after his death it gradually declined, till it ceased to be reckoned in the list of nations. With respect to the second part of this section, or their civil and criminal laws, we need not be long. For, having formerly, when describing the chamber Gezit, in the south-east corner of the Court of Israel, mentioned the Council of Three, which held its sittings in an apartment adjoining to every synagogue, every lawful day, between the end of the morning prayers and the sixth hour;a the Council of Twenty-three, which sat for the same length of time as the former court, in the gate of those cities which could boast of an hundred and twenty families at the least, and decided of the years;" because from the beginning of Samuel's rule to the beginning of the captivity were 490 years; and from the end of the captivity till the death of Christ were 490 years. (Gleanings out of Exodus, sect. 6.) Consequently the prayer will mean, Revive thy work during the time of the captivity, (when the state of religion both in Judea and Babylon was extremely low. Let them see thy glory, as they were wont to see it in the sanctuary. a Besides the Bench of Three, mentioned in the text, there were two other Benches of Three, of less note. One the authorized Bench, which judged of the fitness or unfitness of the first-born of cattle to be offered to the Lord, the state of the knives belonging to the priests, &c. This was permanent, and received its name from being appointed by the Sanhedrin. The other was the unauthorized Bench, which acted as arbiters in cases of difference. It was only temporary, ceasing with the occasion; and derived its power, not from the Sanhedrin, (hence its name,) but from the parties. Its sentence, however, was commonly final. Lightfoot supposes, with much probability, that the Apostle Paul alludes to this court in 1 Cor. vi. 4—6, when he says, "If ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, (or civil matters,) set them to judge who are the least esteemed in the church;" (or compose the lowest court in the church ;)-choose from among yourselves three honest men as arbiters in your civil differences, and go not to heathen tribunals. "I speak to your shame (continues the Apostle): Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge among his brethren; in causes of greater moment; and the Council of the Sanhedrin, which sat every lawful day, between the end of the morning and beginning of the evening sacrifice, and was the Supreme Court of the Jewish nation, it is needless to enter upon them again in this place. It will be sufficient, therefore, now to refer to the pentateuch, as the code of laws by which they were guided in their decisions; and to describe the sanctions, civil and ecclesiastical, by which they were enforced. 1st, Inferior-as restitution, depriving them of their beards, destroying their houses, imprisonment with various aggravations, confinement in the cities of refuge, whipping, cutting off the hands and feet, putting out the eyes, sealing them up, fighting with wild beasts, slavery, selling children for their parent's debt, like for like. 2d, Capital-strangling, hanging, stoning, burning, beheading, crucifixion, dashing to pieces, drowning, tearing to pieces, sawing asunder, murdering in the dungeon, hewing in pieces, braying in a mortar, casting into a tower full of ashes.—An account of eastern prisons-the executioners of the law-and the ceremonies used before execution. THE Civil punishments among the Jews were either inferior or capital. but brother goeth to law with brother, (or Christian with Christian,) and that before the unbelievers (or heathens)? (Heb. and Talm. Exer. on 1 Cor. vi. 4.) a On the powers possessed by these different courts, see Mishna, Tractat. de Synedriis, and Leusden's Philologus Hebræo-mixtus, dissert. 46. f m 1. The inferior were, 1. Restitution for theft, in certain proportions. 2. Depriving them of their beards. 3. Destroying their houses." 4. Imprisonment simply; or aggravated by the dungeon; by fetters; by a wooden yoke round the neck; by the stocks; by hard labour;' and by the bread of affliction, and water of affliction.* 5. Confinement in the cities of refuge for manslaughter, till the death of the high priest. 6. Whipping with a scourge of three cords, and thirteen strokes for one offence, so as to give the culprit forty save one: as it is particularly described in Part ii. sect. 13, near the end. 7. Cutting off the hands and feet." 8. Putting out the eyes: a custom very frequent still in the East. In Persia particularly, as I am informed by one who was an eye-witness, it is no unusual practice for the king to punish a rebellious city or province, by exacting so many pounds of eyes, and his executioners accordingly go and scoop out from every one they meet, till they have the weight required." 9. Sealing up the eyes. This is alluded to in Is. xliv. 18, where it is said, that "God hath shut up the eyes of idolaters, that they cannot see." In the margin it is rendered "daubed," and the ori a Exod. xxii. 1-4. b 2 Sam. x. 4. c Ezra vi. 11. Dan. ii. 5; iii. 29. d Gen. xlii. 19. e Jer. xxxviii. 6. f Gen. xxxix. 20. Judg. xvi. 21. 8 Jer. xxvii. 2; xxviii. 13. h Job xiii. 27. Prov. vii. 22. Jer. xx. 2. i Judg. xvi. 21. m 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25. • Judg. xvi. 21. xxxix. 7. 1 k 1 Kings xxii. 27. 1 Num. xxxv. 25—28. n Judg. i. 6, 7. 2 Sam. iv. 12. 2 Macc. vii. 4. Sam. xi. 2. 2 Kings xxv. 7. Is. xlii. 7. Jer. P This is abundantly confirmed in many parts of Sir John Malcolm's History of Persia, and especially in vol. ii. ch. xix. p. 198, note. VOL. II. a e ginal word theh signifies to daub, plaster, or seal up. Strange though this punishment may appear to us, we have sufficient evidence that it was sometimes practised in the East. 10. Fighting with wild beasts, which was sometimes not mortal, as in the case of Paul; but oftener mortal. 11. Slavery till the sabbatical year, or till compensation was made for theft. 12. Selling children for their fathers debts. 13. Tallio, or like for like, either literally, or by compensation with money." In cases of bodily pains, therefore, the Hebrew doctors taught that the party offending was bound to give a five-fold satisfaction. 1. The hurt in the loss of the member. 2. The damage for the loss of labour. 3. The damage for the pain or grief occasioned by the wound. 4. The damage for the charge of curing it. And 5. For the blemish or deformity it occasioned." Hence Munster, on Exod. xxi. has rendered these five by the following words: Damnum, læsio, dolor, medicina, confusio. Such were the inferior civil punishments among the Jews. The capital civil punishments were the following: 1. Strangling by two persons with a handkerchief: for the six following offences: adultery, striking of parents, man-stealing, old men who were notoriously rebellious against the law, false prophets, and those who prognosticated future events by using the names of idols. 2. Hanging a Harmer's Observ. vol. ii. p. 277, &c. Exod. xxi. 2. • Exod. xxi. 23-25. b 1 Cor. xv. 32. d-2 Kings iv. 1. Matth. xviii. 25. f Lightfoot's Heb. and Talm. Exer. on Matth. v. 38. a d e till the person was dead; or exposing the body after death on a gibbet, either till the evening," or till devoured by fowls and other ravenous beasts. We find a punishment of this kind inflicted on the heads of the people who had gone over to Baalpeor, in Num. xxv. 4; and on seven of Saul's sons for his having slain the Gibeonites. But these appear to have been as a national expiation, and were called "hanging them before the Lord." 3. Stoning,' which, having been described already, when treating of the punishments inflicted by the Sanhedrin, need not be repeated in this place. The following nineteen offences subjected to it. Incest with a mother, or mother-in-law, or daughter-inlaw; adultery with a betrothed virgin; sodomy, bestiality, blasphemy, idolatry, offering to Moloch, he who had a familiar spirit, the wizard, the private enticer to idolatry, the public withdrawer to idolatry, magicians, profaners of the sabbath, cursers of father or mother, and the dissolute and stubborn son. 4. Burning-either by roasting in the fire, as Zedekiah and Ahab, by the king of Babylon," or in a furnace,' or by pouring melted lead down their throats. The following ten offences subjected to it. The adultery of a priest's daughter, incest with a daughter, a son's daughter, a daughter's daughter, a wife's daughter, a wife's daughter's daughter, a wife's son's daughter, a wife's mother, a Josh. viii. 29. Esther vii. 9, 10. War, iv. 5. c Gen. xl. 19. b Josh. x. 26. Josephus, d 2 Sam. xxi. 9. e See some sensible observations on this transaction, in Stackhouse's Hist. of the Bible, book v. ch. 5. Answer to objections. f Acts vii. 59. h Jer. xxix. 22. 8 Mishna, Tractat. de Synedriis, cap. vii. sect. 4. i Dan. iii. 23. |