jerusalem alone there were not fewer than 460 or 480.* They were generally built on the most elevated ground, and consisted of two parts. The one on the most westerly part of the building contained the ark, or chest, in which the book of the law and the sections of the prophets were deposited, and was called the temple, by way of eminence. The other, in which the congregation assembled, was termed the body of the church. The people sat with their faces towards the temple, and the elders in the contrary direction, and opposite to the people; the space between them being occupied by the pulpit, or reading desk. The seats of the elders were considered as more holy than the others, and are spoken of as "the chief seats in the synagogue," Matt. xxiii. 6.

2. The stated office-bearers in every synagogue were ten, though in rank they were but six. Their names and duties are given by Lightfoot, to whom the reader is referred. But we must notice the Archisynagogos, or ruler of the synagogue; who regulated all its concerns, and granted permission to preach. Of these there were three in each synagogue. Dr. Lightfoot believes them to have possessed a civil power, and to have constituted the lowest civil tribunal, commonly known 66 as the council of three;" whose office it was to decide the differences that arose between any members of the syna_

*Lightfoot, Chorog. Cent. ch. xxxvi.

+ Luke says (vi. 12), that our Lord went up into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in a proseucha, or oratory dedicated to God. These proseuche are several times mentioned in the New Testament, and are considered by some persons, but we think improperly, as being different places from the synagogues. "See Jennings' Jewish Antiq. b. ii. c. 11, and Harwood's Introd. vol. ii. p. 174.

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